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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want to have my wedding my way, not MILs

154 replies

Pembilton · 09/03/2017 15:55

Ok so I need to rant so apologies for the long post.

Basically my partner (28) and I (25) are getting married this summer and according to MIL every little thing that we've done since is wrong and somehow suggests that we don't love each other and the marriage is doomed to failure.

Our "proposal" went something like this:
(On the way home from a friend's wedding)
Him: That'll be us someday...
Me: (smiling) yeah
Him: Someday soon?
Me: Okay
Him: (couple of mins later)...Are we engaged?
Me: Yeah (kiss)

That evening he asked if I wanted to go with him ring shopping or if I wanted him to chose. I told him I really didn't want a ring (I think it's an outdated tradition, I would have to take it off for my job everyday anyway, our finances aren't fantastic, I'm not a fan of diamonds etc.) Evidently not the response he was expecting and he was a bit surprised but agreed. A couple of weeks later he surprised me with an antique 1st edition book from my favourite author with a lovely message from him inside. It's beautiful and perfect and my most treasured possession.

We told people the next day. My parents were over the moon, they really like him and they're normal human beings. MIL gave partner a really hard time for not proposing "properly" and kept going on about how disappointed she was that there were no photos (of what? we were on a train and obviously no ring or anything!). I was really annoyed on his behalf. Then she had a go at me for not wanting a ring suggesting I had some reason for wanting to keep the engagement secret. She then said even if I didn't want a new ring I should wear something on that finger so people "knew I was taken". I'm not sure if I should be offended or complimented by her belief in my appeal to the opposite sex! Anyway we all moved on aside from the occasional "they're engaged, not that you'd know it... she doesn't want a ring apparently..."

So we knew we wanted to get married soon and wanted a nice honeymoon (it was the middle of winter!), but neither of us were that fussed about the big white wedding so it was an easy decision to have a smaller, cheaper wedding and spend on a holiday. My parents offered to give us some money towards it but I graciously refused as we've both been working for some time, have our own savings etc. MIL never offered any money which is absolutely fine as we wouldn't expect it or have accepted anyway but she then took umbrage with our plans. "If you can't afford to do it properly now wait until you can" etc. Great, but I want to be married asap not have a wedding and tonne of debt some time in the distant future.

So wedding plans currently: 28 guests of family and close friends (16 for me, 12 for him), intimate secular wedding ceremony in a pretty location, private room for nice meal in a fancy restaurant and then booked a couple of booths at a trendy nightclub we both know and love for whoever wants to party with us afterwards. Dress code smart casual for us all (clothes we can re-wear yay!). Mum's already told me she's still going to wear a fascinator because she's mother of the bride and no one can stop her and dad wants me to make sure the club will take requests so he can dance with me to "our" song (we danced to it at my 16th). This is exactly the reaction I wanted and shows how it can be simple and quirky and still work for us. Obviously MIL is a different story and to be honest I've been leaving DP deal with her over most of it but I know she's thoroughly disapproving.

Most recent development has been over speeches. In short I really, really don't want them. I've never been to a wedding where they didn't make me feel awkward and uncomfortable. Not that they were dreadfully bad or anything I'm just a bit weird that way (I hate stand-up comedy too)! I hadn't even really thought about them until DP was talking about how he was dreading it. He was very happy to knock the whole thing on the head and so was my dad. Bearing in mind it's just a group of us sat around one table as opposed to a big hall anyway I really don't think we need them. I imagine my dad will probably lead a toast or something and obviously we'll say a quick thank you but really with so few guests everyone knows how special they are to us and we'll be able to go round and talk to/ thank everyone individually anyway.

So just got off the phone to MIL who had just found out that her son wouldn't be giving a speech. She was crying, telling me I'm ruining her sons wedding and clearly don't want to be getting married. I reassured her that I did, that I love her son more than anyone else in the world, that we were both planning the wedding that would be right for us together. I tried to find out why it all bothers her so much but all she seemed to say was that I was being a fool and I'd look back on this one day and regret it. I somehow ended up apologising for not running the details re speeches etc past her earlier (!) but at this stage I'd do anything for her to just let us do what we want.

