40 Bridesmaids Share The Most Unreasonable Demands From Brides They’ve Ever Gotten

Mine was minor compared to some but I was asked to break in the shoes the bride would be wearing on her wedding day. I said no.

The bride’s idea was since we both wore the same size shoes I would break them in by wearing them so she didn’t have to risk blisters by breaking them in herself. Not even tempted. She then decided to threaten me by saying I couldn’t be a bridesmaid unless I did so. No problem. My boyfriend at the time and I went to Disneyland and had a ball.

She couldn’t find another bridesmaid 3 days before the wedding and then fired a groomsman to keep the numbers equal the night before the wedding. Then her fiance got angry because she had essentially told his brother he was out of the wedding. It turned into a major fight that continued right through the ceremony and resulting in a massive blowup at the reception where she picked up a 3 tier wedding cake and lobbed it at her husband and he upended a bunch bowl over her head. Result was an annulment. She blamed me because their marriage didn’t work out.

My friend asked me to drive one of the groomsmen home to our town from her wedding 1000 miles away. I did not know him and he was planning to ride to the wedding with the groom. I was less than thrilled at the thought of spending all of those hours in the car with a stranger. We have now been married over 35 years, lol! Guess it wasn’t such a bad idea after all!

To exchange my necklace for the maid of honor’s because the maid of honor had to be different from the mere bridesmaids. Now these were our own real necklaces( a single pearl) I had mine from when I graduated college. It was a gift from my mother. All if a sudden she’s jerking mine off my neck and giving it to the maid of honor. She broke the chain. I was appalled and sent her the bill for a new chain. Her mother paid for it while they were away on their honeymoon.I don’t care how much of a bridezilla you are ,you don’t put your hands on another person's property.

My best friend since we were 4 years old demanded I get Breast implants so I would look good in my brides maid dress! ( Yes I'm tall 5′11″ 1 25 pounds & only a B cup) she expects D cups plus for bride maids dresses!

No s**t!

Hair no issue, b**bs 100% issue. I told her to F**k off!

I wasn’t the bridesmaid in this instance, but ended up quite literally cleaning up the mess caused by an unreasonable demand on one.

As my partner (now husband) and I were milling around waiting for a taxi at the end of a wedding for some old family friends of his, we spotted one of the bridesmaids left in the venue packing up. He went to give her a hand stacking some chairs, made some small talk, and then came back over to me frowning. Apparently this bridesmaid had previously mentioned to the bride that she could stay back and help clean up after the wedding, and the couple decided that meant it was reasonable to have her do it all herself.

Did I mention that the reception venue (a sporting club) had in their contract that the whole place needed to be emptied out and cleaned THAT NIGHT so they could re-open for patrons the next morning, or the couple would lose their deposit?

And did I mention that this was not a small wedding and there was mess EVERYWHERE?

We ended up staying to help and between the three of us it still took two hours. It was about 3am when we got home. At least we made a friend that we still stay in touch with occasionally out of it. I still haven’t fully forgiven the bride and groom ten years later. All they needed to do was pre-organise a clean-up crew of some close family and it would have been done in under 30 minutes.

When I was 13 my best friends mom got re-married and me and her was bridesmaids. The day of the wedding she ask us if we would be willing to get matching tattoos with her, I said “I’m 13 years old”. She said “oh don’t worry will get them in a spot no one will ever see, we will get them in a private area”. Keeping in mind the man she was about to marry owned a tattoo shop. So basically she was asking me and her daughter to go with her and let her new husband tattoo all of us in a “private area” We was both like, “no thank you”

I don’t know if this is the most unreasonable, but this was a pretty ridiculous demand.

I was living in Belize teaching school. I went right after university for several years. While I was there, my closet friend was getting married. She wanted me in her wedding so I bought the ticket to go back to the US for spring break.

I got there on time, my dress fit and all was well. On the morning of the wedding, we all got our dresses on and went to help the bride. She wanted to see how we looked so she had us all line up. Her one complaint was that I was tanner than the other women and could I please “do something about that”.

I had no idea how to please her. Of course I was tan. I wore 30 SPF everyday but I lived in the jungle! Some tan got through the SPF.

So, I had to remain tan, over which she huffed and rolled her eyes repeatedly. The other bridesmaids were also mad about it on the brides’s behalf. It was a great time…

We are still friends now and I have never reminded her of her ridiculous request.

At the time my sister was asked to be a bridesmaid for her good childhood friend, she had pretty serious acne on her face and chest.

The brides perfectionist, image-obsessed mother asked my sister to please see a doctor for an Accutane prescription.

Due to the d**gs rather serious side-effects, it’s not for everyone. It actually can harm your organs, has possible psychiatric effects, and is a death sentence for any child you conceive while taking it.

