A bride was horrified when a woman 'identifying as a cat' upstaged her as she walked down the aisle - wearing a tail, pointy ears, and crawling around on all fours behind the altar. Mistique Morris had walked to under the arch to say 'I do' when her guests became distracted by a 'therian' walking around on all fours in the background of her outdoor ceremony.
The term therian refers to people who identify as non-human animals and engage in behaviours associated with their animal identity. Mistique said she mistook the 'therian' for a cow sitting in the opposite field until some of her 100 guests began looking concerned.
The 24-year-old, who lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, US, said the 'creature' began bowing towards her and 22-year-old groom Michael Morris after they exchanged their vows. Shocking footage shows the female crouching down like a cat on the other side of the lake - just metres away from where Mistique and Michael were tying the knot.
Mum-of-one Mistique said: "I was getting ready and I assume everybody had already seen her or him dressed as a cat. We all thought it was a cow at first from a distance. We live in Oklahoma so it's very country and you see cows a lot. I actually didn't notice her - I was really distracted but everyone else in the crowd did. Whenever we turned to face the crowd and everyone was cheering, she was bowing in the background.
"She was crawling and acting like a cat. We believed it was an animal. No one paid that much attention at first until I got underneath the arch and she stood up and started recording us. Everyone thought it was really weird. The one thing that was frustrating was that a lot of people were paying more attention to her than me! I'm only getting married once! It was a fantastic day overall. This is just a light-hearted story to tell afterward!"
Best friend and wedding guest Amy White, 36, recorded the footage while sat outside - believing the 'creature' was a farmyard animal at first glance. Amy, who also lives in Oklahoma City, said: "Everybody just thought it was a cow. I walked out after we had finished getting ready and I saw it and thought what is that? I thought it was a cow or a goat or something.