Sometimes I think it isn't always the bride's fault. Sometimes the pressure and expectations of others can make a girl snap...

When I was planning my wedding, it all started out great, until the family got involved. Very quickly I was receiving demands from all sorts of people.

• SO's grandma said she would not attend unless the reception was within a twenty minute drive of her home. (there is only one venue in that distance, and it was an outdoor patio built onto a shitty bar) She didn't attend.
• My soon to be father-in-law called my parents and told them I was an awful bitch, and he knew his son was making the biggest mistake of his life. (for reference, FIL is a raging alcoholic, SO hasn't spoken to him in years) He went so far as to confront me, spreading lies about me cheating on his son. He even begged his son 2 minutes before the wedding to call it off.
• MIL has a phobia of bridges. She said she wouldn't attend if it required driving over a bridge. MIL also had 1000 more demands about the colors, season, location, songs played at the reception, the brands of beer we served, the time of the event...
• two weeks before the wedding, the organist I had booked said she couldn't play for the event. She was pregnant and wanted to take it easy. This wouldn't have been a problem, except only organists on the "approved list" were allowed to play in the church. The list ended with her. I had to beg the officiant to let me hire someone.
• Invited a cousin, who rsvp'd with +11 people, her new boyfriend, her BF's children, her BFF, her BFF's children, and 2 babysitters so they "could drink" - I politely tried to explain we were working with a pretty limited budget, and they were welcome to come after dinner to celebrate, she refused to come. When she refused, her brother then said he wouldn't come.
• One of my best friends said she couldn't afford the $110 bridesmaids dress. She actually said to my face that I was being selfish and unreasonable, expecting people to spend that much on a dress. This was 3 weeks after I dropped $450 on my bridesmaids dress that she selected for her wedding. I paid for her dress. She got in a fight with her boyfriend at the wedding and left 20 minutes after dinner. Turns out, she explained to my hairdresser that she was very jealous, her wedding was called off a few weeks later.
• SO's aunt threw a fit and refused to attend when she found out the nearby hotel rooms were $115 a night. "I am not made of money, and I won't be able to drive home after drinking all night..." She didn't attend.
• I ordered a beer after dinner. My now sister-in-law approached me and pointed out how embarrassing it was for me to drink a beer while at a formal event. "if you had any class you would know better"

Sure, looking at it now, it's mostly all pretty petty stuff. But it was like a daily fucking nightmare, people constantly complaining, making demands, telling me how things should and should not be. It was like this wedding turned everyone I knew into crazy people. I was busy enough trying to get everything organized and paid for. I was calling my sister daily just to vent. We still laugh about how cranky and frustrated I was with everything.

Leading up to the wedding, I just couldn't wait until it was all over with, and I could just go back to my normal life. In hindsight I should have just told everyone to fuck off, but then I suppose the extended family would have said I was a selfish bitch. It was a no-win situation.

The wedding day was lovely, I just celebrated my 12 year anniversary. But fuck planning anything like that again. If I had a time machine I would have just eloped.