'Friendzillas': Women Share When Friendships Ended After Weddings Because Their Friends Became Bridezillas

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Oct 16, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

Nothing is worse than a friendship breakup. When you get your heartbroken by a romantic partner, sure, it hurts and it takes a while to bounce back and you'll never love the same. But when you and someone you considered to be your closest friend have a falling out, it is way more painful. Now you lose someone who was supposed to have your back through all the stupid heartbreaks! It's not easy for friendships to end, something either has to be festering for a long time or something very dramatic happens. Unfortunately, this often happens when one gets married, but not for the reason you think. It's not because now one bestie is all wrapped up in her marriage and the other gets left out. It's because the bestie getting married becomes a bridezilla and rears her ugliest side to her closest friend—thus, straining or even ending the friendship. 

Women who had this happen to them when they were asked to be at the wedding party or simply to attend the wedding and the friend turned into an entitled Karen bride, share their stories. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10416683520
    via Unsplash+ (and Karolina Grabowska)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Friendships that have ended post- wedding. Friendzillas have made me look at my best friend differently. 1 out of country bachelorette party, one out of state bachelorette party with 20+ invitees (15 attended). 2 bridal showers (1 had a post shower club night). 1 big birthday bash for bride in the middle of it all. 2 weddings (1 had a post celebration after)
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    As ONE of TWO MOHS another bridesmaid bullied me and I kept it in. I chose to shield the bride from my turmoil and now that it's all over I feel completely betrayed after I told her what was up and she chose to shrug it off. Those who have parted way with the bride after the wedding, how did you do it? I keep gaslighting myself by saying I'm overreacting. But after
    via Available_Total863
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    spending so much time and money (she only paid for her flights), I feel like an idiot. I fought so hard for her. I wanted her to feel so loved and protected. I'm also getting married in 2026 and I can't fathom her being apart it. I'm heartbroken. ETA: Yes... the events above are all from this one bride.
    via Available_Total863
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    Brilliant-Slice-20... One time I waited until they got back from their honeymoon after I found out the bride had been talking about me the whole time I was in her bridal party and actually hated my guts. I spent $1500 on her wedding. We had issues because of how much she was expecting us to spend and wanted things in a very specific way (which I understand her wanting but she should have paid for us). She knew her bridesmaids were financially struggling and chose to buy a
    via Brilliant-Slice-2049
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    $700 litter robot for her cats a month before the wedding but did not wanna spend 200 to help us cover hair and make up. I also found she was saying were out some of the blatant lies that I had the receipts for. I messaged the couple and ended the friendship after 3 people came to me about what she was saying. The second time I ended it because this bride attracted so much drama. We hadn't been super close in years and whenever i would see her it was because something was going on with her famil
    via Brilliant-Slice-2049
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    (They didn't approve of him). I tried to be sympathetic and listen and eventually she asked me to be a bridesmaid and assured me it wouldn't be too expensive and the wedding was in a few months, she was paying for a bunch of stuff for us etc. (She knew about the previous situation above and did the opposite). I said yes and then she postponed her wedding which dragged out even more. She guilted me to stay in the bridal party and I really saw her true colours when I realized she was lying about s
    via Brilliant-Slice-2049
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    but the emotional labor of it all was too much for me to deal with. That time I just slow faded and after months of not hearing from her after the wedding I just blocked them both. Mind you, both time its took YEARS for me to get over and a lot of therapy. I poured way to much into their cups and when it came back around and I ever needed help they were nowhere to be found. So its fine if you feel heartbroken thats normal you lost a person you were close with that you poured into a lot and they
    via Brilliant-Slice-2049
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    StormBeyondTime I swear the women with the personalities to become bridezillas curate a circle of people pleasers and mean girls. The people pleasers don't notice how badly they're treated because it's a little drip at a time most of the time, and they don't see how it's accumulating bit by bit. The mean girls enjoy seeing the people pleasers be mistreated. Then wedding prep happens, and the bridezillas turn the drip up to a blast. The mean girls follow. And the people pleasers realize just how
    via StormBeyondTime
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    No_Vehicle640 Being honest with myself about what I was getting or not getting from the friendship and how I was being treated helped me pull the plug. I posted on Reddit and people knocked sense into me - I realized I was in a codependent friendship where I was the giver and she was the taker and my final straw was how appalling the brides behavior was before a very major surgery I had to have with a specialist out of state. It was hard but I'm so much happier already and found my self respect.
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    unreedemed1 I lost a friend after her wedding and before mine. I was in her wedding and she was really mean to me (long story). She told me before my wedding she'd only come if we had a conversation where she would tell me all the things I did wrong and I apologized for them all (not the first time she pulled this - she did it before her wedding and had a lot of ridiculous complaints, including things like prioritizing my relationship with now- husband/then-fiancé over her - for example, I met h
    via unreedemed1
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    dangerouscannoli I can relate. I was one of two MOHS, the other being my friend's sister. I always knew my friend's sister was difficult to get along with, so we were never close, but it revealed a lot about my friend by the end of the wedding. First, her sister took over planning the bachelorette, without saying anything to me. Then, planned said party in the middle of nowhere when she knew I didn't have a way of getting there because I can't drive due to a disability. I tried to find a way to