But, you know, it would make for pretty pictures on the big day if all the bridesmaids had clear skin.

A former friend expected her “staff” to do EVERYTHING!!!! She was trying to cut corners with cost by having a complete do it yourself wedding. Right down to the food and everything. It was (as she put it) “our gift to her” to pay for the groceries for the food dish that we were assigned, to feed 100 plus people. She expected us to spend our own money to create our own artificial flower bouquets and all the decorations for the reception hall. She even wanted us to create gift baskets that her guests could bid on to win to help pay for the honeymoon. This girl even wanted to have an auction for people to buy the decorations and such. She even assigned us what we were to buy her for gifts. I found the item she “requested” at a different store for a much cheaper price and she actually had the nerve to demand the difference, in cash. This girl was a total spaz and (supposedly) at the last minute (the morning of the wedding) decided they weren’t going to have a wedding party. (I say supposedly because the programs which had already been printed by one of her other bridesmaids were “lost” and replacements without the bridal party on them we’re already at the church when we arrived)

I swear some brides to be watch Bridezillas as a guide of how they’re supposed to act or something.

This did not happen to me but I have shot nearly a thousand weddings and these two stick out in my mind

Bride to a Bridesmaid: “April, your b88bs are HUGE, go pump them or something you cant go down the aisle looking like you could feed everyone in the church!” 20 minutes later she asked the bridesmaid not to walk down the aisle and told her to just go to the reception and that she hoped by then her b***s would look better in the dress. - I wish I was kidding.

Bridesmaid to a Bride: (it had rained during pre photos and a bridesmaid tripped while running..and broke a few nails) “You owe me 200.00 for my nails and hair. Look through the envelopes and get me the money or I will.”

My sister in law was the last to get married in her family (she was just 30 but her mom wanted to point out she was the oldest when getting married). Anyhow, her future husband planned to have his 3 brothers as his groomsmen but she only had 2 sisters. Her future husband suggested me and she kind of floated the idea with my husband and he told her no for me (I dislike her and hate being part of weddings). Anyhow, I come to find out that she didn’t choose either of her 2 friends (who she was a bridesmaid for) because she didn’t want to pay for the dresses (they paid for hers) and she wanted her bridesmaids to be at the site the week leading up to the wedding to take care of her and help her out (on their dime). After the wedding, she had the audacity to call guests up and ask if they gave her a gift because she felt like some were missing.

I was asked to be a bridesmaid many years ago. The deal was I had to give up 6 weeks of work to move to Darwin (Australia) just to make sure she was well looked after. I declined. The groomsman I was meant to be paired with was a great friend of mine and he was not happy with the brides second choice. Had a great time at the wedding though.

I have been really lucky. While my first bridesmaid experience was not fun, the bride was not a bridezilla. And my second and so far final bridesmaid experience was awesome.

However I have relatively recently dealt with a bridezilla and I was Not a bridesmaid. She was marrying my husband's cousin and my husband was performing the ceremony. Of importance I have a nice camera and take lots of pictures, but I am not a professional and don't have indoor lighting. Also we are decidedly not morning people and on weekends don't get up before noon if we don't have to.

First she demanded I do first look photos for her inside even though I was not the photographer they hired. I said I thought that might be breaking her contract with the professional and managed to wiggle out but she was very annoyed though the pro did a great job.

Then she texted starting at 8am demanding that we get to the ceremony site an hour earlier than we agreed at rehearsal the night before. So husband and I rearranged things so we could arrive an hour earlier. Cousin arrived a few minutes later. She and the girls arrived 15 minutes late…for the original time.

Next I was the gopher making sure various people arrived and got the props they were supposed to have. That wasn't so bad.

Then she handed me a ratty stuffed animal and told me I needed to carry him everywhere so he had a good view of the day. That just felt weird. Luckily most everyone knew it was hers not mine so it was a little less awkward walking around the country club in a dress with a ratty stuffed animal.

Then she tried to convince me to video the whole thing on a cell phone. I managed to wiggle out of that way more easily because the pro heard the request and went and fetched his video equipment from the car.

Then she freaked out on me because I left the stuffed animal alone at the reception table while I went to the bathroom and demanded him back a request I was more than willing to acceed to.

When the night was over, I was exhausted. I planned to sleep until noon the next day (Sunday) before getting up and helping my husband pack for a week long business trip that started Monday and packing for a week long trip for myself to visit my mom while he was gone. That did not happen because starting at 8am the bride was texting me wanting the pictures from the wedding. I told her to give me a week.

But the demanding behavior continued after the wedding. Once I told her no and she ignored me. I made a clear statement that was unacceptable. I was then a horrible evil person and she has refused to speak to either my husband or I since and has avoided family holidays if there was a chance we might be there.

Not as being just bridesmaid … but …. Read on..

