Moms and Maids

Sister maid of honorzilla - vent

I've been having a miserable time dealing with my sister (who happened to make herself my maid of honor). She has some jealousy issues and she cannot put those aside for her only sibling. She has been with her boyfriend over five years, and when my fiance and I got engaged she freaked out (my fiance and I were together just over two years when we got engaged - my sister is also younger than me). When I came home to share my happy news, she rolled her eyes and said "it really should have been me". I really try my best to ignore her comments or change the subject, but she's either throwing a pity party for herself or she's telling me what to do. Some examples:

- Banning (or at least trying to) me from trying on any dresses with a keyhole back.
- Telling my fiance what he needs to do "to be a part of this family"
- Stating who she believes should and should not come dress shopping
- Telling my fiance and I that we are "forbidden" from getting married in October (ultimately, we chose March - but for other reasons aside from her psycho babble) because that's when she'd like to get married.
- Made herself my Maid of Honor
- Demanding her dress be different from everyone else
- Saying out loud how my ring is nice, but hers will be substantially bigger
- Continuing to say "it should have been me"


And then the big one. My FI and I went to dinner with her and her boyfriend. When the topic of the wedding came up, she went in to her usual telling us what we can and cannot do. Admittedly, I snapped. After listening  to her attempt to dictate our wedding and being nasty, I just blurted "It's not your wedding. Just stop". She then proceeded to talk about her getting married and what she will do for her wedding (she's not even engaged). My FI gently reminded her that her time will come. She started to laugh and then went in to the bathroom and started hysterically crying. She stormed out of the restaurant because my fiance and I "were making fun of her". I later find out that she called my father that evening to tell him what a terrible person my fiance is and how "he's always so mean" to her. Needless to say her doing that caused tension between my FI and my father, awkwardness between my dad and myself, and just widening the rift that already exists between my sister and I. While I was very short with her when I said it, it was a statement of fact. No one was making fun of anyone, but she really needs to be told it's not her place to tell my fiance or I what we can and cannot do - ever.

 Apparently we just don't understand how she "doesn't have what she wants in life" right now. Overall, she's been very unpleasant. She admits to other people that she's jealous and she feels that she should have been first. I understand that she's hurt, I really do. However, that's no excuse to been a miserable person and try and control someone else's day. Believe me, I have more examples of the crazy...I know it sounds horrible, but part of me feels that if she really can't emotionally be supportive and put her stuff aside - she should drop out of the wedding. Which she won't do, but I digress.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how to handle this? I can't help but snap everytime she starts to dictate what I should or should not do. I try to put myself in her shoes, but even then I can't help but feel she's totally unreasonable. I think in this situation a lot of damage has been done that probably can't be fixed at this point. All I want to do is preserve my sanity. Any ideas? I'm completely at my wits end.

Re: Sister maid of honorzilla - vent

  • You can't "handle it" and you probably won't change her.  There is way more to her rants than the superficial jealousy.  That is just her vehicle for getting her own frustrations out.  More than likely she realized that she is in a dead end relationship and there are zero plans for her own engagement to her current SO.  All the poison is coming out because you have what she wants.  Given that I've been there, done that, got the T-shirt, the best you can do is try to ignore her craziness, don't get into fights with your FI or parents, and make the plans that you want.  Don't have any wedding discussions with her, invite her to different events as an ordinary guest, and enjoy your engagement.  If she does not like the dress you pick for her, she is welcome to leave the bridal party.  If she does not like your dress, she is welcome to not look at it.  Always state your point calmly, then be done. She can only have an argument if you give her the opportunity.
  • Don't engage her in wedding talk, change the subject any time wedding stuff comes up. Like PP says, all she needs to do is show up sober in the dress you picked out. She has a problem with the dress, she doesn't have to be in the Wedding Party. 

    I wonder how her boyfriend feels about her freaking out over not being engaged and shit. 
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  • Do you have a close friend who has some balls? If I was you I'd get that friend to put your sister in her place and tell her to pull her head in otherwise she will NOT be your maid of honour. What about your Mum? A cousin? There should be someone who will put making your wedding first.

    Otherwise you could sit her down and explain the whole point of being a bridesmaid (the maid of the bride) and that you will be very happy to do all this for her when she gets married and you are her bridesmaid/maid of honour.
  • How does someone make themself your MOH? Even if she says "I am her MOH" the response should be"Actually, I asked Suzy to be my MOH."

  • Thank you all for the input. I really appreciate the variety of opinions.

    Most of us in the the family have always pacified my sister. She does tend be very demanding and set in her ways - pacifying her has always been easier than trying to reason with her. And I completely understand and accept that doing this has allowed her to continue to behave this way.

    Unfortunately, my mom passed when we were younger and I'm starting to think a lot of her freaking out (in addition to her insecurity about her relationship), stems from this.

    @MrsRadke - she just told everyone in the family that she was MOH. So it's hard to turn around and change that, after she announced it. What should I do? Should I create more drama and a big to-do by telling her I had someone else in mind, or should I just let her be MOH? If this is her behavior as self-made MOH, I don't even want to think about what she's do if I told her I didn't chose her.

