Chit Chat

Vent: Why do I have to be the one who cares?!

I am not sure how involved your spouses were in wedding planning, but FI is kind of "letting me" take care of most of it. He weighs in, says things when he really wants them, but for the most part, the planning has been on my plate. I sort of get it- it is in my hometown, I am the bride and am supposed to care about all the details, etc. He helps when asked, so this isn't really a complaint against him so much as it is his family.

We told his three brothers (his GMs) to wear grey suits and we would get their ties. FSIL asked on Easter what color grey- I said we didn't care. Then she wanted to know black or brown shoes. Said we didn't care about that either.

Then she looks at me and says that I am the bride, I have to care, if I don't tell people what to wear who knows what they will show up in?! She had a bit of an attitude about it- that as the bride, I have to make all the decisions and we need to provide more guidance. Um, we DID tell them- grey suits. They are grown men, I am not telling them what kind of shoes to wear and we honestly DON'T care what color grey they are. You can never count on FIs brothers to be ON TIME for anything, but they are always dressed very well and all wear suits on a regular basis. We didn't want to make them get new suits and honestly, any grey is fine.

But the point of my story is why do I have to be the One Who Cares About All The Things? Nobody seems bothered much when FI doesn't care, but it is this BFD when I don't because I am the bride and I am apparently missing the Cares About Shoe Color gene. I told him he needs to talk to his family about not putting so much pressure on me because this is the kind of stuff that gets to me WAY more than it honestly should, but FI knows that about me. Ugh.
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Re: Vent: Why do I have to be the one who cares?!

  • Calm down and breathe.  It doesn't sound like the family is putting pressure, but the FSIL, 1 person who is also a woman.  Some women think all women should care about stuff like this. It's annoying, because I also do not have the "care about shoe color gene".  

    Just bean dip them and move on.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • Yeah I get this a lot. I told my bridesmaid to pick either yellow or black dresses and they came back with all kinds of questions. I was like I don't care pick what you want. I have to admit that the first time I planned this wedding I cared but this is the third time I've attempted to have this wedding and I just don't care as long as you show up and aren't naked.
  • My sister occasionally does this to me. Just last night, she was asking me about how all the girls should do their nails. I told her I didn't care at all. Her: "But don't you want them to match for in your pictures?" Me: "Uhhh...no?"
  • I get this a lot too. When I told my dad he could wear whatever he wanted, he took that to mean he must not be walking me down the aisle! Noooo I just don't care if you wear a grey suit or black! Same with BM's hair length, color, style, nail color, shoe style, etc etc. I try to remind myself that they're just trying really hard to make me happy, but don't realize I'm actually happy with far less control!

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  • My sister thought I was crazy when I said the bridesmaids could wear whatever shoes and jewelry they want. She was like, what if I wanted to wear hot pink stilettos, I said knock yourself out, but they might not be the most practical on the grass. I'm pretty sure they're all wearing black shoes. 
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  • My BMs went behind my back to pick out what kind-of earring to wear.  They also decided as a group to wear strappy shoes.   Whatever.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • My BMs have been updating me on what shoes they will be wearing. What makeup style they want. How they will wear there hair. Honestly it is more annoying to me because it is one more decision I have to make that I really don't care about at all. It is kind of cracking me up. They made me pick a dress for them. My mother almost had a heart attack when I told her I'm letting them wear whatever jewelry they want. I'm still trying to figure out what accessories I'm wearing, I don't want to spend my time on worrying about grown adults picking out their outfits. 
    Anniversary

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  • I am glad I am not alone in this!! Why should I have to dress adults?!
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  • Omg I'm so happy I only have a MOH and no one else. She understands me. I told her what color dress, and she went out on her own and found a totally cute dress that I love. I did buy her shoes for her, custom made converse :)
    Anniversary
  • I know exactly what you mean! On top of the fact that FI didn't want to make decisions but wanted to make changes to the ones I made (I put the brakes on that pretty quickly) my bridesmaids have a ton of questions. I picked their dress but still get the "what color shoes should I wear? How should I wear my hair?" and I'm going I haven't even picked that for myself yet...
  • sarahufl said:
    I am not sure how involved your spouses were in wedding planning, but FI is kind of "letting me" take care of most of it. He weighs in, says things when he really wants them, but for the most part, the planning has been on my plate. I sort of get it- it is in my hometown, I am the bride and am supposed to care about all the details, etc. He helps when asked, so this isn't really a complaint against him so much as it is his family.

    We told his three brothers (his GMs) to wear grey suits and we would get their ties. FSIL asked on Easter what color grey- I said we didn't care. Then she wanted to know black or brown shoes. Said we didn't care about that either.

    Then she looks at me and says that I am the bride, I have to care, if I don't tell people what to wear who knows what they will show up in?! She had a bit of an attitude about it- that as the bride, I have to make all the decisions and we need to provide more guidance. Um, we DID tell them- grey suits. They are grown men, I am not telling them what kind of shoes to wear and we honestly DON'T care what color grey they are. You can never count on FIs brothers to be ON TIME for anything, but they are always dressed very well and all wear suits on a regular basis. We didn't want to make them get new suits and honestly, any grey is fine.

