30 Bridezillas Who Pushed People Too Far And Paid The Price

Animals in wedding.

I’ve seen dove thrown in the sky. I’ve seen the “horse carriage “ trend. I’ve seen decorative parrots.

But this summer, I’ve been disgusted by this new company that sells “quality wedding butterflies”

I was made aware that there would be a “butterfly release” when the couple would leave the church. In my head, there would be a big cage/aquarium full of butterfly and they would open it. But no.

Butterflies were kept in a cake box. Mother of the bride opened the cake box and smaller, butterfly shapes boxes were inside. The boxes were tiny, so it was clear the butterflies were trapped with no possibility of movement. How cruel. Mother of the bride gave one tiny box to every member of the wedding party.

Then it hit me. We’re in the south, it was burning out outside. It was impossible to survive in this heat and...well all the butterflies that were probably sitting in a box in the car since this morning were not alive.

When everyone opened their butterfly box, they either fell on the ground or stayed lifeless in their boxes.

Seriously how is this thing even legal.

The wedding was butterfly themed (cupcake, colors, etc) and I thought the bride liked butterflies enough to know better.

As I said in the title, I was hit by a car four days ago, I'm okay, but have lots of bruising and have broken my left leg. I'm now in a wheelchair. I know that both the church and the venue are wheelchair accessible, as another guest is an ambulatory wheelchair user, so she may have to use it throughout the day. I obviously will have to use mine as well, I can't move onto crutches from another 5 weeks and that's only if my healing goes as well as expected.

In a phonecall this morning, the bride suggested it would be best if I didn't attend because and I quote "you and *other guest's name* would be stealing all the attention, especially with your cast and bruising. Maybe you just come to the reception and buy a new dress to cover up all that mess"

My bruising will have hopefully gone down by then, but I was already planning on hiring an mua to help me better cover them too. I've already tested the dress I was planning to wear in my wheelchair, only my ankle and foot are visible. I'm still trying to think of ideas to hide it the rest of the cast the best I can, but it's always going to be somewhat visible, especially due to the size of it and how bulky it is.

I have known the bride since we were in pre school, we stayed friends throughout primary, secondary, college and even through being at universities 400+ miles apart. And honestly, if a leg cast and a second wheelchair user is what is going to ruin her wedding and our friendship, I think I'm better off not going and cutting contact.

So last summer, I attended the most visually stunning, physically brutal wedding of my life.

The bride was super into minimalist Pinterest vibes ,everything was beige, blush, and white. Like, painfully curated. No loud colors, no mismatched chairs, even the waiters had to wear off-white. It honestly looked like a lifestyle photoshoot, until you realized it was 102°F outside and we were all sweating through our linen outfits.

Here’s the kicker: she banned water bottles.
Yes. Like, completely banned. No plastic, no reusable bottles, no nothing. Because they didn’t fit the aesthetic. She apparently thought water bottles in photos would ruin the vibe.

Instead, there were these tiny cucumber-mint spritzers being passed around before the ceremony. Cute, yes. Hydrating? Absolutely not. Each glass was maybe 3 sips max. And the ceremony lasted 45 minutes in direct sun, no fans, no shade.

People were suffering. One guest legit had to sit down in the middle of the vows. The groom’s elderly aunt had to be helped inside with signs of heat exhaustion. And STILL, no actual water was offered.

After the ceremony, there was a single hydration station tucked in a corner with a staff member pouring chilled water into dainty glasses one at a time. The line was insane. At one point, the groom’s mom pulled out a Hydro Flask from her bag and the bride actually gasped and made someone ask her to put it away. I wish I was joking.

The wedding looked gorgeous on Instagram, like a magazine spread. But everyone who was there remembers it as The Thirst Games.

So yeah, your wedding might be pretty, but let your guests drink some freaking water.

Kate (name changed) was one of my best friends since the third grade. We hung out all the time and got along really well. She was always more higher maintenance - taking three hours to get ready for anything, always late to events (by an hour because she took so long to get ready), and just always needed to have things done her way to her specifications. Growing up, I honestly didn't mind. I was more laid back and not as confident in standing up for myself. We drifted apart during university as we went to different places and grew into adulthood but still kept in touch, especially when I went back home.

