Bride’s Christmas-Themed Wedding Criticized by Cousin as ‘Tacky’, Causing Family Drama

A wedding guest is regretting the comments she made about her cousin’s wedding décor.

On Reddit’s AITA forum, the woman, who is the bride’s cousin, asked whether her remarks about the wedding’s “over-the-top” Christmas theme went too far.

Although the wedding took place in August, the bride has always loved Christmas, so she and her partner decided to embrace a holiday-inspired theme. The celebration featured a fake snow machine, red and green decorations, a hot chocolate bar, and bridesmaid dresses trimmed with velvet and white fur.

“It felt more like a winter-themed office party than a wedding,” the guest wrote.

As the evening progressed, she kept her thoughts to herself while taking photos and smiling along with the festivities. But later, while at the bar with her boyfriend, she quietly remarked, “This is kind of over-the-top. It’s cute, but it feels like a Hallmark movie exploded in here.” She assumed her comment had been private.

Unfortunately, a bridesmaid overheard the exchange and told the bride. About 20 minutes later, the upset bride confronted her cousin.

“I immediately apologized and told her I didn’t mean it that way. I said I thought it was fun, just not what I expected,” the guest wrote. “She said, ‘It is what I wanted. It’s my day, not yours,’ and walked off before I could explain further.”

Since the wedding, the bride hasn’t responded to her cousin, and tensions have grown in the family. While her boyfriend insisted she did nothing wrong, her mother and aunt scolded her for embarrassing the bride.

“She hasn’t answered any of my messages since,” the woman wrote. “My aunt called me the next day and said I ruined the mood and embarrassed my cousin on her wedding night. My mom agrees that I should have kept my opinions to myself.”

Now, she’s stressed about the strained relationship and the unintended hurt she caused.

“I honestly didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I didn’t say it to be mean and I didn’t expect it to get back to her. But maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut entirely.”

In the comments, other Reddit users mostly agreed that it wasn’t appropriate to criticize the wedding while it was still happening.

“Yes, it’s an odd theme for an August wedding, but that was neither the time nor place to say anything about it,” one user wrote.

Some pointed out that although the guest was wrong to voice criticism, the bridesmaid shouldn’t have relayed it to the bride during her special day.

A few, however, felt the comment was harmless. “I don’t think what you said was mean,” one person wrote. “If someone said that my wedding looked like ‘a Pinterest board exploded in here,’ I would take it as the compliment it is lol.”