    But the point of my story is why do I have to be the One Who Cares About All The Things? Nobody seems bothered much when FI doesn't care, but it is this BFD when I don't because I am the bride and I am apparently missing the Cares About Shoe Color gene. I told him he needs to talk to his family about not putting so much pressure on me because this is the kind of stuff that gets to me WAY more than it honestly should, but FI knows that about me. Ugh.
    I feel your pain.  I had virtually the same conversation on Sunday.

    "What color suit?"

    "Grey."

    "What color grey?"

    "Any color grey, doesn't matter to me."

    "Yeah, but, what color is Groom wearing?"

    "Charcoal grey."

    "Ok, so should GM wear charcoal grey?"

    "Nope, he can wear whatever color grey he wants."

    "But, do you want it to be the same, or not the same?"

    "I don't care."

    "But...  what if everyone else wears charcoal or dark grey and then he's the weirdo who shows up in a light grey suit?" 

    "It doesn't matter, he can wear whatever grey he wants."

    "But..." at which point the GM in question said, "GF, they don't care, I can wear whatever grey suit I want, it's not a big deal."

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • FI gets involved when I ask or on topics he's interested- but planning is on me. I'm mostly ok with it.

    Little black dresses for BMs is a similar pain. I told them all long or all short - they decide- but it's still a pain. Who knew choosing short (as in not long- specific lengths don't interest me) dresses would be so difficult?! After tons of begging, I sent links to a few dresses I like- but I just don't care much.

    They worry about matching so I told them that I'm proving matching jewelry and wraps to pull it all together (NOT as gifts, of course!). But that's inspired even more anxiety. *facepalm
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • sarahuflsarahufl member
    Tenth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    edited April 2014
    FI gets involved when I ask or on topics he's interested- but planning is on me. I'm mostly ok with it. Little black dresses for BMs is a similar pain. I told them all long or all short - they decide- but it's still a pain. Who knew choosing short (as in not long- specific lengths don't interest me) dresses would be so difficult?! After tons of begging, I sent links to a few dresses I like- but I just don't care much. They worry about matching so I told them that I'm proving matching jewelry and wraps to pull it all together (NOT as gifts, of course!). But that's inspired even more anxiety. *facepalm
    The funny thing with me is that we told my BMs similarly to just get a grey dress. They have zero questions. They sent me a few photos to see if I liked them, but they haven't been hounding me with questions or anything. FIs brothers haven't asked either. It is his sisters who care- who, incidentally AREN'T IN THE WEDDING.
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  • FI has been almost completely hands-off in planning (he talks a big game and then does absolutely nothing). I never wanted a traditional wedding to begin with, so I've been less than enthusiastic about planning. People, especially those not even involved in or invited to the wedding, keep asking me all these random questions and can't seem to grasp that I honestly and truly do not care. I do not care what anyone is wearing. I do not care if someone comes wearing all white, if the groomsmen do not match, if people come naked, or if people don't come at all. I literally have no fucks to give. So long as FI, our officiant, and our witnesses are there, that is all we need to be married. Someone wearing flip-flops or jeans makes absolutely no difference!
    ~*~*~*~*~

  • FI has been almost completely hands-off in planning (he talks a big game and then does absolutely nothing). I never wanted a traditional wedding to begin with, so I've been less than enthusiastic about planning. People, especially those not even involved in or invited to the wedding, keep asking me all these random questions and can't seem to grasp that I honestly and truly do not care. I do not care what anyone is wearing. I do not care if someone comes wearing all white, if the groomsmen do not match, if people come naked, or if people don't come at all. I literally have no fucks to give. So long as FI, our officiant, and our witnesses are there, that is all we need to be married. Someone wearing flip-flops or jeans makes absolutely no difference!
    @cookiepusher- I feel ya. FI talks and talks about helping but then he doesn't. But as the bride, it is falling on me to Give All The Shits, when I truly just.....don't. I really, really want my family and friends to be there to celebrate. That is all I want. Anything else is just....whatever. I am certainly not micromanaging what grown men wear.

    It seems like just NOT CARING isn't ok, though.
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  • sarahufl said:
    @cookiepusher- I feel ya. FI talks and talks about helping but then he doesn't. But as the bride, it is falling on me to Give All The Shits, when I truly just.....don't. I really, really want my family and friends to be there to celebrate. That is all I want. Anything else is just....whatever. I am certainly not micromanaging what grown men wear.

