What is supposed to be the happiest day in someone’s life is quite often the most stressful. These ticked-off bridesmaids share the brattiest behavior they’ve received from bridezillas.
A Jerry Springer Wedding
“The boyfriend of the bride turned up at the wedding… to warn the groom about her. Sounds bizarre, right? But it actually happened!
When my college mate gave us her wedding card, we were shocked to see the groom’s name. It was different from the one we had seen her romancing for an entire year of college. We had met the guy, had often teased him as jiju (brother in law), and had actually set him as the benchmark for how guys should be. He was that perfect.
When we tentatively asked about the name on the card, the girl calmly told us that it was her parent’s choice. Her future husband was her family friend’s son… well settled and comfortably placed in life. Her boyfriend wasn’t as successful and hence she couldn’t take a chance. There was little we could say at that point.
Fast forward to the wedding day. The boyfriend came to the reception, met the groom and showed him messages from the bride, his ex. Messages which explained how she would continue seeing him after marriage. She had explained that she was marrying to please her parents and that her husband would never ever be her love.
‘If it were only messages, I would have ignored them. But your wife is blackmailing me to continue the affair by threatening to show some pictures she has of my sister. I don’t care about what she has on my sister. But I do know that you are being taken for a ride. You should be aware of what you’re marrying.’
Threatening to use an innocent girl as a pawn for her ulterior motive was the breaking point for the boyfriend I guess. Cos’ that was the precise moment when things went south. Everyone started talking at once! There was cacophony all around. We slipped away in the ensuing drama.
No points for guessing how the wedding ceremony ended!”
Being The Bridesmaid At Your Stepmom’s Wedding…
Luis Molinero/Shutterstock
“I was a bridesmaid at my father and stepmother’s wedding. I was 16. It wasn’t so much the wedding day that was a problem, but rather the prep and planning.
She spent 8 months before the wedding trying to bully me into losing weight for the wedding pictures. The closer we got to it, the more aggressive she was. Eventually, my Dad got on the bandwagon too. I started dieting for the wedding but I was angry and miserable the whole time. Everything I ate was commented on. If she was bringing home dinner, she would always ask what I wanted and then reply with, ‘you shouldn’t eat that before the wedding.’
I had been wanting to get a haircut for months before the planning even started. She insisted I didn’t ‘just in case it went wrong.’ You know, for the wedding photos. I ended up getting a haircut and re-dying my very faded hair a week before the wedding. She had a full-on meltdown and was screaming at me. Why? Because my hair was red, and her bouquet had red accent flowers in it. Her overall color scheme was black, silver, and red. She was furious that I was going to ‘clash with the decorations’ in the pictures.
When we went to get bridesmaid dresses, she brought her friends and very much ignored me the whole time. She had one of the employees bring me a dress and when I peeked out to ask for a bigger size, she lost her mind again. We got home and she screamed at my dad about it, who in turn went off on me for breaking my promise about losing weight.
The wedding happened. I am only in two pictures. Our relationship is a lot better now. A few months ago she commented that she didn’t know why our photographer didn’t take more pictures of me…Okay.”
Never Again!
“Overheard the wasted bride tell a mutual friend on her wedding day that if she could do it all over again, she wouldn’t have had me and a mutual friend in her bridal party (I was the MOH). I planned her bachelorette party (with a mutual friend) from another country and dropped a lot of money on it personally so she would have the party she wanted.
I gifted her a pair of Jimmy Choos for her wedding day along with a beautiful ring with her wedding date engraved. I had to fly to Europe for her wedding, use a hire car to get around, and help with loading/transporting wedding items back and forth. I was up that morning arranging with the hotel to deliver breakfast/coffee/ tea for the bridal party. An old friend decided a week before the wedding she was going to fly from Oz to surprise the bride, so I had to arrange that surprise and find a hotel room for this friend and speak to the groom to check with catering and arrange a seat for her without the bride knowing. I stepped in to help the make-up artist as she was running behind schedule. I walked the venue to make sure things were on track, There are more things she did throughout the night that infuriated me. I was treated like a slave and spoken to like one. I catered to her every stupid whim from 6 am until midnight…and then to overhear that!
