Wedding Joke Backfires

Many of us have been tempted to try a witty remark when the priest arrives at that crucial juncture: "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

There's so much potential there.... All the same, most people hold back in the interests of general good will. No one wants to be handbagged to death by an irate mother of the bride.

However, a wedding joke recently back-fired to painful effect in Steyr, Austria, when the bridegroom claimed (momentarily) that she didn't want to marry her knight in shining armour.

After initially saying no, the bride immediately remedied the scenario by confirming that of course she did want to marry Mr Right. But it was too late.

The official performing the civil ceremony was not amused. Indeed, he was so unamused that he announced that the wedding was off. The not so happy couple pleaded for him to continue, but the official was having none of it. There was to be no wedding.

Local newspaper 'Oberoesterreichischen Nacrichten' revealed that the couple was obliged to postpone their nuptials for a further eight weeks. One only hopes that there wasn't a crowd of revellers waiting to party with the pair that first time round. "I'm sorry lads, the wedding's off - we made a bad joke..." Although the Registry Office itself declined to comment, they revealed that such incidents were rare.