    via dangerouscanolli
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    and drop me off, but she ignored my texts. I even reached out to the bridesmaids and asked if I could hitch a ride since they have to drive through my area anyway, and was ignored. My friend was aware of all this, since I told her, and she said she'd speak to her sister and friends. She never did, and then proceeded to tell me that she felt I did not want to attend. I wound up not attending because I felt like they didn't want me there. Third, when I showed up to the bridal shower, her mom and h
    via dangerouscanolli
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    I stood up for myself and politely said that I only told her I was celebrating my dad's bday that weekend in our hometown and would be nearby if she wanted to get breakfast, which was true. Fourth, her sister loudly called her husband stupid right after he went to go get her a glass of champagne in the bridal suite. It was awkward and everyone in the room went silent...except the bride and her sister who giggled. It was weird.
    via dangerouscanolli
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    I realized my friend is not so nice. It felt like her sister's bad behavior rubbed off on her, since she wasn't always like this. So I stopped texting and calling, and I feel much better. Looking back, there were lots of other red flags, so I'm glad I made this decision. I would suggest trying to slowly decrease contact with this person. Let it fizzle out and enjoy your newfound peace. If someone chooses to surround themselves with people, well that's their choice but it does reflect poorly on t
    via dangerouscanolli
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    dieticewater I haven't spoken to my MOH since the day after my wedding 22 years ago. I didn't even have anything crazy like a bachelorette (not even a dinner out!) or ask her to plan anything since it was kind of a short notice wedding. I just needed her to show up to the 1 dress fitting for the dress SHE picked out and then be on time for hair and makeup. She skipped the fitting and the dress was huge on her and while she was on time I had to hunt her down multiple times because she only spent
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    Yes_Special_Princess I ignored a red flag. I had a friend that had been more of a drinking buddy in grad school. We barely spoke after I moved to a different city on the opposite side of the state. We hadn't even spoken aside from Instagram comments in 2 years when she invited me to her wedding. I was excited to attend because of all of the presumed eligible Silicon Valley bachelors who were attending. I had been invited to the out of state bachelorette party held at her best friend's condo, but
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    The Monday before the wedding, she asked me to take over as a bridesmaid as a friend had dropped out. I love a free dress and a party, so I quickly agreed. Two days before the wedding I flew in and was picked up from the airport by friend and her fiancée. They gave me the dress and dropped me off at a tailor who could make overnight changes. Tailor was impressed by my measurements but slightly dismayed that she had 24 hours to take the dress waist in by 6 inches and bust in by 4 inches. She was
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    Rehearsal comes and she admitted she asked me to take over because I was "skinny, pretty, and would not mess up photos." She also told me too keep quiet about being a widow, because widows are bad luck at weddings. But again, I would be great in photos. With that comment, I expressed concern over the shoe requirements. She wanted all bridesmaids to have gold straps sandals with 4 inch heels. I packed those, but tried to explain to her that I would tower over everyone but 2 groomsmen in photo bec
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    The bride 5'4". Bridesmaids between 5'1" and 5'5". She still insisted I wear heels. Fine. I did rehearsal in the heels but without my partner. My partner was her brother. Everyone quickly proclaimed that the brother was flying in the morning if the wedding and flying out the morning after the wedding. Others made it clear that brother was not very welcome. Ok. Cool. Rehearsal dinner was at a BBQ restaurant. I make do with a salad and biscuits due a very finicky diet. The bride started getting sl
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    happy because her immediate family thought that I was a former model and -at that time-fit their culture's standards of beauty. However, she was unhappy because I was also overpowering her other bridesmaids. In fact, me staying quiet during a dinner I couldn't eat and spoke limited only made home more mysterious, this taking attention away from the bride. So I started acting more outgoing to fit the expected stereotype. Fine.
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    Day of the wedding, I finally met her brother. I had known her for 6 years and somehow never met her brother, but had met her parents several times. Sure enough, I tower over all but two members of the party, so she had me standing near the edge of the lineup. I had to duck so as to not hit my head. They also switched my pairing at the last minute since the brother indicated interest in me. Fine. After the cultural moments of the ceremony we had a photo shoot. The photographer had me kneeling fo
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    Finally, during the reception, we were allowed to relax and celebrate. Her brother bought all of the groomsmen and bridesmaids shots. Brother and I also danced since I was trained through ballet and musical theater and he was a semi- professional ballroom dancer. The bride angrily pulled me aside and demanded that I stop dancing and flirting with her brother. I apologized and made sure to dance with the other single men and any old uncles. I even managed to speak with elders in her family in the
    via Yes_Special_Princess
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    I helped clean up then snuck off with the brother for our own after party. 6 years have passed since the wedding. No one aside from the immediate family has seen ANY of the photos aside from the kids after announcing the bride and groom. If she didn't take family photos for holidays, you would have no idea she was even married. Wild.
    via Yes_Special_Princess

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bride besties groom wedding party best friends wedding drama entitled brides getting married friendzilla wedding female friendships friendship breakup entitled friend friendships bridezilla weddings Karen bride Maid Of Honor
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