Apparently, her wedding day was ruined because the calla lilies in her centerpieces wouldn’t stay suspended in the water vase as she wanted. And it was all my fault because they slowly floated to the top.
The next day she is all hugs and kisses saying it was the best night ever and she couldn’t have done it without me, I have never wanted to falcon punch a prick so hard in the face.
I will never EVER be a bridesmaid again. Terrible!”
Attack of The Silent Bridezilla
“I had a silent bridezilla. She was my best friend of 15 years and didn’t ask for much at all through the wedding planning as there were only two months between engagement and the wedding day. No bachelorette party, no dress shopping, no gift-giving, no meeting up in person to do anything (we lived two hours drive away from each other), didn’t want my input, just wanted me to be there and go find my own dress and look pretty. Ok, whatever you want, you’re my bestie and I’m excited you’re getting married.
On the day I wasn’t allowed to help with hair and makeup, just had to focus on my own, apparently, I couldn’t be trusted to do it well enough as I have short hair, ok fine, it’s your day, whatever.
Things went downhill afterward when she got her sister (the maid of honor and also my close friend for 15 years) to call me up in a 2-hour phone call and criticize my every little move throughout the entire wedding and say that I should never have accepted to be a bridesmaid if I didn’t want to participate, and had gone through my Facebook page and noted down expenses I’d posted about (e.g. look at my new bowling ball, I’ve joined a bowling league for fun) and said how I should have spent that money on the wedding instead.
The wedding was set two days after Christmas, and her family didn’t even celebrate that Christmas that year because of the wedding, and I was criticized for not spending more time with her, even though I The day after Christmas I took a three-hour train trip just to hang with her the night before her wedding. Apparently, I should have stayed the night of the wedding to hang out with the other two bridesmaids, but I opted to drive home with my boyfriend as I need to work.
She said from the start she was going to pay for makeup to be done on the day, then two weeks before said I needed to drive two hours to go buy a specific brand for myself to wear that was really expensive, which I did, even though I was broke from Christmas shopping, but apparently I had some attitude about it. Then I was criticized for not giving a gift, despite being told ‘being a bridesmaid was gift enough.’
The bride herself just stopped talking to me, blocked me on Facebook and after months of nonsense, I just cut them both out of my life. I haven’t seen either of them since the wedding day which was now 5 years ago, never even got to see the wedding photos. Sad that long-term friendships end over nothing. If she had expectations, say something! Don’t expect me to guess then judge me for failing your expectations and be too chicken to talk to me about it directly!”
Bridezilla With An Attitude
“I was involved in a wedding almost a decade ago for the worst bridezilla I’ve ever known (personally) and I’ve known a few.
At the time I worked evenings and weekends and made very little money. I struggled to pay my bills and she knew how hard I worked and how tough times were for me financially. Despite this she insisted I book off many days, Saturdays and Friday nights, knowing I would lose the income.
On top of taking those days off, they always consisted of events that cost us money, meals, trips to find shoes or purses. And we were always having to pay all bills split between us all because ‘she’s the bride’ and shouldn’t have to pay anything.
One Saturday in particular, we drove two hours to another city to help her find (something that she could have done herself like earrings) and she wanted lunch at this very expensive restaurant. I ordered the cheapest thing on the menu which was some sort of appetizer or side salad and a glass of water. The rest of the group had a couple of bottles of Moscato, appetizers, and steaks. When the bill arrived, just like every other time, they said we should just all split the bill evenly between all of us and so my meal which should have cost me under $20 (and left me hungry while they were all tipsy and leaving with leftovers) cost $60+. Finally, I’d had enough and told them I couldn’t afford that. It was very embarrassing, they all knew I didn’t make much money, but I still had to come out and refuse to pay for all their meals.
