MILs, Feuds & Furry Guests — From the Vault with My MOH Ivette

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When “I do” turns into “I don’t know what to do.” Wild.

From unexpected guest list debates to a mother-in-law meltdown that left everyone speechless, Me and my best friend Ivette dive into the wild world of wedding chaos. This episode is packed with hot takes, emotional moments, and wedding horror stories you won’t believe! Should couples feel obligated to invite family? Is banning kids a crime? And why are so many in-laws acting like it’s THEIR big day?

Listen in as I and my BFF and MOH Ivette spill the tea, share our own experiences, and remind you—it’s YOUR wedding, your rules.

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Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

15:44 From Acquaintances to Best Friends

19:06 Hot Takes: Kids at Weddings & Wearing White

19:59 Wedding Guest List Drama: Who Stays & Who Goes?

27:15 Wedding Horror Story: The Mother-in-Law Meltdown

32:45 When Wedding Paperwork Goes Wrong

38:10 Wedding Confessions: Bridesmaid Disasters & Petty Payback

43:21 Ending the Drama: Mental Health & Marriage Advice

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Me and Ivette’s friendship journey—how we met and became inseparable
  • Wedding guest list debates: Obligation vs. personal preference
  • Mother-in-law horror stories: When family feuds take center stage
  • Unpopular wedding opinions: Kids at weddings, guests wearing white, and more
  • The pressure of tradition: When “that’s how it’s always been done” doesn’t work for you
  • Wedding planning vs. Marriage preparation—what really matters?
  • Bridesmaids & boundaries: What’s fair to expect from your wedding party?
  • The most shocking wedding confessions submitted by listeners

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “If you’re wearing white to a wedding and you’re not the bride, you KNOW what you’re doing.” – Christa
  • “Cutting someone from your guest list isn’t personal—it’s practical. It’s your day, not a family reunion.” – Christa
  • “Traditions are great, but they shouldn’t hold you hostage. Your wedding should feel like YOU.” – Christa
  • “Weddings are about celebrating love, not throwing a party to impress people you barely talk to.” – Ivette
  • “If you have to choose between keeping the peace and keeping your boundaries—choose YOU.” – Ivette

*This conversation is for entertainment and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please seek a licensed professional for your specific situation.

About Ivette:

Ivette is not just a special guest—she’s one of my closest friends and the matron of honor from my own wedding. As a supportive friend who has been part of my journey long before Here Comes the Drama was even an idea, Ivette brings warmth, humor, and thoughtful insights to the conversation. With a deep appreciation for meaningful relationships and personal growth, she shares her take on wedding traditions, family dynamics, and setting boundaries in the chaos of wedding planning. Whether reflecting on her own experiences or reacting to jaw-dropping wedding drama, Ivette keeps it real with heart and honesty.

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

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Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

 Christa Innis: Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of, Here Comes The Drama. I’m your host, Christa Innis, and if you are listening for the first time, welcome. We are the podcast that dives into the chaos, hilarity, and unforgettable moments when it comes to weddings, events, and beyond. And today’s episode, of course, is packed with some juicy stories and hot takes that you will not wanna miss. Now we’re doing things a little bit different this time, and I’m releasing a never before shared episode with my best friend, Ivette. So a little background to this episode when I first. Plan this podcast out. So the first episode came out of January this year, which is wild to think about. We’re almost a year at this.

I like had a full roster of  who I was going to interview or who I was gonna have on the podcast. And of course I wanted my best friend Ivette on there. She was the maid of honor in my own wedding. And so I figured, you know, we’d have a lot of fun stories to share. And so the first time I had her on, we recorded, gosh. It was after our, our kids went to bed  we were on Zoom. And so, um, I wanna say it was like nine o’clock at night. So we’re both like tired and we recorded, and I think we’re both just kinda like perfectionist. Where afterwards,  she texted me the next day and she was like, do you wanna redo it?

Or like, are you happy with it? And I think I was in my overthinking phase of  this is just getting off the ground. Right? And I was like. I mean, we can redo it if you want, but like, let’s do a different story since we already like truly like live reacted to that one. And so recently I was like, I forgot we have that episode. And I was like, I just wanna listen to it. And I listened to it and it’s actually really good and it’s a shocking story. And it’s very real, uh, um, not like they’re normally not, but it’s just like. It’s two tired moms, AKA us, um, chatting and we’re just like doing a real reaction of what the story, and we’re just doing a real reaction.

And so I really liked it and I was like, you know what? I’m gonna share it. So I texted her and I was like, Hey, are you cool if I share this episode? I was there’s some really good insight. And um, it was a lot of fun. And she’s like, yeah, go ahead and share it. So I think we were just both in our stage of like, perfectionism and I was like nervous because I was so new. So when I do play it, which is gonna be in a minute, um, we’re gonna. She’ll be introducing herself and obviously since then I’ve had her on the podcast two different times. So, um, you guys, if you’ve listened, you know her now, but she’ll reintroduce herself then. This was recorded originally  either February or March of this year.

So we are here now. Gosh. Eight, nine months later. So just to keep that in mind, a lot has changed since then. The layout of the podcast has changed as well, so I’m gonna play that in a minute. But before I do that. Next week is Thanksgiving. And what would Thanksgiving be if I just didn’t say a little note to you guys of how truly grateful I am for all of you. I mean, this is the most incredible community. I never saw this happening. I mean, when I was on my maternity leave two and a half years ago now, um. I just decided to pick up my phone and do a silly little skit. And you guys thought it was funny. And I remember keeping it a secret for so long because not like I was ashamed of it, but I just didn’t really know where it was gonna go.

And I feel like when you start telling people, you start viewing yourself differently, and I feel like you start acting a certain way. And so, um, I kept it kinda like to myself. Only my husband knew I was gonna do it. And it was this  weird little thing. Like once my daughter would go to bed, I would like film in the bathroom. And I was like, what is my life right now? But it’s turned into so much more. It’s turned into this storytelling. It’s allowed me to share. So many stories from people from all over the world. I also am able to create my own stories, which, um, if you guys have been following, following me for a bit, you know, I love creating stories.

That’s what I went to school for. I’ve always loved writing. And so it’s just sparked something in me that I truly enjoy. And so, um, thank you to just like any of you guys for watching, for sharing, for listening on the podcast. No matter where you found me or how you found me, I’m just so grateful that you’re here now. And this is just the beginning. Um, this, because of this platform, I feel like I have the opportunity to share more and to help more and to hopefully make an impact. Um. And by the time this comes out, this might be a little late news, but like, for example, with everything happening with people losing their benefits and with, um, you know, I mean just the world is struggling right now.

So many people are struggling and so I did a. Feeding America fundraiser. Um, earlier last, actually at the end of last week, and in two days we raised $3,000, which was just incredible. And so hopefully, hopefully by the time this comes out, we can even double that. And that’s just a little teaser of like the kind of things I wanna keep doing. I wanna be able to help more people to. Share more ways of, um, impacting others as well. And um, I know I’m kind of going on a tangent now, but it just really means a lot to me, this community. And I don’t really take a time to sit back and just really realize what we’ve got going on here. And so to my, from the bottom of my heart, I just wanna say thank you.

Okay. Now I’m not gonna cry or anything. Let me get into the next segment. Okay. So before I get into, um, the previously recorded episode that no one has ever heard before, um, this is a wedding dilemma. So my brand new segment called Wedding Dilemmas or Wedding 9 1 1, um, is where people are sending me. They DM me, they email me current or past dilemmas. They’re kind of going through and they want just. Other feedback from people they want, honest, maybe unprofessional, um, advice from me. Um, what to do in the situation. So I got a longer one today, so we’re gonna read this one and I’ve not read it entirely. So let’s see what we got. Um, if you have a wedding dilemma of your own, please email me at Christa or.

If you have a wedding dilemma of your own, please email me. hello@christainnis.com with the subject line wedding dilemma and we will get to it. Okay, here is today’s wedding dilemma. So I’ve been a longtime watcher of your TikTok channel, and I’ve actually been engaged for a couple of years, but I was constantly getting met with a lot of apathy and negativity when I first started to try to plan the wedding. Not for my fiance of course. Recently my mom bought my wedding dress, and so we finally started to get the ball rolling. But in doing so and setting the date, everything is getting more real and some people are starting to ask the questions. I’ve been dreading. The main one is who is going to officiate?

That is an interesting question for people to ask because. I don’t think people asked me that unless I’m just forgetting. And that’s also not my first question when I hear someone’s engaged or planning their wedding. Um, it’s a fun question, but I don’t know. Interesting. My dad got ordained a few years ago. Okay. This is why. And he has a officiated, a couple of family weddings so far and he has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he really wants to officiate my wedding. We know how I feel about family or friends coming in and demanding or making hints at being a part of the wedding as a vendor. And yes, an officiant is considered a vendor, right?

Fisht photographer or dj. They’re all vendors. They’re typically contracted and paid. So he’s trying to kind of get in there. I would just worked a wedding where the stepdad was the officiant and it was amazing. It was beautiful, but they asked him to do it. He had never done it before and he was so nervous, but he did a great job, but, and they asked him to do it because  he’s so meaningful in their life. Okay. Um, there are multiple reasons. I do not want  him to do this. The main reason is I’ve given, the main reason I’ve given is that for that day, I want him just to be the father of the bride and nothing else. I just want my dad. That is, that is all you need. That is a great reason alone. But I get it. If he’s been pushing for this, he might not understand, but like, I wanna do this for you, you know?

Now onto the reasons I don’t say to him. My dad cheated on my mom when I was pretty young and he left us okay this off the bat. Why would you want someone that cheated, especially on your own mother to officiate your wedding? I know I want it. Like that’s just, to me, that’s like a bad omen Don’t you want someone that like really values marriage and relationship and building blocks of moving forward? I mean, at least I do. Um, he had kids with the other woman that he also wasn’t present for. Oh gosh. Because he would leave her and get back together with my mom, and the entire situation was so messy. Oh my gosh. So he’s now screwing up and hurting two families because of his own selfishness. At the end of the day, I don’t want a man who couldn’t respect his marriage to officiate mine.

Yes, I agree with you. Number two, I am Christian, but my fiance is not. And while we are incorporating some Christian symbolism into our vows and our ceremony, we would also like to incorporate other things from his beliefs. I feel like my dad is going to push for an overly Christian ceremony that is gonna make both of us uncomfortable. And here’s the thing too, the hypocrisy, right?  So.  she’s Christian, so  but she sounds very like accepting of like her husband’s not, so she wants to do a little mix of like what both of their beliefs. Right. Which I think is very normal and very wonderful. But for the dad to be like, he cheated in the sanctity of marriage.

He cheated on his wife, got another woman pregnant. Doesn’t father those children or these children, leaves his families constantly, right. He wants to push for this very Christian wedding, and it’s like, okay, okay, what are we doing here? Um, number three, my dad believes in the role of wife, so to speak, and I absolutely hate this particular belief. Mostly just for how it has manifested with my own mom and how he believes I should accept being treated by a partner if I marry someone. So he probably thinks. even though he cheated, his wife should still accept him back because he’s the man. Right. I have been to so many weddings where I’ve heard very sexist language about the role of a woman, and I don’t wanna hear it on my wedding date.

Yeah. I I wouldn’t either. No. That’s something that I, when I was picking, um, an officiant side story, I was gonna have my uncle do it. He married all the cousins in our family. He’s my godfather. But, um, he was actually expecting a baby. Um, so the timing just didn’t work out, which I was so bummed about. But we ended up finding an amazing afic on the Knot. This is not sponsored. I literally just googled one day and the Knot came up and I found this amazing reverend um, Reverend Marsha. Shout out to her ’cause she’s amazing. Um. And one thing that I loved about her was that we had multiple zoom calls. We met in person and we went over the full ceremony detail by detail.

 

What kind of, what kind of thing are you looking for? Do you want it religious or not? Do you want a mix of religions? Do you want, um, a prayer? Do you want a unity? Like she really customize it for the couple and then before we agreed to it, or before we actually like had our rehearsal, um, she let us view. The prayers that were gonna be read, she had us view how she was gonna open it. Um, and we were able to say  take this part out, put this part in. And I think that’s the most beautiful thing about getting married is being able to customize it to you and your partner. Right. So just to kind of like jump the gun a little bit.

Sounds like this Dad was like, this is how it’s gonna be. I’m gonna tell you. How your marriage should be, even though he didn’t live up to his marriage. Um, uh, how it, how even though he didn’t live up to how  the sanctity of marriage should be. Right Now, to some of my points, you may say, I need to. Now to some of my points, you may say, I need to just communicate with my dad that I don’t wanna hear that type of language, or just communicate on one type of ceremony I wanna have. But he’s incredibly condescending and dismissive when my point of view opposes his.

Ooh. To be frank, I’m concerned that because this is so important to him, it’s going to have ripple effects into our relationship. It took us years to get to a good place Again, I have considered letting him do the ceremony just because I know how important it’s to him, but at the end of the day, it feels like I’m constantly sacrificing my happiness and my comfort so the other people can feel special and seen. I want to feel seen on this one day. Okay. You know exactly what you want and you know exactly what you need to do. And I’m gonna tell you based on what you just told me, right? You can’t have your dad officiate your wedding. Plain and simple. He’s not going to follow what you tell him to. He’s gonna put his own beliefs in there about.

Your role as the wife, you are gonna have this built up resentment because of how he treated your family, specifically your mom and you kids that he doesn’t talk to. I don’t know if you have siblings, why start your marriage off with your partner with someone that did not respect their own marriage? Right. And I think this is the time where you really need to put your foot down. And yes, communicate with him. Absolutely. But just tell him again and be firm. I want you there as my dad and my dad. Only you can walk me down the aisle. We’ve actually already found Blink to officiate the wedding and leave it simple.

If he asks questions, you can give him some details. Um, if he seems like he’s going to try to do something or grab a mic, or make a speech or take over the ceremony, you need to be very clear that if he does not do this, he will be asked to leave. And that might seem harsh to some people listening, but now I’ve heard so many stories where people do this kind of thing. If they’re not given the position they want, or they’re not allowed to be photographer, they’re not allowed to do this, then Oh, I’m not coming, or you’ll regret it. But I truly, truly believe based on everything you’re telling me and how your relationship is with your father and how you’ve had to work back up to this spot, you will regret having him officiate your wedding.

There are certain things that yes, over time you can rebuild, but the fact that he’s dismissive, still condescending to you and you’ve seen him speak at weddings before where he’s very sexist. I think all signs point to no. So you gotta be firm. If you need someone behind you, obviously your partner is gonna be behind you.

Um, I don’t know his relationship with your mom currently. Um, it sounds like he kind of goes back and forth so. She needs to be on your side as well. Um, get everybody on your side and in the meantime, find someone that you guys both agree on should officiate your wedding and get on the same page. And that point, he can’t fill the role if it’s already been filled. So I hope that helps. I hope that was considered some good advice, but I just, like, I read through it and I’m just like, no, everything you’re saying. He tells me he should not officiate your wedding. You truly deserve to have the best day, feel seen and have a ceremony that really represents you and your partner in the best way.

So I wish you the best of luck and I hope it goes well. And please send us updates. I would love to hear updates and um, hope everything goes well. All right guys. Now as I said, we are going to play, um, my previously recorded episode never before shared with my best friend and maid of honor, Ivette. So without further ado, please enjoy I.

Christa Innis: Welcome back to another episode of here comes the drama. I’m so excited. I’m just going to dive right in because one of my very best friends and was the actual maid of honor in my own wedding, my good friend, Ivette, welcome to the show.

Ivette: Hi, thanks for having me. I’m excited to be here. I’ve never done a podcast before, so I’m excited.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I knew like right away when this podcast was coming out that I wanted you to be a part of it in some way. guys like Ivette is just like. The kindest person. She’s like, we can go on and on about like how we met and all that stuff. But like, basically, our husbands have been best friends for a while.

So we met through them. But, she has been one of the most supportive and I don’t want to start crying. It’s an emotional day, guys. But, she’s just been one of the most supportive friends I could ever ask for. And so, here we go!

Ivette: Christa, when don’t you cry? I

Christa Innis: know! I was just telling someone, it was a joke at my wedding, that, like, in your speech, and Matt, who is Ivette’s husband, Both talked about how I cry all the time.

Yes. And it’s like not always sad stuff. It’s like happy stuff. It’s like I’m grateful listening to Taylor Swift, you know, whatever. but no, Ivette’s such a supportive friend. And so I knew that when this podcast was coming out that I wanted you to be a part of it. So, I’ll stop the tears. Ivette, if you want to do like a little intro of like who you are and then we’ll dive into this crazy, drama.

Ivette: yeah, so I’m Ivette. something fun about me, I don’t really, yeah, I guess, I just met Christa through my husband, who’s best friends with her husband, and it was kind of like a crazy journey because, I had like known, we’ve known each other, but we never really like hit it off. I think it was just, it wasn’t our time.

And then my husband and I were getting married. and Christa was just, again, so supportive, so kind. I think that when you always, like when anyone gets to know you, you always are so warm and welcoming and you always see people. that are like left out in the corner and again, I’m talking about you, right?

But, I’m just so grateful to be your friend. So if I were to introduce myself, I am your friend. I’m someone that has been cheering you on and that, has heard about this podcast. Probably like five years ago before it was even a thing before you even started any of it. so I’ve been hearing about, different titles and, different ways that you wanted to start this.

And yeah, I’m just so proud of you. and being a part of just one episode means a lot. So,

Christa Innis: well, I’m proud of you. I remember you’re talking about like your, wedding. And so at that point when Ivette was like planning her wedding, like, I think it was Matt. Matt might have still been living with us. I’m not even sure at that point, but no, at that point.

Ivette: You guys are like our wedding in the city or when we lived in the city. We lived in the city when we got married,

Christa Innis: right? Okay. Yes. Yeah. And, but I remember like asking, like, we were just talking about your wedding planning and stuff and we were not like super close friends. We were more like acquaintances.

We would see each other at things and we were obviously always friendly. But I remember specifically like asking you like, Oh, what are your, like, what are you doing for your wedding colors? what are your bridesmaids dress? Like just asking questions and then like. Before I knew it, like, I ended up just being, like, a part of your wedding stuff.

I wasn’t in the wedding, but, like, there the night before, like, we hung out, and, like, I just

Ivette: Yeah. And I always say like, you should have been a part of my wedding because you did so much for my wedding. Like, you just have that natural gift to like, want to help people or be there for people.

And looking back at it, like we were starting to be close friends at that point it felt like. And I feel like that brought us even closer together. but even that night, I just remember like, you should stay with all my bridesmaids. Like you’ve been a part of the process, just like be with me kind of thing. And so it was, yeah, really good to have you.

Christa Innis: Yeah, and then it was like we got closer and then when Zach and I started, when we got engaged, I was like, hands down, like, Ivette’s gonna be my maid of honor, or matron of honor, as I guess it’s technically called, but, okay. enough of Cause guys, we can like, Ivette and I could talk for hours and just like, keep going.

So I’ll kind of like forget that it’s being recorded. okay. Let’s jump in to, I always like to start with crazy stories and wedding hot takes. I know we were kind of talking about that before we started. So do you have any like crazy stories that come right off the bat and not to put you on the spot, kind of talk through some wedding hot takes as well.

