‘That meant I’d only be paid… $30 for 35 hours of work': Bridezilla demands refund from small wedding artist 2 months later for something she clearly agreed on, gets denied by her own bank instead

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Feb 27, 2025 7:00 AM EST

If you are getting married, might we encourage you to ditch the big corporate sponsored wedding and go with employing all local and small businesses? That is the best way to do it! You get a more personal and intimate feel, face-to-face customer service, and you are helping the local economy. It's a win-win for everybody involved! Sure, it might be a tad more expensive because you are getting work done by real people who have passions and care about their product, but isn't that worth the extra cash? If you are not willing to pay the extra price, if there even is a higher price tag (sometimes the artist doesn't know their own worth and it's actually cheaper!), then, yes, go with the corporate plastic wedding… 

 

What we do not encourage is going with local and small business for your wedding if you're just going to try and dupe them out of their services. That's just messed up, man… Why would you do that? Welp, humanity finds a way to stoop lower, just like this bride who tried to get refunds from all of the local services she employed for her wedding, TWO MONTHS after the actual wedding was over! 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10472870400
    via Unsplash+ (and Curated Lifestyle)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

     

    Who does that, right?! Apparently this bride does. It was two months after the wedding and she she reached out to all the services she hired, including a small local artist who already gave her an extremely low price for their work. She initially requested a partial refund, but even that is a ridiculous request after she agreed to the pricing and everything that came with it. She then tried to go through her bank to get a full refund and the bank was like, "pardon?…" Small businesses finally get a win from the bank! 

  • "Bridezilla wanted a refund from all vendors/services, months after the wedding"

    I'm currently finishing up a commission of handpainted wedding signs for a friend of a friend. So far the bride to be has been super lovely and very understanding of some issues faced along the way. As a background, I'm really good at what I do, but am not a trained 'professional'. I'm very open and honest with this. I also suffer from nerve damage in my upper back, neck and left shoulder, plus frequently get RSI. So small tiny texts in print style font can be difficult to accomplish.
    via Shi*zme
  • Something I'm also honest about. If you want print style text, it will not be 100% perfect and look like it's been printed. Anyway. A few years ago I was commissioned by a coworker to paint 2 large signs for their daughters wedding. She wanted print only text, I explained how it wouldn't be 100% perfect but she said she was fine with it. That it gave it that handmade feel.
    via Shi*zme
  • About 35 hours later and a lot of physical pain, the signs are completed. She's happy with them, gushing over them when I delivered them in person. The signs were completed, delivered and paid for ($200 including canvases and paint) with 2 months left until the wedding. The big day comes and goes, I see photos from my coworker, the signs looked beautiful, as did the whole day.
    via Shi*zme
  • About 6 weeks later I get a message from the new bride. Stating she had noticed imperfections in the signs, some of the letters were slightly uneven or bigger than others. She agreed it wasn't too noticeable but others had apparently commented on it. She was requesting a partial refund of $100.
    via Shi*zme
  • So I explain that to give her a refund, meant that I'd only be paid $30 for my work. $30 for 35 hours of work and physical pain. She had 2 months to tell me she was unhappy but didn't. That she herself loved the signs. I also reminded her of our earlier communication. Because of the style of font she chose, it would not be perfect and she was aware of this. I
    via Shi*zme
  • Cheezburger Image 10472872960
    via Unsplash+ (and Anita Austvika)
  • also denied her refund. She blocked me and I thought that was it. Until a few days later when I recieved a notification from my bank, she had requested a charge back. This was easily disputed with my screenshots of our conversation and photos of the actual signs. Her charge back was denied.
    via Shi*zme
  • That coworker stopped speaking to me at work, I figured that anyway. Turns out, the new bride had requested partial refunds from every single vendor and service recieved for her wedding. The venue, the catering, the photographer, her hair and makeup artist, the list goes on. She
    via Shi*zme
  • had chosen to leave her job and become a full time dog breeder, it didn't work out. The majority of her wedding was paid for by her credit card, now she was in debt, fighting with her new husband over her excessive spending. Apparently he'd given her full reign to do whatever she wanted as long as she didn't pester him with organising it. To go into debt over one day is ridiculous in itself, but to try and scam. small businesses and people doing you favours, is another.
    via Shi*zme
  • asyouwish wow! For a business to win a chargeback dispute is rare. Her card company must have seen what she was up to and taken action. She's a 'zilla and needs to get a jobby job to pay off all her debts before it ruins her new marriage.
    via asyouwish
  • ♡Eat, Drink and » Be Married ♡
    via Unsplash+ (and Ben Rosett)
  • charms1128 Bridezilla aside (like, yeeted v v far away) please reexamine your pricing!! That's a lot of work and time spent. Make sure you accept jobs that are worth your time! Your hard work deserves to be compensated properly
    via charms1128
  • Maleficent_Pay_4... This is not just a bridezilla. It's mean nasty and penny pinching. Pleased the bank didn't accept her chargeback
    via Maleficent_Pay_4154
  • FoxySlyOldStoaty... That coworker stopped speaking to me at work A shame, because it would be a joy to hear regular updates about how his daughter is torpedoing her life, her marriage, and her family. "The Bible says. of karma is rarely lubricated," as The
    via FoxySlyOldStoatyFox
  • stellazee You are so right, especially the part about scamming small businesses, because so many wedding vendors are small business owners. I do the paperwork for a bar, and we keep CC receipts for a long time, though cardholders only have so long to dispute a transaction. Probably once
    via stellazee
  • every six weeks or so, we get a notification that a patron has disputed a charge on their card. We go back in and pull the receipt(s), and sure enough, the patron added a tip and signed the CC receipt. The fact that these transactions may have happened at 3:45 am doesn't make them any less legitimate, lol.
    via stellazee
  • love
    via Unsplash+ (and Olivie Strauss)
  • Ok_Airline_9031 The bridezilla is a con artist who spent too much money on her wedding and is now in financial distress because of stupid decisions. Not Your Problem. You told her upfront the cost and facts and she was happy with it. The fact that she is pulling this with everyone means you can ALL sue her together if she tries to keep harassing you about it. Your
    via Ok_Airline_9031
  • coworker is garbage for letting her get away with this sh. Contact the other cendors and exchange notes so you're all on the sae page regarding this scammer, and make sure your coworker knows if her bride keeps this up, you could probably legally include the coworker in the suut because she brought the girl to you: party to the crime, as it were. That might get her to het the bride to wise up. if the bride starts talking sh about her vendors, you are all each others witnesses to her bu ying and
    via Ok_Airline_9031
  • Recent Maintenance28 May I suggest that you don't 'apologize for imperfections' but rather "promote your distinctive hand crafted style". You create art, you are an artist. If someone doesn't want to buy your work (I'm talking before you produce it) that's their choice but don't sell them your imperfections. Sell them artwork and don't apologize.
    via Recent_Maintenance28
  • Ginger630 Was there a contract? She shouldn't get a dime back, but I'd start making customers sign contracts. All payment up front. Refunds only if there is a typo. Why have an expensive wedding if you can't afford it? I hope all the vendors laughed at her and hung up.
    via Ginger630

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