Look on the Bride Side: Surprising Stories About Runaway Grooms

This story is from the pastor's point of view. After knowing the couple for what seemed like an appropriate time to judge someone's relationship, nothing looked suspicious. Things really unraveled only at the much anticipated "I do" moment.

Turns out that the groom was somehow manipulated into getting married and just couldn't follow through with the whole event. His timing seems a little dramatic but at least he was able to break free.

Weddings in India have an elaborate set of customs and traditions, one of which involves an extensive guest list. Sure, it means there are lots of people witnessing the happiest day of your life, but it also means that if anything goes sideways the public humiliation is impossible to bear.

This bride, with the help of the poster's uncle, was saved from such humiliation thanks to what could possibly be the most gallant action we've ever heard of. And they lived happily ever after. Literally.

This story comes from the groom's child, a child which, by the looks of things was at one too many of their father's weddings. We'd assume there wasn't much excitement on the son/daughter's part prior to yet another ceremony. Seeing as dad was as keen on weddings as much as he was on getting divorced, it sounds like the kid was happy this one was nipped it in the bud.

The fact that both partners decided to end things amicably sounds comforting though.

Can you imagine a group of excited little fourth-graders all stoked for their beloved teacher's wedding? It's so adorable we might cry. Then we kept reading the whole story and we wanted to cry for a whole different reason.

The poor teacher had her heart broken in front of all the people she care about. We don't tend to be very vindictive but we hope the runaway groom got what he deserved.

When this couple was about to declare their love in carefully chosen words, things took an unfortunate turn. Instead of going through the regular motion of saying how he can't wait to spend the rest of his life with the woman in front of him, the groom apologized and left.

At least it's good to know that the pair chose their wedding companions wisely and that they were a real shoulder to lean on.

This bride was left to wait for a groom who never showed. Our research shows that the two had been together for 6 years by that time. If you ask us, that's plenty of time to realize that the person you're with isn't the one you want to marry, but that's just us.

The girl seems to have taken the rejection in her stride — not only did she bravely face all the guests and explain that the wedding wasn't happening, but she also joked about it and went on with the outdoor event as much as possible. We salute.

We can understand how it can suddenly dawn on someone that they have been with the wrong person. That happens. That's what this whole article is about, basically. But taking the honeymoon tickets and running off with your brother? That's just adding insult to injury!

We aren't sure what's more shocking, the audacity he had to ask her to get back together, the fact she actually agreed, or the fact that the second time around actually went as planned.

The guests at this wedding must have been getting really antsy by the time the official announcement was made. Rumors started circulating but eventually, things came to light — the groom wasn't going to show. Since the place and services were already set and paid for, they were welcome to stay and enjoy themselves.

The most impressive component of this whole ordeal is obviously the bride, who held her head high and greeted her guests with a smile despite her probably feeling like she'd been hit by a truck. She deserves better.

This story has everything a good romantic comedy needs: a grand wedding scene (or even two!), a dramatic plot twist, an unfaithful partner, a knight in shiny armor, and even something that would pass for a meet-cute!

Of course, hearing about someone being dumped on their wedding day is something we wouldn't wish on anyone, but Mr. DJ here sure had things play out in his favor. Now, the two must be happy that the chips fell where they did.

Many of the stories in this article involve women who were left at the altar, or at least at the venue. This bride, however, was left way before that when her groom backed out on the whole thing and told his side they had no point in going.

In a way, not only did he break up with his partner, but he also had his own family and friends break up with her family and friends. Very classy. We hope the bride and her loved ones ended the evening by pouring sugar into his gas tank.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to blow off some steam with your best mates before your big day. Planning a wedding is a big deal and decompression is pretty necessary.

What isn't necessary is drinking yourself senseless, getting together with a random girl (who would even consider taking home someone whose wedding is due the following day?), and passing out so hard you miss your own ceremony. This bachelor remained a bachelor for way longer than he intended.

This story comes from a third party — neither the bride nor the groom, but the harpists who played at their reception. Well, not quite THEIR reception as only one side of this would-be nuptials actually showed up.

As the account of the events goes, the groom was having some sort of mental breakdown and couldn't show. We do hope that the two were able to work things out and maybe get married in a less-stressful setting.

