'AITA for crying during my brother’s wedding?' 'I recently finished a NASTY divorce.'

"AITA for crying during my brother’s wedding?"

I (34m) recently finished a very nasty divorce towards the end of January. While it was clear I was upset about it at the time to anyone I talked to, I like to think in the last few months I’ve really gotten better and that I’ve separated myself quite well from the whole situation.

Last week was my younger brother’s (28m) wedding. Me and him were always close growing up, and I knew how much this day meant to him. I was very proud of him in the moment and began to tear up during the ceremony, which was met with stares from many family members and others.

I thought they were just surprised to see me cry, as I’m typically not the crying type, so I brushed it off. Once the ceremony ended however, the Bride's Mother, and her Father not far behind came over to me and began scolding me.

I didn’t catch what she said at first because I was confused, but it became clear she accused me of crying over my divorce, and taking away from their moment. I tried to explain that I was crying tears of joy for my little brother, but they weren’t having it and told me to leave right away.

I tried to calm things down and talk to my brother and his wife, but was told they wanted me gone. The next day I was met by 2 texts, a text from my brother and a text from his wife.

From my brother, it was a message saying he was disappointed and said I shouldn’t have attended the ceremony if I knew I wouldn’t be fit to attend. The message from his wife was similar. AITA?

Here's what people had to say to OP:

derodotus said:

NTA. As long as you weren’t sobbing so loud that it interrupted the ceremony, you did nothing wrong. Crying at weddings is super normal. I’m in a very happy relationship and last year I cried like a baby at a good friend’s wedding because weddings. are. emotional!

Maybe because you don’t normally cry much, people chalked it up to some unresolved feelings about your divorce, but even then this feels like an overreaction.

BigLilLinds said:

Wtf. NTA and these people suck. As long as you weren't loud or disrespectful. Hopefully your brother heard a weird version from the in-laws so just tell him you cried because you were happy for him. Jeez.

Queenof_Rainbow said:

NTA. You cried at your brother’s wedding, not his funeral. Weddings are emotional. The idea that you "stole focus" just by tearing up is ridiculous. Their reaction says more about them than it does about you.

NoSmile4407 said:

I cry when I see people getting married on tv so absolutely in person with people I actually care about. Too bad they won’t believe you but you are NTA.

CommunityCurious6682 said:

I’m curious if you were just teary eyed or actually sobbing. If it was just wiping your tears then definitely NTA.

Tess27795 said:

NTA. They are assuming the worst about you. Really, they need to ease up.

Professional-Scar628 said:

NTA make sure you tell your brother your side of the story so he's not just getting his in-laws version which undoubtedly paints you in a bad light. If he still doesn't side with you...sounds like he's a crappy brother.