Bridezilla Encounters

Saying the brides were high-maintenance would be understating things.

It's not unusual to shed a tear at your best friend's wedding — unless you're crying tears of pain and suffering at the hands of a merciless bridezilla.

The brides in these stories — shared by traumatized former bridesmaids — were ruthless, demanding and petty. When it came to their "special day," no bar stood too high, no expense seemed too extravagant and no demand felt too unreasonable.

1. Hamming it up for the camera

I worked at a golf course that did a lot of weddings.

By far the worst thing that a bride did was send her guests to the reception venue with no food or drinks, while she drove around after the ceremony to take pictures.

People from out of town had nowhere else to go, so they would bring their kids or elderly relatives to a golf course clubhouse. Meanwhile, the wedding party didn’t show up for at least two hours.

One time, a bride and groom drove around for almost five hours after the ceremony and showed up inebriated, then threw a fit that roughly half their guests had left.

| soundslikesally

2. A spooky ceremony

My sister got married last year.

First, she got married on Halloween for no reason other than she got a discount on the venue.

So even though it's my favorite holiday, and our kids wanted to trick or treat, we all had to haul ourselves to her wedding — which was more then two hours away.

I am one of four sisters. She initially asked all of us to be bridesmaids, but ended up with ONE bridesmaid, because only one of us could afford it.

She wanted us to buy $4,000 dresses, with custom-made jackets and wanted us to throw her a bachelorette in Las Vegas.

| Anonymous

3. Turtle bride

In her religion or culture or family (I don't really know) turtles were a symbol of good luck, and mere weeks before the wedding she came up with the idea to have turtles at the reception.

How you ask?

She wanted live turtles walking around the reception hall with lit candles glued to their backs. Lit flaming candles.

She saw no issues with this plan.

We tried to explain that the turtles could get crushed or stepped on, that it was cruel to glue candles to their backs and most importantly that a lit candle at ground level could start a fire.

She threw a fit of epic proportions.

We finally came to a solution of adding turtle themed things to the table decorations.

Because that wasn't good enough for our bridezilla, we teamed up with some local reptile wranglers to line the walls with giant aquariums that had live turtles swimming in them.

We had to have a staff for the turtles and extra insurance for the hall. But we pulled it off for the turtle bride.

| sarabeth616

4. A never-ending to-do list

Six years ago my childhood friend got married.

Her requests:

Refused to "approve" any shoe I picked, after claiming I could, "pick any shoe I wanted."

Dis-invited my parents after sending invitations.

Required we buy expensive makeup to cover up our visible tattoos.

No up-dos (I have long hair, this does not ever work out well. Ever.)

No pedicures or full sets of acrylic nails.

Demanded $3,000 in cash gifts for her honeymoon to Walt Disney World. She was offended when she realized no one was going to pay for that.

I ended up pulling out of the wedding and ended the friendship.

Their marriage lasted two years.

| rtasoiaa

5. Flustered photographer

I was a wedding photographer and encountered a momzilla.

The bride's mom comes up to me at the beginning and tells me not to take any pictures of the groom's family. She said that they didn't help pay for the pictures, so they shouldn't have any pictures taken of them.

I told her that's not how it works and that I didn't feel comfortable doing that. She bickered with me a bit, and then left in a huff. Then she came back and said, "Well, just don't take pictures of his mother."

I ignored her request, and after a few drinks they were all dancing together.

| zohso

6. Bride in the bush

The bride wanted an unconventional wedding.

As in, a three-day-long campground potluck wedding for which the whole family was expected to fly cross-country, from New York to California.

We had to bring our own tents, sleeping bags and a hot homemade dish that you'd have to haul across 3,000 miles.

We respectfully declined to attend.

Another happened at a wedding I was blissfully not invited to, but my boyfriend was.

The bride forced the groomsmen to buy $4,000 Armani suits, but "couldn't afford" a traditional reception. Everyone who wasn't immediate family got kicked out right after the ceremony.

It's incredibly tacky to be so inconsiderate to your guests.

| Anonymous

7. It's my party and I'll pay if I want to

My sister-in-law was a bridezilla.

She wanted both a bachelorette party AND a bridesmaids' weekend at the spa with multiple activities (chocolate making, fancy champagne bar and dinner) for which we were expected to foot the entire bill.

