Bride lists 6 strict rules for wedding guests to follow, sparking debate

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 24, 2023. It has since been updated.

A woman has been accused of being a "bridezilla" after laying out six rules for her wedding guests. The rules seemed very reasonable to her, but some felt the rules crossed the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. After all, though, it was her wedding. And anyone in her situation would want everything to go smoothly, without any hassle. Rachel Romano, a hairdresser in South California, says that the rules created a lot of drama among her guests, but the wedding itself was carried out beautifully, and everyone had a good time. "If anyone thought I was a bridezilla with control issues, it's because they couldn't respect our rules for our wedding," read the caption.

The first rule, and the most common one, was that no one under 21 was allowed. The flower girl and the ring bearer were the only exceptions, but Romano said that their grandmother took them away right after that, and the kids weren't present for the reception. "People asked us left and right if they could still bring their kids, but we said no; we didn’t want the liability," said Romano. "There was the lake on the property we had our wedding at; it just was too much. No kids; weddings aren’t the place for kids." This is fair because many weddings don't allow or invite kids and treat it as an "adults-only" engagement.

The second rule, the biggest “drama starter,” was that groomsmen needed to hold back on drinking until the ceremony was over. Romano said she has seen too many weddings where the groomsmen and the groom are so drunk by the time the wedding even starts that they “can’t even function.” “Just wait, it’s a 30-minute ceremony max, just wait till the reception,” she said. Her third rule was that there would be no plus-ones. Do not bring a Juliet to this wedding, Romeo. People still asked her if they could, and she and her husband ended up making one exception for a friend. However, she did not want it to keep doubling with people she did not know. 

“And it’s really stressful because you feel bad, but also we had 250 people and we have people tugging at us from every side, our parents, the groom’s parents, everybody. Everybody wants to bring somebody. Sorry. It’s the bride’s and the groom’s day.” The fourth rule was a dress code. No jeans, only wedding attire. For the fifth, Romano wanted everyone to match with the neutral colors at her wedding for the sake of the pictures. “We asked the families to stick to the wedding colors provided and not to make a fuss over it because we wanted our photos to be neutral and all blend in together and now they look fabulous.”

The sixth rule was that she did not want people blocking the way of the professional photographer by trying to take their photos and videos during the ceremony. “Do not stand in front of the aisle with your phone taking pictures. We don’t want them. Even if you think the bride and groom are definitely going to want my photos or my videos. We don’t want them, we’ve paid for a photographer.” Some folks did not follow this rule, resulting in a bunch of photobombs. “Our photos of us kissing down the aisle – ruined by people. One person stood in the middle of our aisle, taking photos and she’s in the back of all of our pictures, so just don’t do it.”

Many people in the comments were conflicted about what they thought of these rules. "[I don't know] why wedding rules are such a big deal to people. If you do not like the rules, don't go. that simple," commented @rubychers. "It’s not the rules it’s the way she’s talking to us in the video lol like y u gotta sound so mad what did we do ???," wrote @dermitdemblubb. "These rules are actually pretty reasonable. y'all just don't like boundaries," penned @steventaylor61. "I see nothing wrong with these rules. Like why is everyone pressed??," asked @gre3ngemini.