A couple of years after highschool, Kate got engaged! I was so happy and excited - she was the first of my friends to get married and even though we drifted apart, asked me to be a bridesmaid. I was thrilled! The wedding was set in three years from that time. She wanted to make sure she got the best of everything.

This is when we started to clash. She would request entire weekends off to get bridesmaid dress shopping together. I couldn't do that because I had to work some weekends or I couldn't figure out how to get back to my hometown. When I did make it, she looked at dresses in the $500+ range. I was very worried as I couldn't drop that kind of cash on just the dress! Next she talked about having an out of state bachelorette party, meaning I would have to take precious time off from work, pay for flights, pay for hotels and all her events (estimates were around $1500). On top of that, she then said she still expected wedding gifts from her bridesmaids. I started to pull away feeling overwhelmed. I expressed my concerns regarding the commitment and money expectations but she said the other girls could do it. The difference was I lived in a bigger city and had to pay rent and all my own bills while the other girls still lived at home. She couldn't understand my budgeting. She would call me to express my disappointment and pretty much started complaining about me. I was in shock that I didn't know what to say. Her final saying? Let's see this next bridesmaid dress shopping goes and I'll let you know if I still want you in the party. I texted her saying that I don't need to be judged or evaluated and to have a good life. I was done with these ridiculously high expectations for her wedding.

It shocked me to see how crazy intense it all got. I knew she was always more high maintenance, but I didn't think it could get this out of hand. It's sad to see a 15 year friendship go down the drain.

Have I been eating crazy cakes? Am I off base, I really need to know.

Becky is someone I have known for many years. We are in the same social circle, more like friends of friends, but we are not super close. It's really more like acquaintance I run into from time to time. I do see them and hang out with them at gatherings, probably 3-4 times per year, but I've never been to their house, nor them to mine.

I'm a single parent to an 11 year old girl and I received a call from Becky, who has never called me in her life before this, asking if my daughter would do the honor of being a flower girl because there are no other young kids in her family. [Side Note: My daughter who would EAT THAT UP! She'd love to be a flower girl.] I asked for the wedding date and where it was and she told me that it was at a winery in the middle of nowhere almost 2 hours driving from where we live. But she also said that it's an extremely intimate wedding for family and a few very close friends and unfortunately there wouldn't be "room" for me at either the ceremony or reception, "I'm sure you can understand."

I told her I'd have to look into and and call her back because, honestly, I was too stunned to reply.

Listen, I have ZERO problems not being invited to anyone's wedding, you do YOU and your day, no problem.

But.. let me get this straight: Becky wants me to spend the time money on getting a flower girl dress and shoes, drive my kid 2 hours away to a winery in the middle of nowhere and drop her off unsupervised with a bunch of adults. And I should do what? Wait in the car? Wait down the road? Wait in the bathroom? Wait in the kitchen with the caterers? LOL. There isn't even a cafe within a 30 minutes drive.

Am I off base thinking this is just totally bonkers??

A while back, one of my family members asked if her grandmother would bake her wedding cake, and asked her grandfather (on the other side) to ice/frost it. Both were happy to be asked, and very willing. She had put together clear instructions of what she wanted on it, and had a charming little topper made. The cake was prepared and delivered as expected - not to a perfect professional standard, but everyone admired it, and the grandparents were well applauded for their work.

Fast forward a few years to a (M, 20-something) cousin's wedding. He asked if the same grandfather would bake and decorate his wedding cake - this one 3 rather than 2 tiers. No instructions were given, no design ideas or inspiration, so upon discussion with my family, he decided on a simple art-deco stained glass-style design, with the characteristic black lines and coloured flowers on a white background. This was chosen as simple and elegant, with connections to my cousin's background. The idea was checked with the cousin, who seemed happy with it. The grandfather set to work, baking, buying icing supplies, designing, practising until he was happy with the final piece. And all was well.

Until the week of the wedding.

A few days before the wedding, the cake was delivered to the bride and groom, in perfect condition - again, maybe the lines weren't perfectly smooth, but it was a very good piece of cake artistry for an amateur. And yet... it did not meet the bride's approval.

The bride went to find a last-minute cake decorator to strip the icing from the cake entirely - hours of preparation, meticulous line work and hand-painting by the groom's own grandfather - and had it re-iced in some white fondant with minimalist white squiggles.

