‘Bridezilla’ Backed for Ejecting Bridesmaid Over Wine-Stained Wedding Dress

Internet commenters were left skeptical after one bride revealed how her generations-old wedding dress was doused with red wine just hours before the ceremony.

Posting on Reddit’s r/AmITheA**hole forum, Redditor u/bridezillaaita3 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said she was getting ready for her special day when she discovered one of her bridesmaids had spilled on the gown, which originally belonged to her late mother.

Titled, “[Am I the a**hole] for going ‘bridezilla’ after my bridesmaid spilled wine on my wedding dress?” the post has received more than 10,000 votes and nearly 2,000 comments in the last six hours.

“Because the dress was so important to me, I had a big plan to keep it safe from any damages,” OP began. “I would only wear the dress at the wedding itself, and I would switch to a more casual dress for the reception…I wouldn’t eat or drink anything, and I would stay inside at all times.”

Along with the disclaimer that she’s usually not as intense about cleanliness, the original poster said she was determined to keep the dress in pristine condition, and that the thought of it being damaged “broke [her] heart.”

But after leaving the dress with her bridesmaids—who the original poster assured were aware of her strict no food, no drink policy—all caution was thrown to the wind.

“On the day of the wedding…they opened a bottle of Pinot Noir (my favorite) as a celebration,” OP wrote. “One of my bridesmaids…wanted to get a closer look at my dress. She got really close to it, and…somehow, her hand holding the wine glass slipped, and wine spilled all over the bottom of the dress.”

“I started sobbing,” OP continued. “I asked [the bridesmaid] what the hell she was doing holding red wine so close to my dress when she knew how careful I was being.

“She dismissed it and said it wasn’t such a big deal because I was planning to wear the dress, so it could have gotten damaged that way too,” OP added. “I called her thoughtless and careless and stupid [and] that she was no longer part of the wedding and that I wanted her to leave.”

Despite months of planning, multiple rehearsals and overwhelming levels of excitement, weddings rarely go off without a hitch.

In fact, WeddingWire reports that complications on the big day are common, and rarely catastrophic.

Problems with vendors and venues, unexpectedly poor weather and drama between family members are largely out of the marrying couple’s control. But fashion issues, ranging from stains and rips to broken heels and missing buttons, can be prepared for and remedied quickly.

WeddingWire recommends that wedding parties are equipped with simple stain removers and sewing kits, as well as backup options if garments or other accessories are too damaged to wear.

Backup options, however, rarely convey the same meaning as a bride or groom’s first choice, and can put a major damper on otherwise perfect wedding days.

Wrapping up her viral Reddit post, the original poster said that after the wedding, her bridal party joked that she had been a “bridezilla” for kicking out the bridesmaid who stained her dress, and claimed that the spill was an “honest mistake.”

Members of Reddit’s r/AmITheA**hole defended one bride who ejected a bridesmaid for spilling red wine on her wedding dress, and claiming it “wasn’t such a big deal.”
AndreyPopov/iStock / Getty Images Plus

Throughout the post’s comment section, Redditors pushed back against this notion, with many respondents questioning why anybody would bring red wine around a sentimental wedding dress and others offering suspicions that the spill was hardly a mistake at all.

“WHY would you wander around with a glass of wine next to a white wedding dress that had such extreme sentimental value??” Redditor u/loloannd exclaimed in the post’s top comment, which has received nearly 18,000 upvotes. “[Not the a**hole].”

“Even if the dress wasn’t sentimental…the fact that it’s your wedding dress automatically makes it VIP,” they continued. “And the fact that [she] didn’t seem sorry makes me feel like she deserved to be kicked out.”

Redditor u/straightaspasta, whose comment has received nearly 4,000 upvotes, offered a similar response.

“[Not the a**hole] at all,” they assured. “If I was [the bridesmaid], I would have been absolutely mortified and would have been apologizing profusely.”

“To say it ‘could have been damaged from wearing it’ is the lamest deflective excuse,” Redditor u/No-Rub1544 added. “I would have done the same thing you did.”

In a series of separate comments, a trio of Redditors also showed support for the original poster, but levied far more serious allegations against the wine-spilling bridesmaid.

“Honey, I think you need new friends,” Redditor u/Primary-Criticism929 wrote, receiving more than 8,000 upvotes. “That was NOT an accident. [She] did it on purpose and the others covered for her.”

“There is no way this was an accident,” Redditor u/Fainora echoed, receiving more than 2,000 upvotes.

“I can’t be the only one who thinks she did this on purpose?” Redditor uNext-End-4696 chimed in, receiving more than 3,000 upvotes. “I’m incredibly uncoordinated and even I wouldn’t do something like this.”

Newsweek reached out to u/bridezillaaita3 for comment.