6 Real Brides Canceled Their Wedding: Here's What They Did Instead

When you’re pouring your brainpower, your savings account, and your free time into planning a wedding, you never plan for your wedding to be called off. But, it can happen. And if it does, navigating the headaches of reaching out to vendors and asking for refunds, and having to alert guests and return their gifts, are just some of the things you’ll have to push through if your wedding is canceled. Another is making alternative plans for what would have been your wedding day so that you can survive a potentially tough 24 hours.

Ever wondered how in the world you’d be able to get through your wedding day if your wedding was called off? Read on to hear from six brides who canceled their wedding and what they chose to do instead.

Taking a Long Nap

“Not only was it my wedding day, but we decided to get married on Valentine’s Day. Horrible idea. We called the wedding off three months before it was supposed to happen. I wondered what I was supposed to do on the most romantic day of the year that was supposed to also be my wedding day: a double whammy of misery. I ended up crawling into my bed around lunchtime, calling in sick to work and just sleeping through the whole day. It was the most relaxing way to spend the worst day of my life.” —Rosi R., 31

Tossing the Cell Phone

“I called my wedding off just two weeks before it was supposed to happen. I caught my fiancé cheating on me with someone he worked with. How wonderful is that? I called it off and we lost thousands of dollars to vendors we couldn’t get a refund from. I was so depressed on the day. Every single person I ever knew called or texted me asking me how I was doing. I wasn’t doing well, and every time my phone buzzed, I got angry. I ended up throwing my phone into the lake.” —Sarah W., 29

Going on a Date

“I know it’s crazy, but on my wedding day, I went on a date with someone else. I was only engaged for 60 days before calling it off. I just panicked and realized it wasn’t the right thing to do and it was the very wrong guy. The wedding was set for a year and a half later, so by the time it happened, it wasn’t that big of a deal to be out on a date. I ended up dating that person for a few months and finally told them that our first date was my old wedding day. They were weirded out.” —Victoria F., 27

Throwing a Party With All the Booze

“I bought all the booze for the wedding, so even though we called it off (three weeks before), I still had a ton of alcohol that I had paid for. I invited over my guest list from the wedding to my house (that I kicked my lying fiancé out of) and had a giant party. People, including me, got wasted. It wasn’t such a bad day after all. I still got to party with my favorite people.” —Jenny P., 29

Taking the Honeymoon Solo

“The worst part about calling off a wedding two months before it happens is that a lot of the money you spend planning it is money you can’t get back. I couldn’t cancel our honeymoon to Ireland so I just went solo. I paid to go an extra day early, on our planned wedding day, and then spent a week there doing all the things we thought we were going to do as a pair. My fiancé was the one who broke things off. I bet he regretted it when he saw my trip pictures. But we haven’t spoken since we split up.” —Rachel E., 31

Choosing Therapy

“I spent the wedding day at my therapist’s office and then I hid in my house.” —Claudia F., 30