To be honest I think she might have more of a problem with me than the wedding but I don't know why. We had a good relationship up to all this, I really love her son and I'm a nice person I promise! It's just really getting me down and although I'd never act on it it's getting so that I don't really want her there as I'm going to feel like she's just finding fault with everything! Ugh!

Obviously DP and I have spoken about this lots. He's completely happy with the wedding we've planned and very excited about it (he's even making some distressed wood flower planter things for our table decorations

OP posts:
xmb53 · 11/03/2017 20:53

YANBU - it's your and your partner's wedding, not anyone else. You are marrying each other, PILs are just the baggage. My wife and I were both earning (I already was a house owner) and my parents were no longer with us and basically we just planned the whole thing. For example, no speeches (except to thank everyone for coming), no wedding cake (no-one noticed), no gift list (as we already had everyone you need for living in a house), no photographer (we gave the children one-time use cameras), a limited guest list. It went fine.

user1459464195 · 11/03/2017 21:07

YANBU OP. You have my sympathies. My MIL threw a tantrum at our wedding as the attention wasn't on her (shocking!) So she faked a headache and insisted my FIL take her home at 8pm. Our wedding was a small affair and only started at 6.30pm. I haven't yet forgiven her for being so selfish and upsetting DH on his wedding day.

Best advice I can offer is to just ignore her. If she's anything like my MIL that'll be the thing that gets to her the most. She wanted attention, she got none.

Sounds harsh but I had to stick to my guns. It was mine and DH's wedding, not hers.

Good luck OP. Smile

joanopie · 13/03/2017 10:01

She has clearly mixed up the wedding with the marriage afterwards. Your wedding arrangements sound absolutely lovely, and in fact are very much like mine. I had a small wedding with 30 guests. I did choose church because, basically that's how it was done then. My reception was at home, because we already had our home and I had been married before and did not want the whole big white wedding thing. Aside from a big flashy wedding, it is more important that your relationship is sound and from what you say it that it is very sound. You have not ruined your partner's wedding day at all, but you have ruined her day as the mother of the groom - tough luck for her. She is not important at all here. Enjoy your arrangements and day - it is yours and your partners and she should butt out!

MarleneMcKinnon · 19/03/2017 14:40

As has been said before in other comments, and from my own difficult personal experience, don't give in to his mother (or parents in general) because it will set a precedent. She will then expect to be consulted and have a vote on every single aspect of your lives - where you live, work (or even if you should work), naming your children, how to raise them, how much time you spend with your parents and probably what knickers you put on in the morning. Oh, and if you celebrate Xmas, that will become a nightmare too. Don't give in. You don't have to be rude about, just as long as you are both consistent. She wants a reason to blame you and convince herself that her DS wants her to interfere in his life. You are the one throwing a spanner in the works.

For what it's worth, whatever you'd chosen to have on your wedding day would have been wrong. If it was more extravagant, she'd just call you a gold digger. Even if she did have his wedding day pictured in her head, I suspect her real problem is that she's not the only woman in his life any more. She's trying to get him to change plans, not necessarily because she envisaged a perfect wedding, but because she wants him to choose her over you. It's about insecurity. If he gives into her, there's a chance that her demands will become more and more outrageous as she demands more 'proof' he loves her.

Unfortunately I experienced this first hand. Firstly, my then future MIL blamed me because he bought himself a flat and left home. He was 24 at the time, so a mere baby who still needed his Mummy. I was an evil influence apparently, even though I was only 16 and didn't know it was even possible to buy property as I came from a council estate and didn't know what a mortgage was. Four years later, she had a meltdown and made us change our wedding date because his brother couldn't make it. Changing plans would have been much easier for him than for us and I don't think I was BU in wanting to choose my own wedding date. He was on my side until she started crying. So we changed the date, meaning my brothers were unable to attend. She cried the whole wedding day because I'd taken him away from her. It was . Ironically, I didn't even want to get married, I was doing so because I was pregnant.

