What should have been a harmless wedding pronouncement: “You may kiss the bride” ended up igniting an unusual spectacle when a bride took to her heels last Saturday at the auditorium of the Universal Gospel Centre at Dansoman in Accra leaving the groom speechless and petrified.

The bride (name withheld) had been walked to the altar by her father to join her husband and had cooperated throughout the ceremony till the moment the officiating pastor urged the groom to kiss her.

Before the groom would even make the attempt, the bride bolted from the chapel to the amazement of the congregation including friends and kinsmen of both the groom and the bride.

The spectacle threw the church into a scene of drama, shock, laughter and surprise and brought the ceremony to a momentary standstill.

The development came to the attention of a large number of passers-by who flocked to the church to catch a glimpse of what was happening. And when they learnt of what had happened, some could not help, but to laugh.

After about 15 minutes, the bride returned to the church for the ceremony to continue. She knelt down before the groom and remorsefully apologised with tears flowing down her eyes.

The groom accepted the apology, but the bride still refused to kiss the groom. The pastor then continued with the wedding without any further 'kiss your bride' invitation.

The reason underlying the bride’s action was not immediately known, but a family member of the bride who spoke to ‘The Spectator’ at the scene on grounds of anonymity said it took the intervention of her family elders and pastors to persuade her to return to the chapel.