Wedding Etiquette Forum

SMH

A friend got married in November. I was a bridesmaid. It was a low-grade mess (not so much with etiquette, just some things that happened that day) but overall fun. She's been super busy since then with her new husband, house, and life. I haven't seen or heard much of her after the wedding, which was initially a little hurtful, but I'm over it. It felt like we were drifting into very different lives anyway, so I'm okay with that.

Got a text a couple weeks ago that went something like this: "Hey frand! So I'm putting together my wedding album and OMG I have NO pics with my bridesmaids and I'm super jealous of my husband's pics with his groomsmen. Let's get together soon, bring your dress or something in the same color, and let's take some more photos for the album! Give me your availability, I'll see if all of us girls can get together one day to make it easier, but if not maybe we'll just hang!"

Like...bruh. It's been eight months. I've gotten rid of the dress. I'm doing stuff this summer. I've moved on. Sorry 'bout your photos, I guess?

This is mostly a vent, but if I'm delusional for not wanting to participate, feel free to call me out. I don't want to be completely nasty to her, but I'm debating how kind and accommodating to be, if that makes sense.

Re: SMH

  • How about

    "It's nice to hear from you. I hope we can get together soon. Unfortunately, I no longer have the dress."
  • downtondivadowntondiva member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited July 2018
    You are not delusional. It's not your problem that she didn't bother to get any pictures with her bridesmaids and is just regretting it 8 months later. 

    Tell her it would be nice to see her but you don't have the dress anymore.  She'll probably just say again to wear something in the same color. Whether you want to accommodate her at that point probably depends on how much you care about keeping up the friendship. 
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  • That is bananas! I’d be upfront and tell her you don’t have the dress anymore. 
  • Yeah, that's what I basically did. My dumb ass will still probably get sucked into the whole event anyway. As the one of her six bridesmaids who probably will be the least devastated if the friendship ends, I almost want to be the honest one and be like, "So, this is kind of uncomfortable. Wine and tipsy selfies is one thing, but I'm not about this wedding day recreation." She's debating breaking out her own dress and everything. Yeesh.
  • Omfg. I’d be like oh nice to hear from you... nah bish I threw that dress out and I’m not about to block off another day bc you were a disaster and didn’t get all the pics you wanted.

    What the actual fuck....
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  • edited July 2018
    That is bananas! I’d be upfront and tell her you don’t have the dress anymore. 

  • nightnerd said:
    Yeah, that's what I basically did. My dumb ass will still probably get sucked into the whole event anyway. As the one of her six bridesmaids who probably will be the least devastated if the friendship ends, I almost want to be the honest one and be like, "So, this is kind of uncomfortable. Wine and tipsy selfies is one thing, but I'm not about this wedding day recreation." She's debating breaking out her own dress and everything. Yeesh.
    Yeesh indeed. Why weren't these photos done at the wedding? 

    It's100% reasonable for you to decline participating in this. She may get mad at you, but you're not responsible for her (or her photographer) missing these shots on the big day, so why should you take time out of your life for this now?
    You seem to have made peace with not being close with her anymore anyway, so if you're not comfortable with this, I think it's totally okay to say no. 
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  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited July 2018
    nightnerd said:
    Yeah, that's what I basically did. My dumb ass will still probably get sucked into the whole event anyway. As the one of her six bridesmaids who probably will be the least devastated if the friendship ends, I almost want to be the honest one and be like, "So, this is kind of uncomfortable. Wine and tipsy selfies is one thing, but I'm not about this wedding day recreation." She's debating breaking out her own dress and everything. Yeesh.


     
  • MobKaz said:

     
    Right? What I'm curious about is if she's going to bring back the photographer too - or, if not, who's taking the pictures? If the whole dress is coming out, is she gonna do something fancy with her hair? Makeup? If she does, isn't it gonna look goofy with the rest of us all decidedly not spiffed up (because WHO is doing all of that AGAIN?)? If she doesn't...WTF is even the point?

    The whole thing mystifies me even more the longer I think about it.
  • nightnerd said:
    Yeah, that's what I basically did. My dumb ass will still probably get sucked into the whole event anyway. As the one of her six bridesmaids who probably will be the least devastated if the friendship ends, I almost want to be the honest one and be like, "So, this is kind of uncomfortable. Wine and tipsy selfies is one thing, but I'm not about this wedding day recreation." She's debating breaking out her own dress and everything. Yeesh.
    Yeesh indeed. Why weren't these photos done at the wedding? 

    It's100% reasonable for you to decline participating in this. She may get mad at you, but you're not responsible for her (or her photographer) missing these shots on the big day, so why should you take time out of your life for this now?
    You seem to have made peace with not being close with her anymore anyway, so if you're not comfortable with this, I think it's totally okay to say no. 