My two college roommates and I—the three of us were close friends… very close. We shared an apartment, shared meals, and did a lot of fun things together..

When one of them, “ABC" got engaged, she consulted the other roommate, “XYZ" and me extensively… to the minute details. She used to always say that when she got married the two of us will be her bridesmaids. She made her own dress… and was getting married in the garden of her Godparent’s house. For Bridesmaid’s dresses, she consulted both of us on two alternate colors, we gave her our thoughts on both, and left upto her the final selection. Then, she said, she had a surprise for us… and wanted to show us her appreciation for all our help. We were touched… very touched.. Since she was a good seamstress, and has sown a few items for the two of us, we were under the impression that she was going to make our dresses as well. And, that plus her final choice of color would be our surprise. Not so…

Things moved forward. We were all excited. She kept the two of us extensively involved, and kept us informed of every hiccup and burp. We greatly anticipated her big day.

Strangely enough we never met her fiancé. Thought meeting him at the wedding could be the surprise or at least one of the surprises.

Then, the bridal shower was announced—at her Godparent’s house. Since her sister was going to be the Maid of Honor, she was handling all the details. Of course, XYZ and I offered our help, but she said everything was under control. We received the invitation for the shower, and her choices of items for her new home and new life… we splurged…the best for our dear friend.

At this point XYZ and I wondered why we hadn't yet received the wedding invitation as well as details of the program—rehearsal etc. But didn't worry much… thinking that will be discussed at the shower.

At the shower, things went smoothly. We all had a wonderful time. She and her Godmother showed us the venue of the wedding ceremony. And, all the anticipated details…but nothing that included us.

XYZ and I were super confused. As she and I were about to leave, ABC's cousin whom we had just met—for the first time, walked up to us, and excitedly said: “See you at the wedding.”

“No, you won't,” XYZ, leading me to the door, said, adding: “We are not invited!!!”

What? Apparently, she overheard the bride telling her Godmother that she didn't want anyone better looking than her at the wedding. And, us—her two close friends and confidants—were being dropped, without a word. 🤣😅🤣😅

After initial shock worn out, XYZ and I laughed all the way, as we drove back together. We never saw ABC again or heard from her except a generic Thank You note that we got for the shower gifts.

Sadly, her marriage fell apart after a couple of years.

And, to this way, I don't think… THIS was “the surprise that she had promised us.” But neither XYZ and I have the slightest clue why she just didn't come out and say that she was keeping it a small wedding and only family was invited. We would have been fine with that.

Naturally, XYZ and I did not feel any obligation to send her the wedding gift. She and I are still friends. Recently, we both tried to reach ABC but didn't hear from her. A few intervening decades are long enough to let go. However, recalling the Great-Wedding-that-we-didn't-attend, XYX and I still laugh and often wonder what “truly transpired” that got the two of us dropped from the bridal party, not get invited to the wedding, and all without a word from the bride—our onetime best friend.

I guess we will never know.

The most unreasonable thing a bride can do is ask the bridesmaids to all be the same size. I was in a wedding party where the bride TOLD everyone they had to lose weight and all be a size 6/7. I laughed in her face and dropped out. First of all I'm 5′8 and a size 6/7 would make me look like I was sick. I told he if she wanted everyone to be the same size, she should ask people what size they wore BEFORE having them.

In the early 1990s, my sister asked her to be her matron of honor. And I know she intended for that request to BE an honor. So of course I graciously accepted. At that time, I had a fairly bad case of chronic bacne, which makes for an unattractive back. So I asked her to please choose a dress for me that didn’t expose my back.

What did she choose? Dresses for all of the bridesmaids (including mine) that had a scooped back. I was shocked. I mean, did she really want a bad case of bacne walking down the aisle for her wedding?! I don’t know what she was thinking—or not.

So I decided to get a grip, as I had come to realize that things like this can be blown out of proportion. They are better left to be laughed at later, in the distant future (though, truthfully), almost 30 years later, I’m still kinda resentful about it). Turns out I had an especially big zit on my back the day of the wedding, and I got my sister’s soon-to-be MIL to pile some makeup on it. Not sure it helped, and it may have made it look worse, and definitely made it get worse.

Thank goodness no one I really cared about seeing me like that (for instance my personal friends, coworkers, etc) were at the wedding. My mom had passed away, and my dad could deal, as I told him I didn’t choose my dress. I was a little embarrassed about certain cousins, etc. but just tried to laugh it off to myself. They were from the small town we all grew up in, and I believe they knew that the bride selected the bridesmaids dresses. And I spread the word, starting with a cousin I had grown up with. I told her I had tried my best to circumvent this problem, to no avail. I think she passed that along.

