What's Your Bridezilla Moment?

I think my tale of woe falls more under "mother-of-the-groomzilla." My MIL lied to me about the rehearsal dinner venue "not allowing us" to include a case of wine that my parents had reserved for my rehearsal dinner since I was born. I came to find out that we absolutely could have used it, she just didn't want something that was important to me at "her event" (ya know, the one she's hosting in OUR honor!?). I was PISSED and my husband got an earful about how disrespectful and selfish his mother was. Later on, she wanted the login credentials to my WW account so she could design the rehearsal dinner invitations. I had our guest list, vendor info, private wedding details, and probably credit cards linked to that somewhere, so there was no way I was giving that to her. I told her I'd design the invitations and she could approve the final draft. She approved, and they got sent out. The guest list had been limited to anyone involved with the rehearsal and their SO since that was what MIL told us her budget for the event could cover. However, she invited all of her siblings who weren't at the rehearsal, their kids, and anyone's SOs behind my back. I just let it slide since it wasn't worth getting upset over the night before the wedding, but I'll never forget how she showed her true colors.

View Quoted Comment Yikes, that was so rude of your mother-in-law! I totally don't blame you for being upset about all of that, and definitely a good choice for you to not give her your WW login credentials. That all would have been my bridezilla moment for sure if it were me in that scenario. Did you find another way to incorporate the wine into your wedding events? That was such a cool thing for your parents to do!

For me, my sister in law was talking about bringing her giant four-seater covered wagon for her two kids (at that point 3 years and 2 months). Literally, this thing is about as tall as she is and not discreet in any way. She first brought it up a month before, gloating about how many things she can fit in it and that if I need to hide, I could literally fit in it. I told her I wasn't so sure it was a good idea to bring it, that it would end up in pictures of the ceremony, but there wouldn't be a lot of room in the reception area for such a large wagon.

Then two weeks before the wedding she brought it up again. Saying she could keep it in the back of seating and next to her at the reception. I told her, more firmly, no, there will not be room, especially since we got the table plan for the reception and it'll be tight as it is in the space we had. There will be children's high chairs provided where the kids can sit/ place the carrier, but that giant wagon won't have room. She insisted she could keep it in the car, but I asked then what's the need to bring it? And figured that was the end.
She brought that wagon to the rehearsal and it was HUGE. In person, no, it wouldn't fit. Also, her kids weren't in that wagon for the rehearsal and the 3 year old ran off and almost grabbed the live electric fence (my venue was an active llama farm). I was blunt and said I didn't want that stroller at the wedding. She said "well who's going to hold my kids, because I'm not." I suggested her husband or even two of the 4 grandparents attending the wedding, but she huffed and pushed her oversized stroller out of the venue.
She showed up childless the next day. Found them babysitters, and told everyone who'd listen that I told her I didn't want the kids there, which I never said at all. Just didn't want that wagon and I wanted her to make sure her kids didn't electrocute themselves during the wedding.

Not sure if Bridezilla-worthy, but I took a week off to not do anything wedding to teach my now husband my Boundaries. He was actually a Groomzilla, but I oversaw planning and budgeting because I'm more capable in those realms. And one week I had it, he tried to have secret meetings with potential baker #6 and #7. So I didn't go to any of the fun wedding things. Skipped the food tasting and reception walk-through with our planner, skipped the floral design mock-up meeting, and didn't attend any other meetings live or on Zoom. My husband took off work to handle it all. I also skipped a haphazard 2nd bachelor party I was invited to last minute so of course declined. No regrets. My break was my way of being intentional in a wedding that wasn't really my idea, and I was not going to feel guilty.

View Quoted Comment Glad to hear that you held your ground and told her no on the oversized stroller, and that she mostly respected your decision in the end! As for her question of "who's going to hold the kids", they are her kids, and therefore her issue to figure out. You were totally justified in putting your foot down in this scenario! Do you have a photo of what the stroller looked similar to? I've never seen one like that, and am totally curious what it looks like, lol!

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It was very similar to this one, if not the exact brand. But it fits the "almost as tall as her" ratio. Big enough that it would've found its way into all of my pictures

I have to say, despite 2 postponements, losing over half our vendors (and our deposits), having the wrong cake delivered, having an allergic reaction to the makeup my makeup artist used (and subsequently walking down the aisle with no make up on), AND having our officiant interrupt our photos, just to let us know that she would not be showing up to our ceremony…. I still never had a

Bridezilla moment. Looking back now, I wonder how that’s possible 😂😂 But, I said from day one that I was going to be a chill bride, and that I would roll with whatever unexpected stuff happened. Granted, I never expected all of that! 😆 But I am happy I just rolled with it and didn’t allow anyone/anything to steal a moment of joy from our wedding weekend.

View Quoted Comment Setting boundaries is important! A bummer that you missed some of the more fun moments of wedding planning, but hopefully your husband made some adjustments and that you both were able to get back on a better track together!

