Wedding Guest Rulebook Backfires: Mass Cancelations Follow Bride’s Strict Guidelines

Every bride dreams of the perfect wedding day, meticulously planning every detail from the dress to the venue and catering. However, unforeseen challenges can arise despite careful preparation.

In today’s article, we delve into the story of a bride who sought to ensure her wedding day proceeded flawlessly. Yet, she soon realized that not everyone shared her perspective.

Turning to Reddit for advice, the bride-to-be questioned her approach in a post on the ‘AITAH’ subreddit (short for ‘Am I The Asshole’). She candidly shared that she and her fiance had compiled a list of rules for wedding guests, only to be met with a wave of cancellations.

Clarifying her intentions, she emphasized that her fiance was equally involved in formulating the rules, dispelling any notion of unilateral imposition as a ‘bridezilla’.

The bride and her fiance envisioned an “unplugged ceremony,” where guests were asked to refrain from using their phones during both the ceremony and dinner, unless in cases of “huge” emergencies. While guests generally understood the request for the ceremony, they felt the prohibition extended to dinner was excessive.

In response to parents expressing concerns about needing phones to check on their children, the bride stood firm, explaining that making exceptions would undermine the rule’s integrity. She emphasized that checking on children did not qualify as an emergency, asserting, “If something serious happens, you’ll know.”

In addition to the phone policy, the couple implemented a strict color scheme and dress code for their wedding. Guests were instructed to wear only black attire, with women required to wear dresses and men mandated to don tuxedos. No exceptions were permitted, regardless of personal circumstances.

Even the bride’s aunt, who had recently transitioned from mourning attire to brighter clothing following the loss of her husband, was not exempt from the mandate, despite expressing how wearing black made her feel melancholic. Similarly, the bride’s future sister-in-law, who struggled with body dysmorphia and found comfort in wearing pants, was not accommodated with an exception to the dress code.

The couple had meticulously planned their wedding, including ordering bridesmaid dresses months in advance and instructing their bridesmaids to maintain a specific weight, whether that required eating less or more.

However, tensions arose when the bride’s mother expressed outrage over these stringent rules, declaring the wedding doomed from the start. Additionally, the bridesmaids themselves threatened to withdraw from the wedding, while guests began canceling at the last minute.

The bride’s maid of honor’s daughter, who was meant to be the flower girl, faced a change of plans. The bride had requested the flower girl be left with a babysitter at a hotel during the ceremony, but the maid of honor disagreed. Instead, she intended to leave her daughter with her own mother due to the four-hour distance to the wedding venue.

Despite the bride’s attempt to explain and justify their decisions, many still viewed the couple as unreasonable and labeled them as the ‘assholes.’ Reddit users overwhelmingly criticized the couple, asserting that while weddings should reflect the couple’s wishes, guests were not obligated to comply with their rules and had every right to decline attending.

Overall, the consensus on Reddit was clear: the couple’s demands were deemed unreasonable and excessive.