Ivette: I don’t know if I, I honestly haven’t been, Like in as many weddings as you have, I feel like you were like 27 dresses kind of situation. Like you’ve had so many bridesmaids dresses. I haven’t had any like wild stories. I’ve had some fun bachelorette parties. but that’s really it. Nothing other than one too crazy. So,

Christa Innis: yeah, yeah, no, definitely. And I feel like too, it It seems like so long ago and we were like all in like, I feel like there was just wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding for a while and then there kind of been some pause and I’ve been like babies, you know, all that stuff.

So, okay, so let’s get into some hot takes. So these are hot takes that people sent in. And so let’s kind of react to them and see what we think. So the first one says couples should stick to a traditional guest list Or is it okay to make bold cuts for budget or personal reasons? So I share first. Sure. Yeah.

Wedding Guest List Dilemmas & Setting Boundaries

Ivette: here’s the thing. I come from a really, really big family and I am someone who’s been trying to break cycles and I think that family is a good thing when it’s people that reach out to you when it’s people that show that they care about you and want to engage with you and have been a process from the beginning, maybe even halfway.

But if it’s someone that feels entitled to be a part of your big day, just because. I’m like, cut them out. If it’s unhealthy, like, I don’t want you a part of it.there’s a part of me that wants to follow tradition. but also traditions can get us into trouble and can get us into cycles. And, unhealthy relationships. And I’m not about that. So.

Christa Innis: Yeah, just saying the yes just because they’re a family member or somehow related or they were your neighbor growing up. Like, we need to, I feel like, evaluate each relationship and how, not necessarily how they serve us, but how we’ve, like, served each other. It might be, like, both ends of it, because I feel like a lot of times when I share stories, people are like, Oh, well, that bride is, entitled. And it’s like, we have to look at it from both angles. Like, have they reached out to each other in the past couple of years? Or has that person ever asked about the bride’s life? Or, you know, that kind of thing. It’s, important.

Ivette: Yeah, and I even think, like, I didn’t have any kids at my wedding, unless it was, like, People that were in the party, like the brides, my bridesmaids or the groomsmen and it was like their kids, that kind of thing. That’s okay. But for me, it’s okay to be like, Hey, no kids, because I don’t want to be worried about kids at my wedding.

You know what I mean? I don’t want them to like take away. And that’s not to say that like, Oh, I’m being like a bridezilla, but it’s more like it’s my day. And I get to be there with all the people that I love. And I really want to like, enjoy that,

Christa Innis: yeah, I think kids is always like a really hot topic because everyone’s like really strongly opinionated and I was like to remind people that you can be as opinionated as you want for your own money, you know, because it’s not up to us to dictate how someone else does their own day or like what their relationship is like some people want it.

Every single person to bring all their kids and add 50 people to the guest list and other people are like, you know what? I’m gonna invite just like immediate family kids or you know, whatever. So that’s so important I think it would definitely I would say this to Zach I feel like it’d be a lot harder now like now getting married with like having so many close friends and their kids because Back when, like, I got married and you got married, like, a lot of us didn’t have kids yet.

And so it was a lot easier to be like, okay, like, we can make a cut here because, you know, there aren’t a lot yet. Yeah. I feel like this is like an obvious one, but do you think it’s okay for guests to wear white to a wedding?

Ivette: No.

Christa Innis: If the couple doesn’t explicitly say not to. No.

Ivette: No, like, you cannot wear white.

I think, I have sweet friends that are like, Oh, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal. But if I were a guest at their wedding and somebody else is wearing white, I’d be like, You need to go change. Like, go change. This is her day. That’s not okay. Yeah. that part of the tradition. I’m like, that needs to stay.

Christa Innis: yeah, unless it says this is a black and white tie affair or whatever, which even then, I think I would still pick a black dress.

Ivette: Absolutely. Like,

Christa Innis: I would just feel very, very odd to wear a white gown to someone else’s wedding. yeah, I feel like that’s one of those things where I feel like if you are wearing a white dress to someone’s wedding, you know what you’re doing.

Ivette: You want the attention on you.

Christa Innis: Yeah, you can’t claim ignorance. During the pot. Yeah. Okay. Jumping into a fun segment. Pick a side wedding drama debates. Okay. So these are a couple of things that people also have shared on Instagram. we’re going to kind of call unpopular opinions, but sometimes I read them and I’m like, I agree with you.

Okay. If a parent helps pay for the wedding, they don’t have as much say because it still is not their wedding. I agree.

Ivette: you don’t have to pay for the wedding, like that, you’re gifting that, so I think it’s their wedding, you gift it, it’s not like I’m gonna gift you a t shirt and I’m gonna say like, this is where you can wear it, you can’t wear it here, you can only wear it with these people, so I look at it the same way, it’s a gift and that’s it, and they can spend it how they’d like.

Christa Innis: Yeah, that is a great point about a t shirt. I tried sharing a similar analogy like that online one time and I would say like half people got half in it because I think people are so stuck on. Well, if I’m giving that much money, I better like be there making decision. It’s like you can be involved as much as a bride and groom wants, but you cannot go over their head or have strings attached to every little thing for sure. this can be like kind of a hot take. People are more worried about the party than what it means to get married and have a marriage.

Ivette: Unfortunately, I’m going to say yeah, like I tried really hard for my wedding to vocalize it and in my speech, I really wanted to make it a point like, hey, thank you all for being here, because this is the start of our marriage. And you guys are here, not to party with us yes it was a party, but like to witness this, and the people in our wedding party, including you. I feel like I’ve been invited to be a part of my marriage and like support us when we’re struggling, when we’re having a good time to like celebrate the highs and like hold us in the lows.

And so I think unfortunately, from a larger perspective, it is all about the party and like following the trends and like showing, I don’t know, just like having the most beautiful wedding and the most beautiful dress, but I have been so encouraged. I’ve been with. My really good friends who are, are not, all like that. They’re not like that. And it’s really, they’re laid back and they’re just so happy to be married to the love of their life, and I think that’s what it really needs to be about.

Christa Innis: yeah, I think it’s a really good indication, like, when we see lot of the celebrity weddings, and they spend, like, sometimes a million.

I think I just saw, like, Kim Kardashian spent, like, 11 million at the wedding with, like, Chris Humphrey? I’m not very For some for you. Attuned to those things. Yeah. Okay. So you’re more Taylor Swift. I’m more Taylor Swift. Yeah. Taylor Swift. but yeah, so they spent like 11 million and people think like, Oh, it’s this amazing wedding.

They put all this money in, but it didn’t last long. And so I think people need to remember like, yes, it’s a great time to celebrate with friends and family, but, we should be worried, not worried, but like more focused on is what’s to come. What’s down the line. Because if it’s all about show and, the big day, then we’re kind of losing that a little bit.

Ivette: Yeah, I agree 100%.

The Mother-in-Law Wedding Disaster

Christa Innis: Yeah. Okay, so I want to jump in because I know we don’t have a ton of time. So I want to jump in and read, this week’s story. so we’ll just kind of read it and then we’ll react as it goes. she says, or they say, because I don’t know what it is. Okay. Hi, I’ll try to make it shorter, but there is a lot of drama. My mother in law and sister in law showed up late to my wedding, missing most of the pictures, only taking ones with my husband. My sister in law brought her dog to the wedding, not a service animal, and inside the church. Late on the pews and in the reception hall around the food, there was a minor issue with the food being put out by the church attendants that turned into the little old church ladies yelling at my mom and making her cry.

All she was going to do was get the food out for my guests. Okay, already we’re off to a rough start. Yikes.

Ivette: Yikes.

Christa Innis: my mother in law witnessed this and tried apologizing to the church ladies, telling them their family is trash and I wish my son never married her. Oh, that’s bad. That is bad. My sister walked in on the convo and my mother in law stuck her finger into my sister’s chest saying, you’re the worst of them.

I can’t let this happen at someone’s wedding. We then had to kick my mother in law out of the wedding. After yelling at multiple people, she stayed outside the event, throwing a fit, and telling anyone who listened to her that we were terrible people. She somehow got back into the wedding reception as the mother and son dance was announced. Why, I would be like running to the DJ being like, we’re not doing that dance anymore.

Ivette: Like, yeah, no, you’re out. I just want to know like what the husband did. Like, what did he do?

Christa Innis: That’s my thought. I feel like so many times in these stories, like, The bride submits it to me or like someone in the wedding party.

And we don’t hear anything about what the groom was doing or like where he was. But I feel like that should be the like, not tiebreaker, but the person being like, okay. We need you to calm down, mom.

Ivette: Yeah, like, where is he, what is he doing to support his new wife? Like, the red flags, red flags already.

Christa Innis: Like, come on. Yes, especially like this mother and son dance. Why is that still happening if she was kicked out? Yeah. She must, I feel like she like, went and was like, ready for it somehow. Like, went in back door.let’s see. It says, my husband did the dance with her. But all of the pictures show my husband’s mad face with her. So, okay, so he was mad, but he still did this dance with her.

Ivette: It’s so hard. Like, okay, it’s hard because, okay, I put myself in his shoes. It’s like, am I going to regret not having the dance with my mother? Okay. Like I get that. But also like his mom just made his life so complicated because now he has to like, in a sense, choose between his.

New family, his family now, his wife, his family and his mother and that you as a parent, you shouldn’t want to do that for your son, yeah, I feel like, okay, maybe you aren’t,like happy with this choice. And maybe it’s not like your first choice, but that’s on him and for you to do that and like ruin their wedding if my mother in law did that to me, I. Would not be talking to her and my husband supported her or like didn’t stand up for me and my family That would be very concerning.

Christa Innis: Yeah, and it’s an odd thing where you do hear a lot It happens more with Boy moms, where it’s like my son, like you’re taking my son away from me and it seems very dramatic and a lot of the skits I do but so many comments are like this happened to me, this was my reality until we cut her off or something like that and I’m like I can’t even imagine because like I have an amazing mother in law too, it’s like I could never imagine her treating me that way and but when you hear these stories you’re like what is it that makes them so cool.

I don’t know. Is it a jealousy thing? Is it like losing time with their son? getting older. They’re going to miss out. but ultimately they’re just pushing their son further away. Absolutely. I don’t

Ivette: know what it is. Like I only have girls, like, I can’t picture what it would be like to be a boy mom and then have to like let go of my son.

I feel like, I would want to do like girl talk with my daughter in law and like, Do girl stuff with her. So it’s just, strange to me to think.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I don’t know. Yeah, that’s, my thought too. And it’s like, growing your family or adding into your family.

I feel like to some of the stories that I read, it’s like they have these high expectations of who their future daughter in law should be. So if they don’t fit this picture perfect idea of what they envisioned or who they envisioned their son with, they’re going to find something wrong with them. Maybe they’re really close to their mom and, you know, they don’t like the connection or the relationship they see, then there might be, some issue there, but I don’t know.

Ivette: I also, think you, I think this might be what you’re getting at, or you mentioned it before. It’s like, they’re stealing him away, or like, Now all the maybe they spent a lot of time together or something like that Is that we were trying to get out and now it’s like no now, it’s like, okay now she’s a new priority And definitely jealousy.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah, this is crazy I also can’t imagine being left with so many like terrible memories of your wedding being like looking at pictures and being like oh, I remember when this happened like this is terrible like I was like to remind people is like We read these crazy stories that happen, but most of the time.

Drama does not happen, like I said, at weddings, and most of the time you won’t even know if they do happen. but when they do happen like this, people talk about them and share them because they’re like, this is outrageous. So, and not, like, not to scare people away. okay, it ends with, she then left.

Two days later, we met up at a restaurant To talk where she freaked out calling me a drunk B word because I walked around with a bottle of wine for other people and then she stormed out of the restaurant to make matters worse. Our wedding paperwork was not stamped by the county, so we were not legally married until two weeks after this, and then we had to go back and do it again with just a small group. Wait, I thought you have to then do it again.

Ivette: Well, you have like a certain amount of time to like sign the paperwork because If I remember correctly, like they give, like whenever they perform marriage ceremony, you’re not, always like signing the paperwork, right. You’re not actually getting married.

And so a lot of people like, don’t realize that I’m like, oh, we’re not actually married. So if you don’t do it. Maybe it’s like 48 or 24. I’m not sure this is wrong. by a certain time, you’re not legally married. So then, yeah, you would have to do it again. So couldn’t they have just gone to the courthouse and signed it though? They could have. I’m just, maybe they wanted, their family members to be there.

Christa Innis: Interesting. Yeah, that’s like, that is interesting because I just heard, no, where was it? I saw a video of a girl talking about they were supposed to like do all the paperwork for like their wedding coming up and their husband didn’t file the paperwork so they couldn’t get their marriage license.

And I was like, Oh my gosh, like that was something my reverend, I want to say my reverend was like, really like adamant. She’s like, don’t forget to do this. Like you need to do this this weekend. She sent me like a timeline because other than otherwise I would not have known to do that. Like,

Ivette: I mean, I didn’t even know you had to get a marriage license.

And then when you got it, I also didn’t know that it’s only good for a certain amount of time. And I didn’t know that it was like for specific County, which is crazy. Like, I didn’t know any of this. You know, I’ve never been married before. And then, did you know that some people have to get, like, their blood work done? Or, like, yeah, they have to make sure, like, for smaller towns. They used to do this, here in Illinois. They had to make sure that you weren’t somehow related, to each other. So you had to go to, like, a doctor. Improve. Yes. we should look that up. We should look that up.

Christa Innis: We should look that up. I’m gonna look that up.

Wait, I literally just started Googling, did you have to get a blood test? And I literally just had to get married. See, it goes. No, you don’t wait. Most no longer require it. But in the late eight nineteen thirties states began revolting blood tests

Ivette: for

Christa Innis: syphilis to

Ivette: show that applicants were not contagious.

Oh, that’s what it is. I thought it was what they weren’t. Okay,

Christa Innis: but certain states it was with like within the last 25 years, they stopped doing it. So some probably kept it longer. Maybe that’s because there was like such an issue. Like people find out years later, like, Oh, actually married my cousin or something. The

Ivette: real, yeah. reason why I know is because my mother in law was telling me when we were getting married, she’s like, Oh, you’re lucky.

You don’t have to like get all the blood work done. I was like, what are you talking about? So yeah, that’s what I found out. So she had to do it when she

Christa Innis: had to do

Ivette: it.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my gosh. And she probably got married in what the eighties. Yes. So that’s not that long ago. Yeah. No. Well, I guess the eighties are going on 40 years ago.

Wait, is that 40 years ago? That’s over years ago. Yes.

Ivette: I see. I think it’s the eighties, like 20 years ago.

 

Breaking Wedding Traditions: When Family Won’t Let Go

Christa Innis: Me too. I’m just a baby. I’m like a teenager still. I know. I know. I know. I know. Like what? that would be something actually kind of cool to look at for like future episodes to see like traditions that have changed because that’s the thing too.

I think people are so stuck on traditions when it comes to weddings. And we need to remember, like, times have changed. Like, people get offended when I post about people having private vows. They’re like, well, why even have a wedding? And it’s like, everyone has their own reasons for wanting to do things differently.

Or one girl was posting saying her family told her that her wedding didn’t count because she didn’t want to walk down the aisle by herself. So her husband actually grabbed her at the beginning and they walked together like kind of you and yeah And she was like my whole family said it wasn’t me actually getting married because it wasn’t traditional But I feel like you like let go of some of those traditions I think traditions are beautiful but we also need to look at them and be like does this make sense for me or am I comfortable with this and understand that times have changed.

Ivette: Yeah, that makes so much sense. my grandfather, he passed away now, but, I remember my mom telling me after I got married, she’s like, your grandpa was like, what is this? Like, why aren’t we at a church? My family’s Roman Catholic. And they’re really big into Catholicism. I’m not Catholic. And so I still had, different aspects or different.

part of like religion and at my wedding, but I didn’t want to add a big church because it didn’t feel right to me and my heart was like, you guys aren’t even like married because you guys aren’t married before God. I was like, okay.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And it’s like some of those things you just have to like take and just like, let it roll off your back.

It’s like one of those, it’s not worth. Explaining. But yeah, I remember that, too, growing up, in the Catholic Church. It was like, it only, counts here, but it’s like, there’s so many different ways of doing it. And actually, and this is something I haven’t really fully looked into, but the Reverend at my wedding, she does, like, multiple, denominations of, like, Christian weddings or even, like, non Christian weddings.

And, my friend who still practices Catholicism, she did their wedding. But I wonder if that’s even like recognized by the Catholic Church because it’s not a priest. But I don’t know. I haven’t looked into that. So,

Ivette: which is interesting because then like moving on into your life, like if you want to have.

Like kids or have them, like do the first communion or not to get into religion, but then it’s like, wait, were you married in the church? You know what I mean? It’s very interesting.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah. A lot of different. Little things to consider, but yeah, these stories just never, never seemed to shock me. I just feel like, I don’t know.

So I know we don’t have much time I don’t want to take up too much more of your time, but I want to end it with our weekly confessions game. I’m still kind of figuring out how I’m like going to do this, but like people are sending me their confessions and I was having people rate it, but I don’t know if that really makes sense.

So we’re just going to read them. Okay. And react to like, your thoughts on it. This person said my bridesmaid from another state didn’t even bother to show up to anything. Just the wedding. Okay. 

The MIA Bridesmaid: Flaky or Just Setting Boundaries?

So when I read that. I have like a more questions and it’s not like in a judgmental way, I was one time I had questions for the bride and everyone’s like, don’t judge her. But I was like, I’m just wondering, like, the bridesmaid say she was coming to these things and then just not show up?

Or when you asked her to be a bridesmaid, she was like, I’ll let you know if I can make it to certain things. Like maybe she has kids or she has got multiple jobs and then just couldn’t come to a bachelorette party or couldn’t come to a shower And I think you were the same way, but like, when it came to my wedding, I told my bridesmaids, I was like, you know what, like, here’s the dresses, like pick your style.

If you can’t come to the shower, it’s okay. If you can’t come to the bachelorette party, it’s okay. In fact, I had two people not come to the bachelorette party and I think someone couldn’t make it to the shower. But to me, that wasn’t like high priority. It was like, you know what? I want you by my side at the wedding day.

So I don’t know what your takes are on that. I agree.

Ivette: I agree a hundred percent. Like I said, the other stuff is kind of like the fluff, right? Like, yes, you want them to be a part of like the journey and stuff, but they’ve been a part of your journey. Like that’s why they’re a part of your party, your wedding party.

and actually in my wedding, same thing. I had somebody come just for the wedding. And then they left and I didn’t even see them. I didn’t get to spend much time with them, but it meant so much to me that she would even like agree to be a part, of it and be a witness. To like my story with my husband.

So yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I think that goes back to communication is so important when you’re a bride and you’re expecting things of other people. There’s gonna be brides that like want things like this and like everyone must be in attendance where these kind of outfits and I’ve never been a part of a wedding like that.

I’ve just heard of them. so I think it’s good to be upfront and clear if you want something like that. Now, if it’s the bridesmaid saying she’s gonna come to all these things and then just bails last minute, then yeah, that’s a problem on the bridesmaid, because that’s just kind of a flaky person.

Ivette: I have a problem with like people saying that they’re gonna come and like be there. And yeah, they come, but they’re not present. I don’t know how to, like, explain that in a better way. that’s just

Christa Innis: hard

Ivette: for me.

Christa Innis: More like they’re checking a box and not actually, like Yes. A part of it.

