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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#264: Save the Date

From romantic comedies like 27 Dresses to suspenseful thrillers like Lucy Foley’s The Guest List, it’s no secret that weddings are a compelling backdrop for storytelling. I’ve personally got weddings on the brain after attending a few this summer — and while they all went smoothly, I’m still intrigued by the narrative possibilities of dramatic, comedic, and just plain outlandish weddings!

This week’s prompts draw from those possibilities, though they’re worded in a way that doesn’t necessarily require you to write a “wedding story.” Whether your characters stroll down the aisle or avoid it altogether, now’s your chance to take them on a captivating journey… in sickness, in health, as long as they both shall live, or under any other circumstances you might invent for them.

This week's prompts

Center your story around two people who meet at a wedding.

Character – 72 stories

Write a story in the form of a speech (or multiple speeches).

Character – 24 stories

Start your story with people arriving at a special ceremony.

Character – 31 stories

Write a story from the POV of a plus-one.

Character – 48 stories

End your story with someone saying “I do.”

Character – 113 stories

Stories

“Tulle” by Amelia Corbeau

Submitted to Contest #264

If there exists a more offensive fabric than tulle, I’m quite certain that I don’t know it. Have never known it, and absolutely do not care to know it. It’s a horrible, garish fabric, tulle. Gauzy and itchy and stifling. Condemning the wearer to a smothering cocoon of crumbled glass gritting against flesh. To the tongues of feral cats licking up the bare of my legs, all the way to the sensitive skin across my belly. And the rustling. My god the rustling. The rustling is incessant. Deafening and inescapable. The rustling seems to drown o...

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“BEST MAN / TOP BOY” by Colin Wadeson

Submitted to Contest #264

*This story contains themes of drug use and violence.*BEST MAN / TOP BOYI tapped the microphone. BFF! BFF!'Er, hello? Ladies and gentleman. Your attention, please.'The crowd settled down. They were almost all guests of the bride. There were even a couple of coppers in there, including the bride's brother.'Thanks. Best man, here. Well, I ain't much of a talker, but here goes. Congratulations Leon and Lisa! I first met Leon fifteen years ago. We were down The Crown... Big surprise, yeah? Er, that's a pub by the Hamlets, by the way. It was Apri...

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“Plus-One, Minus-One” by A.Y. Nook

Submitted to Contest #264

It’s not often that I get to be someone’s plus-one at a wedding, or am invited to weddings at all, for that matter. I’ve crashed a few of them, but I always feel a bit guilty about it afterward. This was nice. I’d spent extra time on my appearance, glad for the excuse to spiff myself up, even though no one paid me the slightest attention when I arrived. That’s okay. I don’t like being made a spectacle of, and much prefer being low-key. You may not believe that, given some of my more ostentatious performances, but in my defense I have very li...

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“The Signature Tree” by Stephen Vincent

Submitted to Contest #264

James was working his mill in the early morning chill, set up in a clearing cradled in the crook of two intersecting ridges. Millenia of colluvial deposits formed this broad, flat terrace that now nourished a forest of towering grey gum, white mahogany, stringybark and ironbark. Wildlife sounds usually filled the air in this glade above the gullies. Lyrebirds’ symphonies of masterful mimicry, territorial auditory archives of the forest, were indistinguishable from the original. The plaintive ‘kee’ squeals as red-tailed black cockatoos soared...

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“Wedding Vows” by Casey Plazola

Submitted to Contest #264

Greggory Thomas was a moderately happy man. He had a decent job, which he hated; a cheap car without any mechanical issues, a balding spot on the top of his head and a gut which hung lower than he felt was needed. Most importantly, he had a bride-to-be who was just as moderately happy as he was. His life was good and he was a good, yet boring man. Monica Krill was a liar. They had been together for three years and two months to the day. They met online, then again for coffee. Since the second date, they couldn’t keep their hands off ea...

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“Celestine meets Luciano” by Tirashia Lastrapes

Submitted to Contest #264

Clarence Roosevelt and Clementine Fitzgerald had jumped the broom. Clementine gave birth 2 years before. Named her Clare Ann Roosevelt. Clarence was happier than kids in a water balloon fight on a sizzling hot day. In a little town called Mancini, they picked the one and only church big enough to fit a thousand people inside. Light gray and royal blue were the colors for the wedding. Clementine's hair pin curled which complimented her soft and playful features. She was a slender framed woman. Short and sweet. She wore light gray o...

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“The Howling Hare Tale” by Nobu Dostoyevsky

Submitted to Contest #264

A few months ago, my best friend, Kaster, got engaged to my other friend, Vanil. At first, they couldn’t stand each other. That was probably due to Kaster being as stubborn as a wizard, searching for a book he couldn’t find. And I know that because Vanil is a wizard, and he occasionally drags me to bookshops with him. Once, he refused to believe the bookshop didn’t have the book and looked at every book title for hours. Vanil might be stubborn about finding books, but he’d always admit his wrongs. Kaster would refuse to admit his fault,...

