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Marcus & Marlisa
Devoted June 2021

Dropped one of my bridesmaids

Marcus & Marlisa, on February 15, 2020 at 3:41 PM Posted in Family and Relationships 0 31
I feel like a bridezilla and that is exactly what I wanted to avoid in this wedding planning process. So I have a niece that is 19. She just had a baby in November. she agreed to be my bridesmaid when she was pregnant. so considering her and some of my other bridesmaids who may be strapped financially I decided to go be cost-effective route for my bridesmaids. I picked out a dress from Amazon for them that is great and it only cost $36. I bought all of their dresses up front in November and just let them know that they needed to pay me the $36 by February 1st. Everyone but my 19 year old niece paid me the $36. she talked to my mother and told my mother, O I need to pay for my dress don't I (this was after the deadline). My mother said well she took the dress back. My niece got upset saying why would she take it back! my mother said you never paid for it nor did you communicate to her when you were going to pay for it. She doesn't have time to babysit you. She replied "well I guess that dress is going to wait". Now I understand people have things going on in their life. Such as her new baby and the problems that she's having with that baby's father. However, she was still getting paid full pay as if she was working and gotten to the point where she was now comfortable that her baby is a little older. she told me she was going to pay for the dress one day and never sent the money. Then the next week when I asked her about it all she said was I forgot. at this point she is two weeks past the deadline of the dress and still has not communicated with me whether she will buy it or need help buying it or anything. She has asked me for money multiple times during this time. But never once brought up the fact if she can pay for the dress later or if she can pay in payments. now the dress is $36 so that's not the problem, the problem is she smokes a lot of marijuana. And she likes to boast about it on her social media as well as boast about how much money she is getting while she is on maternity leave and I feel like if you can do that and smoke so much then you can afford to pay for $36 dress. I also feel if you can ask me for money you can also let me know where you stand with this dress. So needless to say to take the stress off me I dropped her from the wedding party because I just feel that she did not care. Her own sister and mother suggested that I do this. I let her know that she was dropped and the reasons I gave her and again she still acts like she doesn't care. Basically saying it's my fault because I didn't hand hold her about the dress. So I hate that it had to be this way and I feel very bridezilla-ish which is what I was trying to avoid. I am very lenient on my bridesmaids because I want them to be just as comfortable as I am on the day. I am giving them the option of makeup, if they want it they can take it if not they don't have to, I am given them the options of how the wear their hair, I am also giving them the options of what shoes to wear, i just required them to be a certain color. there are so many other things and other dresses I could have picked but I kept them in mind and decided to keep it in the decent price range so they won't have to come out of pocket so much. but now I feel I need to be more strict because I feel I am being taken advantage of. My wedding is 4 months away and I can no longer take any procrastination or any problems. I know this is long but I just wanted to get this off my chest

