What was supposed to be a hilarious bridal extravaganza brimming with cheers and blessings turned into a woeful tragedy on Tuesday after a bridesmaid unexpectedly fell to her death amid the pre-wedding activities in Foshan, Guangdong Province.

The 22-year-old bridesmaid, surnamed Luo, fell off from the balcony at the fourth floor of a local residential building Tuesday afternoon after being reportedly pushed and shoved by the groomsmen during the fetching of the bride ahead of the wedding reception, according to Guangzhou Daily.

The local residential building where the bride lives. /Guangdong Daily Photo

The nuptial custom, which requires the groom and groomsmen to go to the bride’s home to pick her up for the wedding ceremony, traditionally involves the bridesmaids playing pranks on the groomsmen led by the groom and asking them to hand out red envelopes of lucky money before he can eventually meet his bride.

A relative of the bride revealed to the local newspaper that the groom and groomsmen rushed into the bride’s home as soon as the bridesmaids opened the door following the lucky money giving portion.

The breaking of balcony parapet led to Luo's fall on the ground. /Guangdong Daily Photo 

“They burst inside and chased after the bridesmaids who tried to hide upstairs,” she said, adding, “the young woman then run to the top floor before she fell down.”

Police said Luo was pushed by the groomsmen to the side of the balcony, when the parapet suddenly broke, leading to her fall to the ground from the fourth floor and dying immediately from her injuries.

Announcement made by local police. /Guangdong Daily Photo 

The three groomsmen have been now detained for negligence for causing Luo’s death, and a further investigation into the accident is underway, according to an announcement made by Shunde police on its official WeChat account.

The tragedy has shocked Chinese Internet with thousands of netizens slamming the irresponsible behavior of the groomsmen on the Twitter-like Weibo, but this is far from the first time that the shoddy nuptial rituals caused outcry on China’s social media.

Decoration leftovers at the scene. /Guangdong Daily Photo  

A video footage capturing a bridesmaid being groped by two groomsmen inside a vehicle last week in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province has stirred up a heated discussion on China’s blogsphere over the hazing pre-wedding festivities.

While many have extended sympathy to the assaulted bridesmaid and condemned the unscrupulous wedding pranks, some others have blamed the victim for her decision to not press charges on the offenders following the unsolicited sexual abuse just because “they are friends.”

28-year-old Yang died after being forced to drink too much wine at a wedding in September last year. /hndnews Photo

Last September, a 28-year-old bridesmaid surnamed Yang from Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province died at a wedding party after being forced to drink too much hard liquor by several men at her table and choked on her own vomit, putting the traditional Chinese wedding hazing under fire with many netizens crying for a stop on such tragedies.

“It is too risky to be a bridesmaid now,” @tengjingxiaoshu commented on the Weibo platform following Luo’s death, expressing concerns over safety of bridesmaids during the wedding rituals.

Another netizen @shanzhongouyu said, “the bridal pranks should be controlled,” adding “otherwise, such tricks would lead to tragic weddings or become pretext of sexual harassment.”