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“A Fantastical Wedding and a Cliffside Chat” by Avery Forrester

Submitted to Contest #264

Ah, everyone loves a royal wedding. Truly a momentous occasion, the thing of fairytales. And the marriage between Tavalon and Orishenn was no exception.I met Princess Lorelai of Orishenn on the day of her wedding when I crashed the ceremony.Literally.I crashed through the church window.“The Pirate-Witch of Caelkirk has arrived to object this matrimony with my own wedding procession!” I bellowed to the crowd below. The guards had barely enough time to draw their weapons before the doorway burst open and my crew barrelled into the church.Now, ...

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“Wedding Shoes” by Sophie Court-Oak

Submitted to Contest #264

I knew I should never have bought these shoes. My feet are throbbing as I limp over to the patch of grass across from the wedding tent adorned with fairy lights, throwing myself down and ripping off my shoes to feel some relief. Granted, it was a beautiful day for a wedding despite everything else. The sun was beating down upon happy faces and shining off the sparkly new ring adorning my sister’s left hand as she glides through the mass of her guests. If only I could get out of my head and join in with the fun. I am happy for her, don’t get ...

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“Something Blue” by Keith Menendez

Submitted to Contest #264

Seravina Rebus posed before an ornate long mirror in the master bedroom on the villa’s first floor. The ivory Bohemian dress flowed perfectly around her athletic build. The Tasanaris had graciously allowed her to use the room to get ready. A distant church bell chimed twelve times. The ceremony would finally begin in thirty minutes. Seravina smiled as the reflection revealed two members of her new family. Mrs. Hemingway, the groom’s adopted mother, fiddled with the final touches of Vina’s dress, while Emmy, Too...

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“THE UNFORTUNATE SERENDIPITY AT KING KAMEHAMEHA” by Gina Ronhovde

Submitted to Contest #264

THE UNFORTUNATE SERENDIPITY AT KING KAMEHAMEHAThe sun was hot, and the air was dry. Loralyn had been praying for a rainstorm, dreading this day. She wanted to smoke outdoors without starting a wildfire. Something to cool down her sweaty body and flush out the noise parade in her head. Maybe even an excuse to duck out early.The same old conversation bits kept floating by:“Oh, my gosh, it’s been forever!”“So, what do you do for work?”“Are you married?”“Do you have kids?”Loralyn loathed weddings. Couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe it was the drain of...

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“Chester and the Dame” by Elton James

Submitted to Contest #264

“It was a beautiful ceremony, wasn’t it?” Click, click, click. An image of a woman, one of eight people seated at a circular table smiles at another woman, seated to her right. Click. “Oh yes, absolutely perfect!” The woman sitting opposite, smiling back. Theo’s finger beats a steady rhythm on his camera’s shutter button as he works the wedding reception. High end guests make obligatory smalltalk in the ballroom of a golf and country club. Plush carpets, hardwood tables in a crescent around a dance floor under chandeliers drippin...

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“Fireplace” by Ira Watson

Submitted to Contest #264

Remnants of the sunset warped through the window, scattering amber across the worn planks of the farmhouse. Rose sat atop a wobbly stool, one hand clutching Paul’s, the other stroking his thin wisps of white hair. She had spent her life by his side, and that certainly wasn’t going to change here at the end. Dr. Anders closed his bag, careful not to disturb the elderly couple. He looked at them for a moment as Paul gazed at Rose, his eyes strained. A labored s...

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“BEING THE LIGHT IN SOMEONE’S DARKNESS” by Robert Kovacs

Submitted to Contest #264

I've prepared for your imminent retirement which was originally planned for April 2020, but that is also the same time the world was starting a shutdown due to Covid. You decided to stay and ride out the tidal wave of unchartered waters and ride the wave as a first-rated surfer not sure of not the just what, but when will the next wave will hit. Your fiscal austerity guided our YMCA athough these difficult times and just over two years, we may not be fully out of the impact of the pandemic, but there is light being seen with our me...

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“one ticket for the souls of the damned ” by Seni Meni

Submitted to Contest #264

The muffled snarls got louder when the guests filtered in. The wood creaked from the stress of the ghouls pressing against it. These sounds were still audible, even under the jolly marching band positioned along the docks; even under the clink of champagne glasses. As the water spat on the shores, the city folk spat back at the boat behind their decorated masks, held up by a stick between gloved fingers. The dress-code was black: black like the dammed souls banging on the oak. It was suitably mocking. It was suitably fitting. The city folk w...

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$250

Prize money

288

Contest entries

105

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Aug 23, 2024 EST

Won by Lonnie Russo 🏆

Title: Men on the Moon

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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