Yes, that’s hard. Like if you were to invite someone and they were on their phone the whole time. Or sitting in the corner, not actually engaging. Yes. Yeah, then you’re like, why did you even You’re just a body right now. Right, . right. Yeah, no, I totally agree with that. okay. Anytime I post about my wedding, I purposely don’t include photos of my mother in law.

Is this next confession?

Ivette: Okay.I don’t really know what to say. Okay. I feel like obviously there isn’t a good relationship with your mother in law. are you doing this on purpose because you know that your mother in law is going to see the post and not see herself? Like, are you doing this out of malice or, are you doing it because she hurt you?

And also I want to know, like, what do you bring to the table? Because, relationships are a two way street. So, like, is this just on her? It could be. But do you have faults in it? It could also be.

Christa Innis: Yeah, and I want to say too, like, I’ve seen on the other side, like, a friend of mine, I’m not going to give too many details because I know she’s probably listening, and I don’t want to, like, give it away, but, she had, like, kind of, like, I wouldn’t say terrible relationship with her mother in law, it was just kind of, like, they butted heads here and there, and they just did not agree on a lot of stuff, and one day she, like, looked inside herself, And then they like, they literally like had conversations and I asked her recently and she’s like, things are amazing.

Things are great. And I think sometimes we like, hold on me. No, we love no, yeah, definitely not you. but She was like, things are so great, and like, she’s like, it was just like a communication thing, and I think it’s also we put our own guards up, like if, or if we see one thing that’s kind of like, weird, then we kind of are like, I don’t know, then constantly have a guard up, or like little things that irk us, but she’s like, no, things have been amazing, and so like, I think there’s always a chance, but.

Oh,

Ivette: that’s good, yeah.

Christa Innis: But this definitely says there’s some kind of animosity between the two of them, for sure. Yeah. okay, last one before we’ll close off. I know you gotta head out. okay, sister in law called off wedding planning to elope, told us to bring food to share at a potluck reception.

I feel like I have more questions, too. only get so much. But, was there a date set and we were gonna do this whole wedding and then she was like, Hey. We’re actually just going to elope, bring some food and that’s it.

Ivette: I want to know like how much in advance, like, what was the notice like?

Like, did everyone already have their rides made, dresses, or you know what I mean? Like, did everyone have all the stuff, all the foo foo, or like paper, hair and makeup already? Cause I think that would be upsetting to me, like knowing that I’ve invested so much. but also. Like, if that’s what you want to do, like, good for you, like, that sounds fun.

And if, I support that if you’re doing it in a way that’s being respectful to the people that are in your wedding.

Christa Innis: Absolutely. Like if you started playing and you’re like, this is too much for me, let’s elope. That seems more my style. Do you grow? Like I’m all about that because so many people regret their wedding.

I think when they don’t do what is true to them and their spouse. whether it’s they went big and they wanted to go small or they went small and they wanted to go big. There’s so many opinions. So just like tune it all out and do what works for you. well, I want to thank you so much for coming on.

I feel, I feel so weird being like formal with you because like not how we talk. But I try to like be like as loosey goosey as possible. But I know we didn’t really get too much into like you personally and what you personally do. But is there anything like I don’t know, cool or funny you want to share that you’re working on, or like a little bit more about you and then, I don’t

Ivette: know.

Yeah,

Christa Innis: I mean

Ivette: for me, I’m all about working with people and mental health. So I just encourage couples that like want to get married to be honest with yourself, be honest with your spouse, like set yourself up for success and ask really hard questions now because you don’t want to go into marriage and have to ask yourself these questions. your first year, second year, you don’t go to university without first having read the reviews and learning about the programs. You don’t get a job without understanding the salary with the hours of life. And this is like the biggest decision of your life. So, prepare, get ready for the test.

You know, you should be studying, you should be learning each other. and yeah, that’s, really my encouragement. And then another thing that I want to say is if you’re pointing your finger at your partner, Look in the mirror first, right? Like, let’s see what we can offer. Let’s see, maybe areas that we can work on.

And so, yeah, I’m all about mental health and making our relationship work, but in reality, we can’t change others. We can only change ourselves. So.

Christa Innis: I need like wise words from Ivette like probably like every week because there’s so many times and I was just saying this to Ivette before we like caught on I feel like there’s always some kind of like mental break I’m having whenever I like we’re like getting together and I’m like panicking over something and I’m like why does this always happen and she’s like I’m your safe space

Ivette: and I’m like I’m safe.

People come to me because you know what, if you tell me like your lowest, I’m going to up you and tell you something lower about myself to make you feel good about yourself and make you see that, we’re all human. We can all grow.

Christa Innis: Yeah. we’re going to work on a regular segment guys.

Yeah. Well, thanks for having me. Thank you so much for coming on. I know you’re,busy woman. You’re a mom of two. So are you. You’re in school, you’re working, you’re doing your thing. I’m so proud of you and, Thanks so much. Yeah, of course.


The Forced Bridesmaid, the Wedding Villain, and a Shocking Twist

“My sister wore a WHITE GOWN… to my rehearsal dinner.”

Yep, that actually happened. This week, I’m spilling not one, but two jaw-dropping wedding stories where guests went full villain mode. We’re talking sisters stealing the spotlight, friends acting like frenemies, and a guest who thought white was her color—brace yourself.

From family members who just can’t let go to attention-seekers desperate to make the day all about them, I’m breaking down the messy details with my signature mix of sass, humor, and straight talk.

And it doesn’t stop there, confessions at the end of the episode include a drunken maid of honor, a mother-in-law in a massive black hat, and even a vow renewal request that will leave you SPEECHLESS.

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Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

03:26 Podcast Format and Upcoming Segments

03:02 Listener Review and Personal Story

03:33 Unique Wedding Coordination Experience

07:56 Unpopular Opinions on Engagement Rings

12:10 This or That: Wedding Drama Debates

18:03 Crazy Wedding Stories: Sister Drama

23:18 The Bride’s Wedding Day Drama

24:40 Sister’s Immature Behavior

29:24 A New Story Begins

29:35 Sabrina’s Obnoxious Antics

33:58 Wedding Day Showdown

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Unpopular Opinions Unpacked – I’m diving into engagement rings, proposals, and why surprise proposals might actually be the worst idea.
  • This or That: Wedding Edition – From cheesy DJs to awkward speeches, I’m debating the biggest wedding dilemmas.
  • Sister Showdown – Bride’s big day was almost derailed by her sister’s shocking white dress choice.
  • Frenemy in White – Yep, it’s the infamous Sabrina story—how one guest tried (and failed) to steal the spotlight.
  • Mother-in-Law Chaos – When a MIL shows up in black and white with a statement hat, you know it’s personal.
  • Vendor Nightmares – Let me tell you why hiring family as your photographer is a recipe for regret.
  • Drunk Maid of Honor – One bride’s sister turned into a tipsy disaster before the ceremony even began.
  • Confessions & Closing Tea – I’m wrapping up with jaw-dropping listener confessions and, of course, a little gratitude moment.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “Stop being considerate of people who don’t even consider you.” – Christa Innis
  • “If you want to wear white to my wedding, congrats—you just RSVP’d to the drama.” – Christa Innis
  • “Movies made surprise proposals look romantic. In real life, it’s a nightmare waiting to happen.” – Christa Innis
  • “Sometimes the best punishment isn’t confrontation—it’s silence.” Christa Innis
  • “If you know you can’t handle your liquor, hold off until your duties are done.” – Christa Innis

*This conversation is for entertainment and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please seek a licensed professional for your specific situation.

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Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of, Here Comes The Drama. I’m your host, Christa Innis, and I’m exhausted. How are you doing today? I am just feeling so like, I don’t know, there’s just so much going on. I don’t know where August went. It’s here and gone. Um, that by the time this comes out, it’ll be early October, but I’m filming it or recording this right now in September.

And I just, I feel like I blinked and this year is like t hree quarters of the way over. Um, it’s just, it’s, I’m so grateful to be doing what I’m doing, but it’s also very like nonstop. Sometimes I need to take a step back and just like take a deep breath because I feel like I’m just like on this constant like hamster wheel of running around, checking things off the box, being a mom, being a wife, being a friend.

And it’s just, it’s, it’s a lot. Um, and I’m sure you moms or parents with kids going back to school are feeling it. Mine’s too young for that yet, so I’m not doing the back to school thing quite yet. But, um, it’s just wild how the older you get. The years just seem to go quicker and quicker and quicker. Um, and the, with the current climate, I just feel like the news is suppressing.

It’s a little sad and I hope I can just bring some entertainment to you guys with, you know, with everything going on. Um, I don’t know. It’s just, it’s a lot and I just have to remind myself to be grateful for. What I’m able to do, being able to do this from home and be able to create, um, a lot of people don’t have that.

And so, um, I don’t take it for granted. So I’m just, I’m just wanna say I’m grateful for you guys listening. I know I’m going off on a little tangent. I’ve got a lot of feelings this week. Um, there’s just, there’s a lot. There’s a lot going on. So -we are gonna do things a little different. Um, I dunno, I say that, but I feel like it’s always a little different ’cause we always have new stories.

Um, we’ve got two stories at the end for you today. We’re gonna do unpopular opinions, um, which you guys send me on social media. We’re gonna do some this or that, some hot takes. And of course at the very, very end we got some confessions for you and we got some good ones. Um. We haven’t shared these for a while.

I mean, we share them on Instagram, um, stories. But we’ve even shared ’em on a podcast in a while, so you guys are in for a treat. Gosh, there were so many.

Breaking Traditions: A Bride’s Dream Wedding with Zero Rules

Okay. Starting things off, I just wanna read a little, um, review of the podcast. It says, as someone in the wedding industry, bridal assistant, I enjoy watching your videos and I can’t wait to hear the rest of the stories.

That’s from Songbird for life. So thank you so much Songbird for leaving that review. And again, if you guys enjoy this podcast, please share it with a friend or leave a review. It really helps more people hear the podcast and just means so much to me. Um. I wanna share just something really fun. I know like a lot of times on my social media accounts and on the podcast, I, you know, I do skits.

So a lot of it is about other people’s stories and stuff. But as many of you guys know, I do very, very part-time day of coordinating. Like, I’m talking like I did one this year and I did one last year. I’m talking to a bride right now for one next year. Um, I just don’t have the time to do it. I love it so much.

I love it so much. I just had the honor of doing one. Um, it’s been two weeks now. Um, but she was just a dream of a bride to work with, just so kind, knew what she wanted was, so I, I mean, just knew what she wanted, but also was like very like open to hearing ideas. Um. We brainstorm, we brainstorm, brainstormed through a lot of stuff.

Um, but I just have to just. It just reminds me of like why I love weddings so much. Um, like I said, I don’t do a, a ton anymore, but it’s fun to just get back out there. I just did like some partial planning with her, so we met like every few months and then we did day of coordinating. So I basically just ran around like, you know what?

You tell me what you need. I got, I got you. Um, we did the rehearsal together, but I wanted to share instead of like me just blabbing, I wanted to share some interesting things. That they did not do, or traditional things that they did not do that I thought was so awesome the way they did it, or just I should say non-traditional things they did.

I thought was really awesome. And a reminder to anyone listening that you don’t ever have to stick within the guidelines of what your parents tell you or what you see on the, in the media or whatever. You can do things your own way, and I loved this about their wedding. Okay, so here’s some things that I thought was really cool.

They had no maid of honor or best man. Um, they had a wedding party, um, but it was very, like everyone was equal. Um. They had a few different speeches, but it wasn’t like who you would think it was just kind of like different people on each side. Some had asked, some were told, so I thought that was really cool.

There were no readings in the wedding, the wedding itself’s, why I led the, the, um, ceremony. Um, and I just kinda like organized where everyone stood and all that. Um, it was really quick. I wanna say it was 15 minutes max. They wanted a really quick ceremony. It was. Beautiful. Honestly, like out of like Taylor Swift’s like music video or something so beautiful.

Um, they did no readings, so it was really quick. Um, she had her stepdad officiate and I thought he did such a great job. He was so um, nervous. He had never done it before, but he did so great. He was so personable. And I thought it was a really great way to include her stepdad. And then she did her daddy daughter dance, and then her, both her parents walked her down the aisle and then both the groom’s parents walked him down the aisle.

So I thought it was a great way to include all parents, um, in that, um, what’s something else? They also had, um, flower petals on this seat instead of just the flower girls having them, everyone could throw them at the end. So I thought that was really, really awesome. They had no cake. A lot of people are gonna be like, what?

But I love that someone that’s like not a big cake person, I just love the little sweetss and treats. They just did a dessert table, so they did no cake cutting. Um, and so that was great. So it’s just a reminder that no matter what it is, even if you’re like, I’m already married or I don’t plan on getting married, whatever kind of event or just thing in your life, go outside the lines.

Like, do what makes sense for you. Um, say goodbye to tradition. Tradition. Um. Yeah, I just, it was such a, she was such a dream to work with and everyone in the wedding party was just so kind. And yeah, it just reminds me of why I love doing it. So, um, I get like a little like, um, anxious when it before weddings.

’cause I’m like such an introverted person. I work from home, but when you put me in that spot, I got it. How can I help you? Where can I go to, what can I do for you? Like, I got you. So, um, yeah, I don’t really like advertise that I do it much just because like, I don’t have much time for them, but when I do them, they’re so much fun.

Engagement Rings, Proposals & The Myth of the “Perfect Surprise”

Anyways, okay, into our first segment, unpopular Opinions. These are ones that you guys sent to me on social media, so let’s talk about it. These ones have to do with engagement rings, so let’s talk about it. All right. These are unpopular opinions that people send. The first one says the bigger the stone, the better.

Um, no, it’s actually about the commitment. Yeah. 100%. I mean, I, there’s, they’re saying, okay, I guess you can’t see. They have quotes around the bigger the stone the better. No, it’s absolutely not. The bigger the stone the better. So I’m agreeing with this person. Um. Yeah, I feel like people get so caught up in the ring.

Yes. I like, I love my wedding ring or my engagement ring. My husband and I though like talked about it ahead of time, like I was very involved in that. I know it’s different for everybody, but there’s this idea of like, you have to spend this amount, you have to do this if you truly love them. And it’s like, no, like there are like millionaires and billionaires that get married multiple times that like spend. An obs and a crazy amount of money on these rings, that does not mean they love the person more. If all you can afford is a very basic ring, do that also fit into their personality? If they’re not a big jewelry wear or don’t, like big stones, don’t do that. Um, so yeah. Um, this person says, I don’t like the big marry me sign.

It’s overdone. I’ve never seen it personally. I see them a lot of times on like Instagram or social media and to me that’s like the Instagram proposal, right? Like that you want everything to look good. It’s a big flashing lights. Some people love that. Some people want that public proposal. Teach their own.

Um, this person says, I think proposals are best kept private. Keep it intimate for the couple, me personally, yes. I own, I’ve talked to this before. I had, um, four other friends there, so I had, it was two other couples that were with us. Had no idea what was gonna happen that night. I knew it was probably happening soon, but, uh.

No idea what was happening that night. I loved how intimate it was. It was a friend’s backyard. We were all hanging out. I would not have been comfortable. I mean, I dunno. I say that now in like hindsight. I don’t think I would’ve wanted a big, a big proposal. I’ve been a part of big proposals or ones that are at we or big parties.

Everyone’s got their own vibe. It’s just important to know your person and know what they’re comfortable with, and that goes for either partner. Because let’s say the bride really wants this big moment and it’s in public space, but if the groom’s not comfortable with that, like maybe he’s more private, he’d rather confess his love for her or ask her to marry him in a private place, then you have to like be able to work together some way somehow.

Um, it says, this one says it shouldn’t be a total surprise, total incomplete surprise. I a hundred percent agree with this. I feel like movies growing up and the way it was presented growing up was like, okay, when your partner loves you, they’re gonna propose to you and it’s gonna be outta nowhere. That sounds like a nightmare. If you’ve never talked about marriage or never talked about the next step with your partner, I don’t think you should be proposing or getting proposed to. You need to have that discussion because I’ve seen stories where people get proposed when they’re like, oh, we are not there yet. Or they’re like, I, I don’t want to get married.

So yeah, I don’t think it should be a complete surprise, like. Maybe how it happens or when it happens. Yes. I love the surprise element of the actual proposal, but to not ever, to never talk about getting married together or like moving in together and then you’re just like, I bought this ring. It’s like, pump the brakes a little bit.Let’s have the the conversation first.

Wedding Dilemmas: Cheesy DJs, Awkward Speeches & Destination Dreams

Okay, next up, this or that. Pick aside wedding drama debates. Here we go. A band that kills the vibe by skipping your first dance song. Or a DJ who keeps people dancing, but plays tea, cheesy tracks all night. If I’m picking one or the other, I’m gonna go for a cheesy, cheesy dj because if people are dancing all night, they’re obviously enjoying it in some way or another.

And I am all about it, like I’ve talked about this before, but like. My family. We’ve always been the one that’s like on the dance floor all night long. Same with my husband’s family. That was one of the things, like we’d go to weddings together and I was like, okay, we, we vibe because we are on the dance floor all night.

We’re not sitting at our table. We are on our feet hanging out, dancing. I love it. Uh, okay, next one. Blow the budget on incredible food. Everyone raves about or skip the fancy food and have a Pinterest perfect reception. Um, I’m gonna go incredible food. I don’t care about Pinterest. Perfect. I don’t, um, endless awkward speeches or no speeches at all.

And it offended and offended. Friends, why are the friends offended? Because they didn’t, weren’t asked for a speech. Um, I would say no speeches at all. Sorry. Two of the offended friends. If you’re offended. Sorry. I don’t, I don’t know why I would never be offended if someone didn’t ask me to give a speech.

I would actually understand if someone didn’t ask me. ’cause I blab a lot. Um, but I think I’d be okay if someone asked me. Side, side story. Endless awkward speeches. I’ve sold, I’ve told that story so many times, but I was at a wedding once where they just kept passing around the microphone. Nothing was planned.

Everyone just kept going off on a whim. It was awkward. Nobody wants that. A 12 person party full of drama or the guilt of leaving people out with only one or two by your side. Uh, see the way that one’s worded is like one’s better than the other. Actually, no, they’re both worded bad, I guess. I’m gonna go with the guilt of leaving people out with one, only one or two by your side.

And the reason I say it, and I’m someone that had nine bridesmaids, okay? I dunno if I’ve ever talked about that before and I don’t regret it for a second. I loved it. But also my wedding party, everyone got along very well. They all know each other. I mean, they’re from different groups. Kind of like I had cousin friends from high school, um, sisters-in-law.

Uh. Other friends and then my sister. So different groups, but they all kind of knew each other, but everyone got along great, so we didn’t have any drama. Um, so yeah, that’s hard though when you do have a really big group and there’s like a lot of drama going on, leave me out of it, especially at my age now, I’m just like, if I were to do all over again, I would probably just have a couple people stand up with me and then have the rest, like just wear a similar color.

I actually just saw a wedding like that and I think that was really beautiful. Uh, kids melting down mid vows or family drama for years after banning kids? Ooh, that’s a spicy one.

It depends on who the kid is. Um, ’cause I, I couldn’t imagine getting married without my nieces and nephews at our wedding. So if one of them had a met meltdown. I would just be glad they were there, honestly. But if it was someone, ’cause I don’t think we’d have family drama. See, I read, this is the problem with me and Rapid Fire, I read into them too much because I’m like, wait, that wouldn’t happen.