Coming from a person on a wedding staff, here is another non-wedding wedding. After discovering that the groom had been getting ... close... with the maid of honor, this poor bride had her heart broken twice.

She did, however, turned this sour lemon into lemonade. Seeing as the venue and services were booked and non-refundable, the bride and her family just had their own reunion party with good music and good booze. Sounds exactly like what the bride needed to recover.

The groom in this story decided that the wedding is not an event he was going to attend a little too late. And when we say a little too late, we mean the man was past the point of no refund.

The bride wasn't going to spend several hours at the place where she was supposed to be wed and eat that groom-less food, so her friends took her out somewhere where she could leave her troubles behind for a while. Still, that doesn't mean no one should enjoy the food... which her family did.

Okay, so this bride wasn't left at the altar, but our guess is if she had to choose between that and what actually happened, she would have chosen the former. Imagine having your heart broken not only by the man you just said "I do" to but also by your best friend. Simultaneously!

The story doesn't detail what happened after the bride stormed off or where she went, but if we had to guess, we'd say she probably started by picking up something sharp and going to town on his tires.

This charitable bride may have been left by her groom a few weeks before the big day but it doesn't mean the event was canceled.

Since everything was already booked and paid for, the invitations were sent with a slight adjustment — instead of a wedding, her loved ones were now invited to a charity gala at the end of which all of the presents were given to the less fortunate. What an absolute rockstar!

The bridezilla trope has been around for a while now, but according to this story, it looks like there are some grooms who can be just as bad.

This groom right here, for example, literally canceled the whole wedding just because the bride asked for it to be moved indoors. The very rational reason? It was raining. That's right. The guy was either going to have his outdoor wedding (which would soak everyone to their bones) or no wedding. Luckily, there was a secret third option of a minor Vegas ceremony which went surprisingly well.

This bride may not have had much luck when it came to choosing a life partner, but she sure as heck got lucky to have three brothers who have her back.

After realizing her groom wasn't going to show, the brothers got together and went after the man who wronged their sister. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to locate him. But then again, maybe it's a good thing that they didn't, or the whole thing would have ended in multiple arrests at best.

In some Kenyan cultures, a traditional wedding ceremony involves a bride, a groom, some guests, and a goat. The last item served as part of the feast. This traditional wedding ceremony in Kenya involved all of those items but the groom.

Surprisingly, though, the bride's family wasn't too mad about the flaky groom because it seemed like he was headed toward a downward legal spiral. So maybe there was a happy ending for the bride after all.

Bachelor parties can either be a fantastic night with your best friends or they can go horribly wrong and get you into more trouble than you thought possible. For this groom and his company, it was the second option.

The wild night ended with the cops coming over and taking the whole alcohol-pumped bunch for the night to sleep things off, not releasing them until it was too late. We wonder what the bride had to say (or scream) about it.

This story comes not from the bride, but from her sister. Only 13 years at the time, she must have been so excited to be taking the part of maid of honor on her dear sister's big day. Never in a million years did she think the event will end with the groom simply saying no and walking away.

This experience must have ruined weddings for her. Not as bad as it ruined them for the actual bride, but still.

Most of the stories here involve at least some level of drama. Not this one, though. The groom in this story canceled his own wedding and took to Facebook to let the guests know.

The thing is, the announcement was done in a post that was pretty much the blandest way in which someone could tell their loved ones that their happily ever after is on hold for now. He must be fun at parties.

What do you do when you are sick on your wedding day? You suck it up, that's what you do. Well, at least that's what this guy did.

While he did leave his new wife at the altar, it was only for a brief moment so he could go get reacquainted with his breakfast and get right back there. A real trooper! Also a trooper — the Mrs. who still kissed him. These two have the "in sickness and in health" part covered.

In many of the stories here, the husband-to-be realizes he has no interest in being a husband at the eleventh hour. Here, though, the guy came to his senses three months before the big day, which saved both the couple and their loved ones a lot of embarrassment.

It saved some money too (except for the thousands of dollars in deposits), and in the long run, it helped his partner understand he wasn't right for her after all. All's well that ends well.

