Weddings don't always bring out the best in people. Some brides and grooms get in over their heads and need some help to make their wedding day perfect, but they often go overboard with their requests, much to their wedding party's dismay.
Stories have been edited for clarity.
His Duties Were Way Too Extreme For Just Being The Best Man
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“In college, I was a best man for a wedding where the bride demanded we all wear designer suits. I had to sell a guitar to afford just the rental. I had no money before, and afterwards, I had no money and one less guitar.
Then, at the reception, the groom pulled me aside and told me it was my job as best man to make sure their marriage went well. I was supposed to check in and help them with marriage stuff to make sure they didn’t get divorced.
I looked him in the eye and said I can’t be responsible for your marriage. He didn’t talk to me from that second until just a couple months ago. Six years after his wedding.”
She Thinks That The Whole World Should Revolve Around Her “Special Day”
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“My future sister-in-law has made it clear that she wants her bachelorette party to be a week in California. We live in New Jersey. That means I would have to take a week off from work and my husband would have to take a week off from work to stay with our children. I would have to pay for my airfare, hotel, and all the week’s activities, plus pay my share for her since ‘Everyone knows the bride doesn’t pay for anything on her bachelorette party.’ When I said I’d have to see if it’s something that we could make work, she said, ‘Well, only the people that really love me will be there. I’m only going to get married once, so I have every right to be selfish.’ Good luck marrying that one.”
Her Sister’s Request Was More Than Over The Line
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“I was the Maid of Honor to my sister’s wedding. She asked me if I could sleep with her husband’s Best Man. In her words, ‘Jake’s saying he won’t go unless there is a guarantee lay for him. I know you’re single and everything.’ I thought it was a joke at first. It wasn’t. I, of course, said no. Surprise, Jake still showed up as Best Man without the promised booty. And boy was I glad I said no because this guy was 300 pounds of greasy hair and an odor that could only be described as diabetic piddle.”
This Bridezilla Had A Groomzilla To Match
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“My friend was set to get married in November 2016. He got engaged in October 2015.
From the time he got engaged until April 2016, he continued to add things on to my to-do list for the wedding. It seemed like once a month he’d say, ‘By the way, I need you to do this and buy this for the wedding.’ My wife was also a bridesmaid. The bride had picked out expensive outfits for the bridesmaids. $300 dresses, $150 shoes, and $75 costume jewelry. There was also a weekend at the beach planned for the summer and my wife was responsible for the food at the bride’s shower. I still have no idea what they meant by ‘being in charge of food,’ as no matter how we asked, they acted offended. Does that mean provide food? Organize food? What kind of food was expected for the 40 people who were expected to come? No answers were given.
In March 2016, my friend got pneumonia and was hospitalized. In total, he was down with it for about three weeks. During that time, the wife and I talked about the wedding and totaled up how much it would cost us. We ended up with a figure of about $1,500 for a wedding an hour away from where we live, which we thought was absurd. The wife and I both worked but didn’t make enough money to drop that much on someone else’s wedding.
So when my friend healed up, I went to his house and told him the wife was going to drop out as a bridesmaid as the cost had risen too high. We were also upset with how they had been treating us as friends. He was initially surprised, but then we continued talking. The next day, after getting an earful from the fiancé, I’m sure, he called me and told me I was out as the best man and to never speak to him again.”
What She Wanted Him To Do Was A Little More Than He Expected
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“I was asked to stand up for a wedding during culinary school for a high school friend. She said she didn’t want us to buy presents, but wanted us to help with various wedding things since it was a backyard wedding. Like someone help with the flowers, another do favors, table setting, etc. She wanted to know if I could help with dinner. I said sure and asked her what she wanted help with, figuring it was prep work for someone else to do.
No, she wanted me to handle the whole dinner. As in cooking for 200 people, as a 19-year-old having only done one year of culinary school. She also wanted me to help pay for the food I’d be making, as their gift. She wanted me to make Caesar salads, potatoes au gratin, and roast enough ducks for 200, by myself, and pay for about half of it.
I was learning how to be a pastry chef. I explained and she just stared at me blankly. I told her I could do the cake easily enough, but she insisted she wanted a ‘real’ cake, from a bakery.
I told her there wasn’t any feasible way I could do it, not only because that’s freaking crazy, but because I wasn’t trained to do it, and I got disinvited from the wedding.
They apparently served bagged salad, boxed potatoes and broasted chicken from Walmart.”
When No One Wanted To Go Along With Her Dumb Idea, She Broke Down
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“My girlfriend was a bridesmaid and the bride wanted one of those pictures where the bridesmaids lift their dresses to show their butts and the bride pretends to act all shocked. None of the girls were down for it, including my girlfriend, since the dress was tight and she was wearing some revealing undies. Not to mention, the groomsmen and family members were hanging around. The bride got upset because she saw the same kind of picture on Pinterest a few days earlier and wanted to replicate it.
