You know what they always say at weddings: “Speak now, or forever hold your peace.” In most cases, the phrase is just ornamental. It seems obvious that in most cases there's nothing to speak about, because it's really only the newlyweds' opinions which matter on their special day.

Maybe you can't recall the best wedding you've ever been to, but the worst one probably comes to mind instantly. Every couple wants their wedding to be memorable in the right way. They want guests to gush over the decorations, talk about how delicious the food is, and dance late in the night until their feet are sore. It's supposed to be fun… but a lot of weddings end up being so much work that the guests hardly get to enjoy themselves. A common factor seems to be the brides and grooms who plan…

Plan your wedding just two weeks ahead of time? What could go wrong? Well, just about everything, as this couple learned. It's understandable why a couple would want to avoid the pressures of planning a wedding . It can take years to put together a guest list, snag a venue, hire a catering company and a DJ… the list goes on and on. That's why it's fairly common for people to get engaged as a sign of their commitment to each other, and then take a few months or years to plan out their special da…

These bridesmaids have run out of patience with their bridezilla friend. At least they have an interesting plan in place to get back at this “friend." The wedding registries of today make it incredibly easy to send a thoughtful gift to the soon-to-be couple. Thanks to a bevy of websites that specialize in this, couples can make a list of everything their hearts desire as gifts. From cookware to clothing to furniture, today's couples can add even the most outrageous items to their registries kno…

One bride had a fantastic idea for dealing with a wedding guest who loved to steal the spotlight. When it's your wedding day , the couple wants the whole day to revolve around them, their love story, and the guests they've brought along to celebrate. Every wedding is a little different, but generally, the focus is supposed to be on the couple celebrating their vows to each other as they start their married life. In India, weddings are a massive deal. They're often at least three days, and somet…

So many friends turn out to be bridezillas when they get engaged. They want the perfect aesthetics, and you need to bend over backward to make that happen. Entire friendships crumble, as the person you thought you knew, becomes a person you don't want to have anything to do with. This woman was a disabled veteran, and one of her friends asked her to be one of the bridesmaids at her wedding. At first, it was all very exciting, but soon enough, this friend began showing her true colors. OP offere…

Do you think the middle child syndrome actually exists? For those of you who might not know, middle child syndrome is the belief that middle children are usually excluded, ignored, or even outright neglected because of their birth order. something about being in the middle, after the exciting first child, and before the extra spoiled youngest child, is supposed to feel like you are the least loved one. I am a middle child, I have an older and a younger sister. But personally, and I might even s…

Do you think friends should loan each other money? Not small amounts like buying each other coffee or lunch, but pay-your-friend's-this-month's-rent kind of money. On the one hand, friends should be there for each other, and feel comfortable enough to ask for help when they need it. On the other hand, big sums of money can cause a lot of tension between two people, no matter how close they are. The thought alone of having to ask a friend for your money back can make anyone feel extremely uncomf…

There is a lot at stake when you're planning a wedding, which naturally means so much can go terribly wrong. Not only is there the anxiety surrounding superficial things like the flowers and the music and the food, but then there's also the anxiety that comes with appeasing multiple personalities at once and having certain difficult family members participate in the event. The truth is you can plan every possible way to avoid drama, but there are some people who simply bring drama with them whe…

Anytime a wedding includes a blending of cultures, there are bound to be feathers that get rustled the wrong way. We all would hope that our family members could be cool enough to just back off and not over-step in the wedding planning, but we all know how family matters go– someone's going to take things too far.

Weddings bring out the worst in people

For whatever reason, there's something about wedding culture that gives engaged folks the false notion that they can get away with insane demands. First, there's the complete lack of care for how much money people have to spend just to attend from flights to hotels to wedding gifts. Then, if you're family or if you're in the wedding party, there's money for bachelor/bachelorette parties, dresses/suits, and more flights/hotels. Sure, being involved is an honor, but it's also quite the ask. This…

So much can go wrong at a wedding. Tensions are running high, everyone's stressed, and lots of money is often involved. Recently, I officiated a friend's wedding and felt the pressure first-hand for the first time. Not only could so much go wrong objectively but also I could be the one to mess everything up. And of course, it's impossible for your brain not to go to that place where you're like, “What if I said this instead of what I'm supposed to say? what if I just up and left right now and s…

Sisterly loyalties only go so far, and when one woman's sister, the bride, thought she'd play god with her own sibling's relationship, things backfired. Frankly, weddings bring out the cringe in all of us. Whether you're a sorry sap that cries during the vows (guilty as charged), the distant aunt who reminds the bride that they used to change their diapers, or you're the guest that drinks too much at the open bar, there's some social mixing that brings out the worst in everyone.

Some people have dreamed about their wedding day since they were a little kid. Childhood dreams of Cinderella dresses, clinking champagne flutes, and a black-tie affair can sail through a kid's mind without a second thought, but in the deep south, an outdoor, summertime, black-tie event is a little more complicated to plan than an enchanting Disney-style ball. Guests could lose more than a glass slipper in those hot n' sweaty conditions...

This woman's 40th birthday has been overtaken by her soon-to-be sister in law.