I was a poor graduate student at the time and couldn't afford to attend. Ended up getting fired as bridesmaid a week before the wedding.

| dahliafluffy

I'm going to a wedding this summer. Not only is it a three day event that involves camping and staying at the site for that long, the bride is asking for help setting up and bringing stuff.

I will only be driving down for the ceremony.

I think it's pretty tacky to force your guests to provide free labor for your wedding.

| abqat

8. She wanted a free wedding planner

The bride wanted her bridesmaids (of which there were nearly a dozen) to not only plan her a shower and bachelorette, but also plan the wedding. Seriously.

Each person was given a task like, "narrow down and present top three photographers." Others were tasked with arranging the flowers, calling DJs and so on.

I was on the verge of tears about how stressed I was planning a wedding that wasn't even mine. None of my florists were acceptable. We live in a suburban area — there aren't that many to pick from.

Needless to say, the majority of us are no longer friends with this bridezilla.

| beachy5313

9. In sickness and in debt

The bridesmaid dress she picked out for me was $2,400.

I couldn't afford it and gently told her so. I found a similar dress with fabric that was the same color, so I asked her if it was okay if I wore that instead.

She cussed me out, told me I was ruining her wedding, that her "vision" required me to wear THAT dress. She asked if I couldn't just open a credit card to charge the dress on.

When I told her no, she cut off all contact with me, claiming that if I was a "true friend" I would make the finances work. She's never spoken to me again.

| Anonymous

10. Not the time or place

The bride stormed out of her parents' house (wedding was on her parents' farm), in her underwear screaming about how the groom had ruined her life, she hated him, hated her dress, hated her hair, hated the whole wedding and how she was in love with Jeff (the groom's best man and cousin).

The wedding party just stood back and watched while the whole thing went down.

After a few minutes, I took a pizza box, rounded up my boyfriend and his sister and we decided it was probably a good time to head out.

We drove back to the hotel and stuffed our face with pizza.

| canadianmaplesyrup

11. A slight overreaction

She slapped me during the reception.

Her dress had this massive organza skirt. It was beautiful but utterly impractically designed. It took at least three of us to hold up her skirt so she could use the restroom.

On the second trip to the restroom, with all of us holding this dress up while she hovered over the toilet, she ordered me to wipe her.

She. Ordered. Me. To. Wipe. Her.

I declined.

So she slapped me.

The skirt was dropped by all parties while I shouted obscenities at her. She screamed that if I didn't do this for her, this friendship was over.

She tried to apologize years later, and seemed surprised when I was not interested in rekindling our friendship.

| isstronglikebull

12. A dress for everyday of the week

One of my oldest friends turned out to be kind of a crazy bride.

The bridal party was twenty people — ten bridesmaids, ten groomsmen.

We were basically the unpaid wedding staff. We set up and completely decorated the venue for a 200 guest wedding.

The bride and her mother didn't want to pay the venue staff who would normally do this. What did they spend the budget on instead?

Seven wedding dresses.

Yes, throughout the course of the very long wedding ceremony and reception, the bride changed into all seven dresses. No, it wasn't a cultural thing.

They were seven nearly identical white satin dresses.

| kochirachira

13. Momzilla of the year

I was one of ten bridesmaids.

We were at a fancy venue, and it was a requirement that you use the catering staff in place. That didn't stop the mother of the bride from micromanaging in the kitchen.

We walk in, and she is yelling at the kitchen staff, telling them how they should be doing things. She sees us, and starts giving us tasks.

"Peel, chop!"

So there we are, sweating profusely, peeling and chopping.

Quick mental picture — I'm wearing a bridesmaids dress, with a fully open back and extremely deep V down the front. It was a garish purple color with a neon bustier underneath.

Impractical, unflattering and the absolute LAST thing I wanted to be cooking in.

| Anonymous

14. Unfashionably late

The bride was two hours late to her own rehearsal. This was very aggravating to all of the professional staff at the church who were required to be there.

It was equally aggravating to the restaurant staff who were expecting a large party at 7:30 p.m., that didn't show up until 9:30 p.m., at a place that closed at 10 p.m.

And then when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the bride was 90 minutes late for her own wedding because she was getting her hair done.

A full church, everyone waiting.

