Bridesmaid shamed for trying on gowns at bride's appointment, gives BF ultimatum.
Everyone knows you're not supposed to wear a white dress to the wedding, but what about during the bride's wedding dress appointment?
So, when a former bridesmaid decided to vent to the gloriously petty crew of Reddit's 'Wedding Shaming,' internet strangers everywhere couldn't get enough of this rollercoaster of a horror story.
Bridesmaid tried on wedding gowns during Bride's dress appointment...
My best friend 'Gina' got married in November 2022. We've known each other since we were babies, and have been best friends our whole lives. I was her MOH, and she had four bridesmaids. One of them was 'Kelly', her FSIL.
Gina started dating her now-husband 'Greg' in high school, and they'd been together for eight years by the time he proposed. They were young, but I was surprised it didn't happen sooner.
Kelly, on the other hand, had been with Greg's older brother 'Paul' for ten years, with no sign of getting married anytime soon.
Due to her responsibilities at work, Gina had her first (and only) wedding dress appointment only four months before the wedding. Those present were me, Kelly, another bridesmaid and her younger sister.
Before we got started, Gina asked me if I wanted to try on dresses with her, since I was also engaged. To anyone else this might have seemed like a fun offer for her best friend and fellow bride-to-be.
But it was actually because I was pregnant. I was less than two months along, and only told Gina to let her know I'd be close to my third trimester during her wedding.
I significantly postponed my own wedding due to my pregnancy (still not married!), and she knew I wouldn't start looking for a gown until long after my baby was born, so she wanted me to try on dresses before I started showing.
I was extremely thankful, but declined. Gina's appointment was only 90 minutes long and she had her own dress to find.
We all figured that was the end of it, and went to help Gina pick some dresses to try on. While we were near the racks, I noticed that the dresses Kelly was picking up and showing us were a lot different than the ones we were looking for.
Gina was interested in simple, sheath dresses with spaghetti straps or short sleeves, but most of the ones Kelly was going for were strapless a-line dresses and ballgowns.
We tried to remind her that wasn't what we were supposed to be looking for, but she insisted on adding some of those dresses to the rack with the ones we were picking up anyway.
Gina started trying on the dresses we'd found. We took pictures, gave our opinions, and discussed each of them with our consultant. At some point, Kelly excused herself and didn't come back for almost 15 minutes.
We were so focused on Gina that we didn't even notice how long she was gone. And we really didn't notice that she'd taken one of the dresses she picked up with her.
And then, 40 minutes into the appointment, in walks Kelly. And I think y'all know where this is going.
To her credit, she looked great. It really was a pretty wedding dress. Strapless, had a corset bodice, a tulle skirt, a beaded sweetheart neckline and a sweep train. Not my thing, but still flattering.
And as we later found out, the reason she had taken so long was because she had to find another consultant to help her get into not only the dress itself, but also two petticoats to get the ballgown look.
Kelly paraded in front of us with a huge smile on her face, spinning around, going on about how much she loved that white - sorry, ivory - dress and how she felt like such a princess, before smugly asking, 'Do you guys like it?'
We sat there for a moment in absolute shock. Gina's sister looked like she was about to blow up on Kelly. I could tell Gina was upset, but she has both a B.A. in Public Relations and the consequential skill of not embarrassing herself or other people in public.
Fortunately, I have neither, so I was the first to open my mouth. I started by asking why she was trying on a wedding dress, and Kelly had the nerve to chuckle and say, 'Uhh, what do you mean? Gina said you could try on dresses with her, it's not my fault you said no. Why can't I do it too?'
So said, as annoyingly and condescendingly as I could, 'Oh, so you're engaged too? My bad, I had no idea!'
At that, Kelly looked nervous. Everyone was staring at her. After a moment, she sheepishly confessed she wasn't actually engaged. The consultant that had helped her turned to her shocked, saying, 'You said you were getting married in three months!'
She tried to give us excuses - she was almost engaged; it was just one dress; it wasn't fair that I could try on dresses and not her - but it was done. Everyone at the boutique, bridal party and staff alike, was already pissed.
After almost five minutes of that, Kelly finally asked someone to help her out of the dress. Once that was done, she took a seat as distant from the other bridesmaids as possible and didn't say a word for the rest of the appointment. The consultant must have apologized to Gina a dozen times. Kelly never did.
Gina did end up finding her dress that day, so we considered the appointment a success. Kelly wasn't dropped as a bridesmaid, mostly because neither Gina or Greg wanted to upset Paul, but remained aloof and unpleasantly snarky up until the wedding.
Even though I was the MOH, Kelly decided to avoid me as much as possible for 'embarrassing her' the way I did. She didn't find out I was pregnant until the rehearsal dinner.
It was at that dinner that she told the bridal party that she was going to give Paul an ultimatum: if he didn't propose to her that month, she'd dump him.
A week after the wedding, he dumped her. No one was surprised. Gina and Greg are still happily married, and she is now very open about how angry she got that day. That being said, we both love telling this story.
Here's what the jury of wedding shamers had to say about this one:
MissTammiCat said:
Some people really have no shame! During my wedding dress appointment we happened to walk in and see this beautiful cape that was EXACTLY what my moh was looking for for her own wedding taking place a few months before mine.
I had to strongly insist she try on a cape, let alone a dress! The idea of a bridesmaid just taking that upon herself when not even engaged is so wild. No wonder they broke up.
imhere4blkpeople said:
Paul is just as problematic as Kelly for stringing her along for 10 years. Can't imagine the wedding topic never came up.
meems70 said:
It's funny how you find out people true color's. Wedding and funerals bring out people's true nature. But I'm happy for all of you!
ChallengeHoudini said:
Unpopular opinion but I actually feel sorry for Kelly. Even though she did act like an AS, she was acting unhinged because of how desperately she was to settle down and watching everyone else around her have babies and get married made her act irrational.
She must’ve known deep down that Paul didn’t want her after spending nearly 10 years together. I don’t know what she was thinking on the day but it sounds like she was trying to make herself feel better by trying in dresses.
Seems like she couldn’t think about anyone else’s feelings because her own negative feelings had taken over. Not condoning her actions as it’s still wrong but…I deeply hate men stringing women along for years with no intention to ever stay with her in the end.
LitChick98 said:
So much pressure today! My girlfriends and I just popped into stores and tried on dresses. It was fun. Everybody tried on everything, bridesmaids dresses, bridal gowns you name it. There were no appointments. I can’t say I like the way the wedding industry has gone.
Sadsushi6969 said:
My mom and sister were PISSED that the bridal store consultants wouldn’t let them try stuff on at my wedding dress appointment… it’s unbelievable what goes through some people’s heads as acceptable.
Spaceinvader- said:
First of all, you sound like an absolutely wonderful friend, as does Gina. Kelly sounds entirely self absorbed due to her own insecurities regarding her relationship, and, just, not the right time Kelly, not the right time.