Just like holidays, weddings can be beautiful days, full of new memories with friends and family.
But they can also be full of drama and shenanigans.
In the sub-Reddit "Am I the A$hole" (AITA) one user, who has since deleted the temporary profile they used to pose the question, asked if she was being a jerk at her cousin's wedding.
The Redditor shared how she had a complicated relationship with her family, allegedly full of selfish and dramatic individuals. Surely we can all relate because everyone has that one cringe worthy relative and some people luck out and get many of them.
Despite most of the family, however, the Reddit user has one cousin who means the world to her.
She not only wanted to attend her cousin's wedding, but she was also the Maid of Honor. As such, she helped to make sure the drama was kept to a minimum at the wedding and the follow-up reception.
But sometimes to maintain the drama, you have to create a little yourself.
The Reddit user explained:
"I have an EXTREMELY dramatic, selfish, and b**chy family. Imagine 20 Karen's each with handfuls of expired coupons all complaining to the same manager who is too nice to tell them to f*** off."
"That's my mother with her 10 siblings and their 10 spouses. Oh and did I mention they are all strict Catholics?"
"I generally have nothing to do with the lot of them but for my cousin who is an absolute gem I would happily wage war against the Karen's single handedly."
"One of my Aunts who starts 90% of the bull***t showed up to the wedding nice and early wearing off white. I was the maid of honor and asked my cousin if I needed to give her the boot but she said it was off white enough to let it slide.
"She did beg me to do everything I could to prevent any outbursts or drama though so I was on high alert."
As the reception continued and the Maid of Honor inevitably had to put out more of her aunt's fires, her aunt inevitably took her antics too far.
She started talking to the bride's best friend, who happens to be gay and in attendance with his boyfriend.
The Reddit user explained:
"At the reception I literally just followed my Aunt around putting out fires. I talked to her multiple times asking her to stop starting s**t (in nicer words) but she kept deflecting and laughing it off."
"It came to a head though when she managed to get to my cousins best friend who was there with his boyfriend."
"She told him she feels sorry that he must hate himself so much to sin so blatantly. She said that she hopes by being friends with my cousin maybe he will be saved before it's too late because of course there is nothing but fire waiting for him otherwise."
"Before he could respond (he has a short fuse when it comes to this kind of bull***t and I can't really blame him) I just straight up dumped my glass of red wine down my Aunts dress. I didn't even pretend to trip."
"Then I said oh gosh I'm sorry let's get you cleaned up and took her into the back and cussed her out. My cousin already talked to her about her friend being gay so she knew what she said was wrong and unacceptable."
"She did finally leave the wedding after all this."
"I thought I was justified but way more of my friends than I expected are saying the wine and ruining her dress was too much and I should have just escorted her out."
"AITA?"
"EDIT: I did pay for her dress. The next day before she even asked for it. I promise I can be shi**y but not that shi**y."
The reactions overall were resoundingly supportive, explaining that pouring wine on her aunt's dress may have been over-the-top, but it was also justified. Others said to forget about justification and simply call a good deed a good deed for saving her cousin's wedding.
"NTA (Not The A$hole). Drastic moments calls for drastic action. Your aunt's off-white dress deserves to have red wine splashed onto it." - brownbird8888
"I normally disagree with most people's "please everyone" responses on here, but you hit it spot on."
"I have no criticism for OP whatsoever lol. Good job spilling the wine on her to 'put the fire out.'" - Bannonx031
"Nta -I'm sure you've secretly thrilled her by giving her something to be angry about for the next 20 years or so . I would just say be careful or don't invite her to your wedding (im not sure if you said you were already married or even planning to marry in the future."
"She may try to repay you so have a poncho ready. You're a good cousin and friend for what you did" - invisigirl247
"I usually don't think that someone being an asshole absolves you from being an asshole back. You might be a justified asshole, but that still means you're an asshole."
"However, this was a great idea to a) quickly remove the aunt from the current situation, b) get her alone and c) make sure she leaves the wedding for good. Genius, really." - trullaDE
Overall, it sounds like the Reddit user did more good than harm when she interrupted what could have been a very hurtful, very loud and very disruptive incident.
Though her aunt's dress was ruined, hopefully she learned something.
The book But It's Your Family…: Cutting Ties with Toxic Family Members and Loving Yourself in the Aftermath is available here.