Bride's stepmom gets called out for using the getting ready process to pitch MLM.
Multi-level marketing companies (otherwise known as cult-adjacent pyramid schemes) can be a sensitive subject for people who get sucked into the whirlpool of paisley leggings or makeup parties...
So, when a shocked and appalled Maid of Honor watched the bride's stepmom use a wedding as her moment to sell Mary Kay products, the gloriously petty 'Wedding Shaming' group of Reddit demanded more details.
Stepmom of bride turns getting ready into an MLM sales pitch!
My best friend at the time that I was MOH for's step mother told us she would do the brides and bridesmaids makeup for the wedding. Full face professional makeup for free.
She offered on her own, and said she would have two assistants helping her. I want to clarify that we in no way asked her to do this or for any free makeup.
She also volunteered to feed us breakfast. She was a Mary Kay consultant. We get to her house at 8 a.m., ceremony is at 2. It was a bridal party 5 including the bride.
She set out very small and skimpy discounted cheese and fruit trays for “breakfast” and offered water. We were assured and promised coffee and breakfast, was told not to stop for anything on the way as she had us covered. We regretted trusting her. We had to beg her to make coffee! This woman is a self proclaimed coffee brat!
She then launches into a full Mary Kay party sales pitch, and informs us that she will be instructing us on how to do our makeup! Myself and another bridesmaid are trained and licensed hair and makeup artists!
We were going to have our own get ready event at the venue with real food, and coffee but stepmomster insisted!
Two of the bridesmaids have zero makeup skills. Not an insult, as the two licensed hair and makeup artist were originally going to do everyone's hair and makeup for free with pro level products as a gift.
Stepmomster's assistants you might be wondering about? She actually expected myself and the other hair and makeup artist to back her BS and be her unknowing assistants! Stepmomster also gives us micro samples, as in we had to keep asking for a little bit more just to get basic coverage.
She gave us these mini paint palettes and was literally putting pin drop amounts of makeup on the palette while trying to get us to buy the makeup! The overpriced crappy makeup! She is so effing lucky we were tired and under caffeinated!
I had to cut her “short” after three hours as we were starving, in need of good coffee, oh and the venue was just over an hour from her house!
Luckily we were all traveling together in my minivan. I already had secretly found a cafe to stop at for coffee and breakfast sammies along the way. However stepmomster was sooooo upset no one was going to buy anything that she literally had a tantrum, a 45 year old woman.
So buy the time we got to the cafe breakfast was over ( I was low-key devastated as I was 4.5 months pregnant and breakfast sammies was one of my biggest cravings and favorite foods!)
So we got salads and wraps (and of course monster coffees!) and made our way to the venue. The Mary Kay sales pitch makeup was just awful! No primer, no setting spray, and just cheap a*s makeup in general.
So the other stylist and I busted our a*ses redoing everything and still doing everyone's hair like we were running an Olympic marathon going for gold! We did ours last and luckily I have really nice natural curly hair that actually behaved! It was like it just new lol.
We were literally finishing each other’s makeup right before we walked! Everything came out beautiful though! Icing on the cake (pun intended) was at the reception stepmomster said how beautiful we looked, and how lucky we were to get that makeup done for free without even buying any. That was it for me.
So with the permission of the bride I made a slight revision to my speech adding in thanking everyone that complimented how beautiful the bridal party looked and made jokes about shady salesman and how we barely made it as we were running late, had to stop for food and coffee, but the other stylist and I pulled 5 full hair and makeup transformations off and no one saw us applying finishing touches seconds before we walked.
The look on stepmomster's face when she understood what I was joking about was a combination of surprised Pikachu sucking on a lemon. She was sour and pissed the rest of the reception and no one cared. Priceless and a memory I hold onto for rainy days!
Of course, the jury of wedding shamers was ready to pile on and roast this stepmom/sales vulture. Here's what people had to say...
bahahaha2001 said:
You all could have shut that down in the first 30 mins though. Not sure why it took three hours to leave!
LitwickLitten said:
There are not that many things that would turn me into a Bridezilla, but this would certainly be one of them.
MN80 said:
The gall of some people is astounding!
theJadestNamek said:
My sister's step grandma did the same thing to us!! My sister (bride), myself, and sister's best friend were all promised full makeup for free as a wedding gift for my sister. It was cheap a*s Mary Kay samples and a whole presentation during the application. I was pissed!
Competitive_Sleep_21 said:
I hate pushy cheap Mary Kay salespeople. MLMs suck. What a horrible stepmom. Glad you set her straight. The audacity to highjack a wedding day to push cheap crap is beyond tacky.
I was a new mom and sitting on a bench at a nursery when a woman sat down next to me. She told me I had beautiful skin and was so pretty. She seemed nice then launched into her Mary Kay pitch.