How to cope if you're Left at the Altar

Being left at the altar has to be the ultimate nightmare for a groom or bride. Think about it, you possibly spent months planning your wedding, all your guests are seated, and the priest or minister is prepared to marry you, but the would be bride or groom is nowhere to be found. It would obviously be one of the most humiliating and hurtful experience of anyone's life, but thankfully, it is a rare event. However, if you are a jilted bride or groom, you need some coping strategies so that you do not allow the bad experience to affect future relationships.

Because everyone has heard of being left at the altar, on your wedding day it is likely that the thought of standing there waiting and your groom or bride not showing up is always on everyone's mind. If you happen to find that you are one of the very few that are actually left standing at the altar, there is a way of making it through the day and still holding your head high.

First, while you are not trying to jinx the wedding, both the bride and the groom need to have someone available to stand up for them and announce the cancellation of the wedding if the bride or the groom does not show up. This way you can return to a quiet area where no one can find you while the person addresses the guests and lets them know that the wedding is cancelled because the bride or the groom decided to back out.

Obviously, the guests will be in shock at the announcement so do not be surprised if you have people fighting, blaming, or crying. The person that is designated to make the announcement should be able to get control of the guests. Many times since the reception is paid for, the guests can be invited to attend, but the groom or bride that was left at the altar will not be attendance, naturally.

Once the wedding day is over and you have had time to sort some of your feelings out, you may have so many questions especially if the groom or bride is not giving you answers why they backed out. If your honeymoon is non-refundable, you might consider going alone to clear your head and help to heal your heart rather than just going back to what you were doing before planning for the wedding. By getting away, you do not have to face family or friends and have a chance to try to make sense of the entire situation.

All of the wedding gifts need to be returned to the gift givers, but you may leave this up to someone else, as it may be too emotional for you to handle on your own. As for the ring of the bride, it is customary if the bride left the groom at the altar, she should return the ring, but if the groom left the bride, then she is not obligated to return the ring.

No one likes to imagine the possibility of being left at the altar, but you should have it covered just in case so that if it happened, you have people around you that can help you through the day.