The next day I got a phone call from the bride telling me she was livid at my behavior at lunch. She said that I wasn’t being a ‘team player.’ Then she said ‘I can tell that my wedding isn’t your number one priority in life, and so I’m going to have to uninvite you from my wedding party, and from my wedding altogether.’ This is after I purchased the custom-made dress that I hated, the shoes, purse, and jewelry. None of which could I afford and took off countless days at her request, and paid for a lot of meals that weren’t mine.
I told her of course her wedding isn’t my number one priority in life, it’s not my wedding, so why would it be? That I’ve been to every event she asked me to attend, spent money I didn’t have for her, and did everything she asked me to as far as wedding tasks. And that I have my own life, and why should her wedding be my number one life priority? That’s an absurd requirement for being a bridesmaid let alone a friend. And that if I’m no longer even a guest to her wedding then she’s obviously some crazy tramp that I’m better off not associating with.
We haven’t spoken since.”
She Had To Carry What Around?
“I have been really lucky. While my first bridesmaid experience was not fun, the bride was not a bridezilla. And my second and so far final bridesmaid experience was awesome.
However, I have relatively recently dealt with a bridezilla and I was not a bridesmaid. She was marrying my husband’s cousin and my husband was performing the ceremony. Of importance, I have a nice camera and take lots of pictures, but I am not a professional and don’t have indoor lighting. Also, we are decidedly not morning people and on weekends don’t get up before noon if we don’t have to.
First, she demanded I do first look photos for her inside even though I was not the photographer they hired. I said I thought that might be breaking her contract with the professional and managed to wiggle out but she was very annoyed though the pro did a great job.
Then she texted starting at 8 am demanding that we get to the ceremony site an hour earlier than we agreed at rehearsal the night before. So my husband and I rearranged things so we could arrive an hour earlier. Cousin arrived a few minutes later. She and the girls arrived 15 minutes late…for the original time.
Next, I was the gopher making sure various people arrived and got the props they were supposed to have. That wasn’t so bad.
Then she handed me a ratty stuffed animal and told me I needed to carry him everywhere so he had a good view of the day. That just felt weird. Luckily most everyone knew it was hers, not mine so it was a little less awkward walking around the country club in a dress with a ratty stuffed animal.
Then she tried to convince me to video the whole thing on a cell phone. I managed to wiggle out of that way more easily because the pro heard the request and went and fetched his video equipment from the car.
Then she freaked out on me because I left the stuffed animal alone at the reception table while I went to the bathroom and demanded him back a request I was more than willing to accede to.
When the night was over, I was exhausted. I planned to sleep until noon the next day (Sunday) before getting up and helping my husband pack for a week-long business trip that started Monday and packing for a week-long trip for myself to visit my mom while he was gone. That did not happen because starting at 8 am the bride was texting me wanting the pictures from the wedding. I told her to give me a week.
But the demanding behavior continued after the wedding. Once I told her no and she ignored me. I made a clear statement that was unacceptable. I was then a horrible evil person and she has refused to speak to either my husband or me since and has avoided family holidays if there was a chance we might be there.”
Family Drama
“When my best friend got engaged, I volunteered to host the bachelorette party. I asked Bride who she wanted to attend, and it was going to be a small get-together, her four bridesmaids (sister, sister in law, myself, and my sister) plus a family friend.
I get a fancy Airbnb, a downtown apartment, and the plan was to have all the girls over, party, and then sleep over. But somewhere along the way, Bride informs me that she does NOT want her sister-in-law to sleepover. She thinks SIL is weird. And will ruin the party. She wants SIL to come over for a little bit, and then leave around 10 pm. Problem? It’s already been made known to everyone that there will be a sleepover portion. Per the bride’s (previous) request.
I suggest that Bride is honest with her SIL and tell her since she’s known me and my sister for a long time, she wants to just have some quality time with us before her big day. Especially because I live out of town. SIL would understand, right? It might hurt, but it’s always better, to be honest. Well, Bride doesn’t like that idea. Somehow we keep pushing it off, not sure what to do, and the big day is upon us.
