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It’s every bride’s nightmare — you plan your big day and everything is going well…and then enters the most poorly-behaved wedding guest. What’s a bride to do? Here are the stories of seven enterprising women who warded off weddingdisasters from poorly-behaved wedding guests.
“I knew several of the guests might be a bit – well – difficult. So I appointed two close friends to be ‘wedding bouncers’ and let them know who to keep an eye on. When one of the potential troublemakers showed signs of having had too much bubbly, one of the ‘bouncers’ simply escorted him politely out of the reception and into a cab. This plan worked like a charm!” — Ellen
“My mother was the overbearing guest! I’m an only child. She’s widowed and wasn’t quite ready to let me go. She cried profusely, complained I’d probably never come see her after the honeymoon, half seriously threatened my groom to treat me well or she’d have him taken care of — all within earshot of the other guests. I was ready to blow a gasket but realized mom wanted to feel needed so I gave her some errands to do — checking with the planner to see if the florist had brought the bouquets, getting me some water … I also thanked her profusely for being the best mom in the world and said I’d always want to spend time with her. Lastly, I summoned mom’s brother to keep her busy. Luckily, these ‘interventions’ worked, mom settled down and my glorious day proceeded smoothly.” — Sandy
“My childhood Rabbi was set to marry me, but wasn’t too happy that since my groom is Christian, he’d be performing the service with a minister. During the wedding rehearsal the Rabbi made a snide comment about how important it is to keep the Jewish faith going. I stewed over this and before the ceremony had a private word with him and reassured him that Judaism would always be important to me. However, I’d been praying that this day would be full of love and joy and nothing else and that’s the spirit I wanted everyone involved in my happiness to bring to the ‘chuppa.’ He got the message and the ceremony was so perfect everyone was reduced to tears!” — Rachel
See More: Can You Say #WeddingGoals? Real Brides Reveal Their Big-Day Hopes and Dreams
“One of my new husband’s frat brothers, who I’d only met once before, hit on me when we were dancing! I kicked him in the shins, and told him to exit the premises ASAP. The jerk limped away and exited our lives forever.” — Eve
“My sister in law had a three-year-old who was so spoiled, I feared he was capable of ruining the other guests’ good times. I arranged for childcare during the wedding, so the adults could celebrate unencumbered.” — Martha
“My groom’s father has many wonderful qualities, but is a terrible speechmaker. His toast went on and on and on on. Finally I pretended to myself it was the Oscars and motioned to the DJ to start playing music.” — Lisa
“At the time of the wedding my parents had been divorced for a year. Dad was newly remarried and mom was very bitter about ‘feeling replaced’. I had long talks with both of them, separately of course, emphasizing the wedding was my day. I would do everything possible to limit their exposure to one another — for instance, seating them at opposite ends of the reception hall during dinner. But I told them if either of them acted up during the wedding I would tell his or grandchild years hence that grandma or grandpa had ruined my wedding. Both of them behaved!” — Paula
Sherry Amatenstein, LCSW is a New York City-based marriage therapist and author.