She decided before my son was even born that I was too young and wouldn't be able to cope. She thought we were just going to give her our baby (so did my mother, but that's a whole other story). I disabused her of that notion and she started screaming at me, then at everyone around her. After she calmed down, she then behaved as if I had the mental age of a 5 year old and told ME not to be so silly, of course she would have to raise our baby. I said the answer was still no and she let rip again.

When we had a daughter, she expected us to give our daughter the name she would have called a daughter if she'd had one. This was without even consulting us. I told her that it was nice of her to be thinking of us (it wasn't), but we'd already chosen a name. She cried, she shouted, she phoned relatives and told them how utterly heartless and unreasonable I was being. You name it she did it. I stuck to my guns as I hated the name she wanted and she never forgave me for it.

You'd also expect someone of her generation to want things done by the book, like children having set bedtimes. On one visit, she did everything she possibly could to delay their bedtime (they were both under 4 at the time) and in the end it was 9.30pm and they were both crying because they were so exhausted. So I stepped in and said they really needed to sleep. She complained because she wanted to spend as much time as possible with them (their needs were irrelevant). I made the mistake of letting her read them a bedtime story, so she chose the longest one she could find. In the end they were both howling because they just wanted to sleep. I had to step in because they were so distressed. She threw the book at me and stormed out of their room. She got to the living room, told my then husband and FIL that I was really mean, started crying again and had a full on temper tantrum. But I know that if I'd said they could go to bed whenever they wanted, she'd have called me a bad mother. Hell, she did anyway over everything. I'm really extravagant and wasteful apparently because I use one tea bag per cup, not one for four. I also don't put it on the washing line to dry either before re-using it for another few cups. I don't separate 2 ply tissues and serviettes either to use them as single sheets and I bought myself a small bar of chocolate once with my own money, which she found outrageous (this is the actual truth, not an exaggeration). It's a wonder he didn't get me to sign a prenup with all that high living. It's the slippery slope to a gold plated Rolls I tell ya!

Unfortunately my then husband would agree with me in private, but as soon as he faced her, his resolve crumbled. Our divorce was granted on the grounds that his refusal to stand up to her was unreasonable as her requests/interference weren't just ridiculous, they were extreme and irrational. These are the judge's words, not mine. He refused to stand up for me/us/himself/his children because she made it clear his brother was her favourite and he was scared she would withdraw the little bit of love she showed him altogether. So she made him jump through one hoop after another even to the detriment of his own children. It made all of our lives an absolute misery. The irony was that I was always polite and respectful to her (even if I was saying no and not backing down) and she never extended the same courtesy to me. My children had to witness her behaviour and see her treating me like something on the bottom of her shoe, no matter how nice I was to her.

In your case, as for this 'showing [you're] taken' thing, is she implying that you are unable to simply tell people you're 'taken' (a horrible way of describing your engagement), or is she saying that you intend to cheat? Is she deliberately trying to sow seeds of doubt into your DP's head? If you wanted to cheat, you'd just take it off. I mean, what difference does it make to her if you have an engagement ring or not? But you know if you were the one who wanted the ring, she'd be tutting at the amount spent on it. You can't win. You'll never be able to win.

At the end of the day, it's your wedding and your call. It sounds beautiful by the way as it shows how much you truly love each other. What's important is the vows you're exchanging and not the extraneous stuff. That's not to say that those with big weddings aren't in love. It's just that I had a friend who was so caught up with 'the day' she forgot about 'the marriage'. They separated after 9 months, were divorced within a year and were still paying for their wedding (they'd taken out a loan) for 4 years after they were divorced. Stick to your guns and have a marvelous day, just make sure she knows it's what you BOTH want. Otherwise, she will happily dump it all on you. Congratulations and good luck 🍾 💘 💑 🎊 🎉

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