“Ghost” Grooms – They Didn’t Show Because…

“Ghost” Grooms

They Didn’t Show Because…

by Cheryl Lakes

Last year, after a cousin failed to show up at an elaborately planned garden wedding that his bride’s parents had spent a fortune on, and a friend had a similar experience where her groom showed up at the church and left before the ceremony began, I decided to go in search of those men who failed to show up for the wedding and were willing to confess as to why.  Here are some insights from both parties…the guilty groom and the jilted bride.         

Bob:  “I called my fiancée at 3 a.m. and told her I had changed my mind because I realized that I still loved my ex-wife.  But she talked me out of it because she had spent all this money on a huge wedding.  However, the next day, I couldn’t bring myself to go through it.  When I called to tell her, she demanded that I show up, because I owed her.  But I got on the highway instead.  I never spoke to her again.”

Jeff: “I changed my mind on the morning of the wedding, and I didn’t know how to tell her.  Getting married had really been her idea, and I had gone along because I was tired of dodging the issue.  But when I realized I had no passion for her, I knew I couldn’t live with my decision. I’m not proud of my actions, because I caused her some considerable embarrassment.  But I’m still glad we didn’t go through with it.”

Keith: “The night before my wedding, I saw a personality flip on my fiancee` that made me aware that I would be making a serious mistake if I married her.  We had a big argument and when I informed her that I wouldn’t be at the church the next day, she said she’d be there anyway.  And she was…and I wasn’t.  To this day I don’t regret my decision.  She set herself up for the chaos that followed.”

Don:  “I didn’t show up at the church because I decided that day that I wasn’t ready to get married, and I wasn’t going to go through it for the sake of her, her family, my family, or any embarrassment that might occur.  I realized that I was marrying the wrong person for the wrong reasons, and when I tried to tell her that morning, she started crying and hung up.  I was shocked when I heard she showed up at the church anyway.”

Quentin:  “I didn’t show up at the church because I had spent the previous night with an ex-girlfriend, and I realized that I wasn’t ready to be a husband.  I had all intentions of going through with it, but my heart just wasn’t in it.  I knew I wasn’t in love, but I felt compelled because we had been together a long time, and I knew she felt that I owed her a ring.  On the day of the wedding, I took the coward’s way out and cut my phone off, and went to bed.  We never spoke again.”

Paula: “I was stood up on my wedding day by a man who ended up marrying another woman on the other side of town during the time I was waiting at the church.  It turned out he was leading a double life and was engaged to two women.”                                        

Mari:  “I spent three years in jail for attempted murder after I shot my fiancé` when he failed to show up at the church, and I caught him later that night at a local club with an ex-girlfriend.”   

Jamie: “I was one of those who had a change of heart.  I called my wedding off when I realized two days before the wedding that I was marrying her because I felt it was the right thing to do since we had two kids and had been together over three years and that I wasn’t in love.”