Google me: When the happiest day ends in tears and regrets

By THERESA GARNER

Three wedding dresses turned up in a suitcase in the Ashley River bed this week, raising the spectre of three unhappy brides, and three wedding disasters.

A search on Google shows that "wedding disasters" are a worldwide phenomenon, and the number of tales seems to indicate that many people get a secret kick out of things going wrong on other people's big day.

"Did you pass out at the altar? Or did your bridesmaids get in a fight at the shower? What was your wedding trauma?" This invitation appears on Wedding Gazette.

Even wedding co-ordinators are not immune. One tells the story of her garden wedding, at which her bridesmaids sat on the ground.

"It smells like poop," said one. Yes, the flower-girl and ring-bearer had sat in doggy doo.

The Etiquette Hell website tells a wedding disaster story of Titanic proportions.

A mother of the bride who had relied on the groom's mother to make the wedding dress relates:

"I was in no way prepared for the absolute horror that was unveiled. The dress we uncovered was not just unattractive, it was hideous. You need a scratch'n'sniff picture to appreciate the way it reeked of cigarette smoke.

"It looked like a Halloween costume or something made by a kid in her first attempt at making a dress for her Barbie doll, or perhaps a costume made for a summer camp production of a Las Vegas musical."

The mother of the bride was forced to run to the mall.

Of course, everything is relative. I'm sure even these poor unfortunates would accept the relegation of their "wedding disaster" in the face of true disasters.

As CNN reports that Israel had its worst civilian disaster in 2001, when 23 people died in the collapse of a wedding reception hall.

"Wedding video footage shows smiling faces on the packed dance floor after Assi and Keren Sror were married on Thursday. Chaos ensues seconds later as the floor collapses under them."

The gloom of that story needs countering with the tale of Britney Spears' "wedding disaster" - drunken nuptials in Las Vegas.

You have to feel sorry for the bride who wrote to WholeFamily about her horrid wedding day.

She had tried to postpone it but her fiance wouldn't listen.

"My mother pretended to faint and told most of the guests that I belong to a cult (because we had a non-denominational minister).

"Most of my relatives did not attend, although they RSVP'd, so we ended up with only 30 guests and still had to pay for catering for over 100.

"No one stayed for the dance, and the sound system I had rented went unused.

"Sometimes I feel I have nothing to live for now that it's over. I am resentful of my husband for forcing me to marry him too soon and cheating me out of a real wedding.

"I want a divorce so that I can start over with a new marriage and a beautiful wedding. What should I do?"

But one person's disaster is another's money-making enterprise.

The internet is flooded with wedding planners and co-ordinators who can avert "disaster" and insurance brokers who can at least get your money back if disaster still strikes.

The WedSafe site says that nearly 2.5 million American couples tie the knot each year.

"If on the special day something ends up torn, split, late, lost, ruined, damaged, or just plain doesn't show up, a WedSafe insurance representative is available around the clock to advise the bride and respond to any claims."