So if I’m just going straight off the bat, I would just say a kid melting down because it’d be someone important to me. Um. Plus it’s like 20 seconds long. Okay. A dreamy destination wedding and judgment from family or a giant hometown wedding. You didn’t even want a dreamy destination wedding. It’s funny ’cause I feel like.

My opinion has changed so much since, since getting married, and I’ve only been married three and a half years now. Um, but like I always say, I almost, I’m one of the last ones, so we knew exactly what we wanted. We’d been to so many weddings, but if I were to get married now or years from now, like, or redo it, I’d go destination all the way small group.I already did the whole fun planning of a wedding, you know? And so I’m like the fact, the thought of doing that again, I’m just like, I don’t know. I don’t need to do it for myself. Love doing it for other people. But yeah.

The Sister Who Wore White (Twice!) and Hijacked the Wedding

Okay, let’s get into the stories ’cause they are long, so I wanna make sure I have enough time without having to carry over to another, I got two crazy stories here.

Let’s go. Okay. My older sister was married first, but her marriage only lasted two months. While she was divorcing her husband, I had just met the man of my dreams. We got engaged eight months after dating and planning our wedding for five months later, since he was set to deploy soon after. My mom was adamant that my sister be my maid of honor because you only have, this is her saying it in quotes.

You only have one sister. And I always wished I had but didn’t, even though my sister and I weren’t very close, I had two lifelong best friends who felt more like sisters. I went along with it. Oh no. Okay, so full disclosure. I had my best friend, Yvette, who has been on the podcast, be my maid of honor, and my sister was a bridesmaid.

She was not offended. She was actually just very happy to be a bridesmaid. Um, my, I was my sister’s maid of honor, but she also got married 12, 13 years ago. Oh my gosh, 14 years ago. So I was like super young. We were both really young, um, and so things were just different. But yeah, I, I knew right off the bat that I wanted my friend Yvette, to be my maid of honor plus.

You also have to look at, like when someone’s, your maid of honor, you’re, they’re getting other responsibilities too, depending on, you know, different things. But your bachelorette party, maybe you’re helping with the shower being your person. Right. And I talked to my friend about all the time. We’d been to so many different events together, and it just was more fitting.

My sister was not offended. She was happy to be a part of the wedding. Um, okay. So I talked about this before. I am not a fan of when parents or people try to convince the brighter groom to have someone be in the wedding or be a certain place in the wedding. So she went along with it when it came time for my bridal shower and bachelorette party, which were scheduled the same weekend since I was finishing grad school in another state.

That sounds stressful. My sister refused to help. For months. Every time I asked, she brushed it off, brushed me off with, we have time. It’s too early to plan, so she’s not a planner. In the end, my mom and I organized everything ourselves. A week before the events, my sister suddenly started asking questions and got mad that everything had already been handled without her.

My mom even called me asking me to find something to include her in. So you’re doing more work because she couldn’t be bothered before. My phone just lit up like I was talking to it. I promise I’m not. Okay. It’s like all those like skits I do where there’s like a recording. It’s like recording me now.

Okay. Um, my mom, okay, so I reminded her that I had been trying for two months, but my sister hadn’t lifted a finger. When I flew back home to go wedding dress shopping with everyone, she didn’t show up. Later, she demanded a different dress from the other bridesmaids because it was special. I wanted them all to match, but of course my parents called me saying she was hurt.

Oh my gosh. Is this an older or younger sister? Older. Okay. The older sister did this. Okay. My shower, she had narrowed her outfit down to two dresses. I told her which one I preferred because the other was two bridal. She showed up in the white dress anyway, with black accents, perfectly matching my invitations and decor.

In the photos she positioned herself in the middle so much that you barely know, that you would barely know I was the bride. So like there’s no like necessary rule that at showers and stuff, the bride has to be the only one in white. But I feel like all the ones I’ve gone to, it’s pretty common courtesy.

I would never show up to a shower or a bachelorette wearing all white. Um. Especially if you ask them their opinion. This sounds to me like the sister was a little salty about the fact that she was going through a divorce. It wasn’t working. So her sis and then her sister’s moving really fast with this wedding.

So she’s like, I’m gonna be involved where I want to be involved. Um, and that’s unfortunate that she can’t just be happy for her. With all the drama building, my fiance and I secretly decided to elope what? S I’m sorry for that sound that just came outta my mouth. That just came outta nowhere. We got married privately, just the two of us, but kept it a secret until after the big day.

Oh, I love when that happens. I love that. Okay. Honestly, it saved me so much stress. You go girl. The night before the wedding, a massive blizzard hit. I was running around collecting last minute deliveries and arrived a little late to my rehearsal. Sure enough, my sister showed up in a white gown. You guys, this is wild.

I’ve never read a story where the sister is like showing up in these gowns. It’s usually the mom or mother-in-law or an aunt or something. That’s wild. ’cause she knows better. She’s been a bride. She knows better. It makes me wonder how her wedding was. If she was like this at her wedding or someone did it to her, like what’s the, what’s the deal here?

At that point, I didn’t even care. I went through a rehearsal in jeans and snow booth before changing from the dinner. You go, girl, I love this bride. The morning of the wedding, all of us, my fight bridesmaids, my sister, my mom and my mother-in-law went to the salon. My sister went first for hair and threw a fit because her hair didn’t match the picture.

She brought, she soaked in the corner with her arms crossed like a toddler. I added that. Um, while the stylist kept checking in as we were leaving, she suddenly sighed. Fine. I guess I can f. I guess someone can fix my hair. I told my mom we needed to go since the florist was delivering flowers and the photographer was minutes away, but she insisted Your sister needs to be happy with her hair.

What is with this mom constantly like defending the older sister for acting like a toddler? My guess is this is why she acts this way, is because the parents are always like, no, like, let’s go out for your sister. Like, what is the deal here? Why is the younger sister acting like. So much more mature in this scenario.

45 minutes later, this is wild. My sister finally approved her look and acted like nothing had happened. On the way back, she demanded. We stopped at CVS for an allergy medicine. I tried to say no, but my mom cut me off again. Here we go with the mom. You know, this is hard for her since she just had her wedding.

Let’s do what we can to make her comfortable. No. This is the bride’s day. We don’t need to make this whole time. We don’t need to make it comfortable for the sister this whole time. For context, her wedding had been over, uh, for a year at this point. By the time we got home, the florist had already left taking the bouquet to the reception, but leaving the behind the VAEs for the bridesmaids table arrangements.

Oh my gosh. The photographer was also waiting on us. During picture as my sister shoved her way to be next to me. In nearly every shot, nearly every shot loudly, declaring I’m the maid of honor. This is my spot.

That’s wild. I’ve been the maid of honor twice, and I was just like, I don’t care where I stand. I’ll stand where you guys want me to. I had. I had to specifically request individual photos with each bridesmaid just so they wouldn’t all be dominated by her. Oh my gosh. It’s hard when it’s a sibling ’cause it’s like you can’t just like cut them out.

Especially the mom is like waiting on her hand and foot. Afterwards she demanded to know why she didn’t sign the marriage license and accused wait. What? She didn’t manage to know why she wasn’t like the witness on the marriage license and accused another bridesmaid of doing it when in reality no one had.

We were already legally married at the reception she pouted when one of my best friends gave a speech rolling her eyes and smirking through it. My mom kept excusing her behavior as a hard time for my sister, but really this is just who she is and my parents chose to not see it. That is so wild. Like I am so sorry because.

This is gonna never change. These parents are gonna constantly excuse her behavior saying, oh, she’s just going through a hard time. It’s like, no, everyone’s going through a hard time. From time to time. Everyone’s stressed from time to time. It does not give you the right to treat people a certain way, or especially during your sister’s wedding.

Like, be happy for someone other than yourself. Um, so I’m guessing they didn’t ask the sister to give a speech either. A few years later she remarried. Wait, before I get to that, I was gonna say, I wish she would’ve said that moment. It’s ’cause we’re already married. Like I feel like I would’ve done that in my skit.

Be like, it’s ’cause we’re already married. But I guess she didn’t tell her. Okay. A few years later she remarried. She got engaged when I was seven months pregnant and announced they’d be in, they’d be getting married in Hawaii in just two months. She told me I had to be there and nine at nine months pregnant.

You’re gonna demand that your sister’s there. Yeah, right. I wished her well, but explained it wasn’t possible. I’d be two weeks past my due date and couldn’t travel. I ended up giving a, giving birth a week late. She was furious and didn’t speak to me for a month. This girl is so immature. So immature, and the parents are allowing it.

I mean, I don’t know how old they are now, but. She’s never going to be responsible for her own actions. If the parents are constantly giving her excuses. Here’s the kicker, she’s a doctor. She knew perfectly well that traveling then was impossible for me. So if she’s a doctor, she’s gotta be at least what, mid to late twenties.

How long are you in medical school for? Isn’t it like eight years or something? 12 years, 10 years? I don’t know. I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know. But that is wild to me, this whole story is wild to me and it, it’s more wild. Like I just, I’m currently in this, well, by the time this comes out, I’ll probably be done with it, but the Tina and me ski.

Was based on a true story that someone sent me, um, very based like, or very inspired, loosely inspired, like the first episode where they really, um, idolized one sister over the other. They did everything for this one engagement and not the other. They got mad. I don’t know, all these crazy things, right? And people are commenting like, parents are really like this, this is terrible. And I’m like, I read this story and I’m like, yep. They are. That is to just like put one on a pedestal and the other one’s just like, no, like your sister’s going through a hard time. I dunno. That’s wild.

When Your Husband’s Friend Tries to Steal the Spotlight

All right guys, we got one more story. We got so much more fun in our way. Okay, let’s go story number two.

About a year after meeting my now husband, I went to one of his dance performances when I’m, where I met a dozen of his friends for the first time. One girl in particular, let’s call her Sabrina, immediately stood out. These are all changed names. She was loud, obnoxious, and constantly gossiping about people she didn’t even know.

When we entered the theater, she insisted on sitting right in the middle of our group. It wasn’t the best seat, but it was the one that guaranteed she’d be the center of attention. She didn’t say a single word to me, and anytime someone asked me a question, she talked over me. My first impression not good.

Yeah, I would say not good either. I’ve, I’ve met people like that before. They don’t like when a new girl is brought into the mix because they’re not the center of attention anymore. They fast forward a couple of years. We all went on a weekend trip, about 20 people. The friend group plus partners. I hadn’t seen Sabrina since that first meeting.

Oh wow. A couple years later. Wow. Okay. And she was exactly as I remembered, always needing the spotlight. That night we played a game where you had to catch the liars on the opposing team. There were special roles and coincidentally, I ended up paired with my boyfriend. He had a power that let him check someone’s card each round.

And he announced, I saw Sabrina’s card. She’s a liar. When the voting came out, I said, I’m voting against her because my partner saw her card. Without missing a beat, Sabrina snapped back. Oh, so you believe him? Like when he said, like when he tells you he loves you this, Ooh, this girl’s, wow. She must have like a crush on him or something.

I was boiling inside, but I managed to smile and say, you know what? Nevermind now I’m voting against you because you made it personal. Oh, I love it. Okay. The room went silent. Everyone voted against her, and she was eliminated loudly, angry about it. Of course, I went straight to bed, furious that neither my partner nor anyone else defended me.

The next morning she approached me with a half-hearted apology. So my boyfriend said, I was really mean to you yesterday. I don’t know when, but Sorry. No, that’s not an apology. Sorry. After that, I avoided her as much as possible. I skipped the group gatherings and the one time I tried to go, I caught COVID, so I took it as a sign that my body really did not want me to be there.

I would too. I’d be like, okay, thanks, universe. When my husband and I got engaged, I made it clear I would never force him to cut Sabrina out since they’d been friends since kindergarten. That is really nice. Maybe a little nicer than me, and I’m a pretty nice person, but if someone were to consistently not be very nice to me and put me down or put my relationship down, I would not give ’em the same courtesy.

I just saw a thing on, on social media the other day. I hope I don’t butcher this, but it says, stop being considerate for people that don’t even consider you. So there’s a little reminder to everybody out there, especially as people pleasers, we want to consider people, or if they hurt our feelings, we just are, we’re just like, oh, wait, maybe they didn’t mean it.

No, stop. Stop being considerate. A people that didn’t consider you, she couldn’t even apologize. Um, anyways, so she said she wouldn’t force him to cut her out because they were friends in since kindergarten, but he shouldn’t expect me to interact with her. I even joked that she’d pull something dramatic at the wedding, like wear white or have her boyfriend propose in the middle of it.

My wedding dress was a true princess gown, layers of pink and white tool green lace shaped like leaves. Oh my gosh, I wanna see this dress sounds beautiful. And glittering. Floral details. On our wedding website and invitations, we clearly stated, white is reserved for the bride. Ooh, okay. I’ve never seen it like that.

I love that you’re just upfront. Put it right on the invitation. I wasn’t worried about anyone confusing me with someone else, but I didn’t want photos where the attention could be stolen. Makes sense. So the big day arrives. Oh no. Oh no. We do our first look full of excitement. Then go to greet our guest before the ceremony.

Who’s the very first person I see Sabrina. And what is she wearing? A long flowy white gown. What is with both of these stories, having people in the, not in the wedding or the bride wearing a white dress, and not just a white dress, a white gown,

that is wild. This is someone asking for a fight or asking for the detention be stolen. I wonder how long she was with her boyfriend for? Maybe it was something where she was mad that she wasn’t proposed to first. Ooh, this is wild, you guys. Okay. I said wild. We should do a, a tracker of how many times I say wild.

I’ve noticed more and more I say it like all the time. The best part, my husband finally saw her for what she is. He apologized profusely to me and the photographers without me even asking, cropped her out of all the photos whenever possible. There’s only one group shot of the friends and my husband without me, where she’s actually, where she actually looks like the bride.

We decided the best way to quote unquote punish her was silence. No confrontation. No drama. Just be ignored when all she wanted was to be the center of attention. And honestly, that was the sweetest justice of all. I love that. Okay. I said one time in a, in, I think it was a podcast. The mother-in-law was gonna wear white, like told her daughter-in-law that I bought a white dress for your wedding.

’cause it’s the only color I look good in. And my response was, one of the things you could do is just ignore it. And so many people in the comments were like, ignore it. Oh, I’m not ignoring it. Oh, that’s exactly, you know that you’re giving her what she wants. Someone, this made such a good point. Someone like this is wanting, wanting to stir the pot. They wanna cause a scene. They want people to notice them. They want the bride to feel inferior. And if you don’t feed into it, you don’t say anything. You don’t acknowledge it or have other people look or point or say anything. You’re not giving them what they want. They’re actually gonna leave mad because no one noticed.

I love that. I love that. And then only post photos that she’s not in. Okay. I’m getting petty now, but actually is it petty? No, she was petty first. This, this, I can’t even get a sentence out because I’m just so, I can’t believe how both stories had someone showing up in white. These need be skits. Oh my gosh.

You guys, um, you guys need to like. If you’re listening to this whole thing, I need to know all your thoughts. Go to YouTube, go to Instagram, go to TikTok. Comment your thoughts after you listen to this because these are just crazy. These are crazy. See, I had a different word.

Mother-in-Laws, Bad Photos & Drunk Maids of Honor

Okay. As promised, I’m gonna end this episode. Sorry, I’m fidgeting with my hair so much. If you’re watching this, um, I’m gonna end these EPIs this episode with some confessions. These are pretty wild. Okay. Here we go. At the end, mother-in-law wore white and black to our wedding with a huge black hat. The white. I have more of a problem with. I, I remember reading a story years ago, uh, where the mother-in-law wore black to the wedding, like all black.

And I was like, oh my gosh. Like they’re dressed to a funeral. Like their husband or their husband, their son’s being taken away from them. Right. But I was thinking about it. I’m like, I’ve worn black to formal weddings before, like a formal black dress. I’ve worn black jumpsuits to weddings before, so I don’t think black is actually considered that bad, but it’s where she wore our huge black hat and then a white and black dress because we don’t know the style of the dress, but.

Also, if someone’s saying this, like a bride’s saying this, my guess is there’s some kind of issue already between them. Because again, if you have a good relationship with someone and they showed up like that, you’d be like, oh, cool. Pretty dress. But if it’s someone that’s already got an issue with you, then they’re making a statement.

Okay. My cousin was my sister’s photographer. He didn’t give her the pictures for two years and they turned out awful. Yeah. No, we don’t do family for vendors. We just don’t. If they insist you say, I want you there as a guest, I already have a photographer because I’ve heard so many horror stories about people choosing photographers for their wedding.

Um, that’s a family member or, um, and I wouldn’t count like officiant from the story early from my day of coordinating story earlier because that’s, I think that’s a more personal thing. They can just do it and be done. Right. But a photographer, you need someone that’s really devoted as fully a photographer.

Like that’s their profession, not just like a little side gig. Someone that’s gonna take a few photos on their iPhone, um, or just starting out. Okay. Okay. This one’s like a three part one. She said, my fiance’s best man peer pressured him into asking him to be the best man. Anytime he did anything for my fiance, unrelated to the wedding, he said, this is, this is best man’s sh*t right here.

You better ask me. We get married in nine months. That’s awkward. I mean.

I don’t know. I don’t know how to respond to that. I feel like, yeah, maybe they can make subtle hints that they wanna be your best man, but it’s up to you. You have the power. You could ultimately have the power if they’re your friend. Sure. But if they keep just making comments like that, you are like, oh, I already have someone else planned.

Okay. This one’s weird. Okay. Best friend’s mother-in-law asked for a mother, son renewal vows on their wedding. Mother-in-law had it. Best friend divorced him. Wait, the mom wanted to renew vows on their wedding day. I need, I need more context to this. This is wild. This is so wild. I need more words. Help me come up with more words.

I say amazing. And I say wild and I say crazy a ton. Help me come up with more words. Um, maybe help me out and just comment on YouTube. Just use some different words so I can get them in my vocabulary. ’cause when I find what, I just stick to that and that’s what we’re using for the next month. Um, so yeah, I don’t get it.

She asked, she wanted vow renewals with her son, just like to prove that she’s the mom. I don’t understand.

All right. Oh, last one. My sister and mother-in-law. Okay. No, my sister slash maid of honor got drunk before the ceremony. She was a sh*t show half the day. Yeah. Alcohol can be a big problem at weddings. I’m sure. We’ve got tons of alcohol stories that people have sent me in. I’ve seen it a few times. Few times I’ve seen it lots of times.

You get the people that are like fun and drunk or buzz at the weddings and like they’re just dancing. Like, yeah. If you know you cannot handle your liquor, hold off till the reception, till your duties are done. If you have any slight, slight question about it. Although anyone that’s gonna like not think they have a problem. Is not going to be like, I’m gonna wait. They’re gonna be like, I can be fun. So yeah, that kind of sucks when it happens like that.

 Alright guys, well that’s all I have this week. Don’t forget to send me your confessions on social media on Mondays. We do unpopular opinions On Fridays, we do, uh, your confessions, so hold onto those cool confessions.

Sometimes we have different themes, but otherwise I can’t wait to read ’em. Of course, always send me your wedding story submissions. They can be wedding proposal, engagement, dating, friendship, whatever stories we’re, we’re gonna open our horizons a little bit. Um, feel free to tell me your stories. Um, and I think that’s all I got for you guys.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me. Don’t forget, you can now order my book. Here comes the Drama Affairs and Sloan story, wherever you get books. And when I say wherever, it’s not really wherever. It’s like Amazon, Cobo, Barnes and Noble IngramSpark. Yeah. Um, and don’t forget to tag me on social media if you have read it.

