Bride's horror find under wedding dress during first dance

An Australian bride was left horrified after her first dance went terribly wrong. Photo / TikTok @madalyn.wise

As most brides can attest, there's always something that doesn't go quite to plan at your wedding.

But spare a thought for this Australian woman who was midway through her first dance with her new husband when she was tugged off the dance floor by her mother-in-law.

In her white bridal gown, the just-married Madalyn Wise and new husband, Jayden, were sharing their bridal waltz when guests saw a stream of blood pouring out from under Madalyn's wedding gown.

Initially, the new bride suspected the "stress" of planning a wedding in Covid had caused her period to arrive early – but when her mother-in-law lifted the skirt of her dress, they discovered what was really going on.

"There were three leeches," the 24-year-old said in a now-viral TikTok video.

"There was one underneath my foot, one in the pit of my knee - like the armpit of my knee - and there was another one crawling up my leg.

"There was just so much blood, and it seemed like it wasn't going to stop bleeding."

Madalyn Wise has recounted on TikTok the horror story of her wedding day. Photo / TikTok @madalyn.wise

Madalyn tied the knot at Summergrove Estate in the New South Wales Hinterlands, which had received a lot of rain in the lead-up to their April wedding last year.

She believes the leeches had attached themselves to her leg when the couple had trekked through a field of "long, sludgy grass" to capture their gorgeous wedding photos.

But unwittingly, she had picked up more than a few sentimental frames, and had continued on with the big day, all while three of the bloodsuckers were getting their fix under her gown.

"The really, really fat one was the one that was in my knee pit. And it would have been there for like three hours," Madalyn said.

Thankfully, leeches are generally not dangerous and their bite is painless, though it can be extremely itchy after removal.

They release a painkilling chemical so that the host does not feel them, which is why the bride hadn't noticed until blood started showing on her wedding dress.

"The fat one that was in my video had actually filled up with blood and dropped off my leg on the dance floor, which is why so much blood started to come out of my dress," she said.

"It was [on my leg] from the photo shoot in the afternoon until our first dance.

"So it was literally on me throughout my whole reception – through dinner and the speeches."

Luckily for her friends and family in attendance, Madalyn's was the only leech attack at her nuptials.

She went on to praise her wedding photographer for dabbing out all the bloodstains on her dress with a sponge and a mixture of water and baking soda.

He was one big sucker. Photo / TikTok @madalyn.wise

Meanwhile, the groom, unaware of the "shocking" ordeal, didn't leave his new bride's side while the situation was dealt with.

"He stayed with me the whole time this was happening, and he was really supportive," she said.

"But I'll never forget when he first came in and saw me," she said, adding it was extremely "shocking".

TikTok was quick to react, with many international users saying it was yet another reason why they would never live in Australia.

"Every day I open TikTok and just get another reason to not visit Australia," joked one woman.

"New fear unlocked. Australia looks beautiful but it's things like this that make me not want to go," said another.

Madalyn said she and her new husband were able to continue the night once her leg was bandaged up, adding it "didn't really hit me" until the following day.