Bride uninvites groom's 'work wife' after she 'jokingly' asked him to marry her instead

During a wedding, the couple might try to accommodate each other's near and dear ones, even if they don't like certain people and aren't on the best terms with them. However, sometimes a person might cross all boundaries and make it difficult to include them in the celebration. A woman faced a similar situation when her fiance's "work wife" started interfering in their wedding and engagement plans and making her feel like a third wheel. The bride, u/SnooAdvice5677, took to Reddit to share the incident and asked the internet if she was wrong for disinviting this person.

"I am supposed to be marrying the love of my life in a few months. We’ve been planning the wedding for over a year, and it’s been a beautiful but stressful experience. But one person is casting a shadow over everything, and that’s my fiancé’s 'work wife,' Lily," the woman began. "My fiancé and Lily have been friends and coworkers for around five years. At first, I was honestly relieved he had a good friend at work, especially since his job can be demanding and a bit isolating. I tried to be the cool, understanding partner who wasn’t bothered by how close they were." But at one point, the woman realized it might be too much for her to handle. "Lily is a huge part of his life. They text constantly, often late into the night, about everything from work issues to little jokes."

"She knows things about him that I sometimes don’t, and it stings to realize how much he turns to her for advice and laughs instead of me. My fiancé reassures me that they’re just friends, that she’s his 'work wife' and that it’s no big deal. But it feels like she’s gotten so close that I’m sometimes the one on the outside looking in," the bride revealed. "As we got deeper into wedding planning, Lily started chiming in with her 'opinions.' She had suggestions about our venue ('It doesn’t feel like him'), our flowers ('he’s never liked bright colors, remember?') and even my dress, mentioning off-handedly that she 'knew his style' and could help me pick something he’d love." The woman tried to laugh it off, but the situation kept getting more out of hand.

"Last week was our engagement party, and it was supposed to be such a happy day. But I kept noticing Lily glued to his side. I tried to join their conversations, but every time, she’d bring up a work story or inside joke that left me feeling like a third wheel at my engagement," the person expressed. "Then, in one of the worst moments, I walked up just as she was saying, 'You know, if you change your mind, you could always marry me instead.' My heart sank. I didn’t know if she was joking or half-serious, but my fiancé laughed, brushing it off like it was no big deal." She continued, "I couldn’t just let it go. I pulled my fiancé aside later that night and told him how inappropriate her comment was. He looked at me, surprised and said I was 'taking it too seriously' and that Lily was 'just playing around.'"

"I felt like I was going crazy, like maybe I was seeing something that wasn’t there, but… how would anyone be okay hearing that from someone so close to their fiancé?" the bride wondered. "The last straw came toward the end of the night. Lily had had a few drinks, and she came up to me, asking if I was 'really okay' with how close they were. She said something like, 'I mean, I can’t imagine him with anyone else.'" She added, "I wanted to scream, but instead, I just walked away. Later, I told my fiancé I didn’t want her at our wedding, that it was too painful to have someone there who saw herself as part of our relationship." The man felt that the woman was overreacting and disinviting Lily would ruin his reputation at work. "I feel hurt, small, and like my feelings don’t matter. My friends support me, but his friends think I’m overreacting and letting insecurity ruin our relationship."

People took to the comments section to support the woman. u/clackagaling wrote, "It’s easier to cancel a wedding than it is to get a divorce. Fiancé isn't even on her side before the marriage, it’s not worth continuing to accept this when it’s blatantly disrespectful." u/FloMoJoeBlow commented, "She needs to put the wedding planning on hold and get couple’s counseling with the fiancé. He needs to set Lily aside." u/DevotedRed remarked, "There is no ‘choice’ to make. He is your fiancé - you are the woman he is supposed to want to spend forever with. He’s getting this all wrong and his commitment to you is not what it should be."