Not everything will go according to plan on your wedding day. (In fact, you can pretty much guarantee that at least one curveball will come your way.) But one newlywed on Reddit is blaming her mother-in-law for creating unnecessary stress on her wedding day by ruining the color scheme. So she decided to take things into her own hands …
To be fair, the new bride sounds pretty 'Type A.'
In her post, she describes herself as "very detail-oriented" and explains that she planned out her wedding day "meticulously," right down to every last detail.
"Everything was color coordinated and everything was aesthetically pleasing," she wrote, adding that her wedding colors were pink and black.
But apparently, the pink-and-black dress code wasn't just for bridesmaids and groomsmen.
"I wanted parents and grandparents to also wear our wedding colors so the wedding photos would be cohesive," she explained. "I specifically spoke with each person and told them the color scheme and how I would very much like everyone to color coordinate."
The bride insists that everyone agreed.
Or at least, no one told her they had any problem with it, which led her to believe everything was fine. As the wedding day drew near, the groom's grandparents went out shopping together to find clothes that would match the theme.
"I thought that was so cute and appreciated it immensely," said the bride, who went shopping with her mom to find something for her own grandparents, after they asked her to select something nice.
But when it came to her in-laws, things went a bit differently.
"I offered to take my mother-in-law shopping to pick out something to wear, but she declined and said she would go with her friends," the bride wrote. "I said okay and kind of forgot about it."
By the night of her wedding rehearsal, she assumed that everyone's outfits were set. At one point, her mother even casually asked the groom's mom what she was wearing and was told she'd be showing up in a "long dress in the wedding colors."
Naturally, the bride thought she had nothing to worry about.
But when the wedding day finally arrived, all heck broke loose.
"Next day, I am getting ready in the bridal suite and my MIL moseys on up and is wearing a royal purple ball gown," the bride relayed.
And that wasn't the only shocking part …
"She doesn’t wear makeup that often, and I was shocked to see she was wearing neon blue eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick," the bride went on.
As for her father-in-law? He was also wearing an outfit that went against the color scheme, in a purple tie to match his wife's dress.
This didn't exactly set the tone for a happy bride.
In fact, she pretty much flew off the handle right then and there.
"I was livid, but ignored it because I didn’t want it to ruin my big day," she later shared.
That said, she didn't hold her tongue for long. "My FIL asked me how he looked during pictures and I responded, 'You and MIL stick out like big sore purple thumbs,'" the bride wrote.
"He asked what that was supposed to mean, and I told him that they knew the dress code. Now, they look out of place."
This seemed to take her FIL by surprise.
First, he told her he was only wearing the outfit because it was given to him for the special day. But nonetheless, he would relay the message to his wife, even though it was too late to do anything about it.
"My mother-in-law approached me later in the night and asked me my issue," the bride went on.
So she told her — and asked point-blank why the MIL lied about her outfit choice fitting in with the color scheme.
"She said she never bought a dress that would go with our wedding colors and planned on wearing the purple dress she found," the bride relayed. "It was more true to her and that’s what mattered."
The bride was annoyed but tried to calm herself.
"I said, 'That’s fine, I’ll fix the pictures in post production,'" she recalled in her post. But her MIL told her she better not change a thing, considering she paid for the photos.
"I said, any picture I post with her in it will be altered on my end, so they have no control of what I do," the bride went on. "I excused myself and enjoyed the rest of my wedding."
By now, the tension was pretty thick.
But according to the bride, it had been brewing behind the scenes for some time.
"My MIL has a habit of trying to make things about her and make little comments like, 'Well I am the mother of the groom, my opinion counts,' or 'I can make decisions too, I’m the mother of the groom and we are helping pay for this wedding,'" the bride shared.
That argument was pretty bold, considering the bride's parents paid for 70% of the wedding. The groom's parents, on the other hand, only paid for the photographer and the rehearsal dinner, which were both pretty inexpensive.
For one thing, the photographer was a friend of her in-laws and only charged her $800 for the entire night. The rehearsal dinner was also a relative steal — it only cost $300 because her in-laws chose "the cheapest options for everything possible."
Responses to the bride's post were somewhat mixed.
Many people found the whole dress code thing to be a bit much.
"I can't stand over controlled weddings," one person admitted.
"Amen," wrote someone else. "It never even occurred to us to have a dress code. I'm just chuffed if someone can give us a whole day to attend."
"I also truthfully find it very hard to believe everything was 'aesthetically pleasing' when the colors were pink and black," someone else chimed in. "I'm just getting … early 2000's emo vibes."
Still, most people felt the MIL was way out of line.
One person said it was "passive aggressive behavior on the part of MIL and FIL."
"Families have been doing photo shoots with everyone in white shirts and jeans or plaid pajamas for decades, and people who like color schemes for weddings have [them] too … Being coordinated for a photo might not be everyone's taste, but it's nothing new or outrageous. It's a choice," someone wrote.
"I feel like this bride gets a bit of a pass because a LBD would have been acceptable," another person wrote. "Matching a color of pink would be tough, so just go LBD."
"The makeup seals the deal," said someone else, who found it to be "purposely gaudy" in a way that was meant to send a message.
Ultimately, Redditors sided with the bride on this one.
And really, could you blame them?
Even though tons of people said they found the whole color scheme to be "tacky" and "passe," that was the couple's choice, and it should have been respected.
("Also, blue eyeshadow with a purple dress?" asked one person. "So gauche.")
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