View Quoted Comment Oh my gosh, I've never seen those before, but I totally understand why you wouldn't want it at your wedding reception! I doubt that the kids would have spent much time (if any) in it at the reception anyway. If a cart that size were to be at my wedding, it better be a popcorn cart, lol!

I have had and apparently will continue to have Bridezilla moments with my Etsy dressmaker lol. She’s supposed to send me updates as certain pieces are completed, and she’s sent one so far which I only got after my first Bridezilla moment (after a series of messages where she promised to send me pictures, she didn’t, so finally I was like if you haven’t started on my dress yet, please just tell me). Now that was a couple weeks ago and no further updates since. The estimated timeline she put on the order for the dress to be completed was this past week, and from what I’ve seen, only the lace work is done. I’m just frustrated because she won’t even give me a timeline so I can schedule my appointments with my local seamstress, so there will probably be future curt messages on Etsy lol.

View Quoted Comment It amazes me at how well you handled all the curveballs thrown at you throughout your whole planning process! You have a great attitude and are absolutely correct to not let anyone or anything take any joy away from you and your partner's day.

View Quoted Comment That's so frustrating that she isn't keeping up on the agreed upon timeline, and that she isn't giving you any clear info on the status of your dress! You are totally justified in being more assertive in your messages to her to get answers. Do you have a photo of what the dress will look similar to when it's completed? It sounds like it will be beautiful!

Overall, I didn't have any major bridezilla moments, though one potential bridezilla moment that comes to mind revolved around the guest list. My parents gave us a mile-long list of who they wanted us to invite (some of them being people that neither my now husband or I had ever even met), a couple of our friends were trying to find a way to get us to invite their mutual friend (who we've also never met) to our wedding, and my husband's parents were also wanting their way with the guest list. My husband and I set our boundaries early, only included who we wanted to invite, and politely rejected each person's request beyond that. We thought we had made our boundaries clear, but at one point, we had my parents pressuring us to invite their friends (and telling us that they promised their friends an invite), at the same time that we found out our friends were including their mutual friend in their plans for the wedding events, at the same time that my husband's parents were requesting that yet another person be added to our guest list. Frustrated and annoyed, my husband and I became way more assertive (and a bit less polite) in saying no to everyone. We must have gotten our point across, because no one brought up the topic of our guest list again.

We've only been planning for a couple of months but I think the area where I'm going to have a Bridezilla moment is just dealing with my dad. I love him, he and I are very close and have a strong relationship, but I'm feeling like he's being very critical and kind of pushy on things. He is being nit picky about the song I want for him to walk me down the aisle to. But the BIGGEST point of contention is my sister. She is 6 years younger than me and we do not have that strong of a relationship. I've tried mending it, it just backfires on me. She is talented at making events about her and playing the victim when she feels things aren't going her way. I did send her a save the date and she is invited, but I haven't heard anything from her if she received our save the date. I called Dad last week or so to discuss me dress shopping soon as he is paying for it, and the entire conversation turned into being told she's hurt because I don't have her in the wedding and that I need to find a way to have her be part of the ceremony. But again, I have heard nothing from her.

Note: I am thinking of ways my sister can help, but I have this worry that she will mess things up. Right now we are considering having her hand people programs or help with decorating, but there will be pictures of how we want decorations (especially centerpieces) to look.

View Quoted Comment Weddings have a way of bringing out lots of strong opinions, especially from close family members! You are not obligated to include your sister in the ceremony as anything more than a guest. If you'd really like to include her, maybe she can walk down the aisle during the processional (either escorting your mom, or right after your grandparents, etc)? Or she can possibly get ready with you and your wedding party? Or maybe she can do a reading during the ceremony? I would caution against giving her a task that feels like she's working at your wedding, or handles something that you want done in a specific way, just in case she chooses to do it differently. As far as the music choices, it's ultimately your wedding and therefore your choice. Maybe as a compromise, you could choose your top three songs and let him pick from those (or vice versa)?

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A combo of these two is the best way to describe it. All her reviews from the last couple months on Etsy are from people praising how quickly she got their dress done, so apparently it’s just me! 😂

View Quoted Comment Wait, didn’t you share a story in another thread about the horrible tactless mug your MIL got you for Christmas? If so, she sounds like a piece of work!

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Yup 🙃 I could write a novel...

View Quoted Comment This looks like it will be super pretty!! I hope you share photos of the finished product, I'd love to see how it turns out. It's good to hear that other customers of hers had positive experiences, so maybe she just something come up in life that caused her to get delayed on your dress? Either way, hopefully she sends you an update soon!

Mine was actually after my wedding. We had an issue with my MOH (who still thinks she's in the right), and she purposely made a note in the guest book saying that congrats to me and that they loved me, but absolutely nothing towards DH. I asked her about it, and she said it was 100% a shot at DH and that she would have been better off just not putting anything because I'd been an "awful friend" anyway. (We had been friends since we were 11 . . . so, 16 years.)

Yeah, we don't speak anymore.