Mother includes her married son in new family portraits but excludes his wife, then hangs the pictures by the front door and daughter-in-law confronts her: '[The pictures had nothing to do with you]'

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Celeste Mello • Writer and Editor
Aug 4, 2026 12:00 PM EDT

Being intentionally left out of a family portrait delivers a clear message. And that is: you're not part of my family. That is why a 37-year-old daughter-in-law felt so pointed after her mother-in-law organized a photo session and didn't include her.   

In today's story, a 50-year-old mother used her youngest daughter's senior photo session to update the family pictures hanging in her home. Her husband, her daughter, and her 29-year-old son participated. However, the son's wife, with whom he recently renewed his vows, was not included. Anyone noticing such a thing would feel rejected. Their mother-daughter-in-law relationship seems to have been strained long before the photo session, which may explain the decision, but that doesn't make the rejection invisible, and it clearly doesn't mean that she couldn't feel hurt. 

The daughter-in-law did what she thought was the best thing to do: confront her MIL and have a direct conversation about it. Do you think the mother admitted anything? No, she played innocent and responded that those were her daughter's senior pictures and therefore had nothing to do with her daughter-in-law. Apparently, the mother was surprised by the remark. But that was hardly surprising. She was free to take and display any pictures she wanted, just as her daughter-in-law was free to recognize the meaning behind them and say that it hurt. Meanwhile, the husband acts as if he lives in a different world. He stayed silent while he knew about the photo session and waited until the last moment to inform his wife. Still, his silence doesn't erase the mother's choice, of course, but he could have said something to her. We don't know why the MIL and DIL don't get along well, but the son could at least intervene and try to prevent his wife from feeling worse than she already feels.  

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  • Mother-in-law sitting on her couch, looking proud with no regrets about excluding her daughter-in-law from the updated family pictures.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Mother-in-law sitting on her couch, looking proud with no regrets about excluding her daughter-in-law from the updated family pictures.  

    Subjects are models.

  • AITA for taking family pictures without my son’s wife?

    On a throw away....with fake names. I, 50f used my youngest daughter's senior pictures to take updated family pictures. This happened last
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  • September, but my I just found out that this made my daughter-in-law angry.
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  • We, (husband 47, and Daisy 17, Penny 20) don't get along with my son, Ted's (29) wife. Let's call her Jeanette (37). We do keep the door open with Ted, but for now it is closed with Jeanette. This was the
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  • status of our relationship with Jeanette BEFORE we took these pictures. Ted knew about the pictures about a month before because I bought everyone jeans and white t-shirts. I didn't know,
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  • until last weekend, is that Ted didn't tell Jeanette about the pictures until the day before, and that made her mad. I don't know if Jeanette
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  • ever saw them before this week. I didn't start using them until we were getting the house ready for Daisy's graduation party.
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  • In addition to the family pictures, I also had Ted, Penny and Daisy take sibling photos. Don't worry, Daisy got plenty of pictures by herself. I
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  • absolutely love all the pictures, even if I did "hijack" Daisy's senior pictures to get them. Daisy is still peeved about that, but agrees the pictures are fabulous. The last time
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  • we took studio family pictures was right before Ted graduated from high school 11 years ago. I have the old pictures framed, with the new family picture hung underneath it.
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  • Framed family pictures displayed on a wall inside a home.
    via Unsplash+ (Lilly Branks)

    Framed family pictures displayed on a wall inside a home.

    Image is illustrative.

  • Recently, Ted and Jeanette threw themselves a 4th anniversary - vow renewal that they spent a year planning. This was their 3****rd wedding. Their initial courthouse ceremony, and then a wedding 6 months later.
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  • After the vow renewal ceremony, Jeanette asked to speak with me in private. I obliged her, and during that discussion, among other
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  • things, she let me know she was upset she wasn't included in the family pictures we took. She saw them because she had to pick Ted
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  • up from our house and the family pictures are hung on a wall you can see from the side windows by our front door. I told her that those
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  • were Daisy's senior pictures and they didn't have anything to do with her. She said that I took family pictures without Ted's family. I
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  • replied to Jeanette that if she wanted professional pictures with Ted, she was free to take professional pictures with Ted.
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  • Jeanette felt that as Ted's wife, I should not be taking any of my family pictures without her included.
    via StayBusy2492
  • Daughter-in-law looking upset after discovering she was excluded from new family portraits.
    via Unsplash+ (Curated Lifestyle)

    Daughter-in-law looking upset after discovering she was excluded from new family portraits.

    People shown are actors.

  • I don't think I was wrong, but her reaction legit surprised me. Especially since that's one of the first things she brought up.
    via StayBusy2492
  • I do think that I'm TA for agreeing to that conversation in the first place and not ending it when I realized it wasn't going well. That
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  • wasn't the time or the place and I do regret going against my better judgment on that.
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  • ConflictGullible392 Info: what is your problem with Jeannette?
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  • Flame_Keeper2 YTA. You sound like the nightmare MIL that Redditors are always complaining about. ETA: thanks for the awards
    via Flame_Keeper2
  • HomelyHobbit Yes, YTA. You can try to obfuscate and say that they were "senior pictures", but those were family photos that you took without a member of your family, Jeanette.
    via HomelyHobbit

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family drama daughter in law marriage family pictures family portraits wife in laws mother in law senior pictures vow renewal son
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