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As another ‘bridezilla’ goes viral, Hattie Crisell finds herself thinking that surely there has to be another way…
ANOTHER SUMMER, another tale of wedding madness entertaining the internet. TikTok user @macydalydog last week posted screengrabs apparently showing her messages with a friend who’s getting married. ‘I really am just not sure I’m going to be able to afford everything,’ she had told the friend. ‘We are nearing $20k which is basically my student loan payment… Is there any way we could reconsider some of the events and clothing?’
‘Uhm sorry to say but not really,’ was the reply. ‘And I did lay this out in my bridal party pdf.’ The bride went on to suggest that her friend put the expenses on a credit card. ‘Are the girls planning something special to gift me at the bachelorette party?’ she added. ‘Just want to make sure you’re thinking of it!!!’ Did this exchange really happen? Who knows – but bridezilla stories are perennial crowd-pleasers. The lack of perspective around weddings just rings true in an era when they keep getting bigger, shinier and costlier. Bridebook.com’s 2024 Wedding Report found that average spend was set to top £20,000 this year for the first time.
When we spend more money, we expect more. Chloé Browne has been photographing weddings for 15 years, and though she finds them ‘beautiful to be a part of ’, she says the pressure has increased. ‘Photographers can end up with 4,000 photos to sift through and some clients expect a same or next-day preview when you’ve finished really late,’ she explains. ‘We’re used to the instant gratification of social media.’
As with all areas of modern life, exposure to other people’s best moments on Instagram can trigger insecurities about our own. What would ha