I think that it is a very deep ask for a bride to request that the bridesmaids all purchase matching, color-coordinated, custom-made, single-use, very expensive dresses for her wedding.

Guys can rent a tux. That is quite different.

It was actually the bride’s mother. The bride had me and one bridesmaid. She found cheap dresses and said she would pay for them. We paid to have them altered. The bride’s mother asked if we would reimburse the bride for the dress, but give her the money. It wasn’t that much, so we did. She then wanted us to pay for our flowers and the bridesmaids gift the bride bought us. She also wanted us to help pay for the food, drinks, reception hall, and the tip for the minister that married the bride and groom as the bride’s mother paid for everything and needed help. We have some money, but explained we didn’t have much money because we were in college and only worked part time. The bride’s mother got mad and threatened to convince the bride to kick us out of the wedding. That didn’t happen. About a week after the wedding the bride’s mother called us and asked for the bridesmaids dresses back (that we paid for) so she could take them back to the store to get “Her” money back. We told her that we had to have them altered so she would not be able to take them back. She did not speak to either of us for over a year. Note: The bride later found out what her mother was doing( the other bridesmaid told her) and had no idea that happened. She said the bride, groom, and groom’s family paid for the wedding and reception. Her mother never gave her a dime.

I’ve been a part of many weddings - almost a 27 dresses thing going on. Haha. Luckily my friends have all been wonderful brides. But. I attended a wedding as a guest and was friends with one of the bridesmaids too. Apparently the bride picked the bridesmaids not for her relationship with them, but for how pretty they were and how they’d make the photos look. Cringe.

Edit: Thank you for reading my little experience. I wish I could show this to her. Hah.

I was told that I had to find a dress that made me look fat, or in the bride’s own words “less thin”, because she didn’t want to look bad standing next to a slim woman.

I have no intention of fat shaming anyone, but the reality is that this woman is technically quite obese. She was marrying one of my husband’s cousins and had no family or friend in this state, so she picked me and two other women in the family who had been kind to her as her bridesmaids. Savanna, as I’ll call her, wasn’t the kind of person I’d usually befriend, as she was just much too focused on money and material possessions. Still, I was alone here too when I first got married, so I agreed to be her maid of honor, because I understood what it was like to be in her shoes. There were times when I almost backed out, like when she wouldn’t stop hinting that she wanted me to sponsor an elaborate and expensive bachelorette party at a casino on the Mississippi coast. It wasn’t long before I figured out that I’d been chosen because my husband and I have done pretty well for ourselves, and she wanted expensive gifts from us, but I stuck it out for her fiancé’s sake. It was not a long engagement, only about six weeks, so I didn’t have to endure the situation for too long.

As it happens, I think Savanna is quite pretty. She has smooth, clean skin, a round but well-shaped face, and gorgeous black hair. Sure, she was on the larger side of obese, and while it probably led to some health issues, it didn’t make her unattractive. To me it was just incredibly sad that she thought a slim woman near her would detract from her own beauty, but that’s how she felt. Finding her dress was a nightmarish ordeal where she ended up screaming at the sales associate that she just wanted a dress that made her look skinnier! The poor women had already offered numerous dresses that helped highlight Savanna’s best features, and I could tell from her facial expression that she really just wanted to tell Savanna that she was a sales associate, not a magician, but she kept her cool in spite of the insane demands. As frustrating as the whole thing was, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Savanna – not because she was big, but because she didn’t feel comfortable with her own body.

It would be a lie to say that I know what it’s like to be overweight, because I am naturally slim. Even when I’ve gone through periods of time where I didn’t exercise, I never really gained any weight. I’ve always tried my best to appreciate the appearance I just happened to get in the genetic lottery, and I acknowledge that it’s a lot easier to love yourself when you happen to meet the current beauty standards, but I do see plenty of larger women who exude confidence. A young girl in my husband’s family is definitely big, more than chubby but not quite obese, and she became my hero when she attended our pool party and walked out the door with two of her skinny cousins, her in her little bikini, just strutting along without making any attempts to hide herself or her body. It’s the opposite of what you usually see bigger girls do, and I can honestly say that she looked more attractive than her cousins, because she so very clearly felt comfortable and proud of herself. I am twice her age and very fit, yet I couldn’t walk out like that; whenever I wear a bathing suit, I always hold my body awkwardly in a pointless attempt to make my breasts look smaller, because someone once told me it was “vulgar” to wear a bikini if you have large breasts.

No, I don’t know what it’s like to be Savanna, and I felt really bad for her because she was so obsessed about her size, but I still ended up getting mad when she kept rejecting the dresses me and the other two bridesmaids tried on. She was obviously fighting a battle within herself, between the part of her that wanted her wedding party to look good as a whole, and the part of her that didn’t want us to look too good. She ended up settling on the ugliest dresses in the store, somethin