There’s a million-billion ways to ruin a wedding.
Sure, some are more ingenious approaches than others, but it does feel like there’s just too much potential to make a wedding far less enjoyable for the bride or groom.
Well, knowing this (and being aware of the specific nuances that were pre-planned behind one’s back), the bride and groom can actually take measures to prevent any wedding ruining from happening. Well, OK, not prevent it, but definitely flip it around so that it would be ruined for someone other than the bride and groom.
A woman who has done this exact kind of wedding-ruining-flipping has recently shared her tale with Reddit, and people were drawn in.
More Info: Reddit
You just don't mess with someone's wedding day—even if you're family, it doesn't give you a get out of trouble free card, so be ready to face the consequences
Image credits: Office of Public Affairs (not the actual photo)
Meet u/EsmerldaWeatherwax, a Redditor who recently recalled her wedding and all the drama around it from 20 years back.
The story goes that Esmerlda has a mother-in-law who hated her and kept getting under her skin on a constant basis. She was overly religious, controlling, manipulative, that sort of jazz. As for OP, she was an antithesis of sorts—think “evangelical Catholic meets goth atheist” kind of situation.
A Redditor shared how she made sure her mother-in-law, as well as three sisters-in-law who planned to dress the same for the occasion, wouldn't ruin her special day
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
Not only was all of MIL’s continuous microaggression a problem, OP also pointed out that she’d been religiously traumatized, which did not help with a zealot in the family, and it also felt like MIL was sometimes deliberately sabotaging things.
So, given all of this, you can imagine the vast sea of potential shenanigans that MIL could have embraced when OP agreed to honor her partner’s wish to get married. She agreed, but under the condition that it would not be held in a church. Hubby had no problem with that.
The story goes that the lucky lady was set to get married, but her MIL—who never liked her—was up to no good and trying to push her agenda
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
Image credits: jrsnchzhrs (not the actual photo)
Well, two days later, the “blasphemy” was detected and a priest popped up at their door. Turns out, MIL was having none of their atheistic decisions and was already pushing an agenda on them. That wasn’t an issue, though, as OP was nice about it, explained the situation, and it actually went better than one would assume—it became an unlikely friendship. But more on that later.
This prompted a confrontation. One that OP had to persuade her hubby about as it was his beloved side of the family, and one that led to some shouting, but one that ended comparatively well as there was “frosty civility” now.
Unfortunately, an intervention of sorts was not enough to make things right, though it did help a bit
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
Well, fast forward a year later, OP and pretty much the entire family went dress shopping. After picking out the least of all evils (OP’s not too fond of dresses), she picked out the one and bought it… only to later get a call from the store with an interesting piece of information—the mother-in-law as well as three of her sisters-in-law also bought the same dress. What were they up to?…
Without hesitation, OP went back to the dress store and got a different one—a dark purple affair with a black trim—all while heavy metal revenge music played in the background. Not really, but you can imagine the scene. This was the point when she also got The Idea.
Once things started going forward with the wedding, that's when the MIL, accompanied by 3 SILS, decided to go rogue
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
Image credits: Paula Satijn (not the actual photo)
In short, she restructured her wedding aesthetic around this concept. And not just that, when you think about it. She had her female guests dress in their wedding dresses—many paid good money for them, and only wore them once, so this was their chance to relive it. Besides this, she had her mother and brother’s wife dress purple just like her.
OP’s brother was the maid of honor (yes, you read that correctly), and his wife was OP’s husband’s best man (again, you read that correctly). Oh, and the priest? He was the MC.
They thought they could secretly get the same dress as the bride and show up to the wedding, stealing the thunder, but they were in for a surprise
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
So, the MIL and SILs all showed up in their dresses… only to drown in a sea of dresses, becoming just like everyone else and having their plan to stand out foiled as soon as they stepped into the venue.
What is more, throughout this story, OP’s husband seemed reluctant to confront the family, or to even believe the things they were up to. At first, he was convinced nothing was really wrong and MIL did not really hate OP. But this was the moment the hubby stepped up and once the unsatisfied SIL approached him, she shushed her. You can imagine, in context, it was the middle finger equivalent. They had won.
The bride's plan was to redo the wedding aesthetic a bit by making the 4 blend into the sea of other wedding dresses
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
Image source: Paula Satijn (not the actual photo)
And it doesn’t end here. For one, OP still puts on that dress if she knows MIL will be at the same event—she’s just that petty. But also, the long story got updated with more context from OP in response to people’s questions and comments. Things like not being from the US, specifying her beliefs, what priesthood is, that the original dress cost $300, among other things.
Besides a shout out to the dress store, which unfortunately is no longer open, but still props to Sally, Kylie, and Georgia, folks appreciated how the priest was a badass in this story, how OP not only took revenge, but also made a whole lot of women happy by allowing them experience their dresses again, and with some even arguing that it isn’t petty revenge, but rather epic revenge.
At this point, folks online were saying that this wasn't petty revenge, but rather epic, elaborate revenge, so props to the bride!
Image credits: EsmerldaWeatherwax
Overall, people approved, and it showed! The post got a tad bit over 30,000 upvotes with a nice variety of Reddit awards, amounting to just 1 short of a beautiful 100 awards. You can see the post in context here.
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