“My Best Friend’s Wedding”: Insane Demands, $600 Suit, and A Secret Scandal

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What happens when wedding planning turns into a battleground of loyalty, identity, and deception?

In this gripping episode, the best man shares her emotional journey navigating a chaotic wedding filled with hidden truths, impossible demands, and fractured friendships. From forced tattoo cover-ups to $600 suits no one wanted, the pressure mounts in every corner. Listen as Christa breaks down the complex dynamics of love, friendship, and toxic relationships that threaten to unravel the celebration. This story reveals the heavy cost of “perfect” weddings and the price paid when people are asked to change who they are.

Join us for an unforgettable episode that goes beyond the ceremony to expose the real drama behind the scenes — and the heartbreak that follows.

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Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

01:38 Listener Review and Gratitude

02:40 Bridal 911: Wedding Drama Advice

06:45 This or That: Wedding Edition

11:18 Blind Reaction: The Backup Best Man

19:30 Confusion Over Wedding Roles

21:33 Tattoo and Hair Dilemma

22:28 Dress Code Chaos

23:45 Best Man Drama

26:42 Makeup Mandate

28:46 Revelations About Brianna

30:38 Wedding Day Hypocrisy

33:18 Post-Wedding Reflections

36:17 Host’s Personal Reflections

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Tattoo Controversy – The best man is asked to cover her tattoos for photos, while bridesmaids proudly display theirs, highlighting unfair double standards.
  • Wardrobe Wars – Confusing and costly suit fittings with last-minute fabric changes create tension and frustration among the groomsmen.
  • Friendship vs. Fiancé – The groom’s conflicted loyalty between his future wife and longtime best friend creates emotional turmoil.
  • Makeup Mandate – Pressure to get professional makeup done causes discomfort and unnecessary expenses for the bridal party.
  • Secrets Revealed – A shocking discovery about the bride’s past threatens the foundation of the couple’s relationship.
  • Wedding Day Hypocrisy – Visible tattoos on bridesmaids but hidden on the best man expose inconsistencies in wedding expectations.
  • Emotional Speech – The best man’s heartfelt and surprising wedding speech leaves everyone stunned, even the groom.
  • Aftermath & Reflection – Four months later, the fallout continues with strained relationships and unresolved issues.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • If you ask someone to be part of your wedding, it should be because you love them — not to change who they are. – Christa Innis
  • Friendship breakups can be even harder than romantic breakups because of the deep emotional investment. – Christa Innis
  • There’s no playbook for when your best friend and your partner don’t get along — it’s a heart-wrenching balancing act. – Christa Innis
  • Weddings are supposed to celebrate love, not force people into uncomfortable roles or appearances. – Christa Innis
  • Sometimes people marry just to check a box — but marriage should be about connection, not convenience. – Christa Innis

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Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of Here Comes The Drama. I am just thrilled and excited to be here. I feel very grateful to be able to hang out with you guys on this platform. Um, as of recording this, which. Today is June 11th when I record. So I typically record a month out depending if I’m having a guest or not.

Um, this is a special solo episode, so you’re just gonna hang out with me today. Hope that’s okay with you guys. Um, but as of recording today. We have over a hundred thousand downloads. It just blows my mind. My goal for the whole year was 25,000. So just thank you so much for the support. Whether you’ve subscribed, downloaded, shared with a friend, um, are constantly active, ready to listen to every single episode, listen, every once in a while, it’s just, it just means so much to me and I’m just so grateful for the love and support.

So I wanna just start off by reading a review of the podcast, um, because, you know, they just mean a lot to me and I just wanna say thank you to this person. They say, I’ve been watching Krista’s Instagram videos for over a year now. The transition to including a podcast is the most natural progression possible.

I always want more info when I see the skits, and this podcast definitely helps scratch that itch. I can’t wait to see it grow into its own. Thank you so much Bailey, for leaving that kind review. And always if you guys love the podcast, please share it with a friend or leave a review. It really helps more people see it and hear about it.

So I just really thank you for that. Alright. I feel like I’ve been talking a ton today. As recording this, tomorrow is the launch of the book. So I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of promo stuff, um, and doing some different recordings. Of course skits, it never stops, but I love it. I love what I do and I feel so grateful to be able to do this this week.

Since it’s solo. I wanna do things a little bit different. So we’re gonna start with a bridal 9 1 1 advice column. Every once in a while people send me questions of things that are either going on in their family, uh. In regards to weddings and events, right? So I’m not a therapist, I’m not a life coach. I don’t have training in this.

This is literally just me responding as someone that reads a lot of stories and sees a lot of boundaries. So take it for what it’s worth and I’m gonna leave it with that. 

When Family Drama Threatens Your Wedding

Okay? So this person here, I’m gonna leave him anonymous, sent me a question. She says, my wedding is in December of this year. I have a bunch of other dramas that have been going on, but this is the one that worries me the most.

To start off, we didn’t have money in the budget for alcohol, nor did we want it. I found out from my maid of honor, my fiance’s sister that the stepsiblings pre-game before the ceremony and every family wedding, whether it’s dry or not, I was warned about this because at every other wedding drama would ensue.

So we are talking fights would break out at one of the weddings, uh, that my fiance and I couldn’t attend to. And I’m honestly super afraid this might happen to me and I honestly don’t know what to do. Do you have any advice? So again, I’m no expert, I’m just taking it as what I would do in this situation, and this is gonna be really hard and might not be the advice you wanna hear, but there’s really.

Nothing you can do. I don’t think this is your fight to fight. We don’t know for sure if they’re going to do it. It might, it sounds like it might be pretty likely. Um, you might wanna have people there that are like ready to like. Break up a fight, um, or escort them out. However, bringing up something that might happen or stressing out something that might happen is just gonna consume you when you have so many other things to maybe worry about.

Um, it’s hard because alcohol gets the best of a lot of people. I’ve seen it firsthand at a lot of events, weddings, with family, friends, what have you. It can get the best of people and if not. Controlled. We all know what can happen, right? So essentially too, it sounds like it’s more of your husband’s family, and so I don’t think you need to personally do anything for it.

I would not stress over it. I personally think that you should talk to him about it and see what has maybe happened in the past or if there’s a way to approach it. And I know that seems kind of all over the place. I just feel like there’s a lot missing. There’s a lot that we don’t know, and I think a lot of it is more on worry.

And as the bride, I think a lot of times we, we think about a lot of situations or scenarios that could happen and that tends to consume us. Believe me, I’m an overthinker. My husband will tell you I’m an overthinker to the max. I’m constantly like, but what about this? What about this? I remember our wedding, I was worried about like the parking situation.

There was no reason to be worried about it. There was a parking garage that was like one block over, but I was just like, oh, what if this happens? And then I was like, what if they don’t know to get a hotel room? And I was like texting people, like helping them out. I’m like, people are adults. You gotta let them handle it.

Now if it’s happened before at a wedding, I understand your concern and I understand wanting to do something ahead of time, but again, we can’t control every situation. Maybe have a backup plan ready, talk with your husband or your partner, be on the same page with them, um, of like, okay, if we see some inappropriate behavior, this is what’s gonna happen.

Um, so having a plan I think is good, but I would not let it consume you. Because at the end of the day, if they have a drink in their car before and then they’re fine, there’s nothing you can really do about it. Right? So that is my advice for that and I wish you the very best for your wedding.

On First Looks, Taco Bars & Cake Smashes

 Okay, next up to mix things up, I wanna do a little this or that.

I’ve been starting to incorporate a little more rapid fire with people, but I thought it’d be kind of weird if I had to rapid fire with myself. ’cause I’m like, I already kind of see the answers as I’m reading it. Um. This is similar, but this is gonna be a wedding edition, this or that. And, uh, I did a little fun one, so I haven’t read it yet.

So here we go. And this is just my, my own opinion. Okay. Buffet or plate of dinner. Okay. I feel like I should answer these quickly, but I’m gonna give a little background. I always thought growing up like I would have a plate of dinner, but when we got married we had a Taco bar, taco bar, and it was amazing.

