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These brides reveal the reality of wedding days.
By Sanika Nalgirkar — Written on Aug 28, 2022
Weddings are often considered the happiest day for brides and grooms but not for these few brides who claim it was the exact opposite.
Sharing their negative experiences of their wedding days to The Telegraph, four women are reflecting on how, years later, their disappointing wedding days have caused them to rethink their marriages.
Here is why these brides say their wedding day was the worst day of their lives.
1. “Getting into our hotel room and [realizing] I hadn’t really enjoyed any of it made me feel like such a failure.”
Laura claimed that she had expected to feel happy after getting married, however, the first thing she did when she lay next to her husband was burst into tears.
The big day that was supposed to be one of the most important days in her life was highly stressful.
“Part of the problem was that we had 180 people at the wedding, most of whom I hadn’t seen in 18 months,” Laura said.
“Before I walked down the aisle, I almost had a breakdown at the thought of everyone seeing me in this huge dress when I hadn’t spoken to them in so long.”
Additionally, when she did get the chance to talk to her guests, her mind was focused on making sure there were no issues anywhere. In the midst of that, she didn’t get to enjoy her wedding.
2. “We spent our life savings on what was a bit of a crap night.”
Along with the pressure of the wedding day, Venetia had pressure from her parents. Her parents were highly involved in every part of the wedding planning process. Venetia’s parents want everything to be perfect, no matter the cost of things.
“We paid for the whole thing, but my parents insisted on overseeing the guest list, the wording of the invitations, my dress, the service, and even demanded my sister be my maid of [honor],” Venetia said.
However, even after all the detailed planning, the night didn’t go pleasant. Venetia’s dad’s speech wasn’t good and she was feeling stressed throughout the night.
While Venetia and her husband have a good marriage now, she regrets spending a fortune on a night she didn’t even enjoy.
3. “No matter how they divide household [labor] the rest of the time, women are told it is right to become consumed by creating the ‘perfect’ day.”
Emma also had a similar experience where she wasn’t able to enjoy her day due to the immense stress.
She shed some light on how post-feminism comes into play here. When it comes to marriage, women are given the freedom they want and treated as equals.
However, they are still expected to create a ‘perfect’ wedding day. Due to that, women feel more pressure.
Emma said, “Most women say their wedding day was the best day of their lives – mine doesn’t even feature in my top 10.”
4. “The week before the big day made me feel really anxious – like my body was all wrong for what was supposed to be this fairy-tale time.”
Lila encountered another issue she had experienced in the past. As a teenager, Lila suffered from the eating disorder, Bulimia. While she overcame it, she felt the wedding planning was a bit triggering for her.
Her family had been careful and sensitive around her as they were aware, however, there were some moments when she felt uncomfortable.
“Moments like when my wedding dress designer said she’d cut the corset tight because I’d inevitably lose weight or when my mother-in-law literally took a piece of cake out of my hand the week before the big day made me feel really anxious,” Lila said.
Julia Carter, Ph.D. in women's studies who has studied the topic of weddings also spoke about the negative aspects of wedding days.
She said, "In the end, weddings aren’t really for the couple, they’re for other people."
Sanika Nalgirkar is a News & Entertainment Writer based in India. She has a master's degree in Creative Writing. See more of her writing on her website.