This story comes from the bride's cousin, who stated that the event was incredibly lavish. The couple literally had circus performers to entertain people outside the venue. Insane.

Still, that wasn't the only insane thing that happened there. That title goes to the groom, who just couldn't bring himself to say his "I do" and just fled on a random golf cart, trying to get back on his first wife's good graces.

The nerve. The gall. The absolute absence of any ability to grasp human decency. After skipping his own wedding, leaving the bride's family to have the wedding reception sans actual wedding. That doesn't mean he was opting out of the affair altogether though.

This guy wasn't going to play his part as a groom at his own event, but he was more than willing to perform there with his band. We couldn't be shaking our heads any harder.

This story isn't exactly about some being left at the altar but it was too good to leave out. While the woman in the story was left shortly before the wedding, it seems like no real harm was done. Well, not until later, that is.

The said English model was, apparently, not over her feelings of rejection even yeas after, resorting to straight-out-of-a-movie acts of drama such as flinging a can of tuna at the guy's head.

Having super-involved families can go either way. They can be a great source of warmth and support, or they can get your engagement canceled on the day of the wedding over a dowry disagreement. Well, this statement is oddly specific, but so is this story.

Since the food was already there, there was no point in letting it go to waste. The guests of this wedding left the venue full (silver lining) yet confused.

Marrying someone is one thing. Marrying someone with a 10-year-old is something else entirely. The grandpa, whose story is brought here by his grandchild, could have been very much into the woman he was supposed to marry, but he realized he wasn't ready to be a stepdad at the very last second.

Thankfully, the woman he did end up marrying was cool with his past and the two went on to build a family of their own.

A bachelor party is never a bachelor party without a ridiculous amount of alcohol. The thing is, once you take too many guys and give them too much alcohol, you are risking the possibility of the men dissuading the groom from getting married altogether.

It doesn't happen that often, but this story isn't the only one on this list in which the events of the bachelor party backfire at the actual wedding.

Ah, yes, a healthy dose of feminism. What a breath of fresh air. Combine that with a sweet happy ending and we're sold.

After being left at the altar by a man who had trouble respecting her professional ambitions, this woman is living her dream. This dream is complete with the perfect job and the perfect man who deserves her way more than his predecessor.

People mature at different paces and the pace of the people around us doesn't always match ours. Looks like people around this former would-be groom were pressuring him into maturing faster than he was willing to do so himself.

Fully acknowledging that he wasn't ready to settle down, he decided that this whole wedding business wasn't for him. Despite his later doubts, we believe he did the right thing.

Most of life's choices come down to priorities. What's higher — eating that sixth slice of pizza or sticking to what your nutritionist prescribed you? Calling your ex's when you're feeling lonely or maintaining a shred of dignity? Committing to your fiancee and your unborn child or fleeing to Mexico and being the biggest jerk ever? Most of us will have the same priority about that last one. The groom, though, thought differently.

This storyteller also tells us where their priorities lie. Sure, it was sad and all, but as long as there's cake, it's all good.

This story is pretty clear for the most part. The groom had a date with some cops, reception still happened with a few obvious adjustments, and the guy ended up someone else. So far so good. Well, not good, but you get it.

What we are still missing here is what did the man do to deserve cops busting into his own wedding and whisking him away in handcuffs? We need to know!

Look, we don't really know what compelled the groom into leaving his bride this way, but frankly, we are struggling to think of an excuse that would make us stop wanting to TP his house at the very least.

The sweet bride seems to have handled things bravely with her close friends and family and an adjusted ceremony that shows she still has faith.

Remember that scene from "Runaway Bride" when Julia Roberts walks down the aisle and then right before she reaches the actual altar takes a sharp turn and starts running? This story is a little like that, except the walking (bride) and running (groom) are done simultaneously. The horror.

The story gets even more horrific when you realize the bridesmaids were all wearing what can only be described as an orange version of "The Handmaid's Tale" costumes.

The person who brought this story mentions that the bride and groom had been a couple for no less than six years and invited more than 500 people to witness their holy matrimony. The thing is, the groom took off before there was anything to witness.

That's not even the worst part — he took his EX-GIRLFRIEND to what would have been the couple's HONEYMOON and then let the fiancee know about it with an EMAIL. The nerve!

