Btw, before I was listening to the right people (like Charlotte), I read BM as bowel movement 😂😅

Just so you all know...no, the swan story is not fake...the woman was very clear in the original "this was just a creative writing project" post , that she had been informed by her lawyers that she could avoid prosecution by the doctor's lawyers,  if she stated that it was fiction. She even made several posts directly following that one, making it CRYSTAL CLEAR that yes, this IS a true story, but she kept getting hit with cease and desists from his team of lawyers. She simply didn't want to get sued, so she spelled out pretty clearly that she would be referring to it as a "fictional story" moving forward, to avoid legal problems.

I’m old. When did this whole bridal party thing turn into such an enormous expense for the bride’s friends? Good grief. We threw a wedding shower, bought a small gift or chipped in for a group gift and didn’t travel out of the country to do it!

If you invited me to the wedding, but didn’t invite me to the reception you wouldn’t be getting a gift. You’d only be getting a card saying congratulations.😂

When the dad paid for it, she should have refunded everyone immediately!

As a retired CNA that worked in nursing homes, the BM moniker has an entirely different meaning.

For a standard event-sized ice sculpture (roughly 3 ft tall or wide) — a custom animal/figure like a swan — typical costs range from about $650 to $1,000+ in the United States, including delivery and setup in many cases.  

Bridezilla put the rest of the money up her nose.

UPDATE: obviously, I jumped the gun.  I stand my guess as the most logical explanation for erratic behavior + missing cash.

UPDATE TO UPDATE: apparently, I jumped the gun again. I just found out about the affair.  And I am back to thinking the money went for coke.

$650 each JUST for the airbnb. So bride made $7150 off her bridesmaids? And then  they’ll all be forking out much more during the course of the trip? No. Just no.

When I was planning my wedding, my mother gave me one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard.  She said, "Pick a couple things you want to be perfect, and be willing to compromise on the rest."  

Here's the thing, in a year, or two years, or five, no one is really going to remember your wedding but you.  Think about any wedding you've ever been to:  Do you remember the bride's shoes, or the shade of orange of the groom's cummerbund?  Do you remember the flavor of the cake?  Do you remember what you were served for dinner?  Do you remember what anyone was wearing, or what song the couple danced to, or how the maid of honor was wearing her hair, or whether the bridesmaids matched perfectly?  Nah, you don't.  Nobody remembers that stuff from other people's weddings.

We only remember the bad stuff.  Like if the groom's mom wore white.  Or if the venue smelled like mold.  Or if the cake was dry and stale.

Or if the bride was a raging witch.

So pick a couple things you want PERFECT, and stay firm on those.  Say, your dress, and your cake, and, Idk, maybe your DJ.  And be willing to compromise on the rest.  If they don't have your exact shade of pink for the napkins, use the next closest pink.  People are just going to wipe their hands on them and throw them away anyway, they won't even notice what color they are.  Your decorations don't have to be perfect, just pretty.  Your bridesmaids don't have to be clones, or to "ugly" themselves down.   No matter how much prettier you think they may be, I promise you, no one cares.  Because this day is about YOU.  And it's YOU they're looking at.  And no one else.

(And anyone who IS looking at anyone else and judging them, or judging you on anything like colors or decorations or whatever, is NOT a friend.  And not the type of person whose opinion you should give a single shit about.  In fact that type of person is one you don't want in your life AT ALL.)

Show grace, and be willing to compromise on some things.  People will be much more willing to work with you, if you do.  You catch more flies with honey, and all that.  And for fuck's sake, don't be shallow.  The ONLY person's opinion you should be worried about that day, is your partner.

And if THEY don't think you and your day are perfect just they way you are and it is, you've got MUCH bigger problems than what your wedding looked like...

I don’t understand these high cost activities plus high cost wedding.

No one. NO ONE needs to have a destination bachelorette party. The amount of money being spent on parties is just outrageous.

I don't care who is engaged or what size the stone is, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS compliment how beautiful the ring is and maybe compliment the design. That's it. No remarks about the size of the stone, especially since it could be insulting to the bride if a big stone isn't her style or desire. If she's happy with it, you be happy that she's happy. It's not your place to decide or comment on what HER ring should be. Not your ring, not your business.

OK, I just have to share the story. I was a nail tech for 23 years and a woman came in with her friends to get pedicures and manicures. The woman that I worked on had an almost identical wedding ring. One major difference is her center stone was a marqui cut and my center stone was pear cut. The other difference was that her center stone was a lot larger than mine. Stupidly I said oh look, our rings are almost identical, and she said oh yes, but minus much large, larger than yours. She said this in front of her friends, and their jaws hit the floor. So I politely looked at her and said although your stone is larger than mine, mine is a much better quality and I prefer quality over quantity any day. Her friends started cracking up laughing because it was true. Her stone was full of inclusions that I could see with the naked eye, cloudy, and had a slight yellow tint. My stone was a color F with two slight inclusions that could not be seen with the naked eye. Her stone was probably three carats as to where my stone was one carat. I will never forget to look on her face when I told her quality over quantity. It was hilarious.😂

30:45 I love watching these old videos (compiled I know) because there are some easter eggs from future Charlotte getting married to the great love of her life Mike.

The literal fact she thought she’d get away with scamming them for over $7k is crazy. It was always going to come out

55:16 one of my bridesmaids has psoriasis particularly on her arms and she was like oh don’t worry I’m gonna make sure my dress is longsleeved so that it’s covered and I was like you don’t need to cover it unless you want to like I don’t care that you’ve got psoriasis It’s literally a part of you. Needless to say I think she might be more comfortable to wear a dress with sleeves and that’s up to her, but you should never choose to take it out on something literally no one can control.

This is the THIRD time I’ve watched this episode…it never gets old.  Love you Charlotte,  you always make my day better.

9:30 7k on WATER is WILD

They actually CAN still sue.

The trip was already paid for by Daddy. She claimed it wasnt, and charged each BM money specifically for the trip, for the booking, the reservations, etc. Each one of them forked over the money believing it to be for that reason. They can 100% sue her for misuse and breach of VERBAL CONTRACT, yes, that is a thing, and they have all the text messages, group chats, and reciepts to prove it!!!

When I was about 19, my boyfriends older brother and his fiance were getting married. The fiance wanted to travel to Vegas, we think because she didn't want the boys mom in the wedding photos. Their mom had serious health issues that caused her to be extremely overweight (thyroid issues, different cancers etc.) she also had ulcers and open sores across her abdomen, so she couldn't fly. They had to drive - their father was a long haul truck driver - and they were not going to miss their first born sons marriage. After driving for days, they wouldn't allow her to be in more than a handful of wedding photos, they wouldn't let her stand with her cane, and they made her fold a blanket and drape it over her arm and hold her arm in front of her so it would cover her stomach. Their mother was one of the nicest people I EVER had the PRIVELEGE of knowing and I would have been proud to have her front and center at any event. Anyone that knew her would have been. The new wife refused to post a single photo - not just social media - even in their house if their mother was in it. The marriage lasted 8 months.

Story 1:
I worked at a very popular restaurant in a larger Texas city. LOTS of bachelor/Bachelorette parties.  As someone who's seen hundreds of these groups.  Rarely does a matching party look as good as they think, and you can always tell 2-3 girls don't want to be there.  😅🎉
Let your friends dress how they like and are most comfortable. ✌️