Wedding called off after bride upset by 5yo's outfit

“I was horrified and told her she was disgusting.”

Image: iStock.

The rules around what to wear as a guest to a wedding can be fraught. Are you allowed to wear white? Are you allowed to wear something sexy? What if your outfit is a little too ‘attention grabbing’? 

Every bride and groom might have their own rules or ideas about what they would prefer according to their dress code, but one mum was shocked to discover it wasn’t her outfit that upset the bride, but her five-year-old daughter's.

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"My daughter was upset"

The mother and daughter, who are related to the groom, were excited to be on the guest list.

“When my [step] brother and his fiancée announced their engagement, my daughter was upset because she wanted to marry him first,” the mum shared to a Reddit forum.

“He gave her a plastic ring and promised she could be his 'best girl' and dance with him at the wedding. They practiced for it every time he visited.”  

Initially the mum picked out a colourful dress for her girl to wear but due to her daughter's sensitive skin and eczema flare up, the mother made a last minute switch to a plain, white cotton dress.

“My daughter hated it, but was relieved that she didn't have to deal with the itchy purple sequin dress I had originally picked out for her.”

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"She suggested I drive home and pick something else for her"

But what happened next had both mum and daughter feeling very upset.

“At the wedding, the fiancée's mother told me the bride was upset because my daughter was wearing white. I apologised and explained the situation but the bride suggested I drive home and pick something else out for my daughter to wear. 

“I declined, citing her comfort.”

Things quickly spiraled further downhill from there as the bride lost her cool.

“She accused me of ‘pimping out my daughter’, using her eczema as an excuse… She also made a disturbing comment about how my daughter would look like his 'child bride' during their dance.

“I was horrified and told her she was disgusting. She backpedaled and apologised, but I decided to leave the wedding. My daughter was in tears, but my husband agreed it was best to go.

"My brother confronted me while I was on my way out, and I told him everything that happened.”

At that point the woman’s step brother called off the wedding after a huge argument with his fiancee. 

“Apparently she's always been extremely jealous of my brother's close relationship with my daughter, how he treats her like his own, constantly buys her stuff, volunteers to babysit and takes her to the park, over spending money or time with fiancée.”

Since then the woman says the fiancée has been contacting her nonstop, apologising and explaining her insecurities and trauma, while also blaming the mum for causing a scene. 

The woman describes how the fiancee has since suffered “several panic attacks” after her disastrous big day. Other members of the woman's family have told her that maybe she should tell her brother to forgive his bride and move on.

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"I feel terrible" 

She questions whether she should have agreed to just change her daughter’s dress or not put her in white in the first place. 

“I feel terrible for ruining a wedding and causing someone to have a mental breakdown, but I can't get over her implications. My husband thinks I shouldn't bother.”

In the comments, opinions were divided over what transpired following her decision to go against the bride’s wishes.

“The ring plus dance plus wanting to marry him is creepy as hell, but you bringing her in white given that context is truly deranged,” one woman commented.

Another remarked: “The daughter’s obsession with her uncle (and the adult's handling of it) prevented her uncle from getting married. That’s wild.” 

Other Reddit users called out the bride for getting way too upset over a five-year-old’s outfit.

“Honestly the bride is insane for being insecure over a child,” wrote one woman.

“The main reason people don’t want others wearing white is fear of losing their spotlight, a child isn’t going to outshine them.”

A second agreed: “'This bride is demented if she is jealous of a five-year-old...she sounds unhinged. She should be delighted that her husband is so kind and interactive with his little niece. He sounds like good father material.”

Originally published as Wedding called off after bride upset by 5yo's outfit