This Is Why You Don't Make an Owl Your Ring Bearer

There are all kinds of ways to take a boring, ordinary wedding and make it memorable, like getting married at Disney World, Tim Horton's, or the garden section in the Walmart where you met. But sometimes, as one English couple learned earlier this month, it's probably better just to play it straight.

Looking to spice up their big day, Jeni Arrowsmith and Mark Wood decided to make an owl their ring bearer, which, at first, seemed cute and innocuous: Carrying their bands in a pouch tied to its leg, the plan was to let the bird zip down the aisle and gently deposit them at the altar like a real-life Hedwig. Instead, all hell broke loose and the bird went rogue, flapping around like the wild creature it is and attacking Wood's best man, the Guardian reports.

That's when the ceremony basically devolved into a scene from Planet Earth. The bird swooped in on the guy like a hawk picking off an unsuspecting mouse, sending him toppling out of his chair and onto the floor. Luckily, it didn't do go after his eyes or anything, and everyone at the wedding—bride and groom included—just laughed at their good friend's misfortune. The wedding photographer got a pretty nice shot, too.

"The best man’s reaction, when he fell off the seat and the crowd erupting into laughter was just great," Stacey Oliver, the wedding photographer, told the Guardian. "For some reason, the owl just decided he wanted to go for him and he was just terrified. He’s absolutely petrified of anything that flies."

According to the Daily Mail, the winged beast eventually backed off, settling down by the wedding register for the rest of the ceremony. Things went pretty smoothly from there on out—the happy couple said their vows, their loved ones gazed proudly up at them, and the dude who was mauled by an owl presumably had some new fodder for his best man's speech, so it probably could have been worse.

Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of VICE delivered to your inbox daily.

Follow Drew Schwartz on Twitter.

Related: Teen Too Lit at Wedding