31 Comments

Latest activity by Christine, on February 26, 2020 at 9:28 PM
  • LB
    Champion November 2016
    LB ·
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    I think you are on the wrong here. You chose to buy the dresses super early. Then you set some arbitrary date for the BMs to pay you for the dress. Then instead of being an adult and talking to the BM about the fact she didnt pay yet, you just returned the dress and didn't tell her! That's when you really kicked her out IMO.
    I would not have been jumping to be in a wedding where the bride did that to me.
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  • Gen
    Champion June 2019
    Gen ·
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    Seems like this girl is really struggling and her wedding is not at the top of your priority list. She’s a new mom, and a teenager. I would cut her some slack and try to be there for her and support her as an aunt, before you keep worrying about how she’s supporting you as a bridesmaid
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    I understand. But I bought the dresses up front because they were coming from Amazon and I didn't want the seller to sell out or run out so I did that to help them so they wouldn't run into this problem. This wasn't an arbitrary date, it was the date that was required of them to have their dresses by anyway,whether I paid for them or not. They were also reminded multiple times up until the date and she not once communicated that she couldn't or wouldn't pay. but she was ok asking for money for her habit (not that marijuana is a problem because it's legal here but she prioritizes it in her life). She also, like everyone else knew, that if she didn't have the dress then that would mean they wouldn't be a part of it (unless we worked something out which she did not do). All I'm saying is she lacked communication on her end for this but did lack communication when it comes to something she needs.
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    I support her and my other nieces (her sister and cousin) all the time. I'm the aunt they call Mom. And as I stated to PP, she lacked communication about this but not when she needs something from me. If this was too much for her, she could say I can't do this or I can't afford it. Her own mother told her to tell her if she needed help paying for anything and she didn't speak up so to me, she doesn't want to be a bridesmaid and that's perfectly fine with me because I understand not everyone wants to be a bridesmaid. My point is the communication from her was lacking. And before you say it's because she is only 19, that has nothing to do with it because as I stated, she can communicate about everything else she needs from me.
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  • Laura
    VIP November 2019
    Laura ·
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    If she’s been coming to you for money why on earth would you expect her to pay you for the dress? Obviously she is cash-strapped (whatever the reason may be), and borrowing money sort of implies she won’t have it to spend on extras like a bridesmaid’s dress.
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    Yup I asked the same question, she just said that at that time she asked, she needed it for something small like the atm fee her bank charges her for taking money. I asked if she could afford it and she said yes because she was still getting paid even tho she was on maternity leave. Her mother even asked if she needed help buying stuff and she said nope because it's only $36. So I took her word for it.
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  • Jess
    Expert October 2019
    Jess ·
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    She’s obviously not cash strapped. Your wedding is just not her priority. That much weed is a lot more than $36. It’s not a priority and she just didn’t wanna say that. She didn’t wanna lose her money to something that wasn’t a priority. You gave them a date well in advance. I do think you should’ve said “ Hey ____ just letting you know i’m going to return the dress on (so and so date) if you can’t pay me back.” i wouldn’t have assumed as a bridesmaid that you were gonna return it and would’ve maybe had more urgency. and all those people are gonna come for you saying that it’s her money and blah blah blah. True it is. but she needs to tell the truth. it’s about priorities not expenses and you as the bride shouldn’t have to babysit or hold anyone’s hand you have enough to do. My MOH didn’t have her shoes until a couple days before. Yes she got them but it still stressed me out to have to keep checking in. She was in the wrong and i’m sorry you have to deal with this.
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    Thank you for understanding! And just FYI they knew I was going to return the dress if they didn't pay it not only because they didn't pay but because Amazon would no longer take returns after that date. So if their dress didn't fit they would just be stuck with a dress that didn't fit and I didn't want that to happen. So this date had many significant reasons behind it not just because it's a random date I picked. But thank you! when I explained to her that she smokes more than $36 a day she just looked at me with a blank face basically letting me know you're right. I also told her she could have paid me $6 every so often until it got to $36, she could have paid me $10 here or $20 there, any way that she could have gotten it to me or any way that she could have communicated to me that she'd have it and I would have worked it out for her. She just lacked communication all through and if she's lacking communication with a dress I can only imagine what she's going to do with her makeup and her shoes and her hair and the actual date of the wedding
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  • Jess
    Expert October 2019
    Jess ·
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    With the return policy and making sure it fits that totally makes sense. Girl i’m so sorry you’re going through this.
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  • Fleur
    October 2020
    Fleur ·
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    Yikes. I can’t possibly imagine a scenario where I would cut a teenage single mom from my wedding party over $36 bucks.
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    You would if the teenage mother is more than capable of paying for the dress, insisting that she can and is capable of communicating. BTW, I never said she was a single mother. I said she is having problems with him. He lives with her, they are together. He just doesn't support her at all. Thanks for your input 😊
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  • Fleur
    October 2020
    Fleur ·
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    No I would never kick a teenage mom out of my wedding over $36 - just would never happen. 🤷🏽‍♀️
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  • Julie
    VIP February 2020
    Julie ·
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    Am I the only one worried about the infant who has (probably) been breastfeeding on thc tainted milk?? My friends pump and dump when they drink the night before, but weed stays in your system! This is very concerning. And I'm very 420 friendly but I can't ignore all of the developmental implications
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    Fortunately, she doesn't breastfeed because she can't stop smoking so her mom talked her out of breastfeeding. I'm surprised she went her whole pregnancy without smoking.
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    🤷 your wedding, your rules.
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  • Julie
    VIP February 2020
    Julie ·
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    Huge sigh of relief.
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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    Yes, believe me, me and my sister (her mother) made sure we were on top of that.
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  • Nefetera
    VIP March 2015
    Nefetera ·
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    Hello
    It seems to me she was struggling and i honestly wouldn't had looked for the 36 dollars back however if you told the bridesmaids that you need the money back this day I get It..but in her case its a lost you took ...
    i just feel it was never spoken about to her with you and her 1 on 1. She seems like she dont care 1. Because shes a young 19 year old girl and 2. Shes going thru alot i dont see her fit for a wedding right now anyway. You did the right thing in my opinion just from the fact she smokes marijuana and that's where all her money goes it seems like what she's going thru is way more important right now. When it comes to a wedding theres no time to play or try to figure out. What advice i will give you though is communicating whatever it is you want need and expect from them as your bridemaids so there is not no mis understanding. 4 months away you need all the support.. Good luck
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  • Andrea
    Master January 2021
    Andrea ·
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    Sort of interesting, when I gave money for my bridesmaids dresses, I didn't expect the money back. So it's sort of different how you did it. You bought the dresses on their behalf and then expect the money back. Not judging, but just different. However, I really feel like you shouldn't of kicked her out of your bridal party for a 36 dollar dress... especially since she is your niece as well. I wish I had better advice

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  • Marcus & Marlisa
    Devoted June 2021
    Marcus & Marlisa ·
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    I bought the dresses upfront because they were coming from Amazon and I didn't want the dress to get discontinued or sell out before they had the chance to purchase them. They knew they had to pay for the dresses regardless, but instead of paying Amazon, they were supposed to pay me. It's not about $36. It's about the fact that she couldn't communicate with me if she had a problem paying. She was asked by me and her mother if it's something she can handle and she said yes and kept insisting so I took her word for it. I don't have time for the lack of communication at this point. She, like all the other girls, knew the details behind the dress so I feel she just didn't care which is fine. I can't hand hold her and not give the same treatment to the other girls.
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