We’re all in the apartment playing games, and the mood is a bit stiff and awkward because we’re still not sure how to make SIL leave. My sister and I go into the kitchen to replenish the snacks and Bride follows us in.
‘You have to find a way to make her leave!’ Bride hisses.
‘You need to be honest with her! She’s your future sister-in-law!’
‘No, I don’t want to hurt her feelings!’ (as if we’re not already playing middle school games here).
‘Just tell her you really want to have some quality time with your best friend you haven’t seen in forever (me).’
‘No, she’ll get mad. Can’t you say you have a headache or something and we all have to leave?’
Then the Brides sister and family friend come in and start getting in on it. Everyone knows what’s going on but SIL is left in the other room, alone. No doubt she can hear us in here whispering. Keep in mind, we’re a bunch of full-grown, adult women in their 20’s.
Finally, we devise a plan. I don’t know who came up with this. I hope it wasn’t me. I decide to tell them that my husband, who is currently out with his friends, has gotten belligerently inebriated, and is acting ‘aggressive’, is confused, and needs to be picked up and cared for ASAP. Since it’s my apartment, I’ll have to bring him back here, and everyone will have to leave. Then everyone but SIL will come back.
So I have to make it convincing. We go back to the living room and I get a ‘phone call’. I actually start crying, I explain to the girls that this happens frequently, that my husband has a ‘problem’, I’m obviously extremely emotionally distressed, and parties over.
The worst part is how concerned and caring SIL was. She suggests going to her house instead, but I reiterate that it’s probably best we wrap things up. I apologize PROFUSELY to everyone for ruining everything. Through my tears, I tell everyone how terrible I feel, how I didn’t want to ruin the party and I’m so upset my husband did this. Bride hugs me and tells me it’s okay, we had fun. SIL hugs me and tells me how sorry she is, that it will all be okay. It’s all a big show.
Then we all walk out and leave together, but all of us girls just circle around the block and pull right back in.
I’m not sure if SIL ever caught on. I think that experience was very telling as to the true character of the Bride, who was once my best friend. Someone who is constantly so worried about how others perceive her, she’d rather rather ‘save face’ than be honest. We don’t talk anymore, and although I miss her, experiences like this serve as a reminder of why it’s best I cut things off.”
“What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong.”
“What can go wrong, will go wrong – Murphy’s Law
The weddings I enjoy working on are where both the bride and groom are on the same page, and where they both understand that things can go wrong.
So we had a bride and groom, who were really an awesome couple, come into our office to plan their wedding.
Usually leading up to a wedding, there were always hiccups. Even on the day of, but we were able to handle them. This wedding though, Murphy grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go.
Leading up to the week of the wedding everything went smooth. Almost too smooth. The week leading up to the wedding is when Murphy made his presence known.
On Tuesday an electrical fault caused a fire in the main sanctuary of the church they were going to be married in. Luckily the damage was limited because of sprinklers, but we couldn’t have the wedding there. After a mad scramble and with lots of help, another church let the bride and groom get married there.
On Friday we get a call from the florist. There was a problem with the wholesaler. Meaning they never sent the flowers to the florist. After calls back and forth to the wholesaler from the florist, it was determined that they would not be able to send the flowers after all. After discussing this with the bride and groom, it was decided that artificial flowers could be used. It was a mad dash by myself and 5 others to find enough artificial flowers to use.
On the day of the wedding, first we show up with the florist, but the church is locked. After frantic calls one of the deacons came by to unlock it. The florist starts decorating. The groom and groomsmen show up and they all were having wardrobe issues with their tuxedos. While I went to work on that, the bride calls and says the limo hasn’t shown up yet. Come to find out the driver was lost and never called to say so.
While waiting for the bridal party I see the flower girl spill red grape juice on her dress. My boss scooped her up and managed to get her dress cleaned off.
