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Most brides want their day documented from all angles: the videographer, photographer, and of course, on social media. But when things hit the fan at a wedding, there is some documentation that not all brides want — news coverage. No matter how much planning you put into your big day, sometimes something unexpected — and nutty — happens that the media eats up, getting your wedding a front-and-center place on the 11 o’clock news. Here, real brides share the crazy reason their weddings made the news — for better or for worse.
“I got married during Philadelphia’s historic blizzard Jonas this past January at St. John the Evangelist Church a block from City Hall. Since the blizzard was forecast in advance, most of the vendors — photographer, florist — came downtown early to be sure to be there. Most of the 200 guests made it too. As my aunt told one of the Philly papers that covered our nuptials: ‘We did a lot of walking!'” — Christen
“My wedding didn’t make the news, but my parents’ wedding did. They were married in 1938 on a rollercoaster at an amusement park in Coney Island owned by my aunt. The roller coaster wedding was a publicity stunt, and proved so popular my parents were ‘loaned’ out to other rollercoaster owners and married six times. My mother called herself ‘the most married woman in America.'” — Mara
“My wedding got coverage from news outlets because of what happened immediately after the ceremony. My new bridegroom and I took a walk with our photographer for some photos in nature and a rattlesnake bit Johnny! We were late for the reception because we had to first get an ambulance to go to the hospital to check that my husband’s ankle was free of venom. Luckily it was and we got to the party and have an amazing story to tell our kids someday.” — Laura
“On the way to the chapel my fiancé, who is a doctor, happened upon a car pulled off to the side of the road. The woman inside was giving birth and her husband had no clue what to do. Jim took off his tuxedo jacket, rolled up the sleeves of his designer starched shirt and delivered the baby. There was a local news crew nearby who caught the whole thing on camera. It made a splash and there was an insane amount of media who wound up covering Jim and me leaving the church as man and wife, dubbing my husband a ‘Hero Bridegroom.’ It was wild! We visited the new parents after returning from our honeymoon.” —Carol
“The night before our wedding, the church opposite our reception venue, The Conservative Club, was gutted by a fire. Inside the Club was our specially designed cake and all the food for the guests. Doesn’t sound like a problem, except the Club was cordoned off like a crime scene by the police as the church smoldered. Thankfully the fire crew cared about our distress and moved everything to a new venue — an Inn that stepped up after hearing our predicament blasted on the news. Happily it worked out just fine and Andrew and I got some unexpected fame!” —Katherine
“When we initially chose our wedding date 20 months in advance, we didn’t realize there was anything noteworthy about the day. But it was 11-11-11, which wound up catching everyone’s fancy. A local newspaper actually tracked our progress toward the big day as we chose a wedding gown, flowers, music, etc., running little stories to the lead-up. And yes, we became so friendly with the reporter covering us that we would have invited her to the wedding even if she wasn’t writing about it!” —Emily
See More: True Stories of Wedding Guests from Hell
Sherry Amatenstein, LCSW is a New York City-based marriage therapist and author.