Like we. We knew right off the bat, like when we found the venue and they gave us the suggested vendors to work with, I was like, let’s try this taco place, this Mexican food place. And it was incredible. Um, I like that you can kind of grab what you want, you know? I don’t know. Some plant dinners are great, some are not.

Some buffets are great, some are not. That’s my preference. Live band or dj. If I have to pick one, I’m gonna go dj ’cause I feel like you have more variety and you can, um, hear all your favorite songs. I’ve also heard some really amazing bands, big guest lists or intimate ceremony. If I were to get married today, intimate ceremony.

Intimate ceremony. First look or aisle reveal. I’m aisle reveal all the way. I love a good aisle reveal, uh, all white theme or full color explosion. Mm. If it’s done the right way, I think you can do full color. Me. I don’t trust myself enough. I’m not like a designer. I’m not an, I don’t have that eye. I wish I did if someone else was doing it for me.

Let’s go full color. I think that’d be okay, but me, I’ll go all white kids Welcome. Or adults only.

That’s a hard one,

I think. Okay. If we’re going with intimate ceremony, meaning I would only invite people that I’m really close with, I would say kids welcome because. People that I’m close with, I would be close with their kids and know their kids, and I would love all the kids to interact. If it’s a bigger party, I would probably say adults only.

If there’s like alcohol and it’s like cocktails and stuff. Yeah. Champagne tower or signature cocktails. Signature cocktails. I’m not a big champagne person. Matching bridesmaid dresses or mix and match. Mix and match. If I got married today, I would do make, pick whatever you want. Uh, flower petals or confetti sendoff, flower petals.

Weekday wedding or peak season? Saturday. Ah, weekday. I got married on a Friday. Fun fact, if you get married on a Friday or Sunday, you get a discount. Typically, uh, traditional vows are write your own, write your own DIY decor or hire a planner. So that’s kind of a weird one because those are kind of two different things.

I mean, a planner does help with decor. A planner is way more than decor. So my choice is either DIY or a planner. I’m going planner, but I have been hands-on designing decor for a lot of weddings before. Um, and you know what? It’s always a good time. Okay. Photo booth or 360 cam. So it’s so fun to go to a wedding that has a photo booth, but for me personally, I just did not see the benefit of it.

I just set up our own thing with Polaroid cameras. I think the 360 cam is pretty cool. I’ve never done one, but I honestly would be afraid I would get hit by it. Cake smash or classy? Kcu. Classy. I don’t, I’m, it’s not my first birthday. I don’t. I don’t need a cake smash. Okay, let’s get into this week’s blind reaction.

It’s a long one, that’s why I just wanted to kind of do some fun rapid fires.

When Weddings Cost More Than Money

 Some 9 1 1. Let’s get, let’s get through to it. Okay. This is called the backup Best, man. Here we go. Let me drink some water first, guys, because my, like I said, I’ve been talking too much. I might need to go like on a week long thing where I just don’t.

My voice, that’s a joke. Even when I lost my voice, my husband kept laughing at me. ’cause I was like, I’m gonna not talk for the rest of the day. And like a minute later I’d be like, yeah, so blah, blah, blah. He’s like, aren’t you gonna rest your voice? Okay, anywho, here we go. My best friend Jake, all names have been changed.

My best friend Jake, 36 male, and I, Kara 35 female, have known each other since elementary school, though we didn’t become close enough. Close until junior year of high school by our early twenties, we were inseparable. We were together so often that we started calling each other siblings just to dodge the assumptions and constant accusations that we were Roman, that we were romantic.

That’s, that sucks. That’s always a thing. If you are friends with someone of the opposite sex, people assume you are dating or there’s some kind of romantic thing. I don’t know. That’s just the way people think. I guess girls would befriend me just to get closer to him, and I had, I had to let some of them down because Jake would ghost them or string them along endlessly.

I, on the other hand, was more of a social butterfly and rarely dated the same guy for more than a week. Eventually I ended up in a toxic long-term relationship and Jake and I drifted a bit. He moved away for work, but he’d still come home for the holidays and my family was always a part of his rotation for Thanksgiving and Christmas and we vacation together every year.

Wow. You guys are kind of like family, like if you go into family parties, but, and I hate that, I think this way, but I also wonder like. Did they ever try to date or like was it instant? Like, we don’t like each other that way because you’re spending a lot of time with this person. I’m wondering like, you seem pretty compatible, but I get it.

I get it. Sometimes you just meet someone and you’re like, they brother, sister vibes. Um, then I met my now husband, Daniel got pregnant and surprised everyone at the baby shower by getting married. Jake, despite not knowing, paid for the open bar. He also the godfather to both of my daughters. He adores them.

He wears dresses when they ask, always brings gifts, goes trick or treating with us and spends the day after Christmas with us because it’s my oldest daughter’s birthday. Wow. That jumped really quickly. Okay, so she’s married, has two girls. Jake is very involved in their life. He’s like an uncle to ’em, it sounds like.

Very involved, awesome relationship. Great. Then COVID happened. Here we go. How a lot of the stories go right? Right before the pandemic, Jake started seeing someone, let’s call her Brianna. They quarantined together. He casually mentioned wanting to introduce us, so we met up at a local petting zoo. It was awkward, Jake fo.

Jake focused entirely on my youngest daughter, and barely helped bridge the gap between me and Brianna. I tried small talk. She wasn’t interested. I gave up. I was pregnant, hot and miserable. I left feeling disappointed. When I told my husband and family, they tried to reassure me, but Daniel pulled me aside and said, Brianna’s name sounded familiar.

Then it hit me. Okay, so Daniel, in case you guys forgot, Daniel is her husband, the girl that wrote in, right? Daniel’s her husband. He’s saying the girlfriend, um, of her friend sounds, her name sounds familiar. So then it hit me years ago, she hooked up with Jake’s friend Matt. Ooh. Okay. We’re get, we’re getting some tea here on the front porch at his Halloween party while Matt was in a long-term relationship.

Okay, here we go. Here comes the drama. Right? It caused drama. Jake had even said things about her at the time. Yeah. That’s not a good first impression. Right? And then you’re like, oh, I’m gonna date this girl, even though she. Cheated with my, I guess, I don’t know if she was tied with anyone, but like his friend cheated with her.

Not really a good look still. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she felt awkward or ashamed. Maybe she needed to warm up to me. Shortly after Brianna came to my parents’ house for Jake’s birthday dinner. I love that. Her family does birthday dinners for Jake still. That’s so sweet. He told us she had been teaching English in Japan.

We were excited to hear about it, but every time we asked she just changed the subject. Interesting. I pivoted the conversation and gave Jake his gift, a working vintage eight millimeter movie projector. We set it up and watched a short film, but Brianna said she was tired and left early. Okay, and this is before we read an end of the story.

I know things like are weird and stuff. I also feel like it can be weird if you start dating someone and let’s ignore the whole like thing they learned about Brianna. Right. It can be weird if like you start dating someone and he’s like, yeah, like I want you to meet this girl. She’s my best friend for years.

I have birthday dinners at, there’s family at her family’s house. We’re inseparable. Like we, I tell her every single thing like. It can cause a little bit, if you’re already a little insecure or you’re kind of a new in their relationship, that can be like a little like, Ooh, okay, how close are you guys? You know, it’s just it, and it’s the thing that we’ve seen, like in tv it’s like, can, can a guy and girl be best friends?

Right. Of course they can. And I, I am a big believer in it. I have very close guy, best friends. Um, but as a new relationship, you might be like, I don’t know. Um, okay. Jake still came to Halloween and Thanksgiving, but Brianna didn’t. He made excuses for Christmas. He said they’d be visiting her family two hours away, but he promised to come back for my daughter’s birthday the next day.

He didn’t show, he didn’t call. My whole family was worried and I was heartbroken. My mom called him. I’m also wondering, I mean, I think it’s so sweet that he comes to their family at Christmas time. I’m wondering if there’s something like we’re missing too. Like if, um, maybe he didn’t, he wasn’t close to his family growing up, so they became a second family.

And if that’s the case, then Brianna, I feel like shouldn’t really be supporting him in this ’cause he’s like, this is this. Is my family, like, not by blood, but like by choice. I’ve, they’ve been there for me. I’ve been there for them. Um, so the fact that he just didn’t show up when he was gonna go to Christmas is kind of weird.

