A bride has stirred up a storm on the internet after posting a list of six strict rules her wedding party has to follow until her wedding, vowing to remind them daily until her big day.
Wedding planning is no walk in the park. With every detail from invites to guest lists and venues needing to be perfect, there’s not much room for any errors.
To make the planning of her wedding less stressful, South Carolina bride Shay Stewart took to Instagram to share the six rules her bridal squad must abide by to ensure her wedding unfolds flawlessly for herself and her husband-to-be.
Each directive starts with “It’s NOT your day,” aiming to please the bride, which has sparked quite the buzz online. Her opening rule lays down the law: “Do what the bride asks or don’t be in the wedding.”
The subsequent rules are just as uncompromising, underscoring the need to keep the bride centre stage and avoid any matrimonial mishaps.
The second rule underscores that it’s not about the bridal party, before stating: “If the bride wants makeup or certain hair for everyone, and you don’t wear makeup – don’t be in the wedding.
“It’s usually the ones who scream ‘I don’t want all that’ who end up looking less flattering than everyone else.”
However, she did concede that she would be more flexible with hairstyles if the bridesmaids already had alternative cuts, like a pixie cut.
Rules three to five all emphasised the behaviour and actions she expected from her bridal party.
“3) It’s NOT your day. Act how you would want YOUR bridal party to act, IF it was your day,” she penned. “4) It’s NOT your day. You look jealous when you object to every little thing, ESPECIALLY things you have NOT paid for. Be grateful or don’t be in the wedding. 5) You are TEAM BRIDE. If you wish to behave like anything less, switch to TEAM GUEST. Have a seat and throw rice (preferably uncooked).”
And since we’re all aware that weddings can be costly for everyone involved, she wanted people to be honest with her if they couldn’t afford something.
“6) It’s NOT your day. If you can’t afford to be in the wedding, let the bride know up front. Don’t accept and then penny pinch, ESPECIALLY if it’s one year or more out. Plan accordingly.”
“WILL BE SHARING THIS EVERYDAY TIL THE WEDDING,” she concluded.
While there are no comments on the Instagram post, the rules were shared on a wedding shaming forum on Reddit, where users criticised her for being too demanding.
“At least she’s giving everyone a daily chance to join TEAM NOT GOING,” one person quipped, while another said: “The rules are reasonable but not generally screamed out by the bride daily. Makes you wonder what else she’s telling them.”
“This is absolutely insufferable. A prime example of why wedding culture has become exhausting. I could go on but I’m seething just reading this and want to log off,” a third user said.