She finally arrives. Doesn't even apologize. Just interrupts everyone trying to talk to her to say, "Excuse me, but this is my wedding! I needed my hair to be perfect!"

| theicecapsaremelting

15. Sash and hustle

One of my "best" friends was getting married, I was to be a bridesmaid.

I was between jobs at the time so I ended up taking a temporary position at the company she worked for.

About halfway through the job, I got a great opportunity for a full time, permanent position in my field.

I couldn't afford to not take it, so I ended my temporary position with her company as gracefully as I could.

She took this as an insult and dumped me as a bridesmaid.

To spite her, I showed up to the wedding in a fabulous dress with a hot date. We went to the reception and drank/ate as much free stuff as we could fill ourselves with.

| rheabs

16. Pink-slipped

Bride told me what color dress she wanted me to wear — cotton candy pink (ugh). So I buy an ankle-length, chiffon cotton candy pink dress. Before I bought it, I sent her pics to confirm this dress was acceptable. She gives me the okay.

The day before the wedding, I'm helping decorate and I see the other bridesmaids' dresses.

They are above the knee, empire waisted and black with fuchsia waistbands (like what a tween girl would buy for a school dance).

The bride had no intention of telling me I had the wrong dress. She was just going to let me show up and look completely out of place.

Thank goodness the store had more of the black/fuchsia dresses in stock. Even though I am totally the wrong body type for such a dress — I'm 5'8 and very curvy, squeezing into a dress intended for a 15 year old.

It was bad.

| riversong42

17. Party animal

The bride wanted two bachelorette parties. One that was raunchy and a secret from her mother, and another that was family appropriate.

We were to provide presents for her at both parties.

THEN we were told that we needed to also bring her gifts for the bridal shower, and help pay for the cost of food and decorations for all three parties.

This was all on top of buying the bridesmaid dress, shoes and accessories. I had to tell her that I couldn't afford to put on all of her parties and supply a gift for each of them.

She then decided to cuss me out, call me selfish and ended our friendship.

It was horrible.

| Anonymous

18. Duking it out over digs

The bride wanted us to have that whole "mismatched bridesmaid dress" aesthetic without giving the bridesmaids (there’s seven of us) the option of actually choosing our own dresses.

What she did was choose seven dresses, send a photo collage of the dresses in a group chat and have us duke it out via text as to who would get what dress.

It was so awkward and hostile. I only know a few of the other bridesmaids, and I had no interest in arguing with strangers over text as to what dress I was going to wear. So I just kept quiet and took whatever was assigned to me.

Luckily I liked the dress I got, but the whole thing was like a bizarre social experiment gone wrong.

| catbiscuit

19. Nashville, Chicago, oh no...
\
There's no pleasing you.
She wanted to have two bachelorette parties.

The first was in Nashville.

She cried and missed her fiance the whole time, decided she hated country music and therefore Nashville, was upset that it snowed and finally sobbed and laid down in the middle of the street after finding out that her fiance and groomsmen went to a casino for the weekend.

So we plan a second bachelorette weekend, this time to Chicago a month later.

We get there...and she spends the whole time crying and missing her fiance, deciding she hates snow and therefore Chicago and finally sobbing and laying down in the middle of the street because no one told our waiter it was "her special weekend."

| catsintinyshoes

20. Martyr of honor

I helped her plan her whole wedding, on a budget of around $3,000 for the entire thing.

I made 120 lavender vanilla votive candles with custom lace and ribbon accents.

I made all the bouquets/floral arrangements. She ordered about 500 red and white roses. None of them were de-thorned or trimmed down properly.

I made the centrepieces.

I hemmed all three of the bridesmaids outfits.

I spent 60% of the weekend keeping her family from killing each other over petty arguments.

AND I took photos at the reception.

I saw her maybe three times after the wedding, and she hasn't called me in almost a year.

| jsqueaks

21. All that glitters is tacky and overpriced

She wanted us to purchase matching necklaces and jewelry.

Sounded just fine and normal, until we found out it was tacky, overpriced garbage from her sister’s jewelry business (she was one of the bridesmaids too).

The sister had convinced the bride to wear her jewelry on her wedding day in order to promote the business — which included promoting it to us, of course.

I didn’t buy anything from her, but she really turned on the sales pressure. It was an awkward thirty minutes of her trying every sales tactic in the book.