My mom called him, he apologized saying her family sprung brunch plans on him, and it was the first time meeting them. Another year passed. Brianna remained distant. Jake became inconsistent. Then Jake got engaged. He asked if I’d be comfortable being a groomsman. I said yes and asked if he wanted me to grow my hair out for the wedding.

Wait.

Okay.

I need to go back for a second because

I’m so confused. So full disclosure, I throw this in and we like change names, right? So because it said Kara, I assumed it was a woman, and now I’m not so sure I have to go back and look. I always just throw it into something. Change names. Um.

I was right.

Okay, let’s continue. I just got really confused for a second. Okay.

I think it’s because he asked if he would be a groomsman.

Uh, he asked if she would be a groomsman. Okay. I said yes and asked if he wanted me to grow my hair out for the wedding since my head is fully tattooed and usually shaved. He said, absolutely not. Be yourself. I booked a touch up. I booked a Touchup tattoo appointment for one month before the wedding. For fun, I let my hair grow a bit and bleach it neon green.

I also asked if I should wear a suit or a dress. He said he was fine. He said either was fine as long as it matched the others. Okay, so this is getting interesting. So I’m, I’m. I’m guessing a few different things now, and I feel like Brianna. Okay, I wanna read this. I sent him black dress options. He liked a velvet one.

They were considering velvet suits. Brianna liked the idea too. I bought the dress, then they switched fabrics. Brianna insisted everything looked uniform. Velvet was out. Jake eventually told us, di Jake eventually told us to direct all questions to the best man, Matt? Yep. Porch Halloween, Matt. Oh my gosh.

So the guy who cheated on his girlfriend with Brianna is now in the wedding with them. Okay. I asked Matt about dress options. He said to wear what made me feel best. With no clear in, with no clear direction. I ordered a $600 suit I’d likely never wear again. Ooh, okay. I don’t know if I have no direction.

I don’t know why I would order a $600 suit. I’m not shaming this person though, but that ’cause that’s on, that’s their choice and something told them that they should do that, but Oh, wow. Okay. Then I got a message from Jake. Are you planning to have hair for the wedding? Because Brianna and the planner thought my tattoos would be distracting in photos.

I told him no. I had then. I had asked him then about it when. Lemme do that again. I told him no, I had asked about it. When I accepted, I canceled my tattoo appointment. I apologized to my artist and scheduled a salon visit to cover the neon. Okay. So now they’re going back and saying, um, you need to change all this.

Which it sounds to me like Jake doesn’t really care. It’s Brianna that’s coming in and cares. I don’t get, the whole tattoos are distracting thing, but. I’m also married to someone that has a full sleeve. I love tattoos. I love the look of them. We had, gosh, I would say probably all the guys in our wedding have tattoos and some, I would say majority of the guys in our wedding had tattoos.

Have tattoos, and I would never ask any of them to cover it up because I think it adds to Indi individuality. Um, some of the girls have tattoos too, again, would never ask anyone to c cover them. If you ask someone, you are asking them because you like them, love them, want them to be a part of your wedding.

Um, I don’t know. That’s just something I would never personally do. Ask someone to change who they are to be in my wedding. Um, okay.

We were told to book suit fittings. Matt was unresponsive in the group chat. So we all went rogue you. That’s when you really need an organized person to tell you what to do and when to do it. A few of us ordered the wrong suit details. One friend had to reorder an entire jacket, $300 because of event.

Okay? I don’t know enough about suits, but I don’t know what event is, but $300. See, that’s my thing too, is if they’re not clear with direction and what people need to do, they can’t keep going back and changing things and having people spend more money. You need to have clear communication saying like, this is what you need to do.

If I don’t hear something from a brighter groom, I’m not ordering anything. Sorry. You need to be clear with them. Jake Drunkenly called me one night. He was demoting Matt as best man, and asked me to step in, said he’d always wanted me to do it. But didn’t want to burden me because I’m a mom also, Brianna didn’t think it was appropriate.

Oh gosh, this, ugh, I feel so bad for them. I accepted, I cried. It felt tainted.

But this is so. It’s so weird because it’s like this is his best friend and he wants her to be the best man. Right? But Brianna doesn’t think it’s appropriate. So what do you do in that situ, in that situation? Do you listen to your future wife or do you include your best friend? I’ve never been in a situation where my best friend and my husband don’t get along.

I’ve seen it before. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what I would do in that situation because you’re always gonna have to deal with that. So you have to, you have to decide. Is it more important for you to be with this person and limit your time or cut off contact with your best friend, or vice versa?

I don’t know. No one can answer it for you. I offered to split the jacket cost with Matt. He refused. Weeks later, Jake texted to me again, are you wearing makeup? I said, no, I don’t wear it and I’m not comfortable wearing wearing it. He said, cool. An hour later, Brianna texted me I needed to get my makeup done Professionally, it will photograph better.

No, I don’t agree with that either. You do not tell people in your wedding they have to get their makeup done. I just, I don’t understand that if you love them the way they are and they are your friend, you should not be telling them to change anything about themselves for the wedding. Maybe that’s, is that a hot take?

Is that a hot take? I don’t know. I told my bridesmaid like, we’re gonna have hair and makeup there if you want it, or if you’re gonna do it yourself. Don’t wear any makeup that’s, that’s on you. Like your choice a hundred percent. I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to feel beautiful. The way you do it, her artist was booked but she could help me find someone.

I reluctantly agreed, ah, I feel so bad for her. This is so awkward. Am I her appointment, the stylist, a mutual friend, spilled everything. Brianna wasn’t an English teacher in Japan. She was an escort. She never even told Jake. Her rich stepdad pays for everything. He even bought them a house. Yet Jake is making payments on it.

What? So she’s completely deceiving him of everything. I mean, what? And no one in Jake’s circle likes Brianna. She blames Jake for not affording a two month European honeymoon. Okay? I don’t think a lot of people can afford a two month European honeymoon. What? That’s not typical. He’s now working DoorDash on top of his job, so he is trying to make extra, extra money because it’s not enough for her.

That’s another, maybe it’s another hot take, but.

You chose to marry this person knowing what they make or what they can’t afford? Yes, you can strive for more and try to make more as a couple together, but to guilt him and make him feel bad for not ma, I don’t know. I just, I don’t like that. I don’t like that. I had a breakdown full on hysterics. I planned to confront him at the bachelor weekend, but it was awkward.

Matt didn’t even come. I tried to open a conversation. Jake brushed it off and said his relationship was his retirement plan. I dropped it, his retirement plan. So I wonder if it’s one of those things where he’s just like checking the box. He’s like, you know what? I’m however old I am. It’s time to get married.

Let’s just do it. It’s my retirement plan. Oh my gosh. Three days before the wedding. Hey, you’re giving a speech. Good thing I had started one just in case the makeup artist was awful. Dry. Cakey, not blended. I wiped most of it off. No one commented it was $200. What a waste. So not on, on top of them making her get her makeup done, they make her pay $200.

That’s more than I even paid for my bridal makeup. I think my bridal makeup was one 20. My bridesmaids was 85. $200 as a, as a best man. No, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t like that. Brianna greeted to us when she, Brianna greet to us when we arrived with Suits. Thanked me for stepping up. Criticized Matt said she chose him to bring the style to the groomsmen.

He might’ve sabotaged things out of jealousy. He and Brianna apparently have a history well. We learned that, okay, here’s the wedding day. Jake was silent, only smiled for the camera. Bridesmaids wore bold, micro chromatic dresses, all different cuts, all had visible tattoos. Excuse me. So the bridesmaids can have visible tattoos, but you the best man cannot.

Yours are distracting. Come on. We need to level, we need an even playing field here. It’s because, I don’t know. I feel like she’s some jealousy over the op here. The maid of honor had giant angel wings and a light bulb tattoo down her spine. My tattoos had to be covered. The hypocrisy, stung. Their vows lies claimed they loved each other since high school and had reconnected.