Um, and you tagged me at party planning by Krista for a chance to be featured on my page. I had a total like brain fart just now. I was like, what am I talking about? Where am I? This is, this is how my brain has been. I just love you guys. I’m so grateful for this podcast. I’m so grateful for you guys and for, um, the ability to be able to do this.

So thank you so much and I’ll see you guys next time. Bye now.


Wedding Chaos & Bridesmaid Demands with Bethy Abdissa

Weddings are supposed to be joyous, but what happens when family traditions take over?

Bethy Abdissa, a wedding planner with experience across cultural traditions, joins Christa to dive deep into the unexpected pressures couples face. From toxic bridesmaids to demanding in-laws, she’s seen it all. Bethy shares jaw-dropping stories of brides forced to appease their families by having weddings that don’t reflect who they are. She also explores the bold decision of cutting out guests who bring negativity rather than joy. Plus, should you really have a bridal party at all?

If you’ve ever questioned wedding traditions or struggled with family expectations, this episode is packed with insights and real talk. Don’t miss it—hit play now!

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

08:45 Cultural Wedding Pressures & Family Expectations

17:49 The Bridesmaid Dilemma: Drama vs. Support

26:19 When Family Demands Take Over Your Wedding

35:39 Uninviting Guests: When It’s Justified

44:19 The Dark Side of Wedding Planning

53:49 Lessons from the Wedding Industry

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Bethy shares how many couples end up planning weddings that reflect their family’s wishes rather than their own.
  • The hidden drama behind bridal parties and why some brides are choosing to skip them altogether.
  • When it’s okay to uninvite a family member from your wedding.
  • The unexpected stress of planning pre-wedding celebrations.
  • Stories of overbearing in-laws trying to control everything.
  • How to balance tradition, expectations, and your own happiness.
  • Bethy reveals the biggest misconceptions about planning a wedding.
  • The importance of setting boundaries and making your big day about YOU.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “People think a wedding is about the couple, but so often, it’s about everyone else.”Christa Innis
  • “Just because someone is family doesn’t mean they deserve a wedding invite.”  – Christa Innis
  • “Bridesmaids should be your biggest support system, not your biggest stressor.”  – Christa Innis
  • “If your wedding is making you miserable, it’s time to rethink things.”  – Christa Innis
  • “It’s YOUR day—why are you planning it for everyone else?”  – Christa Innis

About Bethy

Bethy Abdissa is a dynamic wedding planner, content creator, and entrepreneur with a passion for storytelling and cultural inclusivity. Originally from Ethiopia, she moved to the United States 15 years ago and began her professional journey in finance and accounting. After realizing the corporate world wasn’t her calling, Bethy took a bold leap in 2022 to pursue her true passion: event planning.

With over three years of experience as a wedding planner and a lifelong love for party planning, Bethy now specializes in coordinating weddings across the U.S., particularly in the DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Minneapolis areas. She’s also diving into the world of content creation—sharing makeup tips, hair styling, wedding insights, and self-development reflections through her TikTok channel, @Bethy_Creates. Long term, Bethy is working toward becoming a therapist, bringing her full-circle journey of creativity, empathy, and purpose to life.

Follow Bethy Abdissa

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

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Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi, Bethy. Thank you so much for coming on.

Bethy Abdissa: Oh, thank you so much, Christa. I was so excited to be on your show. You’ve done such an amazing job and I was so excited when I got your invitation. Thank you so much for having me.

Christa Innis: Oh, thank you. No, I was, I was just saying before we started, like, I was like randomly on TikTok one day scrolling and I was like, is that Bethy? Because like everyone that’s listening, like we worked together years ago, we just discovered it was like eight years ago now that we worked together and it was one of those where like We got along so well when we worked together, but then we kind of just like went different directions and then it was a very I will say it toxic work environment We probably weren’t very happy there. I know I wasn’t so it’s so happy to be like reconnected and Hear that you work in the wedding space, which was so cool I was like what so before I yabbed too much yap too much Can you just introduce yourself and like what you do and then we’ll kind of go from there

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, thank you so much Christa again. Um, life is just full of like circles and you, you just don’t know where you end up. Um, my name is Bethlehem Abdissa, but people call me Bethy. I was born and raised in Ethiopia. I came here to the United States about 15 years ago. Just a summary of who I am. Um, I was in finance. Um, and I was interning and, uh, Chris and I were working in the same company when I was an intern when I was going to grad school.

Uh, so I thought I was going to end up, uh, on Wall Street, you know, making money. Um, and ending up, uh, I ended up in corporate America for a while and I was like, this ain’t for me. Um, and I just was like, I can’t do it anymore. And people, I’ve done people’s weddings just for fun. Uh, because, um, I have a bubbly personality and people kind of like are drawn to that and they wanted me to do their weddings. So I was like, you know what? Why not, um, take this a little bit more seriously? Uh, so in 2022, I started a wedding business and one of my friends was really good at that as well. So she’s done corporate events and we, uh, linked up together and I live in Minnesota. Um, used to live in the DMV area at the DC, Maryland, Virginia. So, uh, we both linked up and decided to start our own business, uh, women owned business. And so now it’s. It’s our third year being in a business and we’ve been doing a lot of weddings, exciting, exciting weddings. Um, and I, I fumbled, uh, on your, uh, what’s it called? TikTok randomly as well. And I saw that you were party planning and all the skits you were doing.

I was like, are people around the world the same, like from different cultures, different, like it’s the same stories. And I was drawn to it. And, um, So happy to see you very success, successful in your, uh, channel and just like reaching out to, to a lot of audience, to people, uh, sharing their stories. It’s such a beautiful space and you’re very talented. Um, not just, you know, to in your horn, you’re very talented to be able to play all those parts. It takes a lot of, um, taking in that space and I appreciate, um, all you’ve done so far. So. To just summarize, that’s who I am. But yeah, and I do a lot of things. I do a lot of makeup stuff. So if you go to my channel, a lot of the stuff is like all over the place, but yeah, I’m a creative person.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I’ve just say like, when you said bubbly personality, like you have, you do, you like, you like brighten up any room and I’m so happy to see that you like found your passion like what you enjoy doing because like it’s so true when you are in the wrong position or the wrong career, it can like Suck out your soul, you know, and so it’s so exciting seeing like your content and seeing all the things you’re doing because it’s just like brought out like your brightness even more.

Bethy Abdissa: So appreciate that. Thank you so much.

Christa Innis: Yeah, it’s so awesome to reconnect. And so we were kind of talking before we came on about like crazy wedding stories or hot takes. I mean, you see a lot of firsthand. Like what? I mean, you said like All over the world, you know, different cultures. What do you kind of What’s like your first hand experience when it comes to weddings? Do any like crazy stories off the right off the bat comes to mind? Um, that you’ve kind of experienced that you’ve kind of had to help with as a wedding planner.

Culture Clashes and Wedding Planner Dilemmas

Bethy Abdissa: Wow, even though I told you like a few stories where it’s the normal like, you know, mother in law kind of type of relationships. I am like going back and thinking about the first few weddings I’ve done and Um, it was a very sophisticated wedding because of the cultural, um, aspects of the wedding. Um, so there were, there were things that were cultural that needed to happen in the morning. There’s an afternoon. It was a very long day, 16 hours. Okay. To be exact. Um, so, um, we were trying to get everything done because first of all, we wanted our reputation to really like, you know, be the fact that like, we’re serious about keeping time. And that we wanted to change the cultural expectations because a lot of East African, or I would say even African weddings in general that I’ve experienced as a guest before, are known to be late. Like if you say seven o’clock, it really means nine. You know, you don’t go there till nine. So a lot of our work was like educating people. Hey, we need to start on time. And I remember we were very vigilant about making sure we were the first, you know, Ethiopian, uh, wedding planners that did that. And so the first wedding we did, I remember we were so on time that the groom was like, it’s rude to be on time. And I was like, I’m sorry, and we’re like trying to get things done and move, move simple like that the parts along and he’s like, we can’t really be on time like it’s rude. And that really like, like, I didn’t know how to go from there because the whole reason that we were hired was to, that’s literally what you already planned. Yeah, time and we organize everything. So I was like, you know what? I’m just going to let it be after this. Cause I was like, I don’t want it to seem like it’s my wedding and I care.

So I’m like. I’m just going to let it go and, um, instances like that and just managing different families expectation while because there’s, um, less respect for the, for the, for the career, for the profession in most African women. Um, like environments, you’re, you have to fight to kind of be like, hey, you need to do this this way and somebody is going to insult you. I’ve, I’ve gotten so many insults. I’ve gotten so many glares. So many, uh, yeah, so it’s, it’s a lot of like first the educational aspect of it was high. But there’s one wedding in particular where a few days before the wedding, the bride calls me and I’m parking by my door, trying to get inside. But you know, when you started the business, you were very accessible over the phone.

And so I was very accessible and you would call me random times and I’m telling you random times, sometimes 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock. Uh, yeah, that’s, that’s on me because I didn’t know how to set boundaries, to be honest, but, um, she calls me, she’s like, his family’s coming in from, uh, from out of town. And I’ve planned to clean the house today, but he wants to host a party. And I was like, okay, what’s the problem? And she’s like, well, I want, I want the house cleaned and I don’t want anybody to, to do parties together. Okay. And she’s like, I don’t know if this is a right decision for me. I was like, oh my god. Marry him? Yeah, because Because of that? Yeah, because I think it kind of brought in the, the, the expectations of family and the compromise.

She probably never thought that would happen because they live in different states. Uh, and maybe that really like opened up her eyes to really like. Oh my God, I might actually need to, I might actually need to be with this family forever. I don’t know if that’s the case. And the thing is like, I know I have a way with people, but like. I don’t know if I should be giving you therapy advice at this moment, but I was like, you know what? I just got to do what I got to do. And cause it’s a few days away and I have to have a wedding. Hey, you know, in a relationship there’s compromise. Maybe you can schedule it in a way where you’re using plastic plates instead of actual, I’m not kidding you. I’m going through the details of how she can still Let him have his party with his family, uh, while still being able to clean the house and prepare the house for the event. So I, I gave her a schedule, you still have two days, let him have the party tomorrow and then you can clean on Friday. I’m not joking.

Christa Innis: I hope you were charging overtime. 

Bethy Abdissa: No, that’s the thing. How do you even do that? Like It’s almost like the, the access is so high after you get hired, like that’s something I’m trying to incorporate now because I’m trying to draw boundaries, but it’s almost like they feel like you’re their person and you’re that person that they come to. And I have, I’m still yet to discover what that looks like, but majority of my job is like therapy. And that’s what I’ll tell you. Like it’s therapy, uh, saying, Hey, in a marriage. Um, you know, this happens and I just got divorced like maybe eight months before after that happened. So for me to give marriage advice was weird, but I was like, you know what, I’m just going to have to do it.

Christa Innis: You’re like, we gotta do what we gotta

Bethy Abdissa: do. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So those are some of the stories.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Well, that’s the thing with like cell phones, too. It’s like this day and age, like people can access you at any point. So like, we also feel like, oh, they can call me or they can text me. So I have to respond. And I think it’s like a constant thing of being like, okay, just because I have a phone and I can be accessed doesn’t mean I should allow access at all points. And that’s a good like conversation about boundaries. Um, like the job that We worked together. That’s I think what kind of did me in with teaching me about boundaries, especially with come when it comes to work, because that said Boss, it would be like a Sunday afternoon, I’d be with my family and I’d get a text and it wouldn’t be just like, hope you’re having a good weekend.

Of course not. It’d be like, why didn’t you do this? You need to do this, and it would. My heart would be pounding so that I would have such anxiety on the weekends. I’d be like, oh my gosh I’d be on vacation. I get texts from him and all this crazy stuff and I was just like yes Yes, yes, because you know like growing up. I was a people pleaser. Yes girl So I would say yes to everything and then you kind of realize like if I’m saying yes to everyone like I’m like that famous Quote like I’m saying no to myself But it’s hard, like, especially in, you know, a profession of wedding planner, you want them to trust you, you want them to look at you as that point of contact, so like, how do you be accessible, but not too accessible to where you’re like, it’s take eating into your own person.

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, exactly. And I think that’s like, still something I’m navigating, but I think it’s more so. Um, I do this like assessment of the person before now when we’re chatting and figuring out if we are a match because I’ve understood that like not all money is good money like Like I had a I had a bride. I I kid you not Um, she would, uh, WhatsApp message me at midnight and the thing is, like, I, I have ADHD, so if I don’t respond right away, I probably won’t respond until three, four days.

Like, that’s just the type of person I am. So I, I would respond and I would say, and then in the end I had to draw a boundary. Like I was like, Hey. You can only contact me. You can only access me during these hours. Um, after that, it will have to wait another 24 hours and it really is uncomfortable, but to have these conversations had has made me like a better wedding planner, a better, even business person, because now I get to choose the person I work with. Not every business that comes to me is worth having, you know?

Christa Innis: Yes. Yeah. I think it’s like with, um. Kind of how you get interviewed by your client at the same time you’re like you guys are like interviewing each other to make sure you’re the right match like because yeah, it’s like you don’t want to just say yes to anybody. You want to make sure it’s a good fit like you’re going to fit all their needs and you’re going to they’re going to work well with you know your schedule or how you do things as well. Um, for sure. Um, yeah, I feel like that’s like one of those things where it’s like you want to like help and you want to do a good job. So you’re like, we’re used to just being like, okay, I’ll say yes. But then it’s like, I feel like like what you said when we set boundaries and this goes for like all conversations. A lot of the stories that we talk about when you set boundaries, you’re not it. Saying no to everybody and being the mean person, you’re actually just protecting your peace a little bit, and you’re allowing yourself to approach situations more peacefully and happily, I feel like, in my experience, because then you’re not just like drudged by like, oh, this person nonstop contacts me, you’re like, oh, I’m excited to like work with this person, or I’m excited because, you know, I work with them on this point, you know, and it’s It’s protecting your peace.

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah. And sometimes you have to actually spell it out because like, for instance, our day of coordinator package says 30 days out of 30 days before your wedding, um, we will, you’ll have access to us. Basically. We start the coordinating where you hand us off the hard work you’ve done. It’s like you’re, you know, stress free months. And I have to spell it out and say. You know, this does not mean that, you know, those 30 days I become, you know, you a hundred percent. And I stress, I probably will have another wedding that I’m working on. So it’s like, I just have to spell it out and say, this means that you can contact me during business hours from this time to this time, because first it was just like any time, you know, they would call me, can we set a meeting?

Can we, can we meet now? Can we meet now? And there is just like. No consideration for like this person. It has a business or has a life or even like is attending to other brides and grooms Like there’s no it’s like, you know straight like the only yeah, there’s nothing they see but themselves So it’s like I have to spell it out. I we do other weddings as well you’re not the only way like I hate doing that, but it’s also like Take some responsibility for yourself, but also be in a position where when I show up I show up a hundred percent And like when I am setting up a meeting for two hours, those two hours is yours and nothing else, uh, rather than me giving you scrapes or leftovers.

When the Groom’s Sister DEMANDED to Be a Bridesmaid

Christa Innis: Yes. Yeah, I absolutely, I love that. I think that’s a great point. So let’s kind of talk about some wedding hot takes. Um, and I get some that are like, that are sent to me from time to time. Um, but it’s just, I just kind of want to get your opinion on these. Um, okay. Should couples be expected to write personal vows or traditional ones just fine?

Bethy Abdissa: I think traditional ones are just fine. For me, it’s more simplicity. Like, if they want to do their personal vows, some personal vows need to be kept. Personal. I, I, like it’s too much to, it’s almost like you’re pouring out your heart to the entire, um, congregation, whoever is in the wedding, where you could just keep it for your video. Maybe do like what I suggest couples do is they have, if they have a videographer, great. Have that, you know, be part of your, um, video where they can, you can read it to each other. without having it, you know, all guts out on ceremony. I have been loving more and more 10 to 15 minutes ceremonies because it’s, it gets to the point, the person that marries them, I would.

Say it’s someone who knows them. That’s also you can tell by the wedding Like if they just picked a random person versus a person who knows both of them or has spent time To get to know the couple before the wedding I’ve had couples that got Officiants over from the not and I can tell Like, you don’t have to say anything because it’s just so, like, dry. There’s no, like, humor or even, like, knowing the couples into it, so there’s no creativity. It can be 10 15 minutes of just, like, these are the couple, we love your love. You know, get together and then do the traditional vows, rings and everything. So I, I lean towards more traditional vows, um, but still have personal vows maybe to yourself or yeah,

Christa Innis: I’m to tell you, yeah, we got ours on the nut and she was so great. Yeah. I think we got really lucky because they’re not all great. I entered, we interviewed a few. And we were supposed to have my uncle do it because he, like, married all the cousins in the family. But last minute he wasn’t able to do it. And so we found ours on the net and she was marvelous. Like, but we met with her a lot to, like, customize everything. I think we met with her probably two or three times. And she, like, She, we each wrote our own vows, but then she looked them over and made sure they kind of like matched up because you don’t want someone that’s like, you know, has like this super long one. Then someone else has like two sentences. So she like matched them and like worked with each of us to kind of like get them aligned. But I think we got lucky. We even had friends that were at our wedding end up using her because they like loved her.

Bethy Abdissa: Oh, that’s amazing.

Christa Innis: But yeah, we definitely, for our first pick was someone that we knew, but

Bethy Abdissa: yeah,

Christa Innis: um, so we’d be like, we rather would have someone that has experience if we couldn’t get someone that we knew.

Bethy Abdissa: I agree. And I think just the personal vows are, I don’t know, maybe it’s, I don’t think it’s the right time or space for, for that kind of vulnerability. I guess maybe I’m just, maybe I’m just a bit weird on that, but. You know, I’m the type of person that says, what makes you happy? What does, you know, what really makes you happy? How can we make it work? Um, I, but personal reference preference would be that we do like, um, traditional vows and then, cause most people are actually like, I don’t know if you were already married, but most people are already married or they’re just doing celebrations though, at least the ones I’ve done, um, and then, and then they’re just doing it to just, you know, for the, for the, for the day.

Christa Innis: Right. No, I totally agree. So what is your opinion on uninviting guests for different reasons, like let’s say your budget changes or something happens with a guest that you were going to have come? Do you agree with uninviting people?

Bethy Abdissa: Um, before, if you asked me this before, and I mean before I started this business, because I was married before, right? Um, I would say no, I, I’m a people pleaser, like there’s no way, there’s no way I would not invite all 700 of my, my parents, friends, like, you know, even though my wedding was like 300 people and it was during COVID. So, like, um, if it wasn’t like, now that I am thinking of. Possibly getting married to someone again.

I am only inviting people that I know, that I know, that I know, that I know, that I know. Right? Not just like, know. Are gonna be in our lives. Like, or are gonna be somehow in our future. And I am not shaky about, you know, their perceptions towards me or my relationship or anything like that. I’m very harsh on cutting off people now. So, I would uninvite people if I feel a certain way. I would cut off even bridesmaids, groomsmen, you know.

Christa Innis: There’s no telling.

Lessons in Wedding Tantrums: When Adults Act Like Toddlers

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, the thing is like, I think, um, I don’t want to keep pleasing or, if it takes away from the bride’s or the groom’s happiness, just to please somebody. You’re spending money on it. They’re eating your food. They’re sitting on the chair you paid for. Um, I, I hope to God those are the people that you want to see. And you want to, like, I don’t want my mood to change if I’m seeing somebody, you know, and my face is just going to change because they’re there. Like, I want to 100 percent protect the presence that I’m in.