All that work and thoughtful care gone in an afternoon.

Come the wedding, who can fault us if we were a little frosty towards this woman who had so unkindly spurned a requested gift? The wedding was just some soulless insta-vision in bland colours and forgettable decor, the most generic wedding-catalogue copy-paste you can imagine, and with the grandfather's hastily covered up artistry at the center, obvious and unmentioned. The grandfather was stoic throughout, smiled for the couple, congratulated them - but never again did he pick up an icing bag.

My aunt just came back from a wedding which sounded like a total nightmare. The bride is the daughter of my aunt and uncle-in-law's friend (so basically a family friend). It's her third wedding already and she's only 29 (she has two different kids with two ex-husbands). This woman seemed obsessed with weddings from the moment I met her and was only interested in talking to me about engagements, weddings, rings, etc (5 minutes after I met her for the first time, she proceeded to chastise me for not being married or planning my wedding yet, saying I'm "running out of time" even though we are close in age).

A few months before the wedding, my uncle-in-law took her for a dress-fitting, and since she couldn't afford the dress ($1000), he generously offered to pay for it and she accepted. Fast-forward to a few weeks before the wedding, she informed my aunt and uncle that she is cancelling the catering service to cut down on the budget and instead asked him to help her mom cook for everyone. He agreed, and was told that the "meal" would include precooked pasta that was reheated by putting it in plastic bags dipped in boiling water (barf!) and jello/pudding as a dessert. The venue was supposedly at a "castle" but it ended up being some tacky-looking house where dungeon-and-dragon fans go to cosplay. On the wedding invitation, it said "formal" but with no specification (black tie, white tie, semi-formal, etc), so my aunt and uncle picked out nice formal outfits which the bride's mom OK'd beforehand.

After they took a plane to fly to the wedding venue in another state, the bride immediately put my aunt and uncle to work shopping at Costco, etc, which they did. Then the bride threw a fit that my uncle-in-law didn't have a white shirt and black tie (which she did not say anything about in her invitation) and demanded that he go buy one before the wedding the next day, which he begrudgingly agreed to. The worst part is that her fiance (now husband) told my uncle that there's something she didn't tell him...she wouldn't be wearing the wedding dress which he spent $1000 on. Apparently a family member didn't know that he'd already bought her a wedding dress, and offered to pay for a dress and a dress fitting, so she did that instead without even having the consideration to tell him before or apologize for wasting his money. She just took $1000 for a dress that she didn't even use, and not only was she too inconsiderate to acknowledge that or apologize, but she demanded that he purchase an entire new outfit the day beforehand.

It sounded like a nightmare and I feel so sorry for her husband.

I have a story for you regarding an old acquaintance and her wedding. We will call her Dove for this story. I have known Dove for about 5 years when she asked me to be a bridesmaid, no big deal? Wrong. Dove was marrying a man(we will call him Kevin for this story), I was over the moon excited to be a bridesmaid for Dove as we were really close throughout high school. It got to the wedding planning part and it went downhill from there. Dove wanted an extravagant wedding, extravagant bachelorette party, the whole 9 yards.

Dove, wanted the bridesmaids to "match" in a dark green bridesmaid dress, which as a plus size girl, was hard to find, along with expensive. She wanted me to spend hundreds(if not more) to fund the bachelorette party, going as far as telling me to use my tax return to fund a trip to a big city, hotel, drinks, decor..etc. I told her I couldn't do that because I have a home, I have bills, and the tax return wasnt just mine, it was my husband's as well.

I was asked to pay for all 12 of her bridesmaids at the time to go to Chicago for her bachelorette party. I declined. I was asked to spend large amounts of money on a dress and other things for her wedding, and she still only wanted a cash gift, I was thrilled when she disinvited me to the wedding, I was the maid of honor and never asked to be , she just kind of posted it everywhere. Over the course of her wedding planning all but three bridesmaids dropped out( out of 12).

When I told her that I would have to step down from being in the wedding party, she belittled me, along with another bridesmaid who also stepped down because of the way Dove was expecting so much from us. She accused the brides maids who left publicly of being fat phobic ( all but one bridesmaid was extra large and in-charge). And publicly ran everyone’s name threw the dirt.