The quote below comes from someone who's been working in the wedding industry for many years and states to have seen it all and treat us with two stories!

Actually, now that we're thinking about it, maybe "treat" isn't the right word to use here as both stories kind of make us feel horrible for everyone involved. Well, maybe not everyone, the groom/maid of honor duo could step on Lego bricks for the rest of their lives for all we care.

Generally speaking, it's great to have alcohol at weddings. Usually, a glass or two are just the thing that the couple needs to de-stress and the guests to feel loose enough to dance. The trouble starts when the groom has too much of it before the ceremony and decides to just leave.

Thankfully, there is a happy ending to this case — the bride found another partner, started a family, and is even able to actually decorate other people's wedding cakes for a living!

Isn't perspective just the best? This event was undoubtedly traumatic and dramatic when it happened. Fast forward a few years later, though, and that ex-fiancee sees that, in hindsight, it was for the best.

This doesn't excuse the ex from leaving her at the altar or dating his boss behind her back, though. No, this guy will definitely have karma slapping him across the face at one point or another.

This couple thought they could tackle three events in one go by having their wedding on the groom's birthday, which conveniently coincides with Valentine's Day. It was the perfect plan. Or at least that's what the bride thought.

Apparently, the groom had other plans and this triple celebration turned into a triple punch in the gut when the guy decided to leave her at the altar.

Okay, who scripted this? Just raise your hand, we won't get mad, we promise. It's just that those things only seem to happen in movies. Someone literally barging in with an objection, snatching the groom from the altar, and end up marrying him?

Sounds like she still feels guilty for the way things unfolded, but hey, if it got her together with her one true love and the ex-fiancee seems to have recovered, maybe it wasn't that bad.

This story is quite simple. You can probably tell it in your sleep. You've probably heard it thousands of times.

You know what it's like. Boy meets girl, boy and girl agree to get married, boy flakes and leaves girl at the altar, boy gets what he deserves from girl's brothers, boy pays for the wedding, boy regrets everything and wants girl back but it's too late. We find the boy's story on the internet and bring it here.

This person's uncle sounds like a piece of work. In fact, he sounds exactly like someone's uncle. Have you noticed how whenever there's a weird family story, the main character is always the uncle? Anyway, Mr. Uncle needed to literally almost marry someone to realize he wasn't into her after all.

How he found the right person eventually is beyond us. We wonder if fiancee #2 knew about this when they first started dating.

Get left at the altar once, shame on the spouse. Get left at the altar twice, shame on the witch who probably cursed you.

Sounds like if this woman wants her happily ever after with a special someone, she needs to take an actual wedding out of the picture. Either that or knock the man unconscious so this time he can't escape. He'll just wake up with a ring on his finger and have to deal with it.

When a groom leaves a bride and there's a lot of emotion flying around. Everyone's sad for the bride who had her heart broken, sorry for the parents who paid for the whole event, and just plain angry for the loss of a few perfectly good hours gone to waste.

What about the flower girl, though? Has anyone thought of her and how a nine years old kid had her moment in the spotlight shamelessly robbed from her?

Some practices of wedding etiquette should go without saying. Unless you're the bride, don't come in wearing a white dress, don't make any personal phone calls during the ceremony, you know, that sort of thing.

Some people, however, need to have everything spelled out for them, like this groom, who somehow didn't know it was wrong to sass to your future father-in-law or he might cancel the wedding on the spot. We're happy for the bride to have managed to escape tying herself to this man.

Many of the grooms we see in this article didn't handle the situation very politely or gracefully. They were mostly focused on getting out of the place and putting as much distance as possible between themselves and everyone else at the venue for all eternity.

Not this groom, though. Sure, his act of leaving his fiancee when the guests are still streaming in was low, but he faced things head-on and paid for everything even if it took him six years.

Yes, this is an article about runaway grooms, but this story of a runaway bride was just so good we just couldn't leave it out. After realizing her life was shaping into something she didn't want, she just had to bolt.

Okay, okay, you caught us. This is actually Rachel's story from "Friends," but at least we know this one got her happily ever after, even if there was a break somewhere along the way. (Or was there?)