Wedding Photographers Share the Moment They Knew the Newly Married Couple Would Not Last

There are some professions that allow a person to see both the best and the worst in people, and being a wedding photographer is undoubtedly one of them. Whilst for the most part, documenting the day a happy couple tie the knot in front of their nearest and dearest, would be a heart-warming exercise, some wedding photographers have a different story to tell. The couples that stick in their mind the most are the ones that are memorable for all the wrong reasons. In a recent Reddit thread wedding photographers shared the moment they knew a couple’s marriage was doomed to failure, and some of their answers are wild!

Groom didn’t want to participate in any wedding pictures after the ceremony.

I believe he was more interested in drinking beers with his buddies.

I don’t think they lasted a year. (Mushu pork)

Bride was such a monumental bitch her mom gave me a $500 tip for not walking out on the event when she was treating everyone (even her now husband) like a piece of shit employee.

She did the whole clicking fingers thing when wanting someone to do something for her, and she berated the dj for grabbing a sandwich when he’d been there for about 8 hours and was told that he should’ve brought his own lunch and she would be taking the cost of the food (like an open buffet style) out of his paycheck.

They were divorced within 3 years, but not before having 3 kids that have stupid names. (EndlessOcean)

While shooting video, I attached a microphone to the groom for audio and proceeded to prepare for the ceremony. Just as I was about to adjust my audio settings, the groom stepped into another room with a friend. As I put on my headphones, I overheard the groom confiding in his friend, describing the wedding as a “wedding of convenience” and reassuring them not to be concerned about what would happen in their relationship. (NoodleMaps)

I’m an artist and I do wedding sketches when I feel like freelancing, so not a photographer, but similar.

One of the first weddings I did back in college I will never forget.

It was a 250 person wedding in a big ballroom so there’s me and another artist and we’re super busy. These sketches are quick but every couple wants one and there’s a bit of a line/mob around our table of people watching/waiting. Bride and groom are slowly making their way to us when I see groom grab brides hand and shake his head/point to the back of the line/mob. Bride is shaking her head and they’re obviously disagreeing. Now people are starting to look at them and bride is getting louder and louder until I hear her say “Groom, this is MY wedding. I’m not wasting time waiting in a line when this is MY day. If YOU want to wait YOU can wait, but I’m NOT waiting when I’m THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON HERE!” The music had changed to a slower song at that point so everyone heard that and the grooms response of “ITS OUR WEDDING DAY AND I KEEP SAYING THAT. YOU DIDNT EVEN PAY FOR THIS SO IF I SAY WE WAIT, WE WAIT. START ACTING LIKE A GOOD WIFE AND LISTEN TO ME.” He was significantly older than her, he looked as old as her father if not older.

They divorced within two years. Not sure exactly how long, I only know because the bride emailed a year and a half later asking me to be the artist at her “30th birthday gala” which was two months after what would have been their 2 year anniversary. I showed up and was shown where to set up by her new boyfriend who was just as old as the ex husband. (justasianenough)

When you tell the bride they make a beautiful couple and she’s like “yeah, he will do. For a first husband, anyways! Ha ha” Never found it funny and always thought it was such a shitty way to start out a convo about your “forever mate”. (uawithsprachgeful)

I was asked if I wanted to come up to the hotel room and film “a movie” wink wink nudge nudge… with the bride… It was not the groom asking this…but the best man… and she was right beside him…The groom was hanging out with some friends and her dad…

I kindly declined (WWGFD)

If the grooms grandmother nearly choking to death at dinner wasn’t foreshadowing enough, the bride cursing out the groom’s entire family at the after-party certainly was.
They lasted a few years, surprisingly. (TheGreenBastards)

He was a popular real estate agent and I think she was a kardashian wannabe. He looked like he was desperately in love with her, she looked like she had a serious case of resting bitch face and just didn’t seem to want to be there. After the ceremony they arrived at the reception early because she couldn’t be bothered with more than a couple of the formal couple/wedding party photos. It was just a weird vibe all round. I heard through the grapevine at the end of the year he was caught in a broom cupboard with his receptionist at the office Christmas party. (lcate9871)

When the bride constantly made everything about the photos. During the first dance—and this is the moment I had a feeling this was more about the wedding than the marriage—the bride was never focused on her groom. The groom was being so careful and loving with her, smiling all the way while she made sure to stop dancing with him every five seconds to reposition them to always be facing the camera. She would stop the most intimate moments to always remind him where the camera was and to ALWAYS look at that camera. I felt so bad for him from the moment they shared their first look too cause she just kept forcing him to tell her how pretty she looked and to make sure that he cried when she actually walked down the aisle.(Shammieohs)

Bride looked visibly miserable the entire ceremony. While photographing the men’s “getting ready” portion, the groom repeatedly kept joking about killing himself.

