Meanwhile in India: Bridesmaid Steps in to Marry Groom After Bride Dies of Heart Attack, Totally Not Awkward Setup For Family Photos

Sometimes weddings don’t go according to plan. Like when the florist brings the wrong bouquet or drunk uncle Jeff shows up uninvited to make a speech. But how do you salvage a ceremony in which the bride dies of a heart attack during the exchanging of the rings?

In the case of Surabhi and Mangesh Kumar, you ask the bride’s sister to step in. The young couple was right in the middle of their nuptials when Surabhi suddenly collapsed. After doctors arrived on the scene, they pronounced her dead leaving Mangesh without a bride.

As guests waited, the two families got together and came up with a solution. Surabhi’s younger sister Nisha would step in and finish the wedding as a pinch hitter. In a small bit of luck, Nisha was single and willing to take her sister’s place at the altar.

If this sounds to you like the plot to the next Bollywood blockbuster, you aren’t alone.

“It was a bizarre situation as the wedding of my younger sister took place while the dead body of my other sister was lying in another room,” Surabhi’s brother said.

Roughly 90 percent of marriages in India are arranged in order to bring two select families together. Because so much vetting goes into both parties to ensure a good match, in the case of Mangesh and Surabhi they decided it was worth it to “keep it in the family” to preserve the union of these two clans.

After taking a moment to reset, the Hindu ceremony continued without a hitch, though both families and their guests were filled with mixed emotions throughout what is normally a very lively reception. We can only imagine how those family photos turned out.

Cover Photo: Manjit Singh / EyeEm (Getty Images)

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