You have probably been regaled with a tale or two of a 'bridesmaid gone bad' or 'relative gone rogue' who single-handedly ruined a wedding. There's something about nuptials that can turn even seemingly normal individuals into complete animals - all that love in the air doesn't always bring out the best in people.
But one bride-to-be's "prankster" sister-in-law might just take the cake for the most badly behaved bridesmaid - having said that, there have been some horror stories.
If you've never scrolled through the 'Bridezillas' forum on Reddit before, here's a brief overview. The term 'bridezilla' is a portmanteau of 'bride' and Godzilla - the destructive, prehistoric sea monster empowered by nuclear radiation. Basically, it's a place for people to anonymously seek advice or share their stories of 'brides-gone-bad' - and some brides truly are the stuff of nightmares.
Sharing her conundrum to the subreddit, the bridesmaid explained that she had wanted to make her future sister-in-law's bachelorette party a night to remember. A self-proclaimed 'prankster', the woman quickly prefaced her predicament with the introduction: "I'm a very fun and extroverted person and I love pulling pranks and nobody has had an issue with me until now, this is just how my personality is."
Somewhat defensive, perhaps? Let's continue.
The woman had been picked as a bridesmaid by her brother's betrothed, a woman who she claims is aware of her "extroverted" tendencies. During the planning for the bride-to-be's bachelorette party, the woman explained that she'd pitched a number of ideas that were rejected by the other bridesmaids, who said the bride wouldn't like anything too wacky.
"During the planning period I threw in some ideas but the bride's friends disagreed with me saying she wouldn't like so and so. I thought they were overreacting and they're just boring... and I really want to give my SIL [sister-in-law] a good and fun experience," the woman wrote.
So to spice things up a little, the woman ultimately went behind the bridesmaids' backs and organised two male strippers to turn up at the venue and "dance on" the bride, as well as a prank where the bride would press a button during a board game "and cake would be smashed on her".
"My SIL knows [me] and [knows] I pull stuff like this so she can't act surprised I did any of this," the woman went on.
"But she was MAD. Like full on bridezilla-mode-turned-on mad. She was mad about the strippers and she was mad about the cake. She left the party crying and her friends followed her and it was just me and a cousin of mine left. I feel like I wasted all my money for nothing.
"I told my brother about this and he called me an ass and said I should've listened to what her friends said because they clearly know her better and they knew things like that would make her uncomfortable.
"I told him that my SIL and everyone around me knows how I mess around so they can't act shocked I pulled something like that, it should be expected. And he insisted I'm wrong.
"My parents and my other brother (not the one getting married) [have sided] with me though and said that SIL was being ungrateful."
Turning to the Reddit community, the woman asked: "Was [my] SIL [an] ungrateful bridezilla or am I the unreasonable one?"
The post was later removed from the Bridezillas forum, but was cross-posted to a similar subreddit, 'weddingshaming', where people were quick to conclude that yes, the bridesmaid was indeed an ass.
"'That's just my personality' is the number one excuse I hear adults make for themselves or others when they are jerks and don't want to face natural consequences," one person commented.
"'That's just who I am'. Well, who you are sucks," another said bluntly.
"Pranks should require consent. Yes, that is awkward and ruins the surprise a bit, but just find other people who also enjoy pranks and have a consensual prank war. Plus, strippers absolutely without a doubt should involve the consent of everyone present," a third pointed out.
"Pranks aren't pranks if they make people feel bad. Watching strippers manhandle her SIL may be funny to OP [original poster], but not to anyone else. When I say manhandle, I mean it. I've seen footage of some of them and they can be downright aggressive. Even if they're not, some of us don't want a nearly naked stranger grinding their crotch in our face," another agreed.
In January, one bride-to-be sought the advice of the internet after her significant other squandered her entire wedding dress fund on a booze-fuelled bachelor party in Las Vegas.
And last year, a bride shared the story of how having her nephews at her wedding almost destroyed her relationship with her sister after she was forced to kick them out of the venue.
