First time poster here! I’m having a dilemma and need some impartial advice please. I really apologise for how long this might be.
Best friend of over 20 years is getting married next year and I am one of four bridesmaids. Best friend and I share the same main group of friends but she also has another group, which the other three bridesmaids are part of so they are all friends together if that makes sense. I’ve met one of them a few times over the years and know of them all very well but we’ve never had much interaction.
Three weeks ago I was texting my friend asking what she was up to over the weekend (she moved to London over a year ago) and she mentioned she was going wedding dress shopping. This would be the first time she’s gone so I assumed that she would be going with her mum because she hadn’t mentioned it to me previously, otherwise I would have expected to be invited, I guess because I assumed that would be a bridesmaid thing? Though I’m not too sure as I’ve never been one for a friend before! Anyway she dodged the question, not giving a direct answer for a few texts before saying that it was actually the other three bridesmaids that were taking her. I didn’t reply to this because I was immediately really hurt that I hadn’t been included but obviously I know it’s not actually about me so left her to get on with the day and didn’t say anything. During the afternoon I was added to a group chat with the other bridesmaids for future discussions about planning a hen night, which I found a bit insulting cos it was,in my mind, a bit of a cheap gesture considering the circumstances.
Anyway, whole day goes by until she texts me later on asking if I’m alright, saying she didn’t mean for me to be upset and realised how it must have looked, that they were all actually meeting up anyway for a late secret Santa exchange but then one of the bridesmaids text her a week ago about turning it into a dress shopping day and she (my friend) was so caught up in the thesis she’s currently doing that she just said yes and didn’t give it much thought. She kept insisting that it was very last minute, they all felt awful and that it wasn’t a bridesmaid/wedding thing, she and I could go shopping next time she was home and didn’t seem to understand how I didn’t see it as a last minute thing when it was arranged over a week beforehand. We sort of left it there for a few days with me feeling really angry and her upset, until two weekends ago when she tried to call me but I didn’t answer as I was out with my son. She sent me this long text about how she’s been under lots of pressure as there are lots of people depending on her, she’s busy with work and what, in my opinion, was a lot of ‘I’m only human so I’m sorry for that’ sort of stuff which just made me feel more annoyed, and that’s why I wasn’t included.
We’ve had disagreements (though quite rarely) in the past where I’ve somehow come out as the bad guy because she manages to turn things around so it’s like she’s one who’s been wronged and I think this time I really couldn’t swallow that. I’m not even sure how she does it, I think because she’s generally a really nice person people just feel sorry for her if she’s sad maybe. So I basically said that I was fed up of always being in the wrong when I haven’t actually done anything, that I thought what she was saying was a load of excuses and that it was unfair to spring this ‘reasons’ on me when there’s been no mention of it up until now (though I realise she’s entitled to keep these things to herself) and that if the shoe was on the other foot she’d feel exactly the same as I do. The last thing she said was that we were never going to see it from each other’s point of view and that was two weeks ago. I’ve thought about messaging her but I’m still not okay with it. We’ve talked about this stuff for years and it’s hugely important to me to see her get married and be a part of her day so it upsets me even more so that this has happened because of that, but I’m just so angry and I guess I just want to know if I am actually the bad guy in this situation?
I realise this may all sound really childish and petty so apologies for that and thank you if you read the whole thing!