Years later, none of that happened. It was surreal. My family asked, what’s going on? Why were you put through so much when the bridesmaids clearly weren’t? I had no answers. I told them to just get through it. The maid of honor gave a two page speech full of jabs, not jokes, jabs. It was brutal. So apparently even the bride’s friends are not fans of the bride.

Interesting. Then it was my turn. I recited my speech from memory nailed it. Pretended to cry at the end. Everyone was shocked. Even Jake was slack jawed. I never heard that term before. I hugged him. Second. Congrats. And we left. It’s been four months. I haven’t seen him since they honeymoon in Jamaica. She still doesn’t work.

She, he’s still doing DoorDash and my head hurts. Oh, that story makes me so sad. It like, it, I feel like it’s like one of those like books or stories you read where it’s like they keep missing each other at certain points. And I’m not saying romantically, but I’m just like they’re meant to be, and I say, I say the word.

Or the term soulmate very loosely. I don’t mean soulmate romantically, like you’ve, I believe you have soulmates that are like best friends or even pets I think can be soulmates. But I feel like their soulmates in a way that they were, their souls are supposed to meet, like they obviously are very like aligned.

They have good friendship, they, their family’s blended well to how their, and I think that’s what it was supposed to be, right? But it’s so hard when. They start dating someone that just doesn’t fit into the mix. And it’s hard in that moment too, because it’s like you’re supposed to choose your future, your partner.

Right? But it sounds like they’re not even happy, and it sounds like she’s very controlling and she’s making him try to make all this extra money while she’s not doing her part, and she critiques him. And, and so that’s what’s really sad is because now she’s probably seeing the, the friend, the best man is seeing.

It all fall apart. She’s seeing her relationship with him fall apart and she’s seeing that he just kind of checked the box of like, let’s get married. It’s time to get married. Um, and that’s what’s so sad with a lot of these stories is they wanna check the box of like, okay, we got married, we’re, we’re 30, now let’s get married.

Okay, let’s have a baby. And you would hope a couple this like unhappy, I don’t know. Can realize it before it’s too late and don’t bring children into the relationship. I don’t know, it’s, it’s hard because I’m only getting so much and, and it’s, uh, it can be kind of confusing from this angle because we’re only getting one person’s perspective, but she knows him well and she knows his reactions and she knows him enough to kind of realize he’s not, he’s not happy, he’s not reconnecting well, or he is not doing well, I should say.

But yeah. Oh, I hate that. I feel like I want an update. Like, it’s okay. It’s been, it’s been four months, I should see when this story was sent, but it’s been at least four months. We need to update when they talk. 

When a Friendship Feels Like Family—and Then Falls Apart

 Um, maybe they’ll realize it, maybe he’ll realize after, you know, all of the, the glamor of the wedding is over and realize, you know what, this was dumb.

I wanna go back to my roots and find someone that truly loves me and. Accepts my friends and family. Right. Because it feels like, I feel like they were more of like family, like she said, like they’re like brother and sister vibes. Right. All right guys. Well that was the story for, for this week. Um, I’m so sorry to this person that sent that sounds like you’re really mourning of friendship and that’s, that’s hard.

I feel like friendship breakups, I don’t know if it’s officially a friendship breakup, but it sounds pretty, pretty wonky, roly. I always say that friendship breakups are harder than romantic breakups. And I think it’s because like you pour, not saying you don’t do this with, with romantic relationships, but with friendships it’s like you pour so much into it and they learn you like your, they’re your ins and outs.

Right. Um, I think one of my hardest friendship breakups, um, I don’t wanna give too much detail or anything, but like, uh, it was a few years back. I mean, we’re probably going on. Gosh, I don’t even know how old I was. I dunno. Probably like 10 years ago. I don’t know. It was after college, but it was, it was distraught.

Like it was, it was so sad because this is someone that you do everything with you, you tell them like, you know, you’re like your thoughts and your wishes and your dreams and like. I don’t know. It’s just so different than a romantic relationship. I feel like when you’re breaking up with someone or someone breaks up with you, yes, it’s sad, but you move on depending on, you know, how long you’re with that person.

I know I’m just blabbing now, but I don’t know, I just really feel for this person because it’s hard to go through that. But, um, hopefully he realizes and you guys can be friends again. Anyways, thank you guys for hanging out with me in this special solo episode. If you guys haven’t noticed yet, I’m kind of doing a pattern of the second, um, episode.

Every single month is a solo pod just to kind of like, hang out with you guys, like one-on-one. Um, share a little bit more, um, behind the scenes and stuff, um, in case you guys missed it. You can now order my book. Here comes the drama of Ferris and Sloan story. Um, and don’t forget to tag me on social media at party planning by Krista for a chance to be featured on my page.

And then I’m also giving away random prizes, whether that’s a signed copy or Amazon gift cards and so much more. So I’ll be able to, so make sure to check out my social media pages to see what’s kind of going on, um, this week. Um, and of course if you ordered it on Amazon or other platforms, of course allow it as well.

But please leave a review when you read the book because that just helps more people see it and hear about it. And I just wanna, I just wanna see what you guys think. It’s like, it’s so scary writing something and putting it out into the world because it’s like, oh my gosh, what are they gonna think? Do you guys like it?

Oh my gosh. But again, I also have to also have to remind myself that it’s my first book. I’m a beginner. Uh, I mean, I went to school for writing, but it’s been a long time. Um, so even if, you know, just the fact that I got it out there, I feel like is, is a prize in itself and I’m very, very excited for that.

But I really like to throw it back to you guys and just say thank you for the support and the excitement for it. That’s all I got you guys. Thank you so much for hanging out with me and I will see you next time. Bye now.


Wedding Nightmare, Bridesmaid Burnout & Hot Takes With Lisandra Vazquez

My new book Here Comes the Drama: A Ferris and Sloan Story is live! 

Get the book!

Ever felt like saying no to being a bridesmaid? Lisandra Vazquez spills the raw truth about why she’s done with being in wedding parties… forever.

From destination weddings she never even made it to, to the awkward aftermath when friends cut ties, Lisandra and Christa unpack the messy side of adult friendships, money guilt, and wedding obligations no one talks about.

If you’ve ever felt pressured to go broke for someone else’s big day, grab your headphones. You’re not alone and this episode is your permission slip to protect your peace.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

03:38 Navigating the Content Creation World

08:01 Astrology and Personal Insights

11:28 Hot Takes and Personal Opinions

17:59 Rapid Fire Wedding Scenarios

20:21 Mother-in-Law Drama Unfolds

27:45 Cutting Guests for Extra Invites

27:59 Questioning the Bride’s Age and Maturity

28:57 Mother-in-Law’s Abusive Behavior

29:14 Cultural and Religious Expectations

30:39 Sabotaging the Wedding Rehearsal

31:08 Mother-in-Law’s Cold Behavior on Wedding Day

37:11 Counseling and Setting Boundaries

40:14 Confessions from Social Media

40:25 Bachelorette Party Expectations

44:19 Family Dynamics and Boundaries

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Why Bridesmaids Aren’t Worth It After 30 – Lisandra explains why mature friendships shouldn’t hinge on expensive bridal obligations.
  • When Destination Weddings Become Too Much – The shocking story of how a canceled flight ended a friendship for good.
  • People-Pleasing Vs. Boundaries – Christa and Lisandra talk people-pleasing, saying no, and being okay with losing friends over it.
  • Bridal Labor Or Emotional Support? – How some bridesmaids feel more like unpaid labor than guests.
  • Hot Takes On Outdated Traditions – Garter tosses, group chats, and destination showers—Lisandra says what we’re all thinking.
  • Real Talk: It’s Okay To Walk Away – How standing up for your time, money, and sanity saves friendships worth keeping.
  • Comedy, Culture & Creative Hustle – Lisandra shares her creative journey from acting to stand-up and finding her voice online.
  • Permission To Protect Your Peace – Christa and Lisandra wrap with empowering advice for anyone feeling stuck in wedding guilt.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “Sometimes the trash takes itself out—no RSVP needed.” – Christa Innis
  • “I love being a bridesmaid… but I’m done. My thirties changed everything.” – Christa Innis
  • “There’s no friendship worth going broke for.” – Christa Innis
  • “People hear ‘party plan by Christa’ and think it’s just weddings—but it’s so much deeper.” – Christa Innis
  • “It’s your wedding, not your bridal party’s unpaid labor camp.” – Christa Innis
  • “If you really love your friends, don’t ask them to be bridesmaids.” – Lisandra Vazquez
  • “Sometimes a bridesmaid dress costs more than my rent—I’m not doing that again.” – Lisandra Vazquez
  • “This too shall pass, good or bad. It keeps me grateful and sane.” – Lisandra Vazquez
  • “Hot girls are gonna do hot girl stuff—get over it!” – Lisandra Vazquez
  • “At this point in my life, it’s a no for me, dog.” Lisandra Vazquez

About Lisandra

Lisandra is a Puerto Rican-born, Atlanta-based stand up comedian, actor, activist, and creator. With a background in acting and improv, Lisandra’s high-energy yet dry storytelling point of view is based on her experiences as a Latina millennial, her take on pop culture, politics, and more. She is a regular at the Laughing Skull Lounge and has performed all over the country.

