6 In a village in Uttar Pradesh, a bride named Lovely walked out of her wedding after the groom failed to solve a simple math problem, the sum of 15 and six. He replied 17, which confirmed he was illiterate and that his family had lied about his education.

A girl named Lovely was arranged to marry Ram Baran. Being from a rural village of Uttar Pradesh and fixed in an arranged marriage, they had not spent time in each other’s company.

On the day of the wedding, just before the ceremony, Lovely decided to test the literacy of her groom. So she asked him a math problem, the sum of 15 and six.

Ram Baran’s answer was 17.

His answer was enough for the bride to judge his education and call off the wedding. The father supported his daughter and told the press that the “…groom’s family had kept us in the dark about his poor education.” (1, 2, 3)

7 In the spring of 1847, a wedding supper in Shelby County in the state of Texas in the US became the battleground for the Moderator-Regulator War, a dispute of land ownership, when about 40 people were killed after eating a poisoned cake. The accused was Mr. Wilkinson, the bride’s father, and a Moderator. He had laced the cake with arsenic to kill as many Regulators as possible.

On April 22, 1847, the wedding of Mr. Wilkinson’s adopted daughter with a man named Morris was held in the community of East Hamilton in Shelby County, Texas.

Among the invitees were Wilkinson’s neighbor, the Sanders family. However, Sanders decided against attending the wedding for two reasons:

• Wilkinson was accused of stealing Sander’s hogs and;
• Sanders was a Regulator while Wilkinson was a Moderator.

When his neighbors didn’t arrive, Wilkinson made it a point to pack up the wedding supper and sent it to their house.

Three members of the Sanders family died after eating the meal. Also, people at the wedding party started falling sick with some dropping dead. The guests started to scream and blow horns, which was a universal distress signal at the time. Within a few days, around 40 people died. The only people that remained unharmed from the tragedy were the bride’s family, the Wilkinsons.

It was discovered that the wedding cake was poisoned, and Mr. Wilkinson, whose family had avoided eating the supper, was the suspect.

It was reported at the time that Mr. Wilkinson had poisoned the cake with arsenic with the intention to kill as many Regulators as possible. But there were also claims that the incident was simply a case of food poisoning. (1, 2)

8  A 25-year-old Russian bride died from anaphylactic shock after eating sweet dishes immediately following her nuptials. Alexandra Erokhova was allergic to nuts, and even though the cooks were warned of her serious allergies, the sweet dishes served at her wedding reception at the Tsaritsyno Palace in Moscow contained nuts.

In July 2020, the wedding reception at the Tsaritsyno Palace in Moscow came to an abrupt halt when the 25-year-old bride collapsed at her table.

The couple had just finished their nuptials and were eating their meal. The bride, Alexandra Erokhova, was having her dessert when she began to suffocate.

Guests rushed to the table to help the struggling bride. Soon, a resuscitation team arrived but was unable to save the tragic bride.

Doctors concluded that the bride died of anaphylactic shock, a life-threatening reaction to allergens.

Erokhova was allergic to nuts since childhood, and even though the cooks were warned of her allergies, the sweet dishes had nuts. (1, 2)

9 Rosemere do Nascimento Silva had planned to surprise her fiancé by arriving in a helicopter at her wedding reception in Sao Paulo, Brazil. But just a few miles from the venue, the chopper crashed killing the bride, her brother, a pregnant photographer, and the pilot. The groom, who was completely unaware of his bride’s arrival plans, was informed of the tragedy at the altar.

In December 2015, Rosemere do Nascimento Silva boarded a Robinson 44 helicopter to fly to her wedding ceremony and surprise her fiancé. Dressed in bridal attire, she was accompanied by her brother and a pregnant photographer along with the pilot.

However, just a few miles from the venue, the helicopter crashed killing everyone on board.

The fatal accident was discovered after the organizers realized that the helicopter hadn’t arrived.

The 32-year-old groom, Udirley Damasceno, and 300 guests had no clue of Silva’s plan to arrive in a helicopter. The devastating news was broken Damasceno when he was waiting at the altar, sending him in shock.  (1, 2)

10  A groom and his entourage were beaten and locked up in a room by the bride’s family after they arrived late for the wedding ceremony. Also annoyed by their dowry demands, the bride then refused to go with her groom and married a man from the neighborhood instead.

In India’s Bijnor, a couple tied the knot in a mass wedding in 2019. It was decided that they would get married again in a proper ceremony with all the rituals.

However, soon after the first wedding, the groom’s family began to demand cash and a bike as dowry from the bride’s family. This caused a rift between the two sides.

On the day of the ceremony, the groom’s procession arrived late in the evening when they were supposed to arrive at 2 p.m. This didn’t sit well with the already embittered family of the bride.

The situation quickly turned violent with the groom and his family being thrashed and locked up in a room. They were also robbed of their jewelry.

In a final blow to the groom and his family, the bride refused to go with her groom, and the two got divorced. She then tied the knot with local youth from her neighborhood. (1, 2)