During the toast, the bride ran off to the bathroom for about 30 minutes and came back wiping her tears with her eyes red and puffy. Neither of them had any chemistry at all, it made no sense why they were together to me. That was the last wedding I shot. (Majestic Storage 563)

As a gift, I did the wedding photos for my niece and her intended. When she got to the alter, with priest and husband there, she looked so miserably unhappy–I knew the marriage was doomed. Why in fuck she went through with it is still a mystery –they divorced later on that year. (shelbyrobinson)

Ooh ooh finally one of these I can contribute to. My mother was a wedding photographer till I was about 18-19 and I helped out on many of them. The one that stands out the most was when we were at a campsite where both the wedding and reception were being held.

About halfway through the reception I hear the groom start laughing maniacally. I peaked over his way and could see two groomsmen hauling the thrashing and screaming bride towards the lake. They threw her into the freezing cold water with her veil and dress still on. When she got out of the water I genuinely thought she might shoot somebody. Saying she looked like a drowned rat would have been an insult to rats. Her hair and makeup and probably the dress were ruined beyond repair. The fact that the groom laughed and didn’t do anything stuck with me as being a dog shit move even as a teen. Apparently she thought so too because iirc they didn’t even make it 6 months.  (Greylings0

Back when I was in college, I worked a few weddings for a Christian church near my school. The congregation was very god fearing people that you only see in cult movies and don’t expect to actually exist irl. Two of the couples live in my head rent free to this day.

While doing the getting ready photos, the videographer did pre wedding interviews with the bride and groom and asked questions like “why are you getting married?” “When did you know he/she was the one?” Etc.

Couple #1: Both admitted they just wanted to have sex, but were afraid of going to hell. They literally got married just to have sex. I believe they lasted 7 months.

Couple #2: Because getting married was “the next logical step” and it’s “just what people do”. They had dated for 2 years, never lived together, never had sex, just “dated”. I put dated in quotes because I have more intimate relationships with platonic friends than they had. Because they didn’t break up, they just felt compelled to get married, like it was part of a routine. They ended up having a kid, but only lasted 2 years together. (FashunHouzz)

The maid of honor very drunkenly said in her speech for the groom to call her once the marriage was over ( a couple of her friends said that in their speeches actually) and the best man told the bride the groom’s phone lock code in his speech because “she was going to need it”. Those two last maybe a year. The bride ended up moving states for a new job which made sense to me after seeing how shitty her friends and family were during that wedding. (prospectofwhitby)

When the groom told the bride she couldn’t have cake because she was overweight. Lasted a year. He gained weight 😂(MysticPhotographer)

Third wedding and the best man, the groom’s brother, starts his speech…. “Well, welcome back everyone. Good to see some new faces and some old ones.” (TheFlyingScotsman60)

I actually have a story for this!! Years ago I got into amateur photography and a friend of the family invited me and my camera to come to a wedding. I was basically there to get candids, nothing super formal (that was for the main photographer); I was dressed in all black like the wait staff so kinda blended into the background.

Anyway, since I was practically invisible, I got to hear ALL the tea: apparently the bride had hooked up w a stripper during her bachelorette and never told the groom. Of course ALL the bridesmaids knew, and it sounded like at least a couple of their SOs did too. Worst part tho? He was looking at her like she hung the moon and was his entire world; she was deadpan through the entire ceremony and hung out w her girlfriends during practically the whole reception. When it came time for cake, he fed her nicely and she smeared it across his face, cackling the whole time (the only time I saw her smile at him during the ceremony/reception).

I knew it wouldn’t last, although they weren’t my friend group. Ended up running into that photographer friend a few years later and asked, apparently the bride had gotten pregnant before the wedding and it was pretty much a shotgun wedding. Baby was born, then they split up like immediately after. Shocker. (ladyeclectic79)

The groom, I think his name was Steev, made a big announcement in his vows that since he had everything his wife needed, that thirty days after the wedding nobody would be allowed to talk to his wife anymore.

That’s right, all communication to his wife had to go through Steev. Actually, he said that anyone could pay $20/min to talk to his wife directly, but at that price everyone knows he just doesn’t want people to talk to her.

Now pretty much everybody is protesting Steev’s idiocy by giving him the silent treatment. It’s too early to tell whether Steev is smart enough to apologize and change his mind, otherwise I don’t think he’ll have many friends anymore after this. (I LOVE MOM)

Have you ever attended a wedding and known that it would soon end in divorce?