She has opened for Aida Rodriguez, Dulcé Sloan, Lace Larrabee, and other touring comics.

She has worked with organizations like Climate Power, Generation180, GasLeaks, and more.

Follow Lisandra Vazquez

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Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi Lisandra, thank you so much. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to talk to you. I think you’re hilarious. First of all, I love your content and I was just thrilled when you said you would come on. ’cause I was like, I feel like we could have a lot of fun. You are. Have fun. Yeah. before we get started, can you just tell everyone a little bit about yourself? and I feel like there’s just so much to know. I know you’re a comedian, you’re, hilarious. So a little more about that.

Lisandra Vasquez: I’m from Puerto Rico. I was born there, lived there till I was eight, and then we moved from there to Ohio of all places. and we bopped around a little bit. Lived there for five years in Florida.

I lived in LA for a while and now I’m in Atlanta. So that’s like the shortest version of it all. I’ve been working as like an artist and performer like, I knew I wanted to perform. be an actor and stuff like that when I was like straight out of, well, and even in high school when I was a kid.

But you don’t do that in our culture. You just kind of get a job and like, you find, like my mom’s a doctor. like, they grew up poor. a lot of immigrant families will do that where you, like a creative job isn’t a real job. Mm-hmm. And so, but I’m like, I just always kinda had a sense that like, well, I’m still gonna do what I wanna do.

 but you know, so I’ve, been working in the creative world for a really long time in different aspects of it. I’ve done everything. I’ve worked in front of the camera, behind the camera. I’ve assisted people and especially in LA like I have a degree in art ‘ cause I went back to school.

From Puerto Rico to Stand-Up Stages

And uh, ’cause I quit school when, in Florida, when I was like almost done, because I got, I booked a movie. And I was like, well, I don’t need this anymore. Yes. See you suckers. I had like, I had like one year left too. It was like, oh my God, I had enough, enough credit. but I was like, well, for me, I was like, school’s always gonna be there.

Yeah. I don’t wanna be here Anyway, so I was like, bye. I got my SAG card and then I moved with my boyfriend at the time and a couple friends to LA and then I did end up going back to school ’cause my agent kept telling me I was fat. Um, Oh my gosh. It was a different, it was a different time.

 but it turned out to be, I mean, in hindsight everything always turns out to be a blessing. Right? Right. but because I went to a school that was really well suited for me, Cal Arts, and I was supposed to be there I got in as a transfer student ‘ cause I had credits from before.

A very hard school to get into. But I got in they wanted me to be there for three years. because that’s how long they require somebody to be there, to get a degree from them. I ended up only doing two years there because I applied for grade level adjustments.

And so it was really, I worked my butt off to earn those. But I did graduate in two years. and then from there I worked as a photographer. and then I didn’t get back until like, performing until 2019.

and then started getting to stand up and now, I was created content for other people for a long time.

I don’t know if you’ve ’cause like I think a lot of us start, the content game by where you can start making money immediately in the content creation world. And because I’m like, I know I’m good at it, but it’s by having somebody else pay you mm-hmm. To do their content for them. Mm-hmm. So I was doing, during the pandemic, I focus a lot on like creating like.

 that content that I can make content so then I could get hired. And then as soon as I got filled my books up, I stopped doing that. I stopped advertising that. Yeah. And then I worked, for other people for a long time, making content, making memes and stuff like that. but eventually that just like during my soul, cause I was always doing standup and all my stuff on the side, but there I wasn’t able to give it enough Right.

Use, if you will. I had been posting comedy stuff on my own TikTok for a while, but then around the time of the election and I was always kind of hesitant to talk about my political beliefs. Mm-hmm. And, Especially with like women in comedy.

Like people are like, oh, don’t talk about that. Just talk about X, Y, or Z. Yeah. But then the moment that I started talking about it and actually just being honest and just being more authentic to who I am and what I would talk to you about in person and what people know me as, that started resonating with people online.

And then I just started, it just gave me more and more permission to be more myself. Mm-hmm. And thank God, like for the platforms that we have that are able to like connect us with the people that appreciate mm-hmm. our voice. Yeah. and so I feel eternally grateful to that. And so it’s like, it’s been encouraging to get a, positive response to the weird way that my brain works.

so long story, but that’s kind of like the long and the short of like how one gets from like. There’s no direct, path Yes. To something to get to anywhere where we are in life. Especially when you’re not like a pharmacist, you know what I mean? Where there’s like, okay, I went to school, I did this and that.

There’s, some career path, right? Going up the ladder, some career paths that are far more simple than the ones that just are unique. So that’s, it’s hard to describe how one gets to a path to especially, you know, like we all have different stories, but it’s all there.

Christa Innis: Yes. No, but I love the story of like, the journey of like how you get to a certain place, because it’s always kind of like you set out, like for this path and you do, your steps and it never works out that way. It’s like this opportunity comes up and then you’re like in a slump for a little bit and then you kind of move around.

You’re just kinda like. We’ll see what happens.

Celebrate Wins or Risk Losing Them

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. and like the, I was just thinking about this today because like, this has the, my been, always been, my mantra is that this too shall pass. Mm-hmm. Because, and I mean that with the good things and the bad things. Yeah.

So every time it, really helps me fit in the gratitude when things are good. Mm-hmm. And also know that the bad things are gonna go, this will pass, this will pass, this will pass. I know because like, I had a really bad year one, like two years ago. It was so bad. And then things started getting better.

And today I had like, I’m having this call with you. I was talking with my manager, I have a manager now. and then I was on the phone with, I don’t know how much I can say, but it’s like a, group, for a representative that I’m helping craft a bill. That’s amazing.

Right. And so what, that’s insane. Mm-hmm. Right. I’m so grateful for these opportunities that I’ve been, because I opened my big mouth. and I’ve said it in a way that resonates. Now I’m able to advocate for people like me. Mm-hmm. Make a change. Make a change, and actually getting these conversations and talk about, hey, the problems that I face, the things that I, in, like in our generation that we haven’t been, that we’ve kind of been duped on.

Like the, just the ability to be able to speak to my experience that’s different from the people that have come before. and I don’t take that for granted at all. So today I was like, oh my God, this is amazing, but also this too shall pass. Yes. Like, so I need to, to be really grateful of this moment and really like, celebrate it.

Christa Innis: No, I love that you said that because I feel like I’m so quick to like be onto the next thing. And I dunno if it’s that like creative mindset, do you get it? Like it’s just like you’re like trying to always go to the next thing. And even my like husband will be like sit down and like relax and I’m like, I have to do that next thing.

Like I don’t know where that comes from, but it’s like it’s true. It’s like this whole past, like, can we absorb it? Your sign, sorry, what’d you say?

Lisandra Vasquez: Your sign. Virgo, your astro. See my dog. My Clark. I’m a Virgo too.

Christa Innis: Are you? Oh my God. Virgo. We could make this a astrology podcast episode because I freaking love talking about astrology.

When’s your birthday? August 28th.

Lisandra Vasquez: August 20. I’m the 23rd. I’m like zero degrees Virgo Miash. No ma’am. she wants to talk astrology. well see, she’s a Sagittarius, so she’s a free spirit. that’s my moon sign. That’s my moon as well. yeah, I have Virgo Sun, Virgo Rising Sag Moon.

