VIENNA, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- When an Austrian bride jokingly answered "No" when asked whether she wanted to marry her fiance, the registry official immediately postponed the wedding for two and a half months, the Austrian News Agency reported on Friday.

    The big wedding ceremony, which was held in the Palace Lamberg in Steyr, Austria, was "originally very vigorous and full of joy," one guest told local media.

    The bride wanted to make the atmosphere even more vigorous and thus answered "No" instead of "Yes" when it came to the crucial question: did she want to marry the groom.

    The joke failed.

    The registry office official promptly announced the wedding had to be stopped, as required by paragraph 44 of Austrian civil law.

    "This strict law is very necessary," a jurist explained, noting if someone really does not want to get married, "nobody can force him or her to do it."

    An official at the Steyr registry said this had never happened before in the region.

    Another official there said the office would check the documents of the bride and bridegroom again as it could be a fake marriage.

    If anything suspicious is found, the police will start an investigation, the official said.