She stormed off in the middle of taking pictures and didn’t return for about half an hour, delaying the reception and their hungry wedding guests.”
They Thought They Could Squeeze Free Work From Her Because She’s Family
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“I’m a photographer and my cousin wanted me to shoot their wedding, for free, as a gift to them. The wedding was also on the other side of the country, and they wouldn’t be paying for my flight or room. My pricing typically starts at a few grand and goes up from there. I was still willing to do it until my cousin wanted me to also throw in finished prints and 350 retouched pics; basically about $3,000 worth of photo work. Suddenly, I came down with a case of ‘something else to do that weekend.’ She still doesn’t talk to me and that’s fine. She never talked to me before, either, come to think of it.”
No Wonder The Bride Couldn’t Get Bridesmaids On Her Own
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“I was supposed to be a bridesmaid in a wedding of a male friend. I’d tried to befriend the bride because the groom was a childhood friend.
All of the planning leading up to the big day was a mess. She used our wedding chat to constantly discuss all of her problems with the groom (the ring was too small; they never talked about finances before getting engaged and now she’s not sure he makes enough; can you get a prenup for children you don’t have yet?). She was constantly telling us we were bad friends. Keep in mind, we were all friends with the groom for many years before she was in the picture. I could write a novel about it.
The final straw for me was when she asked me to plan a bachelorette party, but couldn’t tell me anything about what she was interested in doing other than ‘nothing too wild, but cost-effective.’ When I presented her with a plan, she told me I was a terrible friend and that was the worst bachelorette plan she had ever seen.
I was replaced as a bridesmaid, did not attend the wedding, and do not speak to either of them anymore.”
She Made Them Spend Hours Taking Photos, All For Nothing
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“The bride wanted photos of the wedding party at EVERY San Francisco landmark. We spent four hours driving around in a limo, held together with duct tape, to cheese in front of each corny tourist spot. She had a videographer along with and wanted only the natural sounds recorded, so no one was allowed to talk. I had to pick up my wife and 2-month-old to bring to the church ceremony immediately after. The bride left me little time and made no offer to pick them up. We got stuck in bridge traffic, I was 10 minutes late for the scheduled wedding start time. She kicked me out of the wedding and drove around again to reshoot all of the pictures.”
They Expected Her To Spend Thousands Of Dollars On Clothes And Travel Expenses
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“It wasn’t one single request, but more rather an unreasonable accumulation of requests. I am a bridesmaid in a wedding for a friend who just moved to another city five hours away. She and the maid of honor just keep planning event after event that all the bridesmaids are expected to attend. I had to drive in for her wedding dress shopping and bridesmaid dress shopping, they planned a three-day long bachelorette party in a third city, she’s having TWO bridal showers, and her wedding is at a resort in yet another town. Where we’ll have to take a three-day weekend to get there, and there is only one hotel option.
Of course, I also have to pay for my own dress, shoes, makeup, hair, and jewelry she picked. Oh, and the whole bridal party is making her extra, DIY-style, nostalgia presents as well as the regular wedding present I’m expected to bring. So now I have to buy craft supplies and crap for a fancy scrapbook, photo album, letter book, ‘wedding day emergency kit,’ and a bunch of other crap the maid of honor keeps thinking up. All of the things sound normal and reasonable until you start adding up the costs, which land between $2,500 and $3,000.
I had a teeny tiny, super considerate wedding when I got married, and to be a bridesmaid in this wedding is costing me more than my entire tiny wedding. I do recognize that it’s not an entirely fair comparison when mine was unusually small, but I think spending less than $3,000 to be in someone else’s wedding is a fair expectation. I regret accepting being a part of her bridal party, and I would never do it again. It’s an honor to be asked, but I simply can’t afford it.”
He Was On Dandruff Duty The Whole Time
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“The groom asked me to ‘keep an eye’ on his tux for signs of dandruff (he had a bad case of it at the time).
I told him to choose a light-colored tux, but the bride insisted the guys wear black – a color that, of course, showed every particle of dandruff.
So I placed a small brush in my pocket, and every so often would ‘dust him off’ as discreetly as possible throughout the day.”
That Bride Was Ready To Fight Any And Everyone
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“I was in-house security for a hotel that had a surprising amount of weddings.
Mostly all I did was watch the bar, then intercept anyone who drank too much and started causing problems between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Simple suit and tie security.
