MIL demanded bridesmaid pay $910 out of pocket for the bridal shower and bachelor party. She stayed for one reason — the wedding day drama

A woman (u/bonsaitree23) agreed to be her cousin's bridesmaid, but the mounting arrangements and costs soon pushed her over the edge. It all started when the maid of honor (MOH) and her sister's future mother-in-law asked the bridesmaid to chip in a whopping $910 for the bachelor party. Surprisingly, even though the bride and groom didn't own a house, they included most household items on the registry, knowing they would sit in a storage unit indefinitely. Despite all the red flags, the bridesmaid showed up for the wedding. The reason? The wedding drama. The Reddit post was shared on September 3, 2026. 

Bridal party turned bridezilla

The woman listed a series of bizarre things she experienced while part of the bridal party. It started with the bride inviting her and her partner to the bridal party. The celebration, however, soon turned into a nightmare. The first instance occurred when the MOH demanded $350 from the bridesmaids to plan a surprise for the bridal shower. The woman couldn’t pay because she was in the hospital. The bride’s MIL jumped over her head, asking why she didn't pay on time. Apart from that, the MIL curated all the signage, invites, and name tags using ChatGPT, without the bride's approval. "Bachelor party is axe throwing, dinner at a local steakhouse, and an overnight stay at a hotel. Total cost: $560 per person, $50 for axe throwing, $300 for dinner, and $210 for the hotel," the author added. 

Racist bridal party

Both men and women were invited to both the bachelor parties, since women couldn’t trust men being alone. Wedding guests who consumed more alcohol needed to pay extra. Worse, the bridal shower was a “blatantly racist” event where they auctioned Chinese stuff from a dollar store. From typos to MIL’s rants in the group chat and a misbehaving pet dog attending the events, from the groom’s uncle becoming the secret officiant to the bride purchasing household goods for a house she didn’t have, the wedding was erupting with chaos.

The woman was so fed up that she decided not to be a bridesmaid again. "If I wasn’t so invested in seeing how everything plays out on the day of the wedding, I would drop out of being in the wedding party," she said. The author explained that the wedding had at least 200 random guests from the parents' side of the bride and groom. "The bride's entire wedding ensemble is well over $12,000, and they 'can’t find an apartment they can afford,'" she added.

Wedding chaos

According to the wedding website Zola, the average cost of a wedding is $36,000. Surprisingly, this is 8.5% more than the previous year, Bank of America Institute reported. The pressure to get the perfect wedding dress, flowers, and other wedding arrangements often drains the bride and groom. “78% of couples worry that the economy or potential tariffs will push their final bill higher than expected,” the website stated. Moreover, over 80% said their wedding will cost more today than the same event would have cost two years ago.

Anticipating a crap fest

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/Powerful_weather3686 commented, “You have to update us after the wedding is done. I need to know if it's going to turn out to be a total crap fest or not.” u/karen_rittner54 wrote, "Weddings have gotten out of control. With the expensive bachelor & bachelorette parties/trips—outrageous dress/shoes/make-up/hair/nail prices—dress rehearsal/bridal showers/plus the gifts you have to buy. Couples starting out shouldn’t be going into debt for weddings/parts associated with the wedding. Participants in the wedding parties are also going into debt. It has simply gotten ridiculously expensive."

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