The bridal party arrives and the ceremony starts. I race to the reception hall and when I arrive I find out the kitchen was down. They had a party that started earlier and now they were working hard to catch up, but dinner was going to be delayed.
Now very important note here, before every wedding we worked, my boss and I would make sure our phones were on vibrate. We would actually verify that our phones were on vibrate by calling each other. Guess what WE missed. Yep, that check.
So I call her, and her phone rings. Now her ringtone wasn’t the standard ringtone. Nope, it was ‘Get Me to the Church On Time’ from My Fair Lady. The even worse part was she was standing next to one of the video cameras when it happened.
I let her know what was going on with the reception hall and that there was an hour delay. She said she would stall everyone and we hung up. The DJ had showed up and tested his equipment. All was good.
All the guests started coming in after being told of the delay and the DJ started playing music. Right before the bride and groom entered, his computer chose that moment to reset and update. Luckily he was on the ball and had a backup playlist on an iPod. The big problem, it had died and he forgot a cable to charge it. We managed to find a cable and the music restarted.
Food was served, cake was cut, dancing was wrapping up, the limo driver was standing next to the limo waiting to open the door when the bride and groom came out.
Bride and groom left the hall, the limo driver goes to open the door and it was locked. He goes to the front door and it too was locked. He reaches into the pocket of his pants and realizes the he LOCKED THE KEYS IN THE LIMO!
I notice that the sunroof was open. The limo driver wouldn’t fit and my boss was pregnant at the time. So I volunteered to go in through the sunroof.
Here is the part where I embarrassed myself. So that morning I realized I forgot to pick up my pant suits from the cleaners. So I ended up wearing one of my skirt suits. So the limo driver picks me up and instead of helping me go feet first, yep I go head first. Skirt slides down and I flash everyone my underwear. I get in the limo and the divider is down. I grab the keys, unlock the back door and climb out.
What made me realize that the marriage would last was when the groom said,
‘Well if we could survive a day like today, then we can survive anything!’
As far as I know they are still married to this day.”
A Bit Flaky Ain’t She?
“I’ve told this before but here goes anyway. I was asked to be a bridesmaid by a girl is known in high school but wasn’t really friends with. We worked together a few years later but we weren’t really friends outside of work. I said yes anyway. I was there through all the planning. Went to wedding fairs with her, viewed the venue, helped them pick her dress, anything she needed, I was there.
Anyway, she was always complaining about her other bridesmaids, how she only had her sister as her dad made her and her brother’s girlfriend, etc. They hadn’t helped out or showed any interest. Everything that could be booked and arranged in advance was sorted in under two months. The wedding wasn’t for two years but she wanted to be ready. I agreed to pay for my dress as she was a bit stuck for cash. We agreed £100 was reasonable as long as it was a dress I could wear again. I found a few nice ones online for about £80. She bought one for £30 and it was an awful, Chinese knock-off kind of thing. She sent it back.
Then I didn’t hear from her for a few months. I figured we had years still to plan and just waited for her to get in touch. When she did, she was asking for pictures of her trying on dresses so I sent them over and assured her again how excited I was to be a part of her special day. She went a bit quiet and explained she thought I had dropped out. I was shocked and asked why when I had been there every step of the way so far and she’d made no attempt to contact me. She mumbled a bit and said she’d tried but I knew she hadn’t.
Anyway, she said they’d all gone out and offered bridesmaid dresses. If I went to get a fitting by Friday (impossible, I was away) I could still get mine. I asked for a photo of the dress. It was awful, like a washed-out pink nightie. We’d all said we’d like a dress we could wear a bra with. This one we couldn’t at all and I’m the last person you’d see in pink. So much for being able to wear it again. But I sucked it up and asked how much. £350! Insane. I was furious she’d basically cut me out of the wedding and then expected me to pay for such an ugly dress I couldn’t even afford. Needless to say, I wasn’t a bridesmaid and didn’t go to the wedding.”