One night, a Bridezilla began to have a verbal altercation with a bridesmaid, then threw a glass at her, breaking the glass. I began moving closer and the bride full-on attacked the women, so I picked up the bride and separated them. The other woman was saying, ‘Ok, I’m leaving. It’s okay, I’m leaving,’ and began to leave, followed by Bridezilla, freaking out, screaming, and yelling. At this point, I had stopped restraining her in favor of her new husband holding her.
The other woman attempted to leave. I was walking with her, but Bridezilla escaped the husband. I intercepted the bride, who assaulted me. Scratching, yelling, clawing, lots of clawing, nothing I can’t handle. The other woman escaped to her car while the husband tells me to let Bridezilla go, he’d calm her down. So I let go. She ran and physically prevented the other women from leaving. I moved the bride away from the vehicle so the other woman could finally escape.
While I was in the parking lot trying to contain this situation, a man who’d just arrived, ran at me and squared off with no warning. I got the dude to the ground, got a hold of his neck, and attempted a conversation, ‘Talk to me, I don’t know why we’re fighting.’ The dude said he’d just arrived and saw me ‘abusing’ the bride and jumped in. I explained that I’m security and I was attempting to allow another person to leave.
As I let this dude go, Bridezilla attacked me again. Standard, ‘Who are you to get involved,’ yelling. I took a deep breath and thought, ‘I’m the last person causing her to freak out,’ so I left. Out of sight, out of mind.
So I was watching the festivities on camera and saw the bride yelling at the bartender and attempting to get behind the bar. So I returned to find an enraged Bridezilla and everyone else leaving quietly. Bridezilla attempted to attack me because I wouldn’t let her grab bar items, like bottles. Que some more wrestling with the bride.
I was mad. This bride was outside of reality. I jabbed her in the stomach to get out of the corner she’d backed me into, as well as regain control of the situation. While she was regaining her breath, I realized I had blood in multiple places from her fingernails. It was ruining my suit. Nobody except me was willing to fight Bridezilla. My bartender called the general manager, who sent me a text message authorizing me to end the event and call the police. I looked at my phone in the chaos, saw the name of my GM, and the first word, ‘Just.’ I didn’t read it. I knew my GM well, she only texted me if she wants something ended entirely.
I informed the bride the event was over; this was a mistake. ‘This is my wedding, blah blah, blah,’ or at least I think that’s what she said, couldn’t quite tell through the screaming.
The police arrived, I was now visibly bloody. Bridezilla went nuts on the police, but police have more ability than me, so that didn’t go well for her. I was cleaning up blood and taking off layers to determine if I wanted to press charges. An officer walked in and asked, ‘Do you want charges?’ I said no. I just wanted everyone to go back to normal the and bride not to return. ‘Are you sure? She’s trying to charge you for assault and violating her.’
‘Why, yes. Yes, I do want charges.’ I gave them full video from every angle, which showed me in the right from the beginning.
So with the help of six police officers, we found out what occurred. Remember that bridesmaid in the beginning who left? Her babysitter called, saying, ‘Come home, blah blah children.’ Any reasonable adult would drop what they’re doing and go home to assist. Bridezilla was angry a bridesmaid was leaving early. The ceremony was finished prior to arriving. This was just cake, drinks, and meal portion of the night. She had an emotional episode because a bridesmaid didn’t stay for the meal. Dude. You don’t ignore the babysitter watching your children.
The entire time, the husband just let me fight with her. He wasn’t affected, he didn’t attempt to calm her or restrain her, he just watched. As things progressed, people left silently. I think once it started, other people knew something I didn’t. Bridezilla probably had an illness of some kind; once she was triggered, people got out.”
Her Bangs Were A Huge Issue For Her Sister
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“I was a bridesmaid for my sister. She demanded that I grow my fringe (bangs) out months before because ‘I don’t want anyone’s hair blowing in the wind, it all has to stay perfectly still.’
Also, I’m quite pale, so she insisted I had to wear fake tan. I originally bought a pale tan color, but the morning of the wedding she made me pile it on. It was hot that day, so subsequently, it stained my pale, pink dress.
It was still an amazing wedding, regardless. Also, I like to think that when I get married, I’ll have two ridiculous request cards. Two things she has to do and I’ll bring up her wedding if she refuses.”
Her Sister’s Wedding Made Everyone Miserable
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“I was asked, and I opted out of, being a bridesmaid for my sister’s wedding. I have two sisters who will be Sister A (Bridesmaid) and Sister B (Bride).
I got engaged in December and set a date in January. Sister B got upset and somehow got her boyfriend to propose the Monday after we called to tell them our wedding date. By Wednesday, they had set a date five months before ours and the weekend before our Aunt’s wedding. It wouldn’t be a big deal, but our family is spread out. This meant that most of them could only afford to attend one. My family all turned up at hers. She also stole our wedding colors, then demanded we buy her decorations from her.