Um, so, I, I would say uninvite anybody that doesn’t, actually I have a, I have a good example. I had a bride last year. Uh, where, um, a month before her wedding, her Uh, what’s it called? A maid of honor was acting weird. She was acting weird and she told me and she, she said, Hey, hey, Bethy, my, you know, maid of honor is acting weird. She’s doing this. She’s doing that. She’s doing this. And I normally, I’m not going to give you advice. I don’t, I don’t give out solicited advice at all because I, I’m very careful. I don’t want them to come back and be like, you told me. So I don’t give a son solicited advice. I said, Oh, okay, just, you know, keep an eye out for her.

Make sure your happiness comes first, um, and you know, just protect your peace. Um, and then a week or two after that, um, she, I think something else happened that aggravated the situation between her and her maid of honor. And this is a person she’s known like 20, 30 years. So yeah, it’s a long, long time, uh, but she cut her off. She wasn’t, she wasn’t a part of the bride, the bridal party anymore. And she had one less person on her side, even though her groom had. Um, one more person.

Christa Innis: Wow. So things just felt weird or like there were specific things that she did that were like questionable?

Bethy Abdissa: Very shady. Very shady behavior. Just wasn’t supportive. Uh, her happiness wasn’t making her happy. Maybe some people internalize it. Um, they weren’t, if they’re not married and somebody else is married all the time. I see it all the time, especially bridesmaids. They’re so weird. So I, every time a bride, when I do my consultation and she says, I don’t have bridesmaids, I’m like, good for you. Because not necessarily because that’s always the case, but especially if you have more than three or four. There’s gonna be one bad apple. Like, there’s just gonna be one weird person that’s gonna maybe try to control things or is feeling insecure. Some sort of drama. So, like, less drama for me, less work for me. So, I always say, if you have bridesmaids, make sure they’re the people. Like I said, it goes both ways, right? Not just guests, but like, your vital party needs to be 100 percent on your side.

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah, I’ve done I’ve been in lots of weddings and I would say I would say usually like the bachelorette party I feel like brings up a lot of drama or like planning stuff. There’s usually a few I’ve definitely seen the drama Luckily, I haven’t been in a wedding where like on the wedding day. There’s drama that I can think of Maybe I blocked something out. I don’t know. But like, it’s a lot. It’s a lot with a lot of girls and I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to have people in the wedding that you wouldn’t necessarily, like, a lot of the stories that get sent to me is like parents were like, you have to have your sister in the wedding when they’re not close or you have to have your childhood friend that they grew up with and they’re like, I’m not really close with them anymore. So they feel this like pressure to like appease their parents and have someone in that doesn’t really like fit in the mix or It’s not like a good person, maybe, and that kind of causes some awkwardness.

Bethy Abdissa: Especially coming from a, for me, our background, a lot of the Ethiopian, Eritrean, these kinds of weddings are. Religious by nature, reli. There’s some sort of religiousness aspect aspect to it, but maybe the bride and groom are not that religious. Mm-hmm . And so they would have a wedding that really says nothing about them, just because they wanna appease, like their family, their grandparents, they don’t wanna, um, disappoint anybody. So you can see that happening because they, it is just part of the culture. So I’m like. But then they would have a separate party, like, by themselves, um, so it’s just more money for, you know, people you don’t, you probably won’t even see again. You, you probably don’t even know their names. Yeah. But that’s just usually the case.

Christa Innis: I’ve definitely heard of that happening with, uh, with some, a couple people I’ve heard of like having like a separate wedding because they wanted the one that would appease their parents and then they had a separate one. Um, yeah. In case they’re listening, I don’t want to say who it is, but I’m just kidding.

But yeah, it definitely happens. Um, okay. I want to jump into this week’s blind wedding submission. So this is our blind reaction, I should say. So these are wedding submissions that people send me. Um, I’ve not read it yet. Um, I just kind of grabbed them from the document and so we’ll kind of see what happens, feel free to stop me at any time and react, or I’ll kind of just like pause here and there. Here we go. Let’s see what we got. Okay. My husband and I had been together for eight years when we got engaged. We were childhood sweethearts getting together at 17 and 18. So no one was surprised when we announced it. Everyone knew it was coming and was so excited for us. We couldn’t wait to start planning. We set our wedding date for three years later to save money and avoid conflicts with other family and friends weddings that we already knew about. Everything was going great until it came time to ask the bridal party. Here we go. We’re just like, we knew, I swear I did not know this was about. Hey. I predicted it.

Bethy Abdissa: Come on. Tell me.

Christa Innis: That is so funny. Oh my gosh. You’re like, I warned you guys. I warned you. I told you. For context, I already knew my husband’s younger sister, Emily, before I even knew him. Names have been changed. Um, we were in the same class in high school, had mutual friends, and were friendly. However, when I had started dating her brother, she was furious. She made us feel like the worst people in the world, even screaming at us in public, just because we held hands while walking together. Ooh, okay. Um, another bit of context, we’re Irish, and bridal parties here are typically much smaller than in the U. S. Most couples have two or three bridesmaids and the same number of groomsmen.

Um, sometimes only one of each. The bride and groom also cover all expenses for the bridal party, including attire, shoes, hair, makeup, and a thank you gift. So it’s common to choose people you’re closest to. For my bridesmaids, I wanted my best friend of 15 years to be my maid of honor. My cousin, who’s just 20 days younger than me and has been my best friend my whole life, um, and my college best friend, whom I was a bridesmaid with for the year before, or who I was a bridesmaid for the year before. To give more context, my maid of honor lives in the UK, my cousin lives in Japan, and my college based friend, college best friend, is 40 minutes away. I’m getting into specifics here. This could be anybody, though, guys. Um, I was so excited to ask them. I made personalized cards with pictures of us through the years, wrote heartfelt messages and included a team bride sash.

I mailed the two cards overseas and plan to give the third in person since it was my only chance to experience that moment. One evening, we were discussing wedding plans with my husband’s family, something we often did, as both families have been supportive up until this point. I mentioned we were visiting my college friend to ask her to be in the wedding party, and my husband was asking her husband to be a groomsman. That’s when everything went south. Oh my gosh. It literally is like we predicted this story. That was so weird. I told you. Go ahead. I’m excited. I know. Emily completely lost it. She started yelling, insisting it was unfair that she wasn’t included, that because she was his sister and had gone to school with me.

She also claimed it was wrong to not have any family in my bridal party. For reference, my husband wasn’t asking my brother either, because in Ireland it’s not expected unless you’re extremely close. She threw a full tantrum, stomping her feet like a child, shouting at us, and demanding to be a bridesmaid. Could you imagine demanding to be someone’s bridesmaid? Like, my thing is, like, if they don’t ask me, like, That’s fine. Like, they have a different vision. Like, I’m not going to demand, because at that point, it’d be so weird then to be in the wedding, because you’re just there because you demanded.

Bethy Abdissa: You’re not wanted. Like, you’re, it’s almost like you broke into somebody’s house and you’re eating food. Like, it’s, it’s weird. Like, why would you even like be excited? But, uh, we already knew this was going to go left anyway. I’m excited how, how this ends. Yes.

Christa Innis: There was so much entitlement, and she said some truly nasty things.

We explained our choices, and I pointed out that if I asked her, I would also have to ask My husband’s two other sisters. Wait, he didn’t even mention that he has two other sisters. That’d be three more people. And we simply couldn’t afford a six person bridal party. His mom tried to calm things, things down, but we ended up leaving. I felt awful, like I was being made out to be a terrible person. So they don’t even mention the fact that he has three sisters and this sister’s demanding that she’s in it. It’s like, It’s not like all the other two sisters were in there and you were excluded, like, no sisters were in there.

Bethy Abdissa: I think she’s, obviously, there’s way more, my, my psychology antenna is flying off the radar right now, because it feels like she’s always been jealous or wants to outshine the brother, or, you know, some, I’ll tell you, I’ve seen this multiple times, some sisters have weird attachments to their brother, like, I don’t know, maybe. Kind of almost like they feel like a lot of these types of things happen, especially from my background I’ve seen it like even when I was young they would have weird attachments to their brother as if like their brother is Like their own husband like and I’m not saying something like this is not I’m John I’m not trying to throw out anything that’s weird but if they have some sort of weird attachment when an outside person comes in and takes or You know, has his attention, maybe they were already very too close to a point where it’s not normal that now his attention is like deviated towards this woman.

And now instead of having self awareness and saying, Hey, like my brother has his own life and now I have to figure out my own life. What they tend to do is like exert that like neediness and very codependency on, on the woman because she’s the outside, she’s the enemy. Right. So I’ve seen things like this all the time, and they would, they would act weird. The outbursts, these things are just like, almost like a, like, um, how do I say, it’s the outside depiction of what’s actually going on in the inside. She’s just not well. Like, she’s not okay.

Christa Innis: Yeah, that, like, reminds me of a story. I did a skit on it, actually, and it’s one of, a really popular one, and they were twins. It was a boy and girl twin set, and when he was getting married, they decided they weren’t, I think they were gonna each have one, I did it so long ago, they were each gonna have one or something in the wedding, and the twin sister was like, well, I’m walking him down the aisle, and they’re like, well, no, we’re not gonna have him walk down the aisle.

She’s like, well, I’m his best man, and she, like, tried so hard, like, up until, like, she found out, um, What dress the the maid of honor was wearing and bought the same one It was this crazy thing and she like would not let it go And this was a story someone sent to me like I don’t even know probably over a year almost two years ago now And that was the first I’d like heard something like that in there and the bride sent it and she was like she was so protective over her brother Saying like she needed this part in the wedding because she was his twin sister And she was just as important as the maid of honor and as the bride and it was like she could not comprehend that she was not the bride marrying her brother like

Bethy Abdissa: yeah no it’s so funny you said that because it’s also like they they have this like Um, they, they feel like they’re owed something because she probably introduced them, right? Or I was there like when this happened, um, I’m sure if she has her own boyfriend, her own husband, she would not even like be that obsessed. But there is like almost like a jealousy of like, I was there when it happened, but it didn’t happen for me. Now I’m watching you like kind of grow and move on into this relationship while I am being. You know, yeah, because I’m she’s she feels like she’s being abandoned.

Christa Innis: Yeah, it’s like the toxic mother in law but instead sister in law where they’re kind of like don’t leave me like I I deserve this as much as you do so like bring me along for the ride kind of thing.

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, like, make me a bridesmaid is not because I love you so much, uh, the bride, it’s not like, Oh, I want to stand next to you and you’re married, like, it’s not coming from like, I want to support you. It’s like, somehow, some way my presence is going to be known and I’m not leaving whatever union you guys are building now. I’m going to be there.

Christa Innis: Right? Like, even like

Bethy Abdissa: going forward, if they had a child together, that person is going to be problematic.

Christa Innis: Yes. I, I always think about that too. I’m like, thank God I have amazing in laws. I get along with my sister in laws and all that because I hear these stories and I’m like, people like that are like, I’m moving in next door. Do you have a spare bedroom? I’m moving, you know, like they don’t understand the boundaries of like, no, this is a new family. He’s starting like, let’s have a break there.

Bethy Abdissa: No, I’ll be honest like even my brother and I were very close like super close one year and nine months apart And when when he introduced me to his wife I knew well before she became his wife, right? I knew she was gonna be his wife like something in me told me It’s not like anybody else that he’s introduced me before I didn’t care about them But this one I when I met her my heart told me she was gonna be his wife.

Christa Innis: Yeah,

Bethy Abdissa: I had like a moment of like Damn, like, we’re not gonna, I’m not gonna have that access like I used to before. It lasted two months, that feeling, though, right? Like, it’s like, I was like, oh my gosh, but then now, like, I think I love her more than I love him, right? Like, I, generally, I tell him that, too. Like, if, if they’re, like, even chit chatting and I see them, I’m always on her side. I’m always giving him a hard time. But, like, I understood that, like, Yes, it feels weird to, you know, let go of somebody who is like, he’s my younger brother. So it’s like who you are attached to your whole life. I understand that because I felt it, but there’s also like this, he’s building his own life. And I’m going to support him in any way I can and for me, it was letting him go, letting him make those decisions, um, and living his own life.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And now you have a new sister, which is like, Oh my

Bethy Abdissa: God, like she’s the best, like I would trade him for her. Like, that’s how I feel. I love that.

Christa Innis: Well, yeah, it’s like people like that. Don’t like realize people in the stories. I don’t realize is you’re just gonna make it harder for everyone to have a relationship with you because you’re not gonna make it. The brother’s not gonna want to hang out with you if you don’t like his wife or you make a stickler about everything. And then it just makes everything more uncomfortable. But if you guys If you supported him and got along, then they would want to invite you to more things, and they’d want you to be around, and you and the wife would have a good relationship, and it’s just like, it’s hard they don’t see it like that.

Bethy Abdissa: She would probably have made her her bridesmaid. I mean, that’s seven years they’ve dated, right? Like, if she wasn’t weird, in seven years, you could have built a beautiful bond with the sister, where, with the new wife, right? Where you could actually be a bridesmaid, not actually Intrude into a relationship, but she could have invited you in and because you would have probably been close to her And I think like your feelings are meant to be felt.

That’s what I say all the time Like your feelings whatever feeling you have if you feel abandoned if you feel like you’re left out Whatever your feelings are meant to be felt but your actions Your feelings shouldn’t dictate your actions, like I feel abandoned, therefore I’m going to throw a fuss and make everybody miserable. No, I feel abandoned, therefore this is my responsibility to take my own, uh, feelings into control and understand that people move on.

Christa Innis: Mm hmm. Okay, you said earlier that as a wedding planner, you feel like a therapist. I feel like you’re a therapist. That was such good advice. I’m like, I need therapy time with Bethy.

Bethy Abdissa: I, I’m telling you, like, the more I spend with people, time with people, and I understand, like, how they’re thinking, how they’re talking, like, some skills are just coming into, I don’t know, maybe I need to go to therapy school and just, you know, have some sort of certification for people, but truly, I, I enjoy. Um, I, I understand feelings, like I’m not dismissing the fact that, but her outer reactions are just saying, I’m needy and I need people’s attention.

Christa Innis: Mm hmm. Yes. Yeah, exactly. Okay, let’s see what we got here next. Um, so she made her feel like she’s a terrible person because of the tension. We decided to hold off on officially asking my third bridesmaid. I didn’t want to make things worse by having someone post about on social media. That’s very considerate, which might further upset Emily. Three days later, after feeling nothing but anxiety and frustration, my mother in law called and asked us to come over to talk things through. We agree. and went that evening.

Once again, I explained that the bride and groom cover all the bridal bridal party expenses. So it’s important to choose people you love and feel comfortable around. I had already decided I wouldn’t cave to Emily’s demands, especially after how disrespectful she had been. Not just about this, but from the very beginning of our relationship, I understood that she was upset, but that was no excuse for being rude and hurtful. I stood my ground even when she yelled at me. I told her that her behavior was only making me more certain of my decision. Good for her. Um, I got upset and snapped a little, but I was exhausted from the emotional toll of it all. My husband, thankfully, was fully on my side. He backed me up, um, stood up for me when his sister was being nasty and didn’t let her steamroll the situation.

Big credit to him. It’s never easy to stand up to family. We left. I felt horrible, like I had done something wrong. In the end, because I hate conflict and wanted to avoid more drama, I never asked my college best friend to be my bridesmaid. I just had to. It’s my one regret from my wedding, even almost two years later. That makes me so sad because she was really firm. I love that she was firm and was like, I’m not giving in to the sister. But then to never ask the third person because she was like, this is what blew up the whole situation. That’s what, I feel so sad for her.

Bethy Abdissa: That is, that is very sad because, um, maybe the best friend is understanding. Like I’m hoping she is, but at the same time, I would say like weddings and like when, when you’re doing weddings or you’re going through a hard time, like a funeral or some devastating things, those are the times where you see people’s true colors. Like. Like, genuinely you will see people who are truly happy for you, who are not happy for you, people who would, you know, be there for you and, and vice versa.

And so, I don’t know, for me, like, when there are weddings. My, uh, like, uh, ex friends, now they’re ex friends because their wedding situation, what happened during their wedding, how they were, they were treating me as a, as a person, that really cemented our relationship, like, I don’t know if she’s, the best friend is able, able to move forward from that, even though I can understand the Brights decision because she’s going into this family and this family is probably going to be with her forever. Um, and that’s the idea. Like you’re building, she was looking forward and made a decision based on that. Um, but I think the harder thing to do would have been drawing that boundary and maybe cutting that sister off. That would have been the hardest thing to do. Um, then really like. At the expense of a probable friendship that she lost or I don’t know, there’s manliness or you know, there’s, there’s probably some, some difference.

Christa Innis: Yeah, it sounds to me too like in the beginning that I think she said, so she’s in Ireland so it’s like very common to have only one or two sometimes so it sounds like maybe she was already kind of like not stretching it but like with three was like. Her number. So hopefully the college best friend just never like thought of anything of it because it’s like normal, but what does suck is that that seemed like the friend that was like closest to her, like, like location wise closest to her, and she seemed most excited because she’s gonna be able to experience like asking her and her being like, yes, you know, um, So it’s like, happy on one side, she had that boundary, but then it’s like, uh, but yeah, I’m curious, like, you know, like we were saying, it’s like, it’s only gonna get worse with someone like that, because I doubt someone like that’s gonna like, learn their lesson, like, I mean, it’s good that she didn’t cave, but still, like, she’s gonna demand to be a part of certain things, or try to, if they have kids, or if they, you know, buy a house, or whatever that looks like for them, it’s like, who knows how she’s gonna, uh,

Bethy Abdissa: I, um, one thing you mentioned that I wanted to preface is like, um, the bride covering the cost for the bridesmaids is actually also in, not in America, not the weddings in America, but the weddings back home in Ethiopia and Eritrea. You as a bride and groom, you’re going to ask people to be your bridesmaids and groomsmen. You cover all their costs. So that’s something also in our culture that is normal back home. Um, and then when you come here, you’re like, ah, people don’t want to, people are like, you know, we’re in America. Now you got to do it the American way and take care of your expenses, take care of your stuff. So. You can understand why she wanted to pick that, um, I think moving forward if their boundaries is not gonna be stronger than what it was, like, even the comfort that this person has to even voice themselves like that is what scares me, right? There’s some sort of, maybe even the way that person grew up, this sister, right? The way she grew up, they’ve allowed so many things unchecked. For her to feel comfortable enough to say this to, like, an outsider, her brother’s wife. Yeah. Must have felt so comfortable saying it. She must have felt like she always gets her own way.

Christa Innis: Got her way. Mm hmm.

Bethy Abdissa: So it’s learned behavior. It’s not just something she just brought up like a one moment, right? So it’s like the family has been letting this go far enough where it got to this point. But I hope the husband, and I would want to always say this, I always say, even when I talk to my brother, even when I talk to any like grooms, I always say, if you do not draw the line, if you do not say, you know, this is the new family you’re protecting, and this is the new family you’re building, and your family, your mom, your dad, your sister, whatever, do not see that message sent, there’s always going to be an overstep.

