A bride left her wedding guests gobsmacked after she made a “last-minute change of groom”, opting to marry a man named Micheal instead of John, who had proposed to her. The unusual tale was shared by a bridesmaid on Reddit, who explained: “I, at that time aged 23, had a group of college friends, and one of them, let’s call her Sarah, 23, was that girl who has been with her boyfriend since high school.”
“We were a close-knit group of friends and the boyfriend, let’s call him John, 26, was always around. We were all in the same school, but he was two years ahead of us. Our group consisted of seven girls, and we were inseparable, studying, traveling, and partying together, and Sarah and John were always there.”
After finishing university, the woman relocated to another city, but her old friends remained in close contact. She continued: “Six months after graduation, we reunited for a Christmas lunch and Sarah announced that she had a new job, was engaged and they were house hunting.”
The woman said: “I called one of my friends and she just said that the bride has been a little messy with the organization. She told me the bridesmaid’s dresses were going to be blue but the bride changed her mind every week so she was not sure.”
“There were no invitations because that was a big expense and the bride decided just to email the address to the bridesmaids. Three weeks before the wedding, the maid-of-honour sent me a message that I should buy a lilac dress, they sent me photos of what they expected me to buy and that there was not going to be a bachelorette party as they didn’t want to spend money on it.”, reports the Mirror US.
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“I got the address and time for the church and the party. I found it super weird, and I felt sad that this was my first wedding as a bridesmaid and it turned out to be a very boring experience. I just thought the couple was paying for a house and all the wedding expenses so it made some sense and they wanted to keep it low-key.”
Then, just half an hour before the bride was due to walk down the aisle, the chief bridesmaid pulled her aside to reveal some shocking behind-the-scenes drama. She said: “I was all dolled up in my lilac dress, ready to support the happy couple.” Upon arrival, the chief bridesmaid whisked me away and told me we needed to rally around the bride more than ever because the groom didn’t know anyone from her family or friends.
“I was puzzled and asked, ‘Why would John be lost? He’s been close to us and Sarah’s family for years.’ That’s when she dropped the bombshell that the groom wasn’t John, but Michael, 23. Plus, all the bridesmaids were wearing different colours and they didn’t want me to buy another dress, which is why they kept it from me. I felt a sense of betrayal.”
“I was gobsmacked! It turned out no one had the guts to explain over the phone, and most of us only found out about the groom swap at that moment. Only Sarah’s parents, siblings, and the chief bridesmaid were in on it.” With just 10 minutes to spare, she introduced herself to Micheal, who she described as being the “polar opposite of John”.
“I had no clue who he was, or why he was marrying my friend, who less than three months ago told me she was marrying John,” she said. “All of Michael’s family was there, looking ecstatic, while all of Sarah’s family and friends, we were very serious and silent.”
“Some of Sarah’s family brought gifts with John’s name and the old aunts kept calling Michael for John. The party was so divided as we had no idea who these people were, Michael’s family was on one side of the room and we were on the other, not mixing at all.”
“During the party, there were very awkward speeches by Michael and how much he loved Sarah and vice versa. None of Sarah’s family gave a speech, you could tell on her parent’s faces they were not happy at all with what was happening, and her mum just kept explaining to the family all night about the confusion.”
“We, as Sarah’s best friends kept trying to keep the party going, but we felt weird the entire time and I couldn’t wait for it to be over.” Finally, once the drinks started circling, the maid-of-honour opened up about the real story. She explained how Sarah met Micheal at her new job in August – and was secretly dating him while also accepting John’s marriage proposal.
She said: “Sarah canceled the engagement at the end of January when she found out she was pregnant with Michael’s baby. She did not tell anyone for another month but canceled the printing of the invitations and everything that had John’s name on it.
Sarah’s parents found out about Michael a month before the wedding and that she was pregnant a week before the wedding, and that is why there was no bachelorette party, as she was feeling sick and tired all the time. “”Sarah did not tell anyone and she kept the dress, the party venue, and everything as if nothing was going to change and she was about to marry John.
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She made all the colours and details changes to accommodate her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, who had no idea she was previously engaged, but knew she was pregnant so it needed to be a fast wedding before ‘it shows’. The families were told that the printer made a big mistake with the invitations and that is why they were not going to get one.
“Today, Sarah and Micheal are still married and have five children together, with many believing she made the right decision by leaving John. She said: “The last I heard, John got very sick with depression and ended up on a mental institution. I also learned many years later that John was not as nice to Sarah as we all thought, and even when he never showed any signs of being abusive, we never knew what happened behind close doors.
“Sarah was contemplating leaving him for some time, but after being with him for so many years, she felt obligated to marry him. In the end, we all believe Sarah made the right choice and it’s evident she’s extremely happy with her life, but the way she navigated the change was utterly bizarre and I still recall it as the most peculiar wedding I’ve ever attended.
“Reacting to her post, one user commented: “Wow, that at least turned out OK. Yeah, I don’t know how I’d react if I were in your situation.” Another user chimed in: “What a roller-coaster, I wasn’t expecting the John plot twist. I’m glad Sarah and Michael are doing well.” A third user remarked: “Man that had to be awkward as hell for the wedding party. “.
* Names have been changed for the article.
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