Christa Innis: I am a Libra rising. So that’s the people pleaser. People

Lisandra Vasquez: pleaser in you. And I’m just still

Christa Innis: see, and I, always like attach myself to people that are like, I dunno what sign it would be, but like the more like rugged, like they tell it like it is because I’m like, I aspire to be that. But I like, I still am like, Hey, do you like me?

Okay. Please love me. Yeah. But yeah. Okay. So it’s that Virgo thing, like the perfectionist, like always striving to the next thing. And I don’t think I discovered that though until like I was definitely not like that in school. ‘ cause I was not like, let we get all A’s. I was not like that. But I always wanted to try things.

Yeah. I think

Lisandra Vasquez: that for. I wasn’t necessarily that way either in school where I wasn’t like, oh, I need to get a straight A. But I do feel like, and my, siblings, I have five siblings, I have two half siblings, but then, my two siblings that grew up in the house with me, were all Virgos. Oh my gosh.

 and my mom’s a Virgo too, so I think I know what a crazy thing. but I think what we all have is a really good compass and a like, a drive that I don’t see in everybody. And it’s just likea self-determination that people are like, why do you, why are you so like, I don’t know.

We just have like a, our own standard. I see that a lot in Beyonce. that’s who I, every time I see Beyonce, I’m just like, girl, you’re just like me. Except for your game. Yes. Oh my God. Your fiance. but you know.

Christa Innis: Yes. Oh my gosh. I feel like I’m like meeting a soul sister. I feel like it’s so hard to explain to my husband and I’m like, no, like you don’t understand.

Like, I need it this way and I need to do the next thing, but I’m gonna remember that, that this cell too shall pass in good moments because I don’t take the time to absorb it. And especially like the industry now, that we’re, kind of, I don’t really know how it works. Like we’re all both on social media, but it’s different kind of industries, I guess.

But it’s like the industry, it’s like it moves fast. It’s like all of a sudden this opportunity can come and it can go. so it’s like everything you have to like absorb those good moments. And I feel like I’m so quick to be like, all right, cool. That was great. I gotta keep going though. And I don’t stop to be like, this is awesome.

Lisandra Vasquez: Cool. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: So, yeah, because the wins we really do have to learn to celebrate them because if not, then like, I don’t know how woowoo you are, but sometimes I do feel like if we don’t celebrate those wins, then it’s not like, well, in my, because then they don’t wanna keep coming as much.

It’s like with, manifest, uh, I Sure. Levels of manifest. Oh, that’s funny. it’s like when I’m on stage, I do standup comedy. So for me, it’s the same way as training, like the universe. It’s, you’re training an audience not to laugh. If you continue to step on the laugh and you don’t let them continue.

If you don’t let them enjoy the moment. And if you don’t stop, they’ll train themselves to not laugh at you, even though they’re enjoying it. they’ll be like, huh, so then they can listen to what you’re gonna say. Mm-hmm. So that’s how I feel that’s how I’m like, okay, I have to, I can’t step on the universe.

I have to enjoy the moment

Christa Innis: I love that. That’s such a good mantra. And like showing gratitude back. I feel like Yeah, no, I’m, I’m super woowoo. I mean, I shouldn’t say super ’cause they’re super woowoo, but I’m woowoo. But you know, like the right kind of woo. I would like to make, no, I love that.

That that’s a great way to start this episode. I feel like. so I always like to start off with like crazy stories or hot takes. You have a hot take and I feel like we should just like, dive into it.

Bridesmaid Hot Takes & Wedding Party Regrets

Lisandra Vasquez: I think that if you’re really good friends with somebody, you should not ask them to be a bridesmaid. If you actually like your friends bridesmaid, you shouldn’t know, you’re in your thirties especially.

Christa Innis: No, no,

okay. How many times have you been a bridesmaid and how, what was the worst one? If you wanna share or what was like the worst part about being a bridesmaid

Lisandra Vasquez: to you?

The worst part of being a bridesmaid, I’ve been a bridesmaid. Enough times that I have forgotten how many weddings have been. they’ve gotten less in my thirties. But I will say that the worst part of being in asked to be in a wedding is the having the obligations, the financial obligations, and the having to deal with people that are making different decisions than necessarily that I would make.

So like one of the last, like being involved in the group chat. Ugh. The group chat. The group chat. The last, the last wedding that I was asked to be in was a destination wedding, and it was gonna be very expensive mm-hmm. For me to get there. And it was gonna be very hard. and like I could only afford to go for so many days, and then we ended up, actually, I was at the airport with all my stuff and then my flight got canceled.

And then in order to rebook it, because I had to go to another country and then hop a little plane, I would’ve gotten there the day of the ceremony and then had to head back the next day.

Christa Innis: No.

Lisandra Vasquez: I just didn’t go.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: And I felt really bad and then now the bride doesn’t talk to me anymore. but I’m like, listen, you know what

Christa Innis: well, it was kind of not calling your friend.

Well, ex-friend trash, but the trash takes itself out sometimes. or maybe it just wasn’t meant to be,

Lisandra Vasquez: and the thing is, I’ve thought about reaching out to her too, but I just also don’t feel like the connection was strong enough between us to really like, go beyond that.

Because I also feel like sometimes with, When you ask somebody to be a bridesmaid, it’s kind of a transaction and you’re asking a lot of that person, not only financially but like emotionally and for them to just be there for you. And there’s a lot of things that you, people require depending on the thing.

But I’ve had people be like, okay, well the expectation was that I showed up there helped with labor of like putting things together and this and that and that. And I’m like, so then you’re required to go and add labor. And sometimes that’s fine and cool, but then other times it’s like, Hey, I’m also like taking time off work, investing money into this and I also would like to be able to relax and enjoy this.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: But, and I understand that for some people we are happy to do that for them. Yes. Like my sister. Yeah. Absolutely. 100%. But I think that the expectation of like, if you’re over 30, there’s people that have jobs, lives, limited budget things that they’re all sa We’re all at this point sacrificing a lot of things to be able to make it here.

And like we all have such and speak for everybody, but limited budgets of time and money to be able to get to these things and to just, unless I will not be in another, I will not accept being in another wedding unless I know I’m just showing up and I’m gonna be there and I’m gonna be able to support.

I’m gonna do that. But yeah, I just never, I’ve seen weddings where people just ask their friends to wear certain colors so that they can be in the pictures. And that’s the vibe.

Christa Innis: Yeah. That’s what you’re into.

Lisandra Vasquez: Oh, that’s really a friend. Yeah. Because you’re like, oh, I’m not asking you to plan some sort of a crazy vacation.

‘ cause then there’s like the financial aspect of planning the, bridal shower, the bachelorette party. Yeah, usually. And then, that’s so much money for your decisions.

Christa Innis: Yeah. see, and maybe this is my Libra coming out, you know, we’re talking about Libra people pleaser. I love being a bridesmaid.

However, not anymore. I think I’m done. Like I’ve been in my fair share. I’m well into my thirties now. I don’t foresee anyone else asking me. And if they wanted to, I’d probably be like, I’ll just come as a guest at this point. I had no business, like in my early twenties, being in those weddings, spending that kind of money, no business.

I know you feel guilty saying no, and you’re like, you know, and I was that friend that was like, what do you need help with? Sure. I don’t have a life outside of this. And I would be there for bridal showers. Like I would be paying for like food, you know, like all that stuff. And it’s like, looking back, I’m like, I barely could afford, like, I didn’t even, I still lived with my parents at some of the times.

I still, you know, it was rough,

Lisandra Vasquez: it was bad. And I’m just like. Oh, I’m sacrificing one of them. Yeah. It just like, there’s so much sacrifice, there’s so much time and often it is to fulfill a quota for the bride, for the sides and the pictures and stuff like that. And sometimes it isn’t, but sometimes it is. And you should really think long and hard before you ask people to be bridesmaids. That’s what I’m saying. Yeah. Especially if you’re not 20 in your twenties.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: Because I’ve seen my people in their twenties feel like they have like a lot of really close friends and they all wanna do that. But everybody in their thirties I feel like has lives.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I was just saying to someone, I’m like, thank God I waited till my thirties to get married. ’cause I feel like if I got married in my twenties, it’d be so different.