There’s always going to be, she’s gonna have a child and the sister is gonna tell her. Oh, you shouldn’t, shouldn’t you be feeding it this way? Shouldn’t you be doing it this way? As the diapers, da da da, like the snarky comments, the, the just like an unhealthy environment where you can Both just grow together and make mistakes together and raise that child. It will always be, there’s a nagging voice outside and that part is gonna be hard. Maybe they need a, a year or two apart from this person, and I’m serious about that. Like when it comes to boundaries, I’ve gotten really strict because of all the mistakes and, uh, things I did in my past in my personal life that I’m like, you need to really like cement that into people’s minds for you to have a peaceful life.

Christa Innis: Yeah, and it’s, I feel like it’s so refreshing once you do set a boundary and you realize, hey, I’m not mean for saying no to something, like, I was just protecting blah, blah, blah. Like, even if it’s something as simple as, like, I’m not going to respond to a text after 8pm at night. I’m just not gonna do it. You know, something like that. You’re like, oh, that felt kind of good. Like, I wasn’t at just someone’s back end call. Even if it wasn’t like a very harmless text or just friendly text, you’re just like, no, I’m giving, you know, space. You kind of realize, like, okay, I’m not being mean. Like, we’re told this, like, narrative that, like, if we’re, if we say no to someone, we’re mean. And I don’t know where that comes from. If it’s a people pleaser thing or if we’re taught as, like, young girls. I don’t know what that is, but, yeah. I totally agree. Everything you’re saying, I’m like, Oh, this is so like therapeutic. Oh, good. 

Bethy Abdissa: The way I frame boundaries is like when I set boundaries with people or I set boundaries with my clients, I always say like, this is as much as it is for me as it is for you. And then you’ll be confused and say, what? This feels like you’re shutting me out, right? Like this feels like you’re drawing a line to keep me away from that line. But it’s also like you’re, I’m setting expectations that I can fulfill. It’s basically saying, like, this is what I can do. Therefore, the things that I can’t do, you figure it out on your own.

Because now I’m not enabling you anymore. Yeah. I’m not just doing the things and saying yes to every call. Now you have to maybe figure out your emotions by yourself. Now maybe you need to throw that tantrum by yourself in an empty room instead of calling me. Maybe you’ll take a breather before you take an action or take responsibility for the things that you need to do. And it doesn’t feel like good at the moment, right? When I’m setting that line, it doesn’t feel good. But most of the times I will get Like, now I, people are like, oh my god, I, I’m so proud of you for saying no to me. And I even tell it to my friends, I’m like, please say no to me. If you need to take time, instead of, you know, picking up my phone call and having a conversation, say no to me, because I will be happy that you’re spending that time taking care of yourself. That’s the type of people you want in your life where they appreciate that you, you saying no doesn’t mean rejection. It just means that they’re taking care of more things that are priority at that moment.

Christa Innis: Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And in regards to like these kind of stories where someone is constantly overstepping and showing no respect, you need to put like that firm, firm boundary and you might need to be, be a little mean back and be like, this is our boundary. We’re taking time away until you can kind of figure it out. So my whole Is that this couple was able to do that, and maybe the sister, fingers crossed, learned from it? Fingers crossed.

Bethy Abdissa: Uh, has, uh, some self awareness or, I don’t know, a shot, I don’t know, something to calm her down. Yes. So she is focused on her own life and figure out why maybe internally, you know, it’s some for some people it’s actually jealousy, you know, it’s, you just don’t know where these feelings come from. Like, it’s very weird, they show up as something else but internally they’re coming from like maybe she’s, she’s probably not fulfilled in her own life.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Bethy Abdissa: Um, and they project that feeling. So I hope she finds the healing that she needs, but I hope Emily, was it Emily, the bride’s name? Um, Emily was

Christa Innis: the sister.

Bethy Abdissa: Oh, Emily is problematic. Okay. Yeah. The, the bride and groom find their peace and yeah.

The Brother Who Never Showed Up

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah, me too. Okay, before we end here, I do, um, I like to end on confessions. So on Instagram, people send me some different Instagrams every Instagram. They sent me their confessions every week. So I’m just going to read these and we’ll just kind of react to them. First one says my brother didn’t show up to my wedding. He was giving me away. It hurts. That breaks my heart. That’s terrible. Because I’ve heard of like, no shows when it comes to like, guests or something. Which, that sucks too. But like, when it’s your own brother, we’re just talking about this. Like, and you ask them to be a big part of the wedding.

Bethy Abdissa: Ay, that’s, that sucks. I don’t, I don’t even know what to say. Like, that would, that would might, oh my god, that might really ruin my day. Like, I can’t even imagine what that would feel like.

Christa Innis: Yeah. That’s horrible. I’m really sorry. Hopefully I don’t even know how you would like fix that because you can’t give that take that

Bethy Abdissa: back Yeah,

A Fling or a Double Life? She Had a Secret 4-Year Relationship!

Christa Innis: hopefully he had a darn good excuse.

I don’t know Next one. My friend ended her eight year relationship After getting wait, my friend ended her eight year relationship after getting pregnant with her four year old long fling partner. Huh? Huh? So she was in a relationship, but then she had a four year fling during that? I’m

Bethy Abdissa: a four year. There’s no fling that’s four years. That’s a whole, that’s a, that’s a three year old baby right there. If you took like, you know what I’m saying? Like, yeah, that’s not a fling. You, you just have two relationships. Is she,

Christa Innis: like, that’s like a, an affair? Are they saying like a four year affair?

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, because, I don’t even know if that’s a fair. You just have two families. Like, and, like, I don’t know. Four years is like too long for it to be. Like, at what point, what are you doing at that point? Like, The parent, the, the father of the baby was the other one instead of the eight year one, and is that why? Or, we don’t have any context. I don’t have, that’s all I got sent. All right.

Christa Innis: Yeah, and she put friends in quotations, so I’m guessing they’re not close friends. I would guess maybe just acquaintances. That Like, when you hear those stories where, like, someone had two families and they were, like, keeping one a secret, I’m like, how? I can barely maintain a job in one family.

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, no, I, I have a terrible poker face for me to do that. Like, I, I can’t do that, but No. Yes, my question to you, actually, I don’t know if you’re comfortable responding to this one, but, like, if you had a friend who has an 8 year Threat relationship, but also has a side person for four years. Would you tell that eight year person?

Christa Innis: So am I finding out like, so like if, are they coming to me and I know they’ve been like with someone for eight years and they’re like, Hey, by the way, I’ve been with someone else for four years too. Or are they, are they telling me like in the beginning?

Bethy Abdissa: No, they just told you they’ve also had a, another relationship for four years.

Christa Innis: I guess it would depend on my relationship with this friend. Like, if it was like a really close friend, I would be like, Dude, like, what are we doing here? Like, this is not okay. Because all my, like, really close friends, like, that I see regularly, like, I would consider all their husbands or partners, like, best friends of mine, too. Yeah. Though I could never, like, Look at them and know that that was happening, um, and not say anything. But I also respect, like, each relationship to be like, I feel like you need to be the one to tell your partner. But I would kind of be like, you need to do this. And then, like, check in and be like, hey, how are, how are things going with that?

Um, I can’t say I’ve ever known of someone doing this that’s coming right off the bat. Like, or like, cheated and tried to like balance two things where I’m like, Hey, you gonna tell them? Because, um, I don’t know, maybe like college or something. I’m trying to think if there was anyone I knew of. But like,

Bethy Abdissa: no, I think it’s like, the way I see it, and maybe I’m overthinking it. Okay, tell me if I’m overthinking it. But the way I see it is like, If somebody comes to me and I know they’re in this eight year relationship and they confess about this, uh, side person for four years, this person for me is, needs to be in like, freaking CIA or something because they, like, I can never trust this person again, even for my own sake.

I think it says a lot about their characters for me. Like, regardless of whether or not they were able, let’s say even the eight year person is like really bad to them. Like for me it’s like if you haven’t spoken and you ha you haven’t really said something, um, to, to this person. I am big on loyalty. And so like, if you haven’t done that, like I can’t trust that anything I’ve done or said to you or anything that I’ve shared with you is actually even like a secret anymore. Like I don’t. Because if you betrayed somebody else like that, um, I don’t feel like my relationship is safe with you. Like, I’m very, I think things may be too extreme and that’s okay, you can tell me if I’m wrong. But like, I just feel like right away, I feel unsafe with this person and I need to dip.

Christa Innis: Yeah, so I, when I share, like, more personal stories on here, I try to be really careful so, like, if someone were listening, they wouldn’t know. But I will say, and I’ll say as generally as possible, someone that I know, like, years ago, it came out that they were, like, having an affair, and this is someone I’m not close with. It’s more, I would say, like, acquaintance, right? I could not look at the, the same. The person already knew that they were being, like, cheated on, the other person.

And it still never, I will always look at them that way. Because I’m like, you abandoned your family. Like, I don’t want to give details because obviously, whatever. I was just like so disgusted by this person’s behavior. I could not look at them the same. And I’m like a very, and I hate to be like, I’m empathetic, but like, I’m a very empathetic person. And I started crying for her because I was like, this is terrible. Like, like at the very least tell someone you’re not happy and say that, like, you know what, it’s not working instead of like crossing that line. And yeah, again, I won’t give details of this, but like, I was so upset and it was just like. Yeah.

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah. And it’s not like, you know, I think there’s like, I, I, I give people grace to a point where people make mistakes, like there’s mistakes and there’s things that are like, no, there’s a lot of thought process that happened into it. Right. Like, just like any other, any other. Um, um, what’s it called? Crime, right? There’s just a lot of intention. There’s a lot of driving. There’s a lot of thinking. There’s a lot of, oh, let me just take off my clothes. There’s just so many spaces between where you were and what happened for there, for there to be like any confusion of what your intent was. Um, I can be forgiving, but I think it’s more if you’ve kept. Um, you literally need to enlist to the CIA

Christa Innis: because

Bethy Abdissa: they need people like you.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah. I, if it, yeah, if it were like a close friend of mine, I’d be like, do I even know you? Like, what, like, what’s the, what are we doing here? Um. Especially like you would hope, I mean, she just mentions getting pregnant with this four year fling. You would hope that her and the long term one don’t have kids already because that adds a whole other layer because I’ve heard of that happening and then they just like abandon the family with kids and it’s just like, come on, like, let’s not do that. I don’t, yeah. That was a crazy one. Okay. Um, that is okay. And then the last one says, I don’t really want to be my best friends made of honor. That’s so you can you know what’s funny. Now this isn’t funny is the wrong word. I’ve seen this, not exact confession, but very similar the last few weeks, and it’s different people.

Bridesmaid Dilemmas: The Drama No One Talks About

Bethy Abdissa: Like, we

Christa Innis: literally just sent out an email this morning, and it was very similar. What’s, what are your, what’s your take on this? This person’s afraid to say it to their friend.

Bethy Abdissa: You know, like, I can tell which friend wanted to be a bridesmaid and which friend didn’t. Like, on weddings. All the time. And I’m like, why didn’t you just say no to begin with? Like it, like in the process, especially if they’re booking like a longer, like maybe a partial package or whatever, I get to meet the bridesmaids. Um, if I’m starting from the beginning of the planning process, obviously like when they’re picking them, I know the process, right. And I can tell right away. And I’m like, why didn’t you just say no? Right. Like, why didn’t you say no? Cause I know you’re about to make my life a living hell because you’re, you’re about to give me a headache, like, and I, and I can see it.

And one time there’s a story one time, uh, my business partner and I, my business partner met the bridesmaids before I did. And so I had no context of who’s who, so she met them. She just gave me a rundown and she warned me about one. I don’t know which one it is. Um, and then months down the line, the bride comes and says, Hey, by the way, um, I would need, you know, one of my bridesmaids, I already knew, like, I already knew was a problematic, like something was ringing in me. She wants to have a specific makeup artist. And that makeup artist is the same makeup artist as the bride. And that we already did the schedule. This is like, I’m talking weeks. away from the wedding. And I was like, well tough, tough luck. I was like, I’m sorry, but we can’t do anything about it. But the bride is such a, she wanted her bridesmaids to feel really welcomed and wanted to do all that.

Right. I’m like, you’re doing the most, like, uh, not only are you making your, your, your job harder now, we have to make sure that the makeup artist doesn’t have any other clients. This is two weeks before the wedding. And now I have to rearrange the entire day’s schedule because one person decided this is the only makeup artist they’re gonna go with two weeks before the wedding. It’s not like they didn’t know. And I was very the makeup artist was not happy that day. It was I could tell, like, everything was off. And the thing is, like, you really didn’t want to be here because you’re making everything hard. You’re making the whole process hard. You’re trying to make

Christa Innis: it, like, more complicated.

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, so you shouldn’t just said, Hey, I, I can’t do it. But, but because we want to say yes to everything, the people pleasing goes both ways, right? Uh, and maybe, and this is most of the time what I hear is like, Oh, she was a bridesmaid for my wedding, so I have to be a bridesmaid for her wedding. Right. Um, it’s almost like I have to return this favor, not because I want to, but because now I feel like I don’t owe her anything. Yes. You see that they’re really struggling either financially, they’re not able to, you know, do the things like some bridesmaids want to go to a different country for a wedding, wedding shower, you know, and now they’re struggling to, to pay for that and they push. And then what happens is because you have that resentment, right, you haven’t really spoken and said, Hey, I can’t do it.

Right. So you’ve been like just keeping points taking just keeping score in your heart and be like, oh, I didn’t make her do this for her for my wedding, but she’s making me do this for my wedding. And then you’re probably two, three times that you’ve already paid two, three times the cost that you, she probably paid for your wedding. And now you’re resentful. And at the end, like that relationship is just like going sideways. So it’s like, If your best friend is getting married, and I’ve told my friends, by the way, they wanted me to be their bridesmaids. And I would tell them I would be helpful if I was running the show than me being a bridesmaid because I’m a control freak. And I do not like being a bridesmaid. Like if I’m a bridesmaid, I’m going to give you a hard time. And so I’m self aware. I’m self aware. I love that. So and I’m like, I would rather be on your side in a different capacity. Then be a bridesmaid and honesty will always, always go a long way than you bending backwards to please somebody.

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah, no, I totally agree with that because I’ve definitely been a part of weddings, um, more so when I was, like, day of coordinator, but I’ve seen it as a bridesmaid as well, but where, like, a younger, one recent, not recently, I don’t know why I said recently, a few years back, I was a day of coordinator for a wedding and the groom’s, like, cousin, I think it was a cousin, But it was asked to be a bridesmaid because I think it was just family. I don’t know if the bride was like close to her at all, but everything was a chore. Everything was a hassle from like getting pictures to like we would all be like all dressed and it was like she would we would be like where’d she go and she would have like a t shirt or sweatshirt on I’d be like. No, you need to keep your dress on for photos.

Ugh. And she was like, she was a lot younger, so I don’t know if that was part of it. But she would like, be like complaining. She’s like, are we done yet? I’d be like, nope, we got a few more pictures. Okay, do you want to get your makeup done? Like, everything was like, a chore. And it was just like, you don’t have to say yes. Um, but I don’t know if that was family also like, pushing her to be in it too, so.

Bethy Abdissa: And some people just don’t have the financial capability of doing it. And that’s something that you feel weird about because, um, you don’t want to say no for, if you think about it for women, like we’re talking about a dress that maybe costs 120, 150 to 200, depending on the dress, shoes, earrings. If you’re getting extensions, makeup, we’re talking around 500 to that. Like I’m talking cheap. Cause I’ve, I’ve had brides, bridesmaids that were just, that paid 500, 600 just for their hair.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh.

Bethy Abdissa: I promise you. So like it’s a 2, 000 to 3, 000 Um expense that you’re expecting So that’s why maybe either simplify when you’re asking even like from the bride’s perspective Simplify what you’re asking your bridesmaids to do or understand their financial situation When you’re asking them to do certain things Because you have it right or because you’re ready to splurge 100 plus k on a wedding Like I said, i’m talking about weddings i’ve seen and done Uh, literally 150 on a wedding. Oh my gosh! I know, I’m like, give it to me and let me make investment properties. Let me just make investment properties. But hey, 150k on a wedding, that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean your bridesmaids have that capability of You know, supporting like a 5, 000, 6, 000 expense out of nowhere. That kind of expectation is also nice or cover the expenses to a certain level so that you, you want them to, to be comfortable to show up for you.

Christa Innis: Definitely. Yeah. No, I, I 100 percent agree with that. Definitely being aware of like what people can afford or want to afford. And also the expectation on both sides, you don’t have to say yes. But having that communication, because that’s the same with like destination weddings. If you’re invited, you don’t have to say yes. You know, there’s such a, like a boundary there. Um, but I know I’ve, I’ve kept you time. We’re a little over, but I just want to say thank you so much for coming on. It was so great. Like reconnecting, like face to face and from we’ve come a long way from sharing our little office together.

Bethy Abdissa: Oh my gosh, the 45 minute drive from Naperville, like that’s crazy for me.

I, now that I think about it, it feels like a long time ago. I’m so happy to reconnect with you and see you grow. Like I’m. Absolutely. Like so, so proud of you, what the platform you’re building. So thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope your viewers, uh, also, um, enjoyed some of the insights that I had.

Um, yeah. I’m going to have to wear my glasses now.

Christa Innis: Yes. I love it. Um, where can everyone follow you and find all of your amazing content?

Bethy Abdissa: Yeah, so on TikTok, I go by Bethy Creates. It’s Bethy underscore creates and my business page is kbwesomevents. You can find, uh, the Instagram page also is kbwosemevents for any events in Minneapolis or the DC, Maryland, Virginia area. Um, but we also travel to, I’m actually coming to Chicago, by the way, uh, in Naperville to do a wedding in fall. So I, we also travel all over the U. S. for any of your events, um, but yeah, follow me on Bethy Creates. I do a lot of makeup and mindful conversations, um, you know, until I become a therapist for sure. Yes. That’s next, right? Yes, that’s

Christa Innis: next. There’s no limit to what you can do.

Bethy Abdissa: Absolutely.

Christa Innis: Awesome. Well, thank you so much. This was so fun.

Bethy Abdissa: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.


Hijacked Wedding: Our Best Man’s Proposal Stole the Spotlight

Imagine standing at your wedding, basking in love—only for your best man to steal the spotlight with his proposal!

That’s exactly what happened to today’s anonymous guest. In this jaw-dropping episode, Christa dives into the shocking moment that turned a dream wedding into an unexpected showdown. From the best man’s ill-timed question to the groom’s furious reaction, this story is one for the books. How do you move on when your special day is overshadowed? And what happened after the proposal?

Tune in for all the unbelievable details, wedding chaos, and lessons learned!

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

02:54 Setting the Scene: The Wedding Day Highlights

04:09 The Best Man’s Speech Takes a Wild Turn

05:34 The Proposal That Left Everyone Speechless

06:24 The Groom’s Explosive Reaction

07:59 Champagne and Chaos: The Aftermath

10:14 Wedding Guests React: Shock, Support, and Drama

11:44 How the Bride Feels About It Now

21:00 Reddit Story: Proposing at a Wedding

29:24 Exciting News and Future Plans

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • The Wedding Day Bliss – A look into the beautiful, intimate wedding before the drama unfolded.
  • When the Best Man Stole the Show – What started as a heartfelt speech turned into something unbelievable.
  • The Groom’s Furious Reaction – He didn’t hesitate—his reaction left guests shook.
  • The Bridesmaid’s Awkward Dilemma – What do you do when you’re proposed to at someone else’s wedding?
  • How It All Ended – The aftermath, the emotions, and where they all stand now.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “Your wedding day is supposed to be about you. How did it feel when it wasn’t?” – Christa Innis
  • “I just have to ask—how did your bridesmaid react? Because wow.” – Christa Innis
  • “I looked at my husband and thought—what the heck is going on?” – Anonymous Guest
  • “We paid for this wedding ourselves, and then… this happened.” – Anonymous Guest
  • “My groom wasn’t having it. He grabbed the guy by his collar and dragged him out!” – Anonymous Guest
  • “My maid of honor handed me a bottle of champagne. She knew exactly what I needed.” – Anonymous Guest
  • “Even now, I still can’t believe he thought this was okay.” – Anonymous Guest

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi there, thanks for joining me today. 

