--- title: Here's How To Cancel A Wedding The Right Way description: 13 percent of engagements don’t end in marriage. But as The New York Times reports, although cancellations are common, they can still be uncomfortable and emotionally draining. Yesterday, the Times published profiles of multiple couples who had broken off their engagements and been forced to go through the emotional process of canceling a wedding. Here are their tips for people in the same pickle: canonical: https://time.com/4343028/cancel-wedding-engagement/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-20T19:30:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:33.220Z og:title: How to Call Off a Wedding, According to Couples Who Did It og:description: From reimbursing guests to announcing it on Facebook og:url: https://time.com/4343028/cancel-wedding-engagement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2d8c304f8e323d/6988941d8e06014aab465f99/cancel-wedding-engagement-party.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4875 og:image:height: 2742 og:image:alt: Bride and groom figurines lying at destroyed wedding cake on tiled floor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Call Off a Wedding, According to Couples Who Did It twitter:description: From reimbursing guests to announcing it on Facebook twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2d8c304f8e323d/6988941d8e06014aab465f99/cancel-wedding-engagement-party.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Call Off a Wedding, According to Couples Who Did It > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=85a10d0d-2ebc-4801-b884-b037f6851f3c&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher May 20, 2016 7:30 PM UTC  Bride and groom figurines lying at destroyed wedding cake on tiled floor Bride and groom figurines lying at destroyed wedding cake on tiled floor Jeffrey Hamilton—Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher May 20, 2016 7:30 PM UTC Canceling a wedding isn’t as uncommon as you might think: According to one estimate, [13% of engagements](http://www.theweddingreport.com/) are called off. The [New York _Times_ ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/fashion/weddings/canceled-weddings-what-to-do.html)published profiles of multiple couples who had broken off their engagements and been forced to go through the emotional process of canceling a wedding. Here are some tips from people who went through it themselves: **1\. Let loved ones spread the word on your behalf**“You have to have family or social support when you’re dealing with hard emotions,” said Eve Sturges, a therapist who canceled her wedding just eight weeks before the ceremony. Sturges’ mother sent postcards to the attendees, which read, “The wedding of Eve and Jim is postponed indefinitely. Thank you for your love and support.” [_Follow Motto on Facebook._](https://www.facebook.com/mottoworkplaylive/) **2\. Reimburse the bridal party, and return gifts**After lawyer Stacey Becker called off her wedding, she canceled her Crate & Barrel and Macy’s registries and returned any gifts she had received. She also wrote checks to reimburse friends for engagement party gifts (but notes that none of them were cashed). **_Read more:_** [_A Wedding Costs This Much Money in America_](http://motto.time.com/4284040/average-wedding-cost/?iid=sr-link1) **3\. Don’t shy away from other weddings**Chances are, if you’re at the point in your life where you’re ready to get married, you have a bunch of friends in the same boat. Your own cancellation shouldn’t mean you skip out on other weddings. “On the date of her own canceled wedding, Ms. Becker, who eventually broke up with her fiancé, had been invited to a wedding of a summer-camp friend. She didn’t want to go because she was so emotional about the date, but another friend, who had recently gone through his own breakup, persuaded her that they should go together. He is now her husband and the father to their 2-year-old son,” the _Times_ reported. Read the full story at the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/fashion/weddings/canceled-weddings-what-to-do.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4343028/cancel-wedding-engagement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4343028/cancel-wedding-engagement/"},"headline":"How to Call Off a Wedding, According to Couples Who Did It","datePublished":"2016-05-20T19:30:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:33.220Z","description":"From reimbursing guests to announcing it on Facebook","url":"https://time.com/4343028/cancel-wedding-engagement/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2d8c304f8e323d/6988941d8e06014aab465f99/cancel-wedding-engagement-party.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2d8c304f8e323d/6988941d8e06014aab465f99/cancel-wedding-engagement-party.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bride and groom figurines lying at destroyed wedding cake on tiled floor","caption":"Bride and groom figurines lying at destroyed wedding cake on tiled floor","creditText":"Jeffrey Hamilton—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4343028/cancel-wedding-engagement/","name":"How to Call Off a Wedding, According to Couples Who Did It"}}]}] ```