My Maid of Honor’s mother died the week before Sister B’s bachelorette party. Her funeral was the day of. I flew in early to attend the funeral and to stay the week leading up to the wedding. During the funeral, I received multiple texts about things she wanted for the party or wanted to be done. I picked up a long list of drinks, chasers, and party supplies with my own money. I got to my parents’ house and realized they started the party early. I was promptly yelled at for being late and wearing black. I went up to the room I was staying in to cry, only to have her leave the party to yell at me for crying/make more demands.
The week of the wedding consisted of me trying to keep my head down. Her fits of rage included slamming her fiance’s work laptop closed repeatedly on top of his hands while he was working, ruining a Skype interview for me, tearing up lists, and throwing them everywhere, then getting angry at Sister A, our mom and me for not having them.
The day before the wedding, I was informed I was decorating the whole three-tier cake, alone. It had to be just so and she had a picture of an extremely complicated design. I told her I could do some generic stuff (flowers, borders, piping), but I could not make a cake that was clearly fondant with buttercream. She accused me of trying to ruin her wedding and of trying to break her and her husband up. Sister B made Sister A cry, threatened to kick her out of the wedding, and told her that she had asked another friend to buy a bridesmaid dress to replace her. All because Sister A had gotten a piercing before they were engaged, but due to complications, had to get it re-pierced and could not remove it. However, it was not visible.
The day of the wedding, Sister B decided to have Sister A in the wedding party, after all, so she took her with the rest of the party to get hair and makeup done. When Sister A asked about changing for the reception, she was kicked out of the party and left behind. My now husband and I drove two hours, round trip, to pick up Sister A. On our way back, Sister B blew up our phones demanding to know where we were. She decided to have Sister A in the wedding after all because the backup bridesmaid wouldn’t be ready. We then had to drive 20 minutes out of our way to drop off Sister A, hurry back to our hotel get ready, and barely made it in time for the wedding to start, which she still whines about to this day. I ended up mending multiple bridesmaid dresses that day. Sister B had basically chosen glorified silk bath towels for her bridesmaid dresses. When you have well-endowed bridesmaids, these things don’t tend to go well together. I was impressed they made it through the ceremony without anyone falling out or the seam splitting.”
She Was A Total Nightmare For The Entire Wedding Process
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“My college ‘friend’ got engaged to an absolute witch of a woman. She was insecure and would lash out and make comments when those insecurities bubbled up. She would make comments about how she didn’t want to marry the groom based on his physical appearance and how much he made almost every time she had a few drinks.
Here are the highlights:
Before the wedding: The groom and bride recently moved into a new house and furnished the house with expensive furniture. My fiancée and I had just moved into a rental, were dead broke and watching TV on a mattress we had pulled into our living room. When I couldn’t afford to attend the bachelor party, we offered to instead have them over for dinner to celebrate in a way that we could afford. Instead, we were lectured by the bride on how we ‘should’ be spending OUR money and that we had to get our priorities in line. I mean, screw eating and housing yourself when you can spend a couple grand on two days of drinking, right?
After this episode, they stopped talking to us or trying to include us in anything up to the wedding.
The bride was belligerently wasted at the wedding, slurring her words slightly and randomly breaking down into tears. She used her time at the altar during the ceremony to essentially do ad lib to what the preacher was saying. She was trying to crack jokes and making weird noises throughout.
The ceremony ended and the wedding party headed off for pictures. The bride, wasted and impatient, began berating the photographer until the photographer was in tears.
Fast forward to introducing the new couple. The entire wedding was waiting for them at their tables which are at the bottom of a long hill. The bride and groom were at the top while the DJ begins to announce the new couple. The only problem was, the bride was yelling at her new husband about what a piece of crap he was and telling him to go screw himself. They stopped for long enough to walk down the hill and take their seats. One of her bridesmaids was concerned and asked if there was anything she can do, to which the bride replied, ‘You can go screw yourself.’ Charming.
Throughout the entire wedding, the groom and bride’s families, who we had never met, kept coming up and telling us we were so nice and nothing like how the bride had described us. It should be added that the groom’s family KNEW how the bride was a psycho. The groom’s sister pulled me aside during the reception and begged me to stick around, knowing that her brother’s wife was terrible and it would only be a matter of time until they were divorced and he would ‘need me.’
The final nail in the coffin. The wedding party was sat at a single, large table. Every couple, except for my fiancée and me, were sat together. My buddy, who was sitting to my left, leaned over and asked if I wanted to sit next to my fiancé. I did, so he switched with her. Less than a minute later, the bride walked over to my fiancée and me, glared at us, and said, ‘Looks like someone can’t follow directions.'”