A groom abandoned his bride in the middle of their wedding ceremony after his mother saw her for the first time and decided she is "too ugly".

The groom - who has not been named in local media - was reportedly ordered to dump his Tunisian bride after his mum decided she was too short and unattractive.

It is understood that until the ceremony, the groom's mother had only seen photographs of his bride-to-be.

But when she saw her face-to-face and in the flesh, she reportedly ordered her son to halt the service because his bride was too "short" and "ugly".

Photos from the start of the service show bride Lamia Al-Labawi smiling in her wedding dress as she posed beside her groom-to-be who was mopping his brow with a handkerchief.

Later, Lamia poured out her heart on social media.

Lamia wrote on her blog that she is an "orphan" and preparations for the wedding had cost her a lot of money.

She said she had been shocked by the rejection and finds it hard to meet people’s eyes and hear their whispering.