When it comes to unspoken wedding etiquette, wearing white when you're not the bride is universally understood to be a major no no (at least in the United States). But an anonymous bride on Reddit is claiming her sister-in-law intentionally wore a white lace gown to her wedding this month — seemingly turning her nose up to the age-old wedding tradition and ticking off the bride in the process. Now, all of Reddit is weighing on on what they make of it (and what they would do if it was their sister-in-law).
The anonymous poster first took to Reddit in early September, shortly after learning what her SIL planned to wear on the big day.
"My SIL is wearing this to my wedding," the woman wrote, after attaching an image of an "almost identical dress" she found on the internet. "She wouldn't send me the pic," the poster continued. "Saw it on my MIL phone."
The dress is, undeniably, rather bridal-like. Although it isn't a gown per se, it's a white lace dress similar in style to one you might wear to your bridal shower, engagement party, bachelorette or … any other wedding-related event — if you're the bride.
The poster was, to put it mildly, taken aback by the photo when she first saw it, and wanted to know what others thought of the ensemble.
Their responses seemed to be pretty unanimous, with most commenters more or less saying saying, "Um yeah no." Most people agreed that the SIL has no right to wear a white lace dress to a wedding that isn't hers and that the poster had every right to be annoyed.
"Can you make her wear the squid mask, too?" one user wrote, referencing the emoji the poster used to cover the model's face. "She needs to make sure everybody realizes what an idiot she's being, and that mask will make it even more clear."
"I hope you have some red wine at your wedding," wrote another person. "Just a slight bump."
Other people groaned that they too had a clueless (or intentionally rude?) relative that donned a bridal-like dress to their own wedding.
"This dress looks similar to what my MIL wore to my wedding," wrote one user, who later added, "Don't marry a 1st born son unless you can put up with some extra." (Yikes.)
"My ex aunt wore all white to my mom's weddings, too," wrote another commenter. "Learning from that, I would literally kick them out of my wedding until they change no matter the relation. I might even keep a backup outfit like a wrap skirt or something that could be put on top and fit a lot of people if someone shows up like that."
"My step-grandma has pulled this at multiple weddings," added another person. "The best part is she didn’t even wear white at her own wedding, but she sure as hell has a lot of white dresses for everyone else’s wedding."
That same commenter later added that "she will not be allowed in if she is wearing white on my wedding." (WATCH OUT, Grandma!)
Despite all of Reddit's advice, the bride said nothing, and lo and behold, her SIL showed up on her wedding day wearing a full white gown.
Last week, the bride shared an update with a photo of the pair posing side-by-side and looking like … well, a couple of brides.
All at once, the comments flooded in.
"Yeah, that's just wrong," someone wrote.
"Isn’t she embarrassed?" asked another.
"Holy crap, and she had the guts to take a picture beside the bride," added another.
"The SIL’s dress looks almost the same as my wedding dress…" one woman wrote.
People were pretty much floored, and they couldn't resist dragging the SIL in the comments -- hard.
"What was more enraging?" one person commented. "Seeing your new SIL in white at your wedding… or finding out later she stole all of grandmas doilies to make it?"
BURN.
"Don't disrespect Grandma like that," another person chimed in. "She worked hard to make those doilies!"
"Hey, I'm somewhat of a Photoshop aficionado and I'd be more than happy to Photoshop your wedding pics, so that she is wearing some ugly yellow color instead of white," a good Samaritan added.
But others saw no humor in the matter, and were straight-up irate as if this had been done at their wedding.
"It takes such a small f—ing person to want to upstage a bride at her wedding," someone wrote. "If I ever find out someone I know does this kind of thing they will get the shaming of a lifetime, they are so insecure they cant handle a f—ing BRIDE being the only one getting attention on her wedding day."
(Oof. Better not mess with THIS person.)
"She has to be insane, who does that?" someone else scoffed.
The bride did provide a little background info — such as the fact that the SIL has been in a relationship for the last 10 years, but that her boyfriend does not want to marry. Hmmm … could this be her using her brother's nuptials to live out her wedding fantasies?
In the end, though, the bride admitted the SIL just wound up embarrassing herself, because her major wedding faux pas was not lost on the other guests. That is to be expected — and entirely what she deserved.
Who knows? Maybe she'll come across this Reddit thread one day, discover the error of her ways, and apologize. (If I was the bride, though, I wouldn't hold my breath.)
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