Tag this under bizarre wedding news — over the weekend, 20 brides in Bucharest, were (willingly!) taken hostage by friends during the reception and ransomed back to their husbands-to-be as part of a growing trend in Romania.

Wedding guests took the charade to the extreme as some “kidnappers” followed elaborate scripts, donned costumes, and guarded the bride with mock-weapons. The ransom price ranges from bottles of whiskey (let’s hope she was worth the good stuff!) to a public declaration of love. I wonder what happens if the husband won’t pay up?

Brides joined in on the fun by dancing and posing for photos for passers-by while waiting for their rescuer.

Similar faux-ductions were once a common wedding tradition in the former Soviet Union, but the custom recently gained popularity again after a famous soccer player proposed on Romania’s replica of the Arch of Triumph.

> Check out wedding traditions from around the world!

> Watch: Wedding guests gone wild

> Lady Gaga’s designer creates a never-before-seen wedding dress look