Like everyone’s your friend. And I probably, I think we would’ve had double the amount of people. But like when I got married, the only time, I was like, we weren’t into like the pleasing everybody. We were like, we’re making a cut here. This is what we want.

 and I would like to think I was an okay bride to work with, like for all my bridesmaids, I was like, if you don’t wanna come, it’s fine. Like, not to the wedding, but I was like, Hey, if you can’t make the shower, if you can’t make the bachelorette par, I don’t, it’s fine. I won’t hit you.

Come wearing white to my wedding. I literally would not care about that stuff. But I’ve definitely have been asked to be a bridesmaid before where I’m like, oh, they want my help they want me to like get crafty and do stuff for the wedding. then you feel

Lisandra Vasquez: used

Christa Innis: after it and you’re like, oh, they don’t even like wanna, like, they don’t even want my friendship.

They just wanted me as a helper and that I don’t like, yeah,

Lisandra Vasquez: the labor. And so that’s where I’m just like. again, not all bridesmaid situations are created equal, but for the most part it’s a no for me dog. No, I’m not interested. And I also don’t think that you should ask that of people.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I love that hot take because that

Lisandra Vasquez: this economy

Christa Innis: ugh, not in this.

Yes. Oh my gosh. That’s funny. Okay, so I thought before we read the crazy story today, we could do a little rapid fire. So I’m just gonna read two things that like could happen at a wedding or something, and you just pick, pick which one you’d rather. Okay. Here we go. We’re doing something new. We’ve never done this before.

Okay. Caught making out with a groomsman or caught texting your ex on the wedding day.

Lisandra Vasquez: I’d

Christa Innis: rather

Lisandra Vasquez: make out with a groomsman. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Your partner wore a ring from their ex’s proposal, or they forgot to get you a ring at all.

Lisandra Vasquez: When they proposed to me, they forgot to get me a ring in this hypothetical scenario, apparently. I’d rather them forget to get me a ring than to have something from their ex.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: but also like, maybe you should rethink marrying this person. I forgot to get you a fucking ring. Unless they were like really in the moment they asked and they’re like, I don’t even have a ring.

I just wanna ask Right.

Christa Innis: Like a little Yeah. Like a movie where that’s just like right now I have to ask, here’s a little piece of string. Yes. Yeah. Let me tie around your finger. Okay. Hot. Best man with bad intentions or awkward. Best man with a heart of gold.

Lisandra Vasquez: at this point, a heart of gold man.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Wild Bachelor party with photos leaked or steamy.

Dms from a guest. Steamy dms caught hooking up at someone else’s wedding or caught talking trash about the bride. Oh, hooking up. your ex crashes the wedding or gives an emotional

Lisandra Vasquez: toast that I would give an emotional toast, I think, or that he does. That’s a weird one.

 you give an emotional toast. Oh, I’d rather give an emotional toast. Keep him far away.

Christa Innis: Okay, last one. A sexy first dance or a full on magic mike Style Groomsman performance.

Lisandra Vasquez: Oh, they’re both cringe ew. I guess I’d rather the magic mike thing because it could be funny. than like doing a sexy dance in front of my family. That’s weird. That’s weird. Well, speaking of

Christa Innis: what

Lisandra Vasquez: are your

Christa Innis: thoughts on the garter toss?

Lisandra Vasquez: No, what are we doing?

that. I

Christa Innis: don’t, that is one of my, like, strong, I don’t even know if it’s a hot take anymore because I see, I do like a confession thing every week. Every week. everyone, I would say more people than not say like, no garter toss. Like, that’s so cringey, so weird. I’m happy to see it’s going away.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. it’s

Christa Innis: why I just, why would you want your husband putting his head up your dress during your wedding? I just don’t understand that. No. All right. We’ve got a doozy for this week, so let me just get into it. feel free to stop me as I read, or we can react at the end,

Red Flags & A Missing Dinner Plate

All right. Here we go. Says Mother-in-law Drama. Made my wedding a nightmare. Basically a book, sorry. Okay, my now husband, let’s call him. Matt and I met during the pandemic once it was safe to go out to restaurants and such, and we quickly fell in love because his family cares for two elderly grandmothers.

They had very strict rules about socializing during that time. I had no problem with that, and Matt and I were careful to follow their guidelines. That meant I didn’t get to know his family that well, that’s how I initially explained. away all the red flags that his mom disliked me. I told myself, maybe she doesn’t hate me.

It’s just awkward because we haven’t spent that much time together. Spoil alert. I was wrong because my family was lower risk. Matt spent more time with my family and they immediately clicked. So some dating red flags from his mom. She constantly trashed the denomination of churches Matt and I attended, and that my dad’s pastor, is a pastor for even after I acknowledged her bad experience and tried to empathize at Matt’s dinner, she set the table for everyone but me.

I got to stand in the kitchen.

Okay. When I read something like that, I’m like, was he like, let me put a plate for you, he just let her stand in the kitchen because that’s a red flag on him. Well, both of ’em. Yeah. Oh, no. What? She interrupted me every time I spoke and redirected the conversation, that would get really under my skin.

Lisandra Vasquez: You, what was she, Latina?

Christa Innis: I don’t have those details yet. she raved about Matt’s exes and their amazing relationships with his younger sisters and how much she missed them, how many exes. And she, this apparently they’re all just so great. But her, she refused to attend the church service where Matt and I officially joined, I’m guessing for marriage, because she was Matt, he left theirs

Context for later in October, 2021. My dad nearly died of COVID. The doctors were shocked. He survived once home, he had to stay plugged into a wall oxygen machine. Oh my gosh, that’s terrible. due to a shortage of portable tanks, he only had enough for necessary doctor visits. November, 2021, Matt proposed it was beautiful and surprised me during my family’s Thanksgiving dinner.

We were so happy we looked at rings together so it wasn’t outta the blue, but it was still magical. We decided on a shorter engagement and set the date for April, 2022. It was going to be a low key small town wedding. We mostly planned ourselves. We knew the quick timeline might keep some people from attending, but we were ready to be married.

We invited his family to my parents’ house to talk about wedding vision, financial contributions, dress shopping dates, et cetera. But we couldn’t go to their house. It’s 90 minutes away, and my dad couldn’t travel. They refused to come to us because they didn’t wanna hire a babysitter for their 14-year-old twins.

Both grandmothers lived nearby. They wouldn’t bring the girls either. It was either we had to go to them or it didn’t happen. Eventually we got them to agree to a zoom call. That point you can just tell, like someone like that does not wanna be involved. And it’s like why that it’s deliberate.

Yes. They’re gonna purposely put every kind of blockade for it to not happen.

Lisandra Vasquez: Like the person that’s being awful to you because they want you to break up with them.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yep. It’s that, like passive aggressive, like Oh yeah. Yeah. The Zoom came. Neither parents said much. His mom was on her phone the entire time.

My parents gushed about Matt and said how thrilled they were to welcome him, his parents. Yeah, he’s great. Nothing about me joining the family. I don’t even know how people like this deal with in-laws like that, so I would just, I have

Lisandra Vasquez: opinions. I think that he sucks the dude that she’s marrying because like I would’ve had if he hadn’t stood up.

Like, no, like, I would see that as a huge red flag on his behalf that he’s not, I least at this point, making it clear that there is a separation between how, like, because she hasn’t gotten there yet. So I don’t know if she’s gonna include this, but I would be, why aren’t you taking care of this?

Like why aren’t you taking care of this information? This is like you and your mom. Your mom is literally mistreating me.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: just letting it out like in front of

Christa Innis: your face. Cutting me out. Yeah. Like at that point it’s like I would be, yeah, you’re right. I’d be more mad at him ’cause I’m like, this is your family.

Lisandra Vasquez: speak up dude. Mm-hmm. That’s not okay to treat anybody’s because like he’s treating her like that. But he could treat, I mean anybody like that, that’s messed up.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And the way she wrote about the standing in the kitchen, it literally sounds like she was just standing in the kitchen while they all ate for his dinner.

