Bride discovers memento box is full of insults from guests, 'your dress is ugly.'
Coming up with fun and creative ideas to preserve wedding day memories can be a challenge, especially when your own guests decide it's their opportunity for a prank...
So, when a frustrated family member of a disappointed bride decided to vent to the gloriously petty 'Wedding Shaming' group of Reddit about a failed memento box, people were ready for the gossip.
A sweet and fun idea ruined, leaving bride hurt and in tears...
My cousin got married a few months back and her husband’s brother set up a lovely memento box for guests to write messages on little pieces of paper; you could write a congratulatory note, or a silly joke, or draw a picture, or whatever you wanted. She was really looking forward to going through it later on.
A few weeks ago, she had a cozy family get together with wine and snacks and brought the box out. She wanted us all to grab a handful of the tiny folded up pieces of paper and read them out together. It started off really fun. Her first note was a hilariously cringe dad joke, then few sweet messages about love and happiness, and then, of course, drawings of stick figures having sex, or boobies, or a dicks.
However, every so often, there would be notes which weren’t playful but intended to be hurtful and they become more and more frequent. They would be things like Ewwww, Your dress is ugly, [Husband’s name] is cheating on you!, You look fat, etc. At first my cousin would roll her eyes and chuck them to the side but I could see it was starting to affect her and the atmosphere became very awkward.
We suggested stopping a number of times but she laughed it off and wanted to keep going. Suddenly she burst into tears and ran out of the room. The final note she’d opened said 'No amount of makeup can cover up that huge nose.' My cousin has been self-conscious about her nose since she was a kid.
Husband went to comfort her and told the rest of us to hang back. As soon as he leaves the room, my grandmother turns to one of my (idiot) cousins and shouts ‘This is your f*^%ing fault!’ I have NEVER heard her swear in my life and it scared me for a second.
My grandmother started to explain that she remembers noticing, during the reception, my idiot cousin’s kids hanging around the table near the box but didn’t realize what they were up to at the time.
It seems my idiot cousin was receiving a lot of complaints about her feral kids that night but chose to ignore them. She has 5 kids, ages ranging from 8-16. Idiot cousin denied all accusations and responsibility and left.
A couple of days later, me, my sister, and about 6 other cousins (I have a big extended family who all live in the same city) go to pay a visit to idiot cousin’s house. A screaming match ensues but we insisted we weren’t leaving until each kid writes a long and sincere letter of apology.
It took a few hours but we got there in the end. Idiot cousin told us she never wants to speak to any of us again but we’re all quite happy with that deal. This morning I get a text from idiot cousin asking if I can pick her kid up from school and take him to his athletics class….
Of course, the jury of wedding shamers was eager to weigh in on this one. Here's what people had to say:
Vinnybon50 said:
I was thinking of doing the same for my wedding. Am pretty certain I have no guests who would do such a thing so am not afraid to do it. I think it sad than anyone would even have to fear this kind of thing happening.
My heart goes out to this bride. She should never have experienced this. I hope he kept his cousin blocked. She doesn't deserve to be a part of a family she is ok with her kids hurting. Sometimes people like that need to experience consequences. I hope the bride is ok and this didn't completely ruin her memories of her special day.
Hershey78 said:
What absolute brats- glad they were held accountable- of course not by their OWN mom. As for that last line...'Oops can't speak to you anymore - good luck!'
ALH2021 said:
That's horrible! I feel really bad for the bride. It's too bad that their idea of fun was to bully, insult and hurt someone. Those kids need a good lesson in human decency and what acceptable behavior is. If their mother is defending their actions, it shows you why the kids behave the way they do. Huge balls asking for a favor after that!
free_helly said:
Idiot cousin. Omg. Every family has one.