I'm a bridesmaid in a July wedding and the bride is starting to act a bit crazy. I was venting to some friends that don't know her last night about this absurd dress business, and one of them said there were wedding message boards that I could probably get some good advice on. I looked on wedding bee and all the girls there kinda seemed like the bride of my friends variety, but then perusing this site you girls seem far more level-headed. Please tell me what to do about my insane friend!
The Story:
Friend asked all of us to be in her wedding which I was thrilled to do. It started getting weird when she e-mail and asked us for our "budget". I've been in one other wedding and the bride just gave us a color and let us pick out what we wanted. Honestly I thought that having bridesmaids wear matching dresses was just something they did in movies. Who actually makes their friends wear a freaking uniform to a wedding???? Okay so whatever I got over it. I don't like to spend my money on frivious things, but I do understand she wants to have the whole big fancy wedding that's about spending money and having a party rather than her and her fiance, so I told her $80. This is more than I have ever spent on an item of clothing EVER and I felt like it was more than generous.
Fast forward, she e-mails everyone a dress that costs $180 freaking dollars!!! I could see maybe spending that for your WEDDING DRESS, but for a BRIDESMAID DRESS. Holy sheesh. Before I could write back and tell her "no", I got a follow-up individual e-mail from her all sickeningly sweet saying how she would pay for the difference between my budget and the bridesmaid dress because she just looooved that dress and had to have it.
I thought that was completely and totally beside the point. I don't know the other girls in the wedding party, but I can't possibly imagine that that overpriced, bland dress is in anyone's budget. And if for some reason it is, how is it fair to the other bridesmaids that she pay for part of mine and not theirs? I told her this and she just gave me some line about how she really liked it, but didn't want to put a financial strain on anyone so she thought this was a good compromise. It's not a financial strain, I can afford $180. I just don't like to spend my money on stupid stuff.
She said she would see who has ordered it and if no one has she would be willing to change it. Some of them already have, so she wrote and said sorry, but that was how she was doing and that she was sorry about the miscommunication but it was too late now. Ug. I'm just so pissed.
Should I just drop out of the wedding party? I'm just afraid it's only going to get worse from here unless she realizes that nobody actually has these extravagent weddings that cost tens of thousands of dollars in real life. It's called TV sweetheart.