Wedding guest shares horror story of officiant ruining the ceremony by using A.I.

"Officiant used ChatGPT and ruined the ceremony..."

Literally everything else in this wedding went well…save for the ceremony itself. So for this story you’re gonna need to know that I’m an amateur pianist and also a close family member of the bride. So I was asked to play a song dedicated to the bride and groom at the ceremony. This would be all well and good if not for who I’m shaming today: the officiant.

This wedding has been being planned for months, the officiant was selected by the church but was given a list of how things were to go in the wedding. I repeat SHE WAS TOLD WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN! We even gave out little pamphlets at the beginning of the event with what we were doing.

So, the first part of the wedding goes pretty well, everyone walks in, they’re stunning, everyone is smiling. Then comes the officiant. She was meant to welcome everyone before one of the family members of the groom came up to do an opening prayer. But by now you should know that’s not what happened.

She starts to talk about the happy couple and she calls the groom the wrong name. Okay, whatever, he has a kinda unique name it happens. But the name that she calls him. I kid you not. Is the name of the bride’s ex-husband. I will say at least, the ex-husband’s name is technically in the groom’s name but absolutely no one refers to him as that.

Imagine you’re named "Gilbert" but everyone calls you "Gill" and "Bert" just so happens to be the name of your wife’s ex-husband. Anyways, we try to quietly correct her but she doesn’t seem to hear us. Then she makes the mistake again, the groom is getting mad, we correct her at more of a speaking volume.

Y'all, she does this THREE TIMES the third time what had to be most of the wedding guests yelled out the correct name. We think the worst of it is over, but no, it’s just begun.

As I’m listening to what she’s saying I’m picking up on A LOT of AI language, and since I could kind of see the book she was reading from where I was sitting I could see that some of the pages were written by hand while others were printed out. She started giving us a history lesson about the place they were getting married at some point during her speech, and at that point I knew it was ChatGPT.

I was more or less like “Whatever, it’s just the welcome, the prayer will be soon and then we can put this behind us." Yeah, the prayer never came. She skipped right to the vows. Literally everything that we practiced went out the window. The bride is trying SO hard to calm the groom down but it’s clear she’s also pissed and just attempting to salvage this.

They do their vows, and they’re beautiful, no complaints. But as they’re like midway through, I am approached from behind and told. “You’re up after the vows. Just try to get up on stage as quickly as possible so that she can’t start talking again.” What a day to be the main source of entertainment aye?

I try my best to do that but I’m literally shaking with anxiety since I didn’t have any time to cool my nerves beforehand. I messed up like 8 ways to Sunday while playing but it didn’t seem like anyone noticed since people still came up and complimented me after. That or they were just nice enough to not mention it.

And now I’m like “Phew. Okay. Time for all the other family members to do their scripture reading we practiced and we’re done.” You already know that didn’t happen. She skips all the way to THE EXCHANGE OF THE RINGS! The SECOND TO LAST THING ON THE PROGRAM. The bride is the one that looks like she’s about to explode now but the groom is comforting her.

We’re able to finally make it through but, of course, everyone’s upset. Especially the bride and groom. Some family members that were meant to do readings and prayers are complaining or crying a little. And yeah. The officiant was nowhere to be seen once the ceremony concluded pretty sure I didn’t even see her walk out. But knowing the couple, I’m 120% sure the bride, groom or both tore into her.

Here's what people had to say to OP:

faithlessone423 said:

Wow, honestly, I would have stopped the wedding in that bride and groom's position. Literally just told her to shut the f up and called up the scripture readers myself. Really sorry that you were messed up too!

JayPlenty24 said:

I don't understand why someone just didn't interrupt her and take her into the hallway and tell her to shut up and just stand there being quiet until it's time to exchange the rings, and just take over. It wouldn't be less awkward than what took place and at least the bride and groom would have things run smooth after.

Loose_Acanthaceae201 said:

If you skip enough, it isn't going to be a legal marriage! What a disaster...

answers2linda said:

That’s a shame. My family usually get married in church where everyone knows the couple and the service is right there in the prayer book. It must be difficult having to make things up and find a stranger. I sure hope their marriage will go a lot better than their wedding!

SweetMelissaNash said:

Wow. This went worse than I was expecting given the title. I’ll admit I used ChatGPT to help me with my vows. But then I got so nervous with all eyes on me that I had our officiant just do the standard thing. (She by the way did great for it being her first wedding, a friend who got ordained just to marry us).

MerelyWhelmed1 said:

And this is why you don't have a stranger do a wedding. Get married in a church you attend with clergy who has met with you and who knows you because you actually attend. Get married in a country club where you have a membership and have a family friend officiate. Get married in the backyard with your brother handling the duties of guiding the program. And have a proper rehearsal, no matter what.

Do not have a complete stranger do the wedding. The minute the officiant kept using the wrong name, she should have been asked to stop. Instead people let the ceremony be ruined by an idiot.