Most things in life don’t go as planned, often spoiled by our own stupidity, and at times by forces beyond our control. This is also true for weddings. No matter how much you are invested in sorting out the tiniest details of your “Big Day,” it is normal for things to go a little haywire. However, these 10 weddings got way off track and turned into disasters.

1 In what has come to be known as the “Versailles Wedding Hall Disaster,” 23 people died after the dance floor collapsed during the wedding of Asaf Dror and Karen in Talpiot, Jerusalem in Israel. Among the dead were the groom’s three-year-old cousin and 80-year-old grandfather, while the bride suffered serious injuries as did at least 250 others.

On May 24, 2001, the wedding party of Karen and Asaf Dror ended prematurely when a large portion of the third floor of the three-story wedding hall collapsed. In what became one of Israel’s worst building disasters, 23 people lost their lives and another 250 were injured.

The groom’s three-year-old cousin and 80-year-old grandfather were among the dead. The bride Karen, who was rescued by her groom, Asaf, suffered severe pelvic injuries and had to undergo surgery.

An investigation into the cause of the disaster concluded that the building suffered from a flawed structural design. The structure gave away when put under stress by a load capacity greater than it was originally built for. Also, the floors were constructed using the Pal-Kal method, a system of lightweight concrete floors. The method was banned before the construction of the hall.

The family had first considered Ramat Rachel as the venue. But they dropped it due to its proximity to Beit Jala, a place that was witnessing the worst of the Israeli-Palestinian violence. (1, 2)

2 The marriage of a newly wedded couple from Guizhou, China fell apart after the groom gifted a bra two sizes too small to the bride. The bride Luo refused to marry the groom named Yang as she felt disrespected after Yang’s family failed to get a new bra and insisted she wears an old one to the banquet.

On January 2, 2021, a banquet was planned to be held in Zunyi in Guizhou, China to celebrate the wedding of a young couple, Yang and Luo. However, a small mishap forced the groom to change the wedding banquet into a New Year party

Following local customs, on the eve of the wedding feast, Yang gifted his bride all pieces of garments that she would wear at the banquet. The gifted ensemble included a bra that was two sizes too small.

Upon finding out the seemingly innocent blunder, Luo rang Yang and demanded him to buy a new one. However, as it was close to midnight, the shops were closed and the groom and his family failed to get a new one.

A request to wear an old bra by the groom and his mother came across as disrespectful to Luo.

The next day, when the groom and his entourage went to the bride’s house to receive her, they were stopped at the doorstep.

Yang saw Luo without any makeup, in casual clothes, and got the cue that she didn’t have any intention to marry him. Both parties, feeling disgruntled and let down by the other, filed for divorce. (1, 2)

3 On August 15, 2009, Nasra Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi took revenge on her husband for taking a second wife by burning down the tent where women and children were celebrating the wedding. The vengeful incident that occurred in Jahra in Kuwait, cost 57 lives and inflicted injuries to 90 others.

Twenty-three-year-old Nasra Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi wanted to exact revenge upon her husband for mistreatment and taking a second wife.

In a show of revenge, she set fire to one of the tents where the women and children were celebrating the wedding of her husband.

As the ensuing fire quickly engulfed the tent, people tried to run to safety through the single exit in the tent. This worsened the situation.

The arson, coupled with the lack of fire safety provisions, claimed the lives of at least 57 people and caused injuries to about 90 others.

The tragedy, which was the deadliest civilian disaster of the country in the past 40 years, came to a closure with the hanging of Enzie under a death sentence on January 25, 2017. (1, 2, 3)

4 In a wedding function in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a fight over the quality of sweets served took a bloody turn. The groom, angry over the poor food arrangement by the bride’s family, kidnapped and killed the bride’s nine-year-old brother and ran his SUV over three of her women relatives.

In June 2020, a wedding in Uttar Pradesh, India took a bloody turn when the groom and his entourage were served with sweets that they found to be of low quality.

The groom Manoj and his friends were drunk and picked up a fight with the bride’s relatives as they were unhappy with the food arrangement. Heated arguments followed from both sides.

When the elders intervened, Manoj fired at the maternal uncle of the bride. The uncle escaped without any injuries.

Manoj and friends then forced the bride’s nine-year-old brother, Pranshu, into an SUV and took off. In the process, he ran the SUV over two women and a teenage girl; all relatives of the bride.

The panicked family tried to persuade Manoj to return Pranshu over calls. But he refused and dumped Pranshu’s dead body in the village the next morning. (1, 2)

5 Asif Rafiq Siddiqui was chased out of his third wedding, which was to be held in February 2020, in Karachi, by the bride’s family after his first wife crashed the wedding and informed the guests of the groom’s two other wives and a son. An angry crowd thrashed him, ripping his pants and tearing his shirt.

An enraged woman marched into the wedding banquet of Asif Rafiq Siddiqui in Karachi and declared herself to be his wife. She also made it known to the guests that Asif was also married to one other woman and had fathered a son.

Infuriated on being cheated, the relatives of the bride attacked the groom, ripping his pants and tearing his shirt. The beating stopped only when the police rescued him.

He was taken to a nearby police station, but as soon as he emerged from the police station, the relatives of the bride pounced on him again. Scared, he took cover under a bus and was spared only after a few people intervened to stop the violence. (1, 2)