Bride's bad joke brings wedding ceremony to halt in Austria


(1/05/07 - VIENNA, Austria) - Wedding jokes aren't always funny. When a bride in Austria jokingly answered "no" instead of "yes" when asked if she wanted to marry her husband-to-be, the official performing the civil wedding promptly broke off the ceremony.

Not even the bride's sobs could reverse the decision and the couple had to wait two and a half months before they could give it another -- successful -- try, the Austrian newspaper Oberoesterreichischen Nachrichten reported Friday.

Officials at the registry office in the city of Steyr where the mishap occurred declined to comment directly but noted the incident was highly unusual, according to the newspaper.