OK, it's the most important day of your life and you can wear whatever the heck you want, but does it need to be that off the wall? Some people dream of their wedding dresses all their lives, but these frock horrors are more like the stuff of nightmares...

1. Bumpy

Does anyone think this lady might be expecting?

2. Barbie

Rumours that there are women hiding somewhere inside these dresses are yet to be confirmed.

3. Lengthy

In Budapest, 17-year-old model Ema Dumitrescu dragged a 2750 metre long train behind her for this Guinness World Record attempt. With 4700 metres of taffeta and 5.5 metres of Chantilly lace, the fabric alone cost £5000.

4. Olympian

A bridegroom in the Chinese city of Guangzhou saw his wife-to-be's dress as the perfect opportunity to pay homage to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At 200.8 metres long, the gargantuan gown was also the country's longest when it was made, which surely deserves a gold medal.

5. Tying the knit

It's hard to believe that this silly-looking design is by YSL. It dates back to 1965, when looking like a loo roll holder was all the rage.

6. Aw, petal.

In China, Xiao Fan proposed to his girlfriend, Yin Mi, with a painstakingly-made wedding dress of 9,999 red roses. Thankfully, she said yes.

7. Hairy

In Liverpool, wedding dress designer Thelma Madine of 'Big Fat Gypsy Weddings' fame got together with hairdressing salon Voodou to create this human hair frock. Eight people worked for around 300 hours to finish the dress, which was made of tens of thousands of individual hair wefts and 12 underskirts and probably never got used for an actual wedding.

8. Sheepish

Shepherdess Louise Fairburn loves her rare breed Lincoln Longwool sheep so much that she crafted her wedding dress from their wool.

9. Wear your cake and eat it

What are the two most important things at a wedding? If you said the Bride and Groom you've clearly never been a bride. The correct answer of course is the dress and the cake. That being the case, why not combine the two for something a bit less traditional? Designed by Lukka Sigurdardottir, this incredible, edible dress design lets you wear your cake and eat it too.

10. Sweet

Ukranian pastry chef Valentyn Shtefano baked his bride's wedding dress, which is made predominantly of cream puffs (1500 of them, to be precise) . We're not sure how she went about sitting down.Or going to the loo. Or doing anything, except pose for this photograph.

11. X-rated

No comment.

12. A brush with style

Why have a traditional wedding dress when you can just go for body paint? Just hope it doesn't rain on your big day. That could be embarrassing.

13. Alive

Shortly after this photograph was taken, the dress ate the groom.

14. Belt up

"Glamour" model Jodie Marsh puts her own unique take on the term 'bridal wear'.

15. Wide load

You'd really have trouble getting through the average church or registry office door in this number. Not just because of the width of it, but because of the blindfold. Sorry, veil.

16. Cocky

Can you believe the back of this peacock-feather wedding dress doesn't flip up and fan out? How disappointing.

17. Blow up

This inflatable dress can be made to order. Can you imagine the fun you could have at the reception with the buttonhole pins?

18. Bog standard

Simple, yet surprisingly effective. Until you move, that is. Or the wedding venue loos run out of paper...

19. Busty

Everyone has strapless dresses these days, so why not copy this lady and go for a unique take on the trend? Your guests won't know where to look and you'll probably have a wardrobe malfunction during the first dance but it's different, isn't it?

20. Sporty

When Karen Bell, a Manchester United fan, married Simon, a City Fan, she decided to surprise him. Using his old kits and a flag, she created this.

21. Latexy

Artist Susie MacMurray used 1400 rubber gloves to create this avant garde gown. Reports say no dentists or doctors were harmed during its creation.