Penny-pinching bride demands refunds from all wedding vendors, her attempt to avoid debt after overspending backfires when bank catches on: "The venue, the catering, the photographer, her hair and makeup artist, the list goes on."

Author image for Ely Bulnes
Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Mar 1, 2025 8:00 PM EST

I am in the middle of wedding planning, so I know first-hand how incredibly expensive everything can be. Even a "micro-wedding" venue (intended for less than 50 guests) can go up to ten grand for a single evening. Then there's cleaning fees, reservation fees, and a slew of other random hidden costs that end up marking up the price. It's truly horrible. It's easy to see how someone could go into debt without even having a spectacular ceremony.

In our story today, a bride tries to avoid this very situation by attempting to get refunds from all the vendors at her wedding. No one is safe – artists, photographers, caterers, even the venue itself. It seems like her husband just handed her a credit card and let her do whatever she wanted, but eventually the financial consequences did catch up. If you love a tale involving karma, scroll down to get all the juicy details. 

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  • 01

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

    "The majority of her wedding was paid for by her credit card."
    via photobyalexl

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

  • 02
    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.
    via u/Shitzme
  • 03
    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
    via u/Shitzme
  • 04
    frequently get RSI. So small tiny texts in print style font can be difficult to accomplish. 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.
    via u/Shitzme
  • 05
    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 u/Shitzme
  • 06
    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.
    via u/Shitzme
  • 07
    The big day comes and goes, I see photos from my coworker, the signs looked beautiful, as did the whole day.
    via u/Shitzme
  • 08
    E welcome
    via StudioPeace

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

  • 09
    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 u/Shitzme
  • 10
    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
    via u/Shitzme
  • 11
    communication. Because of the style of font she chose, it would not be perfect and she was aware of this. I also denied her refund. She blocked me and I thought that was it. Until a few days later when I
    via u/Shitzme
  • 12
    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 u/Shitzme
  • 13
    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,
    via u/Shitzme
  • 14
    the catering, the photographer, her hair and makeup artist, the list goes on. She 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
    via u/Shitzme
  • 15
    Cheezburger Image 10473425664
    via ErstudioStock

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

  • 16
    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.
    via u/Shitzme

  • It's actually amazing that our protagonist was able to win against this chargeback. Luckily, bridezilla wasn't too bright and made it really obvious as to what she was up to.

  • 17
    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 u/Shitzme
  • 18
    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 u/asyouwish
  • 19
    Shitzme OP I'm not a business though, literally just someone who paints lol
    via u/Shitzme
  • 20
    tamij1313 By the way....$200 for 35 hours of labor, materials and delivery is ridiculously low! Value your work and skills and stop diminishing yourself by repeating that you are not a "professional". Who says? Experience, professionalism and talent are what determines whether or not you are a professional
    via u/tamij1313
  • 21
    snobal60 Calculate that at $130 for 35 hours worth of work (presumably the rest went to materials), so basically $3.72 an hour. OP, your time and aching joints are worth so much more than that!
    via u/snobal60
  • 22
    Cheezburger Image 10473425408
    via DragonImages

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

  • 23
    Nightmare_Gerbil She probably walked into the bank with a list of all her wedding vendors and announced that, now the wedding was over, she would be seeking chargebacks for everything.
    via u/Nightmare_Gerbil
  • 24
    catforbrains I'm pretty sure the bank fired her as a customer. Trying to do that many chargebacks would be considered a gross misuse of bank policy, and it's completely obvious her only issue with any of the services rendered is that
    via u/catforbrains
  • 25
    she actually has to pay for them. It actually costs the bank time and money to do disputes, both of which her dumb a is costing them a lot of. That's usually when the money access is cut off, but you will be paying back everything you ran up plus interest.
    via u/catforbrains
  • 26
    SatansWife13 This is why both people getting married need to plan the wedding. So that surprises like this don't happen. Also, so that one person doesn't shoulder all of the emotional labor throughout the entire marriage.
    via u/SatansWife13
  • 27
    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 u/Recent_Maintenance28

  • Our protagonist should totally embrace the “flaws” in her work instead of apologizing for it. If someone wanted perfect, printed script, they would just have it printed. If they're paying someone to do it by hand, it should look like it. It's totally part of the charm.

  • 28
    lipstickbabygirl She probably won the charge back dispute as she was not the only "business" 'zilla tried to chargeback
    via u/lipstickbabygirl
  • 29
    Maleficent_Pay_4154 This is not just a bridezilla. It's mean nasty and penny pinching. Pleased the bank didn't accept her chargeback
    via u/Maleficent_Pay_4154
  • 30
    Shitzme OP I thought she'd fall under the category by trying to get money back from everyone
    via u/Shitzme
  • 31
    Maleficent_Pay_4154 Not saying you are wrong but she was in a whole other category
    via u/Maleficent_Pay_4154
  • 32
    MirandaR524 People have no shame.
    via u/MirandaR524
  • 33
    RJack151 NTA. All sales were final and she accepted them 'as is'.
    via u/RJack151
  • 34
    stellazee You are so right, especially the part about scamming small businesses, because so many wedding vendors are small business owners.
    via u/stellazee
  • 35
    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 every six weeks or so, we get a notification that a
    via u/stellazee
  • 36
    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 u/stellazee
  • 37
    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.
    via u/Ok_Airline_9031
  • 38
    birkenstocksandcode What I got out of this is that you need to charge more than 200 for a sign.
    via u/birkenstocksandcode

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bride groom wedding drama Crazy Brides coworkers reddit story relationships wedding couples love entitled reddit thread red flag bridezilla Reddit budget entitled people
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