    The whole things sounds crazy, but the bolded is the part I am the most hung up on, lol.  That's such a standard, "always done" kind of pic.  I'm pretty shocked that no one, including the photog, realized these shots hadn't been taken yet.

    I would probably say something to my friend like, "Oh no!  I can understand some disappointment this shot wasn't taken.  But I'm sure you all have a bunch of other great photos.  Unfortunately, I don't have the dress anymore.  Instead of going to the extreme of everyone dressing back for a recreation, why don't we all plan a brunch outing.  We can all wear our favorite outfit/sundress/whatever and it will still be some really cute pics of you and your WP all together. 

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  • @ShesSoCold I kind of love that wording and might use a lot of it. I don't want to be mean, but I also don't feel like deliberately sparing her feelings from the fact that this is cray. I don't know how things have gone with the others, but I certainly feel like a prop since she hasn't really seemed to care about hanging out other than this.
  • nightnerd said:
    Hahaha, she texted today asking when we're doing this. I said basically what everyone here suggested - no more dress, super busy this summer, maybe we'll catch up in the fall. She was like, "Oh. Well, I was hoping we could do this during the summer while I have free time. But I guess we could do it in September and have pics in time for the anniversary." And graciously offered to let me use a dress she has in her colors  (I would be very surprised if it actually fit me, she's extremely petite).

    I just...I can't. Part of me is like, it's a two second picture, just do it; then a much more vocal part of me is all, "NO, you did NOT spend all those years lurking on TK to let this happen!"
    @s@ShesSoCold is better - especially if it's a friendship you want to salvage then maybe a little truth sandwich is in order.    On top of it, maybe there ARE photos out there that were taken that can be used but she just needs to get at them?  

    These won't be from the wedding, the wedding reception and no one is going to look remotely "bridesmaidy".   So maybe a gentle conversation about what's the real deal may help.


  • Yeah, I mean, it could go a couple ways. She could get all pissed off and recreate the pictured without you (heartbreaking!) but you said the friendship was fading anyway, right?

    Or she could be understanding about it, which, if she's a somewhat reasonable person who just got wrapped up in ZOMG WEDDINGGGGG, would make the most sense. 

    You know how awkward posed bridal party pictures are anyway? Jesus, I can't imagine the visible discomfort from one taken SEVEN MONTHS later.
    Image result for someecard betting someone half your shit youll love them forever
  • I'm going to go against the grain here. First of all, I totally respect that there's irritation that she's let the friendship fade, that this is the first amount of effort she's put into socializing with you since the wedding. 

    But, if you want to salvage the friendship, this is something I would go along with. And I'd go along with it with a solid dose of humor upfront: "Hey, if you're buying drinks and I don't have to do my hair and makeup any differently from how I normally do it, fine." 

    I mean, I've been a bridesmaid countless times and standing around smiling for pictures is NBD. Is this a silly idea, yes! Is it a silly idea that's totally no skin off my nose (assuming wearing the right color isn't a problem), also yes. You guys find some fun backdrop, spend 10 minutes cheesing for the camera, done. Even if the dress color thing is a non-starter, it may make her happy to have a few nice pictures with her friends. Any clothes are acceptable for that purpose. If she wants to make herself look silly in her wedding dress it's her prerogative, but maybe she won't, and pictures that won't match her wedding album don't matter to her and what matters is having nice pictures with those that stood by her on her wedding day. 

    Maybe part of where I'm coming from is that most of my pictures with my best friends involve us looking drunk and sloppy, so having lovely photos from a wedding is really nice to have. Maybe that's all she wants, just hypothesizing. 

    But if you're legit uncomfortable with the whole photo taking shebang, even if you do want to salvage the friendship, then tell her honestly why you don't want to and hopefully she'll accept that. 
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  • This reminds me of the "Friends" episode after Monica & Chandler's wedding where Chandler thinks he lost the cameras, so he and Ross dress up in their tuxes and take random pictures at a stranger's wedding.

    Good times.
    Great minds.   That was my last comment!
  • banana468 said:
    This reminds me of the "Friends" episode after Monica & Chandler's wedding where Chandler thinks he lost the cameras, so he and Ross dress up in their tuxes and take random pictures at a stranger's wedding.

    Good times.
    Great minds.   That was my last comment!
    I have no idea how I missed that ....
  • @nightnerd is this the same bride with the crazy dress / shoe requirements?
  • banana468 said:
    @nightnerd is this the same bride with the crazy dress / shoe requirements?
    @banana468 yep!
  • She obsessed about shoe height but didn't make a list of photos she wanted?  Any chance she HAS those photos and wants new ones?
  • @banana468 totally conceivable to me that she didn't even think about making a list. She had four months to plan, and they were buying their first house and planning to move in together for the first time too, so there was a lot on her mind, lol. I remember her getting photos with the group of bridesmaids but not with each one individually, which I guess is what she's interested in getting now.
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