Man asks friend's wedding DJ to cut 'unhinged' video the bride's sister made. AITA?
"AITA for telling the DJ at a friend's wedding reception to cut the video?"
I (33M) was officiating my friend's wedding (30s). It was a civil ceremony so wasn't like any religious tying of knots. And it was great, which continued into the reception - there were food, drinks, speeches, the works.
Then about an hour in, we were suddenly asked to sit at our tables because the bride's friend & groom's sister announced they were going to play a video they produced. So in principle we all knew it was coming - we were all asked to record a message for the couple, and indeed, we assumed the video would be just a lightly edited compilation of those messages.
10 minutes or so? Oh how wrong we were, how very wrong...So every 3rd message or so was interrupted by a message from either the friend or the sister. They grew longer & more elaborate, but also...very boring? OH hey, here's the sister going down a slide. Here's the brother driving a car...
Now they're at an amusement park! It's a jet ski! And each elaborate shot ended with one of the two looking at the camera going "congratulations! We love you!" This felt a little egocentric tbh, and not about the bride & groom at all. And it dragged ON - the thing lasted like 20 minutes, and the crowd was getting restless. But hey - it was finally over, right? WRONG.
Oh no, when the messages were over, and the "credits" rolled, it was suddenly time for a skit! And by skit I mean a terrible pilot episode of a sitcom that never had any right to exist. The sister & friend were pretending to be the couple, and there were... jokes? I think? It was torture. It was hell. I was in hell. I was paying for my sins.
I was being punished for watching "Friends" one too many times. At minute 38 of this nightmare I, slightly drunk, got up, walked up to the DJ, and went "No! that's enough! Cut it! Play music!" The DJ seemed genuinely relieved to be given the go ahead, and as the music started playing, the groom's sister ran up to me going "No! What did you do?!
There were only 15 minutes left!" to which my reply was "Are you kidding me?! ANOTHER 15 minutes?! F no!" and went off to dance. According to my friend, the sister tried to get the DJ to resume the video, but by this point the dance floor was packed and she flat out refused, god bless her.
So now my friend's sister refuses to attend any event to which I am invited, but honestly? Screw her. Taking over the entire wedding with that video nightmare? She had it coming.
Still - my friend agrees the video was absolutely unhinged, but says I should have just endured, and not have been so rude to her, which IMO she earned with her magnum opus of crap. So... AITA? Edit for info: the couple despises the video. The groom thought I should have been nicer to his sister about it though.
Here's what people had to say about this one:
Becca092115 said:
NTA. The sister knew this was going to be an hour long production. Guaranteed, she probably said very little to the bride or groom about it because they would have told her an hour is too long. She was making it about herself at that point. "Look at this amazing thing I made for my brother.
Aren't I just such a great sister for putting so much effort into this? I know it's an hour, but I wanted to milk this for as long as I could since the day isn't focused on me enough." This stunt caused almost an hour of the reception to he gone when this could have been a gift the couple could have watched at home.
LuxyStar said:
NTA. You’re a legend. 53 minutes of that nonsense? The DJ was praying for someone like you to step in. The fact that the couple hated it too just seals it—you didn’t ruin their wedding, you saved it. The sister’s ego trip wasn’t a tribute, it was a PowerPoint from hell.
Could you have been gentler? Sure. But after half an hour of cinematic torture, all bets are off. The fact that she tried to resume it after the dance floor opened tells you everything. Some heroes don’t wear capes—they tell the DJ to cut the crap and play music.
Irish_beast said:
NTA. Only the producers of the video were upset. Everyone else including the bride were relieved. Why did the dance floor fill up so fast? Nobody except you was willing to be the "ahole." You heroically took one for the team!
Arorua_Mendes said:
NTA. Listen, you saved that wedding reception from being held hostage by an ego trip disguised as a tribute. This wasn't their personal YouTube channel debut it was supposed to be about celebrating the couple. The fact that both the DJ and the crowd instantly filled the dance floor shows you read the room perfectly.
You weren't just some random guest causing trouble you were the officiant who noticed the reception dying a slow death. The sister's reaction refusing to attend events you're at shows she cares more about her damn artistic vision than the couple's big day. The only person upset is someone who tried to turn a wedding into her personal film festival.
_delicja_ said:
NTA. As someone who endured a father of the bride's one hour long speech in Danish during an international wedding (and like 90% of Danes speak English anyway), all of that on empty stomachs since morning because there was not even finger food after the ceremony, just bubbles, you are my absolute hero.
FacetiousTomato said:
YTA. Kind of shocked at all the votes otherwise. If this was your wedding, you'd have every right to have said something. It wasn't your wedding though. You just thought your drunken interruption was more interesting than their video. The only people who should have interrupted are the bride or groom. Anyone else is overstepping. Go grab a drink or use the toilet if you're bored.
Armorer- said:
My initial take was AH then I saw how long the video was supposed to go on for and I can’t believe the bridal party allowed this in the first place so maybe they were coerced into it by family and this makes you a hero for taking one for the team. NTA.