It’s been a few months and she called me and apologized. I was shocked. I thought wow maybe married life really made her mature a bit.

We met up in a public park and hung out. Well that’s when she let the bomb shell drop that her and Kevin never got nor signed the marriage certificate. They DIDNT get married. They had the wedding and expected all the gifts, forced people ( including the in-laws who just gave them 17k as a wedding gift for a house) to pay for gifts ( she was only allowing cash gifts) and the wedding. And didn’t tell anyone they never got married legally…. Until the in-laws just found out a few Days before we met up. She said they are not happy as they are co-signing for her house thinking Kevin’s name would also be on ( it is not).

Has anyone heard of people doing this?! Her reasoning is this way when she has a kid Kevin can quit his job and raise the kid and get more benefits due to being a single father but still live in “her” house. Like this just sounds illegal…

I 19F have a sister who just got married last week who we’re gonna call Mary 26F. I was guest at her wedding, on the day of her wedding I chose to wear this light purple dress, some gold jewelry, and my usual makeup look (including false lashes which may not seem important but “is” later on). When I get to the wedding she gives me a nasty look but than goes back to doing what she was before. For the whole wedding she just kept giving me nasty looks and ignoring me even when it was time it take pictures when it was my turn to take pictures with the bride and groom she tried acting sick but as soon as I left she began acting normal again.

After the wedding I get a text from my brother in law aka Mary’s husband telling me apologize for upstaging Mary at her own wedding I respond asking what he meant and he told me about how Mary was telling everyone I upstaged her on purpose by wearing a cake load of makeup and wearing a prettier dress (Her wedding dress was one of those extra long train and corset btw so I don’t know what she meant by that). I tell him that I would never upstage her at a special event like this and it wasn’t even on purpose or was I actually upstaging her. I got left on read soon after I sent that. I’ve tried talking to Mary but she keeps on ignoring me.

Luckily enough I didn't attend the wedding. The bride was the cousin of a friend of mine. Anyhow, she married a rich older guy. The day of her wedding arrived. Shortly before the reception the bride went to her best friends, aprons in her hand and told them she had intended for them to work as waitresses throughout the reception. She hadn't hired any nor had she informed her friends beforehand.

For reasons uncomprehendable to me, her friends took up with the job and didn't just leave as I would have done. Though, at least one of those friends ended the friendship shortly afterwards.

95 degrees, and humid, outside. The bride and bridegroom had told everyone to arrive at the venue, clearly a huge indoor place, by 1 PM, but when we got to the venue, the wedding planner, on the instruction of bride and bridegroom, told everyone that the event was on the outdoor patio / back lawn for the indefinite time period, and didnt let anyone inside-except the bride, bridegroom, bridesmaids and groomsmen. This was all on the instruction of the bride and bridegroom. They wanted to have "their moments" just with their bridesmaids and groomsmen, and through the windows we could see them drinking and having a good time inside with the air conditioning. Meanwhile, everyone else was left sweltering on the back patio for about 2 hours. With all their fine garb and makeup. The wedding coordinator repeatedly refused anyone who tried to go inside, even to use the restroom, and told people "if you are feeling hot take off your formal jackets. the bride and bridegroom do not want anyone else inside".

I know time with bridesmaids and groomsmen is valid, but come on. They had their bach/bachelorette and a huge after party planned as well. Guests have flown in from all around the country. No one was informed it was an outdoor event in 95 degree heat, indeed an indoor venue was booked, but just locking everyone out so you can chit chat and drink with your girls/guys, for two hours?

We ended up being allowed inside for a brief ceremony at the end of the two hours

It's been a few years but anyhow my then best friend got married. We had been friends for many years at that time, I was actually the one who helped her get together with her husband.

I was there for her when she moved in with him, I was her only friend, outside of two family members, who were invited to join her on her search for wedding dresses.

She had two weddings: one at a courthouse, one at a church. I helped her find her dresses for both occasions, helped her plan the events, ...

Now I assumed I'd also be close enough to get an invite to her courthouse wedding. Nope, she didn't tell me, I had to guess on my own. I felt hurt by this, especially since she had invited a bunch of other people and I thought it odd that she had asked me for help... but didn't think of inviting me. Anyhow I sent her a card and that was it.

