'Groomzilla' doesn't let bride walk down the aisle, insults her looks, fumbles vows.

We've heard of Bridezillas trying to turn their weddings into their own personal Met Galas staffed by sleepy unpaid interns/bridesmaids, but an untamed Groomzilla on the loose is an even more dangerous species...

So, when a conflicted wedding guest decided to consult the gloriously petty and judgmental 'Wedding Shaming' group on Reddit to vent about a recent Groomzilla meltdown, people were eager to pile on. The amount of red flags going on here is truly remarkable, but a groom that demands his own grand entrance at the ceremony is a new one. Did he want a cathedral-length train as well?

Groomzilla insists that the wedding weekend is 'about' him and his friends, insults bride during first look, and more...

I wasn't sure about posting but I love my friend and she did nothing wrong here, I hope she gets away from this guy soon, it sounds like he wants kids ASAP and I'm obviously worried for her. This turned out pretty long because it's a list of all the madness, and might need a trigger warning for abusive behavior.

TW: abusive behavior

I knew going in that he is emotionally abusive, but I wanted to be part of the wedding because I worry that he's isolating her from people who care about her. The wedding venue itself was awesome, if it were a party it would have been great except for him, and as far as I know she put all the effort into getting it together.

She was absolutely stunning as a bride in an amazing form-fitted vintage dress (she's gorgeous with an awesome body, important for his insults later.) So here's a sample list of the things the groom did, because I'm sure there is stuff I don't know about:

Before the wedding, he was not ok with her being walked down the aisle. Refused to stand at the end of the aisle, instead trying to insist that she needed to walk first alone and wait for him, so that he could walk down the aisle last and have a grand entrance that was about him.

They apparently compromised because they walked down the aisle last, together. This alone could be a subversion of gender expectations, if not for a history of emotional abuse and what was to come. He also stated before the wedding that the wedding weekend was 'about [him] and the boys.'

She was excited to get her nails done, but when she showed them to him he said they didn't look good and wouldn't match her outfit (they were a neutral color that did match.)

During the rehearsal, he gave no input, instead sitting down and shrugging. During the first look photos before the ceremony, one of the first things he said to her was that she didn't look good, that her makeup and hair did not look good, and he was pointing out her gray hairs that 'stood out'(they didn't, I had no idea she even had gray hairs.) As a result she was holding back tears throughout all the photos.

She was very worried that he wouldn't like her vows, but she put them together on her phone and they were very sweet as she read them off with sincerity. She told me beforehand that he would be doing his without notes because he considers himself a good public speaker.

After she read her vows he started his by turning to the audience and saying, 'I don't have anything to read off of because I at least tried to memorize mine.' Cue awkward laughter.

Turns out he wasn't very good at memorizing whatever he was going to say. He did say one nice thing about her but then I think he got stuck because he devolved into saying at least three times some variation of 'I vow to massage your [insert body part here] every night' (which also, way to take vows seriously, I doubt he even massaged her feet that first night.)

He ended his vows by saying that it's very important for him to look good all the time, and that he appreciates how she tries (tries!) to match that energy.

Half of her bridesmaids were his friends, and the assigned speech from one of her BMs ended up being a girl who said 'I've been friends with him for a long time, I only hung out with her initially because he forced me to (because I was a girl and he wanted to hang out with the guys) but I guess I'm glad I got to know her.'

Another bridesmaid took the mic unplanned to follow up with, 'the first time we hung out all together she was with another guy and showed up covered in bruises....Oh haha should I not tell that story? Anyway...' It did not end well either.

I left shortly after the first dance but he also did not sit down with her during any of the dinner, he was barely with her unless it was for a photo, and supposedly there was screaming before the end of the night because she changed the playlist and he didn't approve. I hope she knows that whenever she's ready to leave I'm here for her.

Later, this guest edited the post to include:

ETA: I wanted to clarify that I did and have told her directly, including after the wedding, that I will always be there for her and she can always call me. Twice during the wedding I offered to sneak her out and drive away. I don't want to get much into the family just in case it gets tied back, they all seemed like nice people.

I just wanted to chronicle his behavior in factual ways, I guess--

1st on the off chance a guy like this sees this, to know he was seen, that he's not fooling anyone, and

2nd to bring awareness to situations like this, to remind women to stick by the women they love. It's so hard to not just give up on a friend who's experiencing abuse, which is exactly what the abuser wants.

The gray hair comment? The embarrassing vows? The weird gaggle of 'not like other girls' bridesmaids? Of course, the jury of internet strangers was eager to weigh in on this entitled Groomzilla and his wedding disaster. Here's what people had to say...

Anthonysmom2016 said:

My heart is breaking for your friend. I hope she realizes she deserves so much better

BaylorOso said:

I was in a friend's wedding where the groom was an abusive douchecanoe. She insisted they were in love and it would all work out, blah blah blah. The other bridesmaids and I shared a hotel room (we were just out of college and no one had a lot of money) and the night before the wedding we all agreed that if she called off the wedding, we would be relieved. Even though we had all spent a lot of money, it wouldn't matter if she got free of him.

I literally pulled her aside and told her that if at any point, no matter when, if she didn't want to continue, all she had to do was look at me and say a codeword (I don't remember what it was anymore). I had parked near the exit to the parking lot and we would make a run for my car and just go.

Unfortunately she did not runaway bride him, but they did end up divorced a few years later. I have no idea what happened to him because he sent me some really nasty texts and I blocked him on everything. But when she did leave him, I helped her set up her escape.

fritolaidy said:

This is a situation where she will only be ready to leave him when she's ready, not because of external advice and input. Let her know that you are there for her, always. Check in and make sure you give her a safe space to open up, which is going to be key because if she feels like she will only be judged by you, she will start to push you away. So, in order to keep that door open, you have to be patient with her. I hope she realizes she needs to leave this guy soon and she will need a friend like you when she does.

Ok-Anywhere-2832 said:

This post reads like an It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode. “Dennis Gets Married” or something. My heart goes out to your friend, how the hell did nobody suckerpunch that man during the ceremony

So, there you have it!

Everyone agreed unanimously here that this friend needs to keep an eye on this bride and her garbage groom. It's truly shocking that nobody called out his behavior...who roasts their bride's appearance during the first look? Good luck, everyone (except this groom).