Fury as Bride Left 'In Tears' After Niece Ignored Advice and Ruined Wedding

A woman has come in for strong criticism after detailing how she derailed her aunt's wedding by failing to heed the advice of others.

As a result of this inaction, her aunt was left without a photographer to capture memories from her big day, something many on Reddit felt was a cardinal sin. After all, when it comes to weddings today, few things rank higher in terms of importance than having a top quality photographer on hand to capture events.

In February, the wedding planning website The Knot published its annual real weddings study examining the emerging trends around nuptials in the U.S. The findings were based on data gleaned from 12,000 couples who wed in 2022 and highlighted how photography is an important component of any wedding day.

According to the findings, 88 percent of respondents hired a photographer at an average cost of $2,600. All of which might go some way to explaining why the Reddit user posting under the handle u/KookyCranberry-6583 has ended up in so much trouble.

The user, who claims to be a 21-year-old woman, said it all started when she attended her aunt's wedding a few weeks ago as a guest but ignored a key instruction ahead of the big day.

"Before the wedding, everyone was advised to drink lots of water and eat beforehand because it was going to be extremely hot that day," she said. "The wedding started at 5:00 p.m., and I had absolutely nothing to eat or drink up until then except maybe a granola bar because I was extremely busy that day."

By the time the wedding rolled around she was "tired and hungry." Things got progressively worse during the ceremony, which was in a church. "I was feeling uneasy and lightheaded so I excused myself to go to the washroom," she said. "As I was walking, I got that feeling like I was about to collapse."

The next thing she remembers was seeing lots of people, including the bride and groom surrounding her. However, her fainting wasn't the issue: it was what had happened as a result. "Apparently, when I fainted, I fell onto the photographer who was crouched down near me," she said. "Not only that, but he dropped the camera lens down and it broke."

The collision had left the photographer without a camera while the location of the wedding meant it would be impossible for them to return home and get another one. "The bride was just in tears that she won't have any good pictures from her wedding," the woman said. "The bride was indeed mad at me, but I feel it was a bit harsh as it was extremely embarrassing for me already."

The woman remained largely unrepentant, insisting fainting had "never even crossed" her mind. Diane Gottsman, a national etiquette expert at The Protocol School of Texas, was inclined to agree. "The situation is unfortunate but accidents do happen," she told Newsweek. "Yes, the guest should have taken precautions with their health due to the severe heat, however, there is no proof that is why they fell down and fainted."

Gottsman said ultimately linking the fainting to the woman's hunger and dehydration was ultimately "conjecture" and did not stand up to scrutiny. "Blaming and shaming a guest for fainting and falling on the photographer is harsh," she said. "It was not intentional and could have happened to anyone, elderly, young, or dehydrated or with a medical emergency."

Ultimately, she felt the bride and groom should have had contingencies in place in case something like this happened.

"Although it did seem to ruin the wedding pictures for the bride and groom, any number of other misfortunes could have taken place and fortunately this person did not have a more severe malady like a broken bone, a stroke or heart attack at the wedding," Gottsman said. "The photographer could have gone to get another camera even if the ceremony was delayed (or had a backup) and there were no doubt photos taken early and on other people's cell phones."

Others on Reddit, however, were less forgiving of the woman's actions. "None of this was intentional, but it sounds like you were negligent and then not particularly concerned about the consequences for other people," one user wrote.

Another agreed, commenting: "As a person who faints in heat if I'm the least bit dehydrated, this was completely avoidable. Please recognize that drinking water doesn't have to interrupt your day. Stop risking your health because you feel so busy."

A third added: "Because of your choices, the bride does not have the wedding photographs she wanted. She has every right to be really angry at you as your actions led to that consequence. It doesn't matter that you didn't intend for it to happen. What matters is that you ignored their advice and the bride suffered as a result."

Newsweek reached out to u/KookyCranberry-6583 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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