But nooo. Months later she complained to me how hurt she was that I hadn't come. She didn't invite me but she had expected me to travel roughly 2 hours to get there, wait outside in the cold, just to congratulate her when she left the building... and to the drive home for another 2 hours. (I didn't have a car at the tune and traveling by bus would have taken that long).

Anyhow. That was an unexpected expectation.

I’m going to a wedding tomorrow and the bride has text me this morning to say ‘no red or white allowed at the wedding’. Fair enough about the white - a common courtesy. I know the red thing a thing in Asian weddings but neither of them or any of their families are Asian, they are 100% white British.

I have purchased a dark red dress to wear.

I went back over the invitation and all it says for dress code is cocktail attire, no mention of colour. I’m now going to have to take this dress back and try and find something else after work today! I feel like just wearing it since she said so late but I don’t want to ruin her day. Mad rn.

The year after Covid was ‘over’ we went to Slovakia for a uni friends wedding, it was okay, lots of food and drink but not much else, no music etc… so after a good few hours we and a lot of other guests decided it was okay to leave around 10pm(late enough to be respectful).

We went to get a cab and joined a pretty long queue, waited patiently for about twenty minutes then I went to see what was going on. As we were next to a station with a cab rank. Turns out the bride and groom very kindly had paid for transport back to the hotel we were all staying at… but it was just one cab doing round trips for 100 plus guests! We would have waited for hours!!

The bride was at the front of the queue arranging it all for some weird reason instead of enjoying her wedding, we gave her a hug and said not to worry about us and we would jump in one of the station taxis. Well she lost her S*!t, apparently that was so rude, they had spent money on transport for guests and expected us to use it. By then I was tired and over it so we very politely explained it’s a long queue and we’re really happy to just sort out our own transport. She ended up screaming at us as we walked off ‘well you have to pay for it!!!!’ Obviously- that’s exactly what we expects to do.. and it’s Slovakia! The cab cost £2.40 between 4 of us - we gave the driver a good tip and he left happy and I was happy to sink in to bed. We heard the next day a few guests did the same as us but a lot of people come home around 2am The bride was excitedly telling everyone her crazy party went on into the early hours but we’re all pretty sure it was just the cab queue…

Dear Guests 💌 this is about the Dress Code which is VERY IMPORTANT so please read careful. Everyone has been given there own special colour (example: pink, blue, orange, purple, etc etc) and that is the colour you MUST wear on the day. NO variations or patterns!!! The reason is because when you all sit down in your ASSIGNED SEATS it will make the vision happen 🌈✨ which is basically like a rainbow. Imagine like looking out and seeing all of you lined up perfectly, every single colour in the right order, it will look AMAZING!!! This is what we have been dreaming of since literally day one of our relationship and we need you guys to help make it real 💖 so pls don’t let us down because if one person doesn’t do there colour it could wreck the WHOLE vision 😭. We put ALOT of work into this and it’s gonna be worth it, trust me.

I told the bride I couldn’t afford the Vegas trip. I’ve been upfront about my financial situation for months. She said it was fine, that she understood. Then I got a text saying I’ve been replaced as a bridesmaid because I’m “not showing up for her.” So showing up to her wedding isn’t enough? I didn’t know friendship was measured in flight points and bottle service.

I am sorry that I am too broke to spend 3K on your wedding :(

I am going to my boyfriend's sister's wedding in June. I was excited because I had already purchased a few pretty maternity dresses just to have for the summer and I splurged a little for the sake of comfort and wanting to feel pretty as I get larger than I've ever been. Then his sister sends us the color scheme for her wedding and tells us she wants the GUESTS to dress according to the color scheme. Pregnancy aside, this seems like a ridiculous and needy request. I thought the color scheme was meant for the decor and to make the bridal party stand out amongst the crowd.

I don't know how it is in other states, but in Colorado it has been very challenging to find maternity clothing stores. I have been to a couple secondhand stores (that's where I've acquired some really nice baby clothes but it's hard to find dresses for specific occasions there, especially with this color scheme guideline), beyond that I've gone to the major department stores to look and I just can't justify paying their prices for a dress for this wedding. I am very satisfied with the quality and fit of the aforementioned dresses I bought from PinkBlush, so I purchased a couple options from there but neither of them fit the way the others do, and the stitching on the neckline of one of them is so noticeably uneven that I wouldn't have worn it anyway. I bought one from Amazon, the actual product varied so much and was one of the most horrendous things I've ever seen.