     @ alisonmarie658 I get your point that not everyone is going to care - completely valid point. But this behavior is going far beyond "not caring". Creating rifts between a FBIL and FFIL are way too far over the line. I'll talk aloofness over controlling, unpredictable behavior any day of the week.

    I'm all about self-preservation at this point when it comes to the whole situation. I can't change her - I just need some ideas re coping with her attitude. 

    And in case you were wondering - she took her bf ring shopping a few days ago. It was completely her idea....oy vey!
  • Yes, tell your family you hadn't actually decided on a MOH yet and since you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings (including the friend you were going to ask) you have decided not to have one at all because both of them mean so much to you.

  • With your sister announcing to the family she is MOH.  I would probably just allow that to keep going.  Pick who you want to have MOH and have 2.  While I do like MrsRadke's idea to tell the family that you hadn't yet decided, not knowing your family dynamic, that could backfire on you.

    Do not speak to your sister about anything related to the wedding.  Change the subject anytime it's brought up.  We call this bean dipping around here:

    Sister: You cannot get a dress with a key hold back, you know this right?
    You:  Did you have any of this bean dip?  It's delicious.
    Sister: Also, you're not allowed to use roses in your bouquet.
    You: I love this bean dip, I'm going to ask the hostess for her recipe.

    You cannot control your sister's actions, but you can control how you react to them.

    Also, I would have a sit down with your dad.  Try to explain the situation of what happened at the restaurant with your sister.  Tell him, that in no way did you mean to "make fun of her" and that your dad has probably seen similar behavior to what you faced at dinner.  I would snap to after a while!  But try to bridge the tension between your dad and your FI as best you can.
  • eb1916 said:
    Thank you all for the input. I really appreciate the variety of opinions.

    Most of us in the the family have always pacified my sister. She does tend be very demanding and set in her ways - pacifying her has always been easier than trying to reason with her. And I completely understand and accept that doing this has allowed her to continue to behave this way.

    Unfortunately, my mom passed when we were younger and I'm starting to think a lot of her freaking out (in addition to her insecurity about her relationship), stems from this.

    @MrsRadke - she just told everyone in the family that she was MOH. So it's hard to turn around and change that, after she announced it. What should I do? Should I create more drama and a big to-do by telling her I had someone else in mind, or should I just let her be MOH? If this is her behavior as self-made MOH, I don't even want to think about what she's do if I told her I didn't chose her.

     @ alisonmarie658 I get your point that not everyone is going to care - completely valid point. But this behavior is going far beyond "not caring". Creating rifts between a FBIL and FFIL are way too far over the line. I'll talk aloofness over controlling, unpredictable behavior any day of the week.

    I'm all about self-preservation at this point when it comes to the whole situation. I can't change her - I just need some ideas re coping with her attitude. 

    And in case you were wondering - she took her bf ring shopping a few days ago. It was completely her idea....oy vey!
    The problem is that if you keep pacifying her and going for "self-preservation", she learns that she can get whatever she wants and no one will tell her otherwise.  She is demanding and set in her ways because she never had to be anything else.  Will she throw a fit when you stand up for yourself?  Probably.  But at some point, isn't it better that she learn that she can't walk all over you?
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  • MrsRadke said:

    How does someone make themself your MOH? Even if she says "I am her MOH" the response should be"Actually, I asked Suzy to be my MOH."


    ^^^ WHAT SHE SAID. Your sister cannot make her self your MOH or choose everyone's attire and who will do what. You need to be  a big girl and tell her up front that it is your decision, and you are choosing someone else. Otherwise the rest of your wedding planning will be like this.
  • Since being a "big girl" will most likely result in a huge family feud, I'd rather let her think what she wants. Everyone's family dynamic is different, and while it would be great to have that as a legitimate option - it's not.
  • eb1916 said:
    Since being a "big girl" will most likely result in a huge family feud, I'd rather let her think what she wants. Everyone's family dynamic is different, and while it would be great to have that as a legitimate option - it's not.
    It really is though. You either let people continue to walk all over you and be unhappy, or you stand up for yourself and take the unpleasantness that might come with it. Someone walking all over you and then being angry when you try to have your own opinions isn't someone who deserves a whole lot of your concern anyway. 

    You either continue to be unhappy about the situation and don't complain anymore (since you made a choice to be unhappy by letting her continue on) or you stand up for yourself. 
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  • eb1916 said:
    Since being a "big girl" will most likely result in a huge family feud, I'd rather let her think what she wants. Everyone's family dynamic is different, and while it would be great to have that as a legitimate option - it's not.
    If that's what you're worried about, unfortunately, you are giving her permission to treat you like a doormat for the rest of your life, since disagreeing with her about anything will always lead you to the fear of a "huge family feud."  Sometimes being an adult means having to stand up for yourself-even if there is the possibility of a "huge family feud" resulting from it.
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