Anonymous Guest: Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.

Christa Innis: Yeah, so, um, I want to start off by reading the confession that you sent me over on Instagram. And it says, my husband’s best man proposed to his girlfriend during his best man speech. And this, like, had my jaw dropped when I read it. This was when I was just like, oh my gosh, the T is crazy today. Um, I couldn’t believe that it actually happened to someone because we hear about these stories happening. And that’s when I posted a story asking everyone to send me their opinions. And so I asked if you would want to come on and share some more details to what happened.

And we’re going to keep you anonymous. We’re going to keep the people involved anonymous. But we want to hear a real life story firsthand because people people are like, wait, This actually happened. We’re going to get into people’s responses, but first things first. How are you doing after everything is said and done? I know it’s been, been a little while, um, but how are you doing?

Anonymous Guest: I’m doing as well as can be expected. Um, our wedding anniversary is coming up very soon in April, so we’re looking forward to one year of marriage, so yay to us. Um, when this happened, we were, well, stunned as can be. Um, how do I go into words about this one?

Christa Innis: Yeah, you know what, let’s, let’s not to cut you off, let’s go to the actual day. Tell everyone what kind of happened starting off. Um, You can talk about the highs of your wedding day first if you want, and if you want to get to that point, um, and then we’ll, yeah, just kind of go from there.

Anonymous Guest: My apologies, I’m sorry.

The Unbelievable Wedding Speech Proposal

No, you’re good. My best man was giving his speech. It was a great speech to begin with. Talking about us as a couple, then going on about, like, how it’s going to be even more special. He mentioned that he wanted to make this day extra special. So, he got to my bed. One of my bridesmaids, who was also his girlfriend at the time, he got down on one knee and he proposed.

And I looked at my husband and was like, forgive me, forgive me for saying this, but what the heck is going on? And he didn’t know what was going on. And of course, the bridesmaid, my best friend, well, one of my best friends, I should say, because everyone was like What was going on? Can we pause for a second?

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Um, he was making his best man speech. He was so very romantic to talk about our relationship, everything. He kept going around the bridesmaid and one of My best girlfriend was one of the bridesmaids and he went toward her and he got down on one knee and he proposed to her in front of all of my friends and family.

And we had a very small wedding because we paid for it ourselves. We had maybe 50, 60 guests because that’s all we could afford. And me and my new husband were utterly shocked. My husband got up, he took off his coat. He grabbed the groomsman by the neck of the collar, back of his neck, of his collar, and dragged him outside.

The best man who still had the mic in his hand yells like, wait, I didn’t get an answer. And gosh, you could hear the best man. From the outside. It’s like, hey, wait a minute. And one of the guests grabbed the mic before you could actually hear what was going on outside. He’s like, wait, wait, wait. You could hear a little bit.

It’s like, what is going on out there? You could hear some ruffling and scuffling. I still don’t know what fully went on out there. And my maid of honor, God bless her. She brought me a whole bottle of champagne. And I love her for that. I just like, do you just want a glass of it? Nope. Give me the bottle. Give me the bottle.

Christa Innis: Wait. So, okay. So when he first got down on his knee, so I’m assuming, did you guys have like one of those head tables where everyone’s up front? Like sitting like bridesmaids and groomsmen. So did he get in front of that bridesmaid and get on his knee? And did it click for you right away?

Like that’s what’s happening? Or you’re like, what is he doing?

Anonymous Guest: Yes, and I only had one maid of honor and one bridesmaid, so I only had two people in my wedding party. So my maid of honor and a bridesmaid, so it was kind of even more awkward. So I had two party because that’s all we could afford.

Christa Innis: Yeah,

Messy Return to the Reception

Anonymous Guest: so so just a small party because I it’s just me my husband and my daughter and my daughter is Three and a half years old.

She is my light and This well now ex best friend Well ex friend I should say I keep calling her my best friend Because she felt like a best friend to me at that. That’s where I put her in my wedding party I wouldn’t want someone I knew that well in my wedding party And just like, why on that day, they came back in the park into the party.

He, his hair was messed up. His shirt was unbuttoned. Um, pants were Little ripped and this was a rental suit. What?

Christa Innis: Wait, so after your husband brought him out of the room into the hall was the bridesmaid just sitting there Or was she did she go out there too?

Anonymous Guest: Um, she was just sitting there. She had the ring on her finger So he put the ring on her

Christa Innis: finger before he got pulled out

Anonymous Guest: Uh huh.

Christa Innis: But she didn’t say yes at that point yet? No. No. Was she like, was she

Anonymous Guest: like waiting for something to happen? I, I still don’t know. I think she was going to say yes, even though they’ve only been dating for like three and a half months. Wait, really?

Christa Innis: Only three and a half months? And he thought the best time to do it was at his best friend’s wedding?

Pretty much. Yeah. So, and the other thing is too, it’s like, it’s your friends and family. It’s an intimate small wedding. It’s not a huge wedding where he’s already family. So his family and friends are there. They’re now expecting your family and friends to celebrate them.

Anonymous Guest: Exactly. Exactly. So I’m just like, what’s going on?

And I’m like, My best, my maid of honor is trying to calm me down. Like he came back to his seat. I asked him what is going on. It’s like, don’t worry. I took care of it. I’m like, what do you mean? You took care of it. It’s like don’t worry about it and I couldn’t figure it out like what do you mean you took care of it?

It’s like don’t worry about it for the rest of the night and I kept trying to figure out what he meant Until later on in the night and I noticed um his shoes he broke He broke his shoes, um, his rental shoes. He didn’t have the soles of his shoes on, he broke his shoes. And I noticed the back of his head, um, you know how the button ears have on the shirts?

The button ears on the shirt? Um, he broke part of his shirt on the button ear shirt. And on the back of his jacket, um, he broke the jacket. He ripped the jacket in half. So that’s why you didn’t have the jacket. So the groomsman had to pay for the jacket. Like, he tore his whole wedding suit apart. The groomsman ripped his jacket?

No, the, the, my husband ripped the jacket. He tore his entire wedding suit apart. When he pulled him outside? Yeah, he beat him up pretty much. Oh my gosh. I know he’s had his best charges, truthfully. So. Whoa.

Christa Innis: If he’s crazy. So then he comes back in with your husband and they act like, he acts like nothing happens.

He still goes up to his now fiance. She says yes, jumps up and down, right? Of course.

“This Is My Engagement Party Now!”

Anonymous Guest: My maid of honor told her to sit, to sit down. Like, this isn’t your day not to celebrate. Yeah. It’s like, do not make this day about you. It’s like, but this is my engagement par engagement party now. She thought we should make this day about her as well.

She said this is my engagement party now? Yes. What?! Yeah, it’s like, we should make this day about me as well.

Christa Innis: That is bonkers! Oh my gosh.

Anonymous Guest: Wow. I made a Yeah.

Christa Innis: That’s the thing, like, so I forgot to mention to everyone is that this, I made it into a skit, and so many people were like, oh, it’s not that bad, blah blah blah blah blah.

No, this is bad. This is really bad because not only did they not ask for permission, they, it was a small intimate wedding. They took that from you. You paid for it all yourselves. You invited people that you were like, these are close friends. We, people we love and we trust. And then on top of that, then they want to turn it into their own engagement party, completely negating any feelings you had about the whole situation.

Anonymous Guest: Correct. It was. And I was in tears. My maid of honor took me to the bathroom to, uh, dry my tears. Because we had like maybe 50, 60 guests. I rented my wedding dress because I couldn’t afford a wedding dress. And I know that’s stupid to say, but I wanted something, something I could have. So I bought like a little, I borrowed a wedding dress for the ceremony and bought a little party dress.

Mm hmm. For the reception, just a cute little something I got from the store. So, silly, my friend’s like, you should just spend money, but it’s like, you’re a single family. You don’t need the luxury things. Mm hmm. So, why not? So, I spent like maybe 200 on my dress, and my friend made the cupcakes for free. Mm hmm.

So. So. So. dried my tears. We came back. I came back out and she was gonna do her maid of honor speech. They were out there with our photographer doing photos. around, showing off the engagement ring, all this wonderful stuff, like, we’re engaged. They’re in front of the

Christa Innis: photographers getting photos taken?

Yeah. Okay, so I need to know, I know I’m kind of jumping the gun, but did they try to get those photos from you?

Anonymous Guest: My photographer wouldn’t release them.

Christa Innis: Wouldn’t?

Anonymous Guest: They wouldn’t. Oh, good, good. I mean, sure, that’s the one thing, because my photographer was also one of my friends, so she did my photography for like 150 for me.

Amazing. And she’s also my daughter’s grand godmother, so that helps the situation. Yes. Yay! For deals. You find the deals where you can get them. Absolutely. Take advantage of it, what you can find. And I was like, don’t do this today. So we all sat down, back to saying my maid of honor did her little speech and made fun of the situation, like made little jokes about him on the side that only he would get.

And it kind of irritated him. Irritated him a little bit. Like, you shouldn’t be saying these things about me. And just like, made little jokes. And then she knew my daughter was here. Well, was here. Was there. So, she grabbed my daughter from her little seat. Cause we made like a little kiddie table on the side.

For her to be part of the wedding party.

Christa Innis: So like

Anonymous Guest: a little kiddie table with like a princess, princess crown, everything like that. So she, and she came out, they did a little dance, they worked on together and it was just such a cute addition to the party. I love that. Like, and that just really made my day.

You

Christa Innis: need a maid of honor like that. That’s going to be like, hold on, let me take care of this. Exactly.

Anonymous Guest: And people, like, what’s with the, what’s with the little dance? The dance was perfect. What’s made it even better, like, she was dancing with my daughter. Daughter. I can’t talk today. I’m so sorry.

You’re okay. You’re good. She was dancing with my daughter and she had a glass of champagne and my bridesmaid’s little dresses they were just cheap little dresses they were like a purplish color and she went over to my other bridesmaid and she accidentally slipped and it fell on the dress it’s like oops and it was a little champagne it’s like oops sorry this slipped it’s like you ruined my dress it wasn’t on accident

Christa Innis: Yeah, I’m surprised, um, your bridesmaid stayed after that so she was like proudly walking around with that new ring and Acting like this was not her engagement party She had no shame about how it all went down Thought it was totally fine the way he did that after only dating for three and a half months.

I can’t even get over that To take that moment from you guys. Did you have any idea of? Like he was going to do this or anything I got feeling no, so you’re completely blindsided

Anonymous Guest: No, oh my

Christa Innis: god,

Anonymous Guest: the champagne. We just got for our little table. Everything else was just like Beer and little stuff you can get from the store.

That’s the one thing I splurged a little bit because I just wanted to think for me to celebrate.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Anonymous Guest: So, so

Family Reactions to the Proposal

Christa Innis: where does everything like, okay, let’s talk about really quickly. How did your family and other guests that were there react? Did anyone say anything to you or did they make faces? Did they try to like move past it?

Like what went on with that?

Anonymous Guest: Well, on both sides of our family, um, both of our parents are gone. Okay, so my uncle, uncle’s aunt, they were really upset to say that. Yeah. Cousin, she wanted to teach him a new one. Let’s put it that way. And she does CrossFit on the side, so she could deadlift him in a second and throw him over something, a bridge.

She’s like, I know people. I can put a hit on here if you want me to. It’s like, please don’t do that. It’s like, I love you, but please don’t do that. It’s like, but this is your day. Please don’t put a hit on somebody. It’s like, but it’d be fun. It’s like, we’re not going to put a hit on somebody. Oh gosh, I love you, but please don’t, but it’s just like, it’s just, it’s thought that they cared about me and they stayed for the entire reception.

They left. It’s like, and at the end of the night, he’s like, can we get a ride with you guys? I’m like, no. It’s like, please know we’re going home with our family and going to enjoy a family night together.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

The Aftermath: No Apology, No Awareness

Anonymous Guest: It’s like, go do your own thing, please. Okay. And the next. Oh, I’m sorry. Go ahead. Um, next morning they said, you guys do want to go get brunch?

They wanted to go get brunch.

Christa Innis: So they had no idea still that they did something wrong. They were just living in their own la la land. Pretty

Anonymous Guest: much,

Christa Innis: yeah.

Anonymous Guest: What?

Christa Innis: After how

Anonymous Guest: you guys reacted? Yeah, they wanted to go get brunch. They want to go still go mini golfing, do everything that we have planned for next day.

Christa Innis: Without, did they apologize once?

Anonymous Guest: No.

Christa Innis: Not even for the timing? The timing wasn’t right.

Anonymous Guest: No, I’m still getting messages from her on other platforms, like, still, like, what’s going on, everything like that. Oh

Christa Innis: my gosh. So, how does your relationship stand with them today? I know you said ex friend. Does your husband talk to his friend?

Cause that’s really hard. I mean, that was his best man. That’s your bridesmaid. She’s asking you, like, what’s going on? Has there been any communication?

Anonymous Guest: On my side with her, no. He’s trying to open that wound back up. Cause this was his friend since 6th grade. Okay, your husband’s

Christa Innis: trying to open it back up?

Anonymous Guest: Okay. So he’s trying. I’m like, if you do, keep me out of it. Okay. Keep my child out of it.

Christa Innis: Cause what happens when they invite you guys to the wedding?

Anonymous Guest: They’re actually already married.

Christa Innis: Oh! They already got married.

Anonymous Guest: They got married on New Year’s Eve and they are expecting.

Christa Innis: Okay. Okay. So were you at the wedding or did they do a private?

Anonymous Guest: You were like, I’m not going close. So,

Christa Innis: okay. Okay. So no invite. They probably didn’t want to invite anybody because they were gonna afraid that karma was gonna get

Anonymous Guest: them in the back.

Audience Reactions: Outrage and Shock

Christa Innis: Oh My god Okay, so like I said earlier, I think I said this before I started recording but when this story when he first sent me this story I Opened it up to the audience to my followers to kind of said like their reactions So I want to read a few of these reactions and this was probably the most Responded to thing that I ever ever got I put a little question box people could submit things I would say I probably had like Over a hundred, 200 responses from people.

So these are their responses. I said, what would you do in this situation? Someone said, I would want my husband to address the best man, not make me be the bad guy. Someone said shocked and angry, not well. My anger issues could not. I would not be happy. I’m not a big spotlight person, but let the bride and groom have their day.

This person, who seems like an odd, odd response here, says overjoyed. I believe in sharing love as long as the girlfriend wanted a public proposal. I am so, no, don’t do that. If you want a public proposal, find a different spot. Um, This person says I’d wait until the initial hullabaloo was over, hullabaloo was over, and then ask them to leave.

Um, did you think about asking them to leave?

Anonymous Guest: Oh, I should, I should have asked them to leave, but I only had, um, What, if I had more of a wedding party? I probably would’ve, but, mate, I probably should’ve looked back. I probably should’ve had them leave. Just have my maid of honor and best man. Well, I didn’t have my best man.

Was, I just have the groomsman.

Christa Innis: Yeah,

Anonymous Guest: my groomsman was like, I want no part of this.

Christa Innis: I know it’s almost like like hearing story I’m like, okay like we can we can say he’s like super naive and did that but to then be a Trailing around using your photographer acting like it’s their engagement party Like that’s someone that literally wants to steal the spotlight from someone else.

They have like crept up jealousy or Anger or something where they want to make you feel bad. So I read that as just completely disrespectful. Um, okay. I’m going to read a couple more. It says my face wouldn’t say anything at the moment, but my, but later I would sure be asking them to leave. I would turn off the mic, ask them to leave.

I’d probably be too shocked to react. This person says a swift, a swift punch to the throat. It wasn’t, it would be an option. Um. It said, if they ran it by us first, maybe, but other than that, why, or other than that, that’s a big hell no. So I would say most people agree that that’s completely disrespectful and wrong.

There’s random people in there that are like, I wouldn’t make a big deal of it, but you didn’t make a big deal about it. You had a normal reaction to something that was kind of crazy. And like I said, If he was just kind of naive and maybe like, snuck off to the side and they did it where no one saw them and didn’t make a big deal.

Okay, that’s still not great, but it’s better, but the fact that they did it during a speech where everyone can see at a small intimate wedding and then parade around trying to get like private photos and all that and showing the ring off, it’s just terrible.

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, it’s one for the books. I always pictured my wedding as a peaceful day, relaxing, nothing like this.

Yeah. You know what? Once in a lifetime, it’s something I’ll always remember.

Christa Innis: Yeah, that’s true. How are, how are you today with everything? Like looking back on your memories, are you able to highlight the positive memories, like your amazing maid of honor, the amazing, like, uh, I know you talked about your daughter being involved in the wedding, so those are some really amazing moments to look back on and kind of block out the negativity.

Right.

Anonymous Guest: Oh, my daughter’s my lifesaver. My daughter and my husband are my godspens. That’s all I can say. They are my saving graces and I love them. Hm, my daughter more right now, but hey. I love my daughter more right now, but hey. Everyone has a favorite in the household. Yeah, yeah, I get that. And my maid of honor will always be my best friend for saving me that day.

I love that. And I think when all this happened, I was probably numb from shock. I probably was angry inside. Yep. I’m not gonna lie, I was probably angry. I just didn’t know how to react. Yeah, definitely.

Christa Innis: Well, I think so. Yeah. And I think here too is like, people hear these stories and they’re like, Oh my gosh, like weddings bring out the worst in people. But to kind of do a little spin on this, I think it can bring the best out in other people. So you saw a side of your maid of honor, like, wow, she really loves me, protects me and supports me. My husband immediately got behind my back, stood up against him, you know, like all these amazing people in your life.

Um, and it’s really unfortunate that happened this way, but True colors come out and it’s it’s a it’s sometimes a good thing that it reveals the true colors of people because you’re like You know what? I’m not gonna have someone like that in my life

Anonymous Guest: Exactly. Exactly. And I can’t wait to be my maid of honor’s maid of honor in her wedding in October.

So yeah. So since getting married in October, I can’t wait to do that job and hopefully we won’t have the same reaction.

Christa Innis: Exactly. Yeah. And you’ll know exactly what to do to make sure she stays relaxed and excited on her day and block out all the negativity.

Anonymous Guest: Negativity. Yeah. I just got to get to New York.

That’s the only place I got to get to. Exactly. And my daughter is the flower girl. So perfect. Perfect.

Christa Innis: Amazing. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on. I know it’s like a hard story to like come back to and talk about, but like I said, I hope you’re able to like pull positives out it that you have amazing people that support you and love you.

And, um, thanks for sharing.

Anonymous Guest: Oh, no worries. Hope this helps other people in this situation.

Christa Innis: Yeah, absolutely.

Anonymous Guest: All right. Thank you so much. I do appreciate it.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Thank you.


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