When it comes to arranging the perfect wedding they say that planning makes perfect. So what are the things that can go wrong (or very right), at weddings? As one of the most popular hotels in South Wales for weddings, we can gladly say we've only seen great experiences! Some of the following wedding tales are life affirmingly beautiful; others are, well, less so! Judging by these examples, the road to both heaven and hell is littered with confetti…

1. An Epic Entrance

Ok, so we’ll start with the good, the great and the downright fabulous. And where better than perhaps the most fantastic wedding entrance of all time? Guests at the wedding of Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson were expecting classical music, but got an attack of dance fever to the tune of Chris Brown’s Forever. The moves were outrageous fun and the wedding went super viral, with over 95 million views to date!

If there’s one moral to this one, it’s to do your own thing and replace traditional stiffness with a sense of fun.

2. A Miracle recovery

Behind virtually every wedding there are usually weeks of planning and work. But for Stevie Beale, the ceremony was the result of months of tough physiotherapy. Told she may never walk again after a car accident, the bride amazed onlookers by doing just that to go down the aisle to groom Jared Van Ausdale, who wept with happiness. Perhaps love really does conquer all?

3. To the rescue!

There's no accounting for the British weather at times, but what would you do if you faced freak snow storms? Emma Burton and partner Tony Liddell were faced with icy, impassable roads for their big day. How on earth would they get to church? In desperation, the bride's father called local radio and appealed for help. In a heroic late twist, kind-hearted locals Dave and Margaret Hunt reponded by braving the conditions in their 4x4 to pick up the bride and get her to church on time. In the end, it was a memorable wedding for all the right reasons, with classic white winter pictures and an epic snowball fight at the reception! Dave and Margaret, we salute you.

4. Never too late?

Who says wedding bells are only for the young? The oldest couple ever to marry were George Kirby and Doreen Lucky from Eastbourne. Since they met in 1988, we wonder what took them so long, but the pair aged 103 and 91 tied the knot in 2015 to rapturous celebrations. “Doreen keeps me young” said George, but admitted “I didn’t get down on one knee because I don’t think I would have been able to get back up again.”

 

5. Young helpers tie the knot, two decades later

A surprising number of couples meet at a wedding. But how many have that fateful encounter aged just three? That’s exactly what happened to two kids who acted as ring bearer and flower girl at a wedding in Minnesota. Many years later, in their teens, their paths crossed again and Briggs and Brittney got the spookiest sensation in class as she’d brought in an old wedding picture with them standing together. A full 19 years after their chance encounter, it was their turn to marry.

6. What do you mean you lost the ring on our wedding day?!!

It’s the sort of thing that only happens in a comedy film, surely? Not necessarily. Lewis Aubrey had trusted brother Matt to keep the ring safe on his big day. But at the altar there was an audible “ping” as he dropped it. Cue an entire congregation frantically pulling up every carpet in the church! In the end, the groom’s mother had to lend her own so the ceremony could be completed.

Thankfully though, there was a happier ending as the vicar returned to search again later and found it through a tiny crack in the altar steps. “You owe me a drink” were his words to a relieved best man that evening, accompanied by an enormous cheer!

7. This year’s hottest wedding trend?

With candles, traditional lanterns and even fireworks commonplace at many weddings, it is perhaps inevitable that accidents will happen. But can you imagine the bride catching fire on her wedding day? It happens to several brides every year (and those are only the ones we hear about). Be warned: wedding dresses and fire should be kept well apart!

8. The mother of all wedding brawls

Any bridge and groom to be would be well advised not to invite those with violent tendencies. But what can you do if the entire party gets involved? This was the shocking reality at a London bar where staff watched aghast as a thrown glass caused an insane chain reaction.

“Literally the entire wedding got involved” says Lauren C, recalling that “by the time the police arrived a bridesmaid had her dress torn off, the bride was splattered in blood and I saw a man holding a baby get punched in the face three times.” Classy.

9. A bloody mess

All that wedding clobber can get pretty hot on a summers day. But one anonymous guest at a family wedding recalls a rather unfortunate chain of events at a particular ceremony. “My mother’s brother passed out during the ceremony and hit his head on the ground so hard it was bleeding” he recalls. “Then, in response, another of her brothers passed out at the sight of the blood.” In a display of pure professionalism, the vicar continued with the ceremony as if nothing had happened.

10. You can’t take them anywhere…

Sometimes, in spite of your best efforts, guests create unwanted drama or comedy. “The four year old flower girl wanted to walk down the aisle with my wife” recalls one groom. “Wife said no. The kid then threw flowers on the floor and stomped down the aisle" accompanied by a mixture of gasps and giggles from the assembled.

Not that these hiccups are confined to the young. “My grandpa snored through the whole ceremony” confesses one anonymous bride, “while my grandma hummed tunelessly. It was amazing. All the guests from the other side thought there was something wrong with the air vents.”