    It seems like just NOT CARING isn't ok, though.
    To the bolded - that's exactly how I feel. I will not tell adults how to dress themselves because... I don't care! What they wear has absolute zero effect on me. I mean, I do care about certain things my guests may or may not do - drinking/driving, to be specific. I sure as hell put a big section on our wedding website about how we have shuttles available to and from the venue, how our venue does not allow vehicles to be on site after 10pm so we encourage people to park at the hotel and take the shuttle so they don't have to worry, etc. But people's sartorial choices? No fucks left to give. I'm much more concerned with micromanaging the things I can have control over - like, whether my centerpieces will be done in time, if everyone's names are spelled correctly on the escort cards, us starting on time...
    ~*~*~*~*~

  • sarahufl said:
    @cookiepusher- I feel ya. FI talks and talks about helping but then he doesn't. But as the bride, it is falling on me to Give All The Shits, when I truly just.....don't. I really, really want my family and friends to be there to celebrate. That is all I want. Anything else is just....whatever. I am certainly not micromanaging what grown men wear.

    It seems like just NOT CARING isn't ok, though.
    To the bolded - that's exactly how I feel. I will not tell adults how to dress themselves because... I don't care! What they wear has absolute zero effect on me. I mean, I do care about certain things my guests may or may not do - drinking/driving, to be specific. I sure as hell put a big section on our wedding website about how we have shuttles available to and from the venue, how our venue does not allow vehicles to be on site after 10pm so we encourage people to park at the hotel and take the shuttle so they don't have to worry, etc. But people's sartorial choices? No fucks left to give. I'm much more concerned with micromanaging the things I can have control over - like, whether my centerpieces will be done in time, if everyone's names are spelled correctly on the escort cards, us starting on time...
    All of this is so me.  The only things I am worried about are things that actually reflect on me and my FI - like hosting our guests properly, starting on time, properly addressing invitations, and making sure everything is set up to allow everyone to have a good time. 

    But lo and behold, I am taking one of my BMs to look at dresses on Saturday, because other people are way more worried about wearing the right thing than I AM.  I love her and I don't mind going shopping with her, but I really do trust her to just choose something she likes.

    I mean, hell, I let my 10 year old daughter pick her own dress (granted I did have to veto a day-glo orange Quinceanera dress, which I would have just let her wear but FI would have a fit).

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • My FMIL, who is completely awesome most of the time, was a little dumbfounded the other day. My FI and I are to the point in our wedding planning that we just want it to be over. We are just beyond done. So we dare sitting there and FI was starting to look at suits and stuff when his mom was over. He was just looking online for ideas of what he might like. He got irritated about something and said "fuck it I'm wearing jeans". I told him to go for it. FMIL couldn't believe I told him to go for it. FMIL "but... But.... It is your wedding don't you want him to look nice" me: " it is his wedding too and he does look good in jeans". She didn't know what to say so just went back to helping me out. She still can't believe I told him to go for it though.
  • One of my BMs barraged me with questions the other day. What color shoes? Whatever black shoes you have. What jewelry? Don't care, whatever you want. She figured I would want all the same for the pictures. Nope, don't care. Maybe we can make jewelry. Go for it, if you'd like. I really don't care about the details- I'm sure they will all look fabulous in pictures, matching earrings or not :)

  • I feel like every person invited has asked me what they're supposed to wear. I've finally just started describing what my FH and my sister well be wearing and reminding them that July in Texas is HOT, since "whatever you want" apparently doesn't work. My dad and I went round and round. Do I need a tuxedo? (No.) Should the suit be 3 piece or 2? (I don't care.) What color suit? (Whatever color you like.) Finally he threw out "Well what if I showed up in a Speedo?" I said "That's fine, if that's what you're comfortable in, just remember to wear sunscreen." I think that's when he finally got it.
  • I feel like every person invited has asked me what they're supposed to wear. I've finally just started describing what my FH and my sister well be wearing and reminding them that July in Texas is HOT, since "whatever you want" apparently doesn't work. My dad and I went round and round. Do I need a tuxedo? (No.) Should the suit be 3 piece or 2? (I don't care.) What color suit? (Whatever color you like.) Finally he threw out "Well what if I showed up in a Speedo?" I said "That's fine, if that's what you're comfortable in, just remember to wear sunscreen." I think that's when he finally got it.
    oh geeze, that is the other thing. I like FMIL. I really do. But she asks really dense questions sometimes. I was born and raised in the south, FIs family are all die hard New Yorkers. She keeps asking me how people dress in the south for weddings. And I keep having to tell her that it is a summer, day time wedding. Wear what you would wear to a similar event in New York. North Florida isn't another planet! I have no idea why this is so hard to grasp.
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  • I know the feeling. I told my BMs to get a long, charcoal gray dress in whatever style they wanted. Shoes, hair, makeup and jewelry were completely up to them. My best friend took tons of pictures in different dresses and sent them to me asking for my opinion. I encouraged her to pick the dress she liked the most which she did and she loved it. My sister, also our officiant, was planning on dyeing her hair lavender until she found out she was expecting her first child. She picked out a floor length silver ball gown and wore her red heels from her wedding. She looked fantastic! My H's friend wore a gray dress with a black bolero and was very happy with getting to pick everything out.
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