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T
Savvy May 2024 Buckinghamshire

Managing family without being a bridezilla?

T S, 26 September, 2023 at 16:35 Posted on Etiquette and Advice 1 3
I have a problem. My sister is two years older than me, and happily lives alone with her dog. She has never shown any interest in having a romantic partner, which is absolutely fine. However, any time we discuss my upcoming wedding (and her role as a bridesmaid) she says something like “this is the closest I’ll get to having a wedding” or “I’ll never get married, let me pay for X”, usually something odd like my dress, which I already bought myself. Big sister and I did not get on as kids, and sort of affectionately respect each other as adults, however she does have a habit of making everything about herself. I’m the classic middle child, and often felt our parents sort of left me to get on with things, because I’ve always been rather self sufficient, and with multiple kids, he who shouts loudest gets parental resource. Sister always needs some kind of special treatment - for example, she wanted to come home for Christmas (3 hour drive) but didn’t have a car yet. My Dad did a six hour round trip to get her, and again to take her home. I’d have not even asked, and just taken the train. Everything I’m planning - from the dresses to the seating chart, to the accommodation, consciously revolves around what might make her the least likely to complain.

She is VERY excited about being a bridesmaid. And I’ll be honest, I sort of just wanted to ask my lifelong best friend. But sister continually asked me, from the moment I got engaged (even dropping hints years before, which honestly shocked me because I didn’t think she’d be bothered in the slightest) and I think leant on our mum to nudge me also. So I gave in and asked her. But here’s the thing - she won’t do anything that she doesn’t already want to do. For example, I’m having a really hard time finding a dress to match our colour scheme that will allow her to wear a proper bra while also suiting her shape and skin tone, because she absolutely refuses to even try a strapless one. “I’ve got a flesh coloured one, it’ll be fine”. And the mid to end sections of her long hair are currently bright blue, but may well be something else entirely for the wedding. Basically, she wants all the perks of being a bridesmaid and being “in” the wedding without actually having to do anything.

Up til now I honestly think I’ve been the most chill bride. My best friend wanted to organise my Hen, I set up a WhatsApp group with all the girls in it and left her one rule - Do something simple that everyone can afford. I’ve shopped around and bought my own dress. I’ve booked and paid for hair and makeup for myself and both bridesmaids, and offered the same to both mums as a courtesy. I assembled my invitations myself, I am not roping people in to make table decorations or favours. I’m giving my parents nothing to do so that they can experience the day as a guest, not someone with a job to do. I feel like I’m constantly badgered by my family to let them “help”, but they won’t do the tiniest thing if it’s even a little bit inconvenient. My mum is the same, their excitement is manifesting into a stream of unwelcome “suggestions” and I just don’t know how to push back without being accused of being a bridezilla or as my mum would say, “difficult”.
I’m really not like “you must all weigh the same and dye your hair this exact shade of brown” militant but in contrast, my best friend says “tell me what you need. Tell me where to stand and what you need me to wear, I’ll wear a chicken on my head if I have to”. It just really highlights how vastly unhelpful everyone else is being. I just need them to get on board or leave me alone!
How can I bring this up without them getting immediately defensive and causing an argument?
NB: I have not asked anybody to wear a chicken on their head.

3 replies

Latest activity by RomanticGreenStationery27135, 29 September, 2023 at 13:10
  • R
    VIP July 2020 Monmouthshire
    RomanticGreenStationery27135 ·
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    Your NB at the end made me laugh so much! Glad to see you are still hanging on to a sense of humour - and that you have an awesomely supportive best friend to stand by you in all this.

    Regarding your family, if you know that their offers of help are not going to be helpful but rather end up as 'you should do this' or 'it would be much better if you do that', then just put them on an information diet. If they don't know what you are planning, they can't push you to alter it! You don't have to be rude about it - just say 'oh, we're keeping that a secret until the big day' or something similar. Also, just reiterate that you want them to be able to enjoy the day and the build up to it without having to worry about doing anything. It's actually quite hard to push back against someone who is offering you total non-involvement in their wedding as a 'treat', so hopefully, if you keep repeating this message, it will sink in after the first two or three goes and they'll stop asking!

    Regarding your sister, I do have some sympathy for her - I had to wear a strapless bra for a friend's wedding, and I hated every minute - and it's obvious that I'm uncomfortable in every single photo because I'm standing so awkwardly and my smile is really fixed! Not intentionally - at the time, I thought I was managing to hide my discomfort, but I was so embarrassed when I saw the photos as I look like someone is sticking pins in me! Can you find a dress that could have straps added to it that would cover up her bra straps? Or maybe change out the bra straps themselves so that they are the same colour as the dress? I'm sure a seamstress would have a fix that would make your sister feel comfortable while allowing her to coordinate with your colour scheme. It's great that your friend is so relaxed about what she will wear, but not everyone has the same level of confidence. (I also wonder if your sister is as happy with her single state as she claims to be - her comments about 'the closest I'll ever get to a wedding' are quite odd if she truly is 100% happy to be single for life. If she is feeling a few wobbles, then this would be another reason for her to feel a bit vulnerable around your wedding plans)

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  • T
    Savvy May 2024 Buckinghamshire
    T S ·
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    This is such good advice, thank you. I think an information diet is the right thing - I just found out my mum’s going around telling people there are rooms at the venue for people to stay over (there are, but we were going to offer them to the people travelling furthest!), not realising the problem that causes.


    I absolutely want everyone to be comfortable and feel confident, but every family plan always centres around sister, her dog, her routine, and it’s getting tiresome. There’s not a lot of bridesmaids shops open any more and I really don’t want to take a punt ordering something from China in case it’s awful and I’m out the money. The sample dress I ordered was one of those multi-way tie it 100 ways types - I figured she’d be comfortable as they’re light and stretchy and one dress fits size 8-20 so she could gain weight, lose weight, have a miraculous immaculate conception with the next coming of Jesus, and it’d still fit. But every single way I tried, there was bra strap out. And to be honest the material just clung to her chest wrong, I knew she’d hate the photos, so I’m heading that off by finding something else.
    On her comments about never marrying, she came out as asexual years ago so she values companionship but she doesn’t want anyone else in her space (hence the dog). I think she just honestly doesn’t know how to not make something about herself so even when she talks about my wedding it’s how it affects her. She’s revelling in her “oh it’s just me and my dog” routine which comes off as “I’m special and not doing what other people my age are doing / woe is me”. Would it be so hard to just say how excited you are, or how happy you are for us, instead of immediately making it about you? Sorry if this comes off as harsh but I’ve literally spent my whole life making her comfortable, and listening to her complain. Even my MoH is tailoring her Hen plans to try and make sure everyone has a nice time and it’s not spoilt by her amazing ability to find something to complain about :/

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  • R
    VIP July 2020 Monmouthshire
    RomanticGreenStationery27135 ·
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    To be honest, I'm not surprised the multiway dress didn't work - I've never been sure why they have become so popular as they suit very few body types and because the fabric tends to be quite clingy, they can be quite unforgiving and you either need to have a stunning figure or be very body confident to wear one.

    Could you look at ordering from the UK? There are still a few online/high street places that do mail order bridal stuff. Coast, Monsoon, ASOS, John Lewis, Phase Eight, ChiChi London etc. As far as the rest of the planning goes, you are totally justified in pointing out that it's your wedding, not your sister's, and apart from her own bridesmaid's dress, nothing else is really her concern.

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