Thankfully, the bride completely forgot about the idea and I found a similar necklace from Forever 21. Wore that to the wedding instead.

| horsetailfeathers

22. Not so pretty

I was a bridesmaid for a friend who was a consultant for one of those multi-level marketing beauty companies.

So on top of having to buy a very expensive dress, shoes and jewelry, and having to pay for all my own hair and nail appointments, she made us buy our own “beauty kits” through her company.

This included moisturizer, face wash, as well as an entire face of makeup for the big day and the brush kit to apply it!

We still had to pay her friend to actually do our makeup on wedding day, with this makeup we bought.

Oh, and did I forget to mention this was a destination wedding?

Yeah, needless to say I re-evaluated our friendship after the wedding.

| 1radgirl

23. Momzilla the micromanager

Sometimes moms are worse than the brides.
I was maid of honor. I planned a modest bridal shower since the bride specified that she didn't want anything too extravagant.

Then one day I get a message from her mother, saying how rude it was that I didn't invite her extended family. She then invited about 12 extra people.

I was kind of annoyed, but whatever. I let her know that it was going to cost about $25 per person.

She then sends me a long Facebook message, saying that I was a horrible maid of honor because I wasn't footing the bill for everyone.

I explained that I was still a university student, and it just wasn't within my means. She wouldn't cut me a break, saying that I "didn't know basic etiquette."

It was such a nightmare, I never want to be a bridesmaid ever again.

| startissue

24. Spoiled rotten

That's a lot of free stuff.
Bride had THREE showers!

One for groom’s side, one for her side and one couples shower. Attendance and gift was mandatory for each.

Registered at top of the line store only, with all designer items on list, nothing under $200.

Had to buy an expensive dress, dyed shoes to match and specific hair ornaments.

Wedding was at 4:00 p.m., bridesmaids had to be at her house at 8:00 a.m. so the photographer could shots of every moment of prep for the day.

Bridesmaids got no lunch, no dinner. We had to wait on her, hand and foot. It was miserable.

Her and her husband are now divorced.

| whereeveriwander

25. Seeing red

Bad hair day.
I have red hair, I’ve been a redhead my whole life.

When I was a bridesmaid I was accused of deliberately being a redhead "just to be difficult," because all the dress colors the bride wanted looked great on her blonde bridesmaids, but terrible on me.

Then she got upset because my tattoos were going to be visible, despite the fact that her sister (and maid of honor) also had a large visible tattoo that no one ever said anything about.

Also, kinda like being a redhead, the whole time I’d known her I had visible tattoos.

I’m not quite sure why she asked me to be a bridesmaid.

| disloyalmouse

26. Jekyll and Hyde bride

I was so excited to be a bridesmaid for my best friend of 15 years, but the wedding process brought to light every negative quality she possessed.

Everything we did for her was never enough. Duplicates of parties that weren’t good enough, spending more and more money to bring her “vision” to life, accusing us of "ruining" her wedding.

I wish I dropped out. I regret it so much. I spent so much money I truly didn’t have because I wanted to give her a good experience and make her feel loved, but she was just so nasty about it.

It’s been nearly a year and we haven’t spoken. I never received a "thank you."

| vivagypsy

27. Wedding guests or hostages?

At my coworker's 400-guest wedding, she had the officiant make an announcement that no one was allowed to leave before the first dance (planned for five hours into the 15-hour-long wedding event). She had an attendant stationed in the parking lot to note who did not comply, so that their friendship could be terminated.

| soundlife

My best friend's coworker is getting married later this year, and oh, man, this girl's got some problems.

She's very religious and "pure," which, if that's your thing, is fine. Whatever.

However, she told my friend last week that she doesn't want anyone at her wedding who was born out of wedlock. Which includes my friend, who is the daughter of a teen mom.

| babblepedia

28. Clueless lovebirds

Bride and groomzilla.

They had demands for specific gifts, followed by repeated online admonishments to "not buy gifts off the registry."

Apparently, the groom has expensive tastes, and any gift you tried to buy him would essentially be garbage compared to the stuff he prefers.

They selected completely inappropriate songs to play too early in the evening (when kids and older adults were still there).

While I get that they both wanted to get down and dirty at some point, you save the more mature songs for the end of the night.

You may love Dr. Dre, but Grandma doesn’t want to hear gangster rap.

| attheeolian