Bride’s Mom Throws Tantrum for Driving 3 Hours to Wedding

There’s a certain expectation that an individual’s wedding should be the happiest day of their life, but for one former bride, a longtime Reddit user, that couldn’t be further from the truth. When the woman got married 25 years ago, everything seemed to have gone horribly wrong at her nuptials, which was almost foreshadowing of her marriage that ended 16 years later. To this day, reflecting back on the disastrous occasion still makes her cringe, she said in her Reddit post on the “Wedding Shaming” subreddit on December 18, 2024.

Before the woman even got engaged to her former husband, their journey to the altar was already a bumpy one. After four years of dating her boyfriend at the time, he finally decided to propose. “It would have been sooner, but he refused to tell his parents he wanted us to get engaged,” the Redditor admitted. After making it official, right off the bat, the bride was bulldozed into choosing a ceremony location that pleased her future in-laws. Because the groom’s parents are “very religious,” they insisted that the ceremony take place in a Catholic church—and even threatened her. “Either it’s in the church, or you’re not marrying my son,” the original poster recalled of her former mother-in-law’s words.

To make matters worse (and the planning process even more difficult), her mother was completely against her daughter’s relationship. “My mom was unhappy with us getting married ‘because you are ruining his life and I don’t agree with it,’” the OP quoted her mom. “She never elaborated what exactly I was doing that was so wrong.” For that reason, the mother of the bride went “radio silent,” refusing to help her daughter plan her nuptials and withholding any financial contributions (besides chipping in to pay for half of the bride’s wedding dress). The bride’s mom and dad didn’t even make the effort to meet her partner’s parents until the wedding day—even though the couple had been together for four years prior.

It even seemed like external forces were out to get the bride. “Night before the wedding at the rehearsal, I was hit by another car,” the OP revealed. “Bumper damaged, but I was very late but ok.” On top of that, she barely got any sleep since her maid of honor—who seemingly shared a room with her—was snoring all night. The following day, running on little sleep, the bride had to deal with her mother’s attitude. Since her mom refused to get a hotel near the ceremony venue, she spent three hours driving to the church that morning. Once she arrived, she didn’t try to put on a happy face—even for the photos. “She is both angry and on edge,” the Redditor recalled of her mom’s mood. “Every picture of her looks like she’s a millimeter away from hitting someone.”

The mother of the bride’s emotional state carried over to the reception, too. “[Ten] minutes into the reception, my mom has a tantrum,” the bride remembered. “She was angry at driving [three] hours to get to the church the morning of, when I told her get a hotel room the night before and avoid the rush. Food is just being served, she gets even more angry. Tells me ‘I will stay longer at your next wedding’ and leaves.”

That wasn’t the only setback at the coupe’s wedding reception. The post-ceremony party was “absolutely silent” because the bride’s friend, who was supposed to be their DJ, never showed up. Once it was time to cut the cake, nobody offered to help portion the slices, per the Reddit post, so the groom spent the evening passing out pieces of the dessert. At the end of the affair—which didn’t last long—the couple spent their first night as a married couple cleaning up the venue. After it was all over, the bride noticed that half of the buttons on her dress were undone.

“The whole experience was so poor,” she expressed. “I know that the main thing was we got married. That was a good thing. Looking back after almost 25 years, I still feel sad and I felt like I had to concede everything.” The bride and groom got divorced 16 years later—but, the bride noted they ended things on good terms and are still friendly. 

The internet sympathized with the bride, but they mainly applauded her for handling the entire situation so well. “I’m sorry that it was such a negative experience, but your comment about huffing helium and swearing under your breath made me snort laugh,” one Redditor said. “You sound awesome.” Another agreed, writing, “OP, I want to be your friend. This is so delightful.”

Many, like the OP, found the catastrophic series of events to be amusing. “There is definitely a screen play in there,” another Redditor concluded. “Sounds awful and it’s a credit to your character that you survived. But definitely, this story needs a wider audience.” Some found the silver lining in her less-than-ideal wedding experience. “I’m sorry for you that it turned out that way and I hope life has taught you to stand up for yourself more,” another said.