“Relationships are awful. They’ll kill you, right up to the point where they start saving your life.”
Weddings are meant to be magical – days filled with love, joy and the promise of a happily ever after. But, in the world of fiction, weddings don’t always follow the script. Whether it’s a shocking secret revealed at the altar, a dramatic last-minute objection or a sudden and mysterious disappearance, wedding disasters add unforgettable tension to a story and keep readers on the edge of their seats. There’s something about watching a perfect day unravel that we readers can’t help but find compelling, which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would delve into some of our favourite wedding disasters in books! Whether you’re a fan of romance with a dash of drama or thrillers that kick off with an ‘I do’, these books are bound to captivate you with their unforgettable wedding day surprises.
The People We Hate At The Wedding – Grant Ginder
Kicking off our list of wedding-themed books is Grant Ginder’s hilarious book, The People We Hate at the Wedding. The story follows a less-than-perfect family. Donna is the clan’s matriarch, Alice is in her thirties and stuck in her bland, monotonous life, and her brother, Paul, lives in Philadelphia with his professor boyfriend with a wandering eye. Eloise is the perfect product of Donna’s first marriage to a dashing Frenchman and, despite never going without for anything, is impeccably kind and decent.
Eloise is getting married and has invited the family for the ultimate big day full of fancy hotels, dinners at expensive restaurants and a reception at a picturesque country estate. As this estranged family gathers together and Eloise’s walk down the aisle approaches, Ginder presents in vivid, hilarious detail the power of family and the complex ways in which we hate the ones we love the most.
Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians #1) – Kevin Kwan
When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she imagines a quaint family home, long drives to explore the island and quality time with the man she has every intention of marrying someday. What she isn’t prepared for is Nick’s family home being a palace, and how having one of the wealthiest bachelors in the country on your arm leaves you with a target on your back.
Immersed in the world of splendour beyond imagination, Rachel soon meets Astrid, the It Girl of Singapore society, Eddie, whose family practically own the pages of Hong Kong socialite magazines, and Eleanor, Nick’s formidable mother who has very particular opinions on who her son should, or shouldn’t marry. Addictive and full of jaw-dropping opulence, Kevin Kwan’s debut novel, Crazy Rich Asians, is a tale about old and new money, and what it means to be young, in love and wealthy beyond belief.
The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date #1) – Jasmine Guillory
Agreeing to attend a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in a lift is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t usually find herself doing. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist. On the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, Drew is down a plus one. That is until a timely power outage leaves him stranded with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend.
After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and do his job as a paediatrician. Alexa returns to her home in Brekeley where she continues her role as the mayor’s chief-of-staff. The two of them are just two high-powered professionals who are either hurtling toward a long-distance dating disaster or perhaps bridging the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want.
The Guest List – Lucy Foley
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests amass to celebrate the wedding of two glamorous individuals joining their lives together as one. The bride is a smart and ambitious magazine publisher; the groom, a handsome and charming rising television personality. From the remote location, the designer dress to the boutique whiskey, it all appears to be a perfect day for the ages.
Yet, perfection is for plans and people soon prove to be all too human. As the champagne is popped and the celebrations get underway, resentments and rivalries begin to mingle within the reminiscences and well wishes. And then one of the attendees is found dead. Lucy Foley’s The Guest List is one of the best thriller books set at a wedding where readers are immersed in the dark secrets of this happy occasion to discover who and why someone isn’t keen on wishing the happy couple well.
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Something Borrowed (Darcy & Rachel #1) – Emily Griffin
Rachel has always been the epitome of a good girl. That is, until her thirtieth birthday when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after far too many drinks, Rachel winds up in the bed of Darcy’s fiance. While she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy in the world she should have nothing to do with.
As the dreaded big day in September draws nearer, Rachel knows that she has a decision to make. In doing so, she soon learns that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren’t always tied up nearly and, sometimes, it takes risking it all to finally grab hold of happiness. One of the best books about wedding disasters, Emily Griffin’s debut novel, Something Borrowed, guarantees to have you laughing, crying and ringing up all your best friends.
The Wedding Plot (Mercy & Elvis Mysteries #4) – Paula Munier
When Mercy’s grandmother, Patience, marries her longtime companion, Claude Renault, at the five-star Lady’s Slipper Inn, the whole day promises to be the wedding of the year. Just as the four-day extravaganza gets underway, the inn’s spa director, Bodhi St. George, vanishes. Patience instructs Mercy and Elvis to locate him. Instead, what they discover is a stranger skewered by a pitchfork in the barn on the goat farm where St. George lived.
As Mercy races to work out the identity of the stranger and where St. George has disappeared to, the bride and groom’s estranged relatives all arrive for the pre-wedding celebrations. Long-buried secrets and resentments soon begin to surface as Mercy realises they’re all holding revelations that could split either side of the family apart. With the families and festivities under threat, Paula Munier delivers a compelling mystery where Mercy and Elvis are forced to stop the killer and save both bride and groom before death do they part.
Save The Date – Morgan Matson
Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this coming weekend at the family home, and Charlie is excited for all four of her older siblings to be under the same roof for the first time in years. She is preparing for one final perfect weekend full of jokes, games and laughter again. The only issue? The wedding is shaping up to be a complete disaster. There’s the house alarm that keeps going off, the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, relatives who aren’t speaking, missing tuxedoes, neighbours conspiring on sabotage and an impending storm that threatens to drench everything.
In Morgan Matson’s hilarious book about a wedding disaster for the ages, Charlie learns over the course of three chaos-filled days about the family she thought she knew better than anyone. She’ll even realise that sometimes trying to maintain everything as it was in the past means missing out on the future.
The Wedding Crashers – Mia Sosa
Just weeks away from leaving DC behind in search of greener pastures, Solange Pereira is roped into helping her wedding planner cousin on a random couple’s big day. It’s a simple enough assignment; until she stumbles upon a situation that leaves her adamant the pair aren’t meant to be. But, what is she supposed to do? Crash the wedding, naturally.
Dean Chapman was all set to kickstart his perfect life into gear when his modern-day marriage of convenience was upended. He then learns that he might not land a crucial assignment without a significant other. In a moment of panic, he confesses his love for the woman who crashed his wedding. In Mia Sosa’s hilarious book that begins with a wedding disaster, Dean and Solange parade about town in their fake relationship until their performance turns into a connection that neither of them can deny.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