I just feel like I've spent too much time and effort trying to get one dress for one wedding and I think their color scheme rule is stupid and shortsighted.

That is all, thank you for listening to my rant.

Not as dramatic as some stories I've read on here, but this happened a while ago and it really did make me change the way I saw a friend.

About 10 years ago, I attended my best friend's wedding (we'll call her "Gemma"). I (gay male) was part of the bridal party along with two female bridesmaids (one of whom we'll call "Yasmin"). I was also asked to give a speech by the bride, which I did, and it went down very well. I was seated at the head table, and it was a beautiful wedding.

Approximately two years later, Yasmin then announced that she was getting married. I was invited, but as a regular guest and not part of the bridal party, which was absolutely fine. One night, she asked me to give a speech at her wedding too, just like I did for Gemma. Of course I said yes. I did think it a bit unusual, given that I wasn't part of the bridal party, but I went with it.

I write a speech and have it in my suit jacket pocket ready. I'm not sitting at the head table - of course I didn't expect to be, but then speeches begin. Groom, best man, bride, man of honour...and that's it. I'm not asked to give my speech. I'm sitting wondering when I'm expected to do mine, and getting kinda embarrassed. Did she forget she asked me? Did I misunderstand what she asked me to do? After their speeches, the disco begins.

Eventually, Yasmin makes her way round the tables and when she gets to ours (where I, Gemma and Gemma's husband "David" are sitting). Gemma asks when she's expecting me to do my speech; Yasmin gives a half laugh and makes some sort of joke about me "emerging" at some point during the disco to give it, which confuses all of us, but then she's off to the next table.

I never did get to give the speech. I would never have wanted to interrupt the disco to seemingly randomly give a speech - people would've been like "Who the hell is this guy?" I spend most of my time at the wedding with Gemma, before I tire and decide to leave. Gemma and David were both really pissed off at her for not letting me give the speech. I was kinda hurt and embarrassed, but really just confused at the whole thing. As I left the building, I tossed the speech in the bin.

I haven't really spoken to Yasmin since then, though I understand she's had another wedding and married someone else. Gemma and I weren't invited.

My cousin is getting married, I’m MOH. Our side of the family isn’t well off, basically everyone is struggling including the bride. She also doesn’t have her parents in her life. She has a lot of monthly expenses already but she wants to do a big bridal shower, fancy bachelorette.

I’m trying to tell her to just focus on the wedding since it’s the most important day and I’m telling her she needs to be realistic and understand her bridesmaids situations (all in young 20s - broke) and when I say all this she says I’m bringing her down, being negative and acting annoyed. I just say things because I know no one else in my family will be honest and look out for her future and finances. I told her I can step down as MOH if I’m not meeting her expectations.

I figured if she doesn’t care to put herself in debt neither should I. I’m just gonna say yes and agree with whatever she says if she wants to pay for everything.

I know it’s typical for the bridesmaids to host the bridal shower, does the bride just show up or does she have a lot of input? Because the bride wants control of every little thing and I don’t even care to plan it anymore.

On social media she sees everyone having all these extra parties and she wants it to, she says “well everyone has a bridal shower, it’s nice to have a day to celebrate the bride” I told her that’s what the wedding is for isn’t it. I get the sense she just wants a bunch of days to feel special and be the center of attention. I’m honestly over everything, I kinda wish she told me not to be a MOH anymore.

I 28F have a sister 23F who just got married. I was invited as a guest to her wedding. The day before her wedding I was showing her the dress I was gonna wear to the wedding and she said it was gorgeous. The dress was this little black dress with a little bit of sparkles and a corset. When I arrived to the reception she was a lil stunned and came up to me saying something in the lines of “oh wow I didn’t know you were actually gonna wear it” and than just laughed but I could see by her face that she had a problem with it. All throughout the wedding I saw her giving me these strange looks. And once during the wedding I saw her talking to some people and than at one point they all just stared at me and gave me a nasty look. She hasn’t really been the same to me ever since. I honestly don’t think I did anything wrong and think she was overreacting especially since she literally approved of the dress so I don’t know why she changed her mind so fast.