Passive-Aggressive Wedding Planning

And I’m like, that would never be okay. Oh, literally. so she said, but hey, zoom is awkward. So maybe that was why my parents offered to pay for most things. His parents said they’d cover Matt’s tux, a groom’s cake, and the alcohol. Matt and I reiterated that we were planning a small, simple wedding.

They said It’s fine. It was painfully awkward. Everyone was relieved when the call ended, I felt weird about my relationship with his mom. But I still tried to include her. I invited her dress shopping. See, there’s so many super nice brides I read about, and they like have this like issue with, you know, they have a, bad relationship with the mother-in-law and they still invite them dress shopping.

I’m like, that’s like a vulnerable moment to be changing in front of someone or showing something. Like, why would you want someone like that there? It’s an olive branch.

Lisandra Vasquez: I get it. But like,

Christa Innis: God, yeah, it’s harder when you’re in it. Yeah. Of budget constraints. I wanted to shop before Christmas to avoid price hikes.

I sent her a couple of dates and she declined both. There we go. One without explanation the other, because she was making Christmas cookies.

Lisandra Vasquez: Oh, no. But you know, it’s creepy. the timeline for those

Christa Innis: So busy. Yeah. Has to be this day I’m really busy. Oh my gosh. so I went with my mom and sister and found my dress.

I’d asked Matt’s sisters to be junior bridesmaids and invited them to the shop too. His mom said to just send them the link for the dress I wanted. I did. And she complained about the hem line and designer, but insisted she’d fix it for them after delivery. When the dresses arrived, she wouldn’t show them to me until after alterations.

I pushed and thank goodness I did. she pinned the hem up four inches too high. She was annoyed but adjusted them. they finally looked correct on the wedding day. Then here’s a not so brief list of other chaos that she had caused during planning the wedding. Okay. Bridal shower takeover.

She offered to host. I thought it was a peace offering. made it a couple’s shower. So Matt had to attend. Introduced everyone, including Matt’s best friend who couldn’t come, but not me, to her friends and family who I had never met. Oh my gosh. Guest list battle. We wanted to cap the wedding at 100 guest total.

She alone wanted to invite 100. I hadn’t shared my severe anxiety disorder because I didn’t trust her, but finally told them the cap was for my mental health. She looked me dead in the eye and said, I have anxiety too. It’ll be fine.

That’s that like older generation that’s like we all had anxiety and we just, had to do, we had to carry on with our lives like.

Lisandra Vasquez: yeah. that’s like my mom being like, Liandra, no, you’re not depressed. You’re just be happy. Okay. Like, okay. Okay. Fracture on the switch. Yeah, like, don’t cry.

Just change. Change it. Like, okay, open the window. Go out in the sun. Oh, yeah. No, that’s crazy. I hadn’t thought about that. I hadn’t thought about just being happy. Yeah. Thank you. Really. Thank you for that. I have anxiety too. You’ll be fine. That’s crazy.

Christa Innis: Later she told people I faked mental illness to get my way.

We ended up cutting guests from my side so they could invite extras. This, I would be really, I

Lisandra Vasquez: hate this woman.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I would be really second guessing the whole wedding.

Lisandra Vasquez: How old did she say how old she is? Because she sounds young. I know

Christa Innis: it was a really quick engagement,

Lisandra Vasquez: but still she sounds like she’s young.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: she sounds like she’s in her twenties at least, because I feel like, I wouldn’t put up with that, but I might have put up with it earlier in my life. Yeah. I could see a time where I would be like, in my very early twenties, I dated a guy for four years and I could see if his mom didn’t like me, I would still try to be like, all right, this is the right thing I need to do.

I still need to try to invite her. I still need to try to do this. And then I’d be mad at him, but I wouldn’t have the communication skills and be like, confidence to be able to be like, fix your mother.

Christa Innis: Yeah. But I would now. Right. and at that awkward time of like, you’re like becoming an adult, so you’re kind of like still that like kid respect your elders.

 I feel like I was like that in my early twenties too.

Lisandra Vasquez: So I just feel like the, I’m reading it as she’s younger because she’s not standing up for herself in the way that I think that, somebody in her later in life would.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. I think so. What she’s going through is it’s abusive.

Like that’s not the woman is walking all over her ’cause she doesn’t respect her.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. She’s thinking she’s not like, good enough for her son, or it’s the kind of person she’s like putting her son on a pedestal saying like, he deserves the best and you’re not, it, that’s,

Lisandra Vasquez: that’s why I asked if he’s Latino.

That’s what Latino parents do. Treat their firstborn son as the gold standard. Really. Yeah. Yeah. But also it’s also curious that they’re not Jewish. ’cause that’s what Jewish mothers do as well. Mm-hmm. And then they get mad. I mean, it’s also different kinds of, Christian religions that where they, really covet like the sun.

That’s very, and they’re very, particular about their, flavor of Christianity.

Christa Innis: Yeah, that’s what I kind of got by the denomination thing. So if she is like very in her or EPIs, you don’t wanna be an

Lisandra Vasquez: Episcopalian anymore. Lutheran’s not even a thing. Mm-hmm. Like, yeah. Isn’t it all Christian? I mean, listen guys, come on.

but yeah, so it seems like an uppity.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Like she, it’s almost like she heard the denomination and immediately from that point was like, Nope. And then just like discounted anything else she said or something like that. It’s like when they a chance.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. It’s like if somebody, They’re a Republican.

Oh. Or like, oh, she’s a liberal. Cool. I guess she doesn’t care about babies or something like that. I dunno. Yes. Um, but you can make, judgements for sure. That’s crazy, huh? What else did she do? She goes, so she like, we have this

Christa Innis: There’s a lot. So it says, gossiping behind my back. She told Matt’s friends, I was excluding her from planning.

She never answered my texts about it. Jokes on her. Two of those friends are close with me and they spilled everything. Sabotaging the rehearsal. She told the wedding party I was overbearing for asking them to arrive 30 minutes early said it was okay to come late because we’d start late anyway. Then she gave them the wrong wedding day timeline.

If I hadn’t sent backup info, they would’ve missed photos. refused to help set up. She got mad that Matt helped set up the reception. She wanted him at their hotel to hang out. They wouldn’t help at all because that’s the bride’s family’s job. Okay. Cold as ice in the getting ready room. She ignored me the whole time.

Didn’t acknowledge me when I walked in wearing my white dress, even though everyone else was emotional and excited, I’d be like, you can leave. Yay.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. On her wedding day. This is bad. This

Christa Innis: is

Lisandra Vasquez: bad.

Christa Innis: Yeah. when I do like crazy skits and stuff, people are like, oh, this is so dramatic. That would never happen.

And I’m like, no, there’s people saying, it literally happens to them.

Lisandra Vasquez: when I was, in LA I used to do a wedding sometimes as a second shooter, so I’d get, The first shooter that I worked with would always be with the bride, and then I’d go with the groomsmen to get the second dairy portraits.

You see some drama, but not this is crazy. Yeah, nothing. This is insane. But I mean, I guess I would have to be privy to all the other information, but you can pick up the vibes.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah. I bet you can like tell like right away with a wedding if like someone’s not meshing Well,

Lisandra Vasquez: if the mother the, if the mother of the groom was like to the bride, I’d pick up on that and be like popcorn in my hand, as I’m all the tea.

Yes. No, that’s insane. Yeah. But they got married. How awkward. Yeah, they got married. It’s her mother-in-law.

Christa Innis: I know she’s gonna deal with that the rest of her life. Oh, however long she can put up with it for, because at some point they either have to cut her off the mother-in-law or they’re gonna break.

Because someone like that infiltrating, like if they decide to like move or have kids or whatever they do in their life, she’s gonna be family. When a family member

Lisandra Vasquez: chooses their spouse and the spouse doesn’t get along with the family, someone’s gotta go. Mm-hmm. Usually people will choose their spouse.

You would hope, you hope. Well, usually people would choose their spouse. but sometimes they don’t.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: Especially not a weak ass mama’s boy. Like this guy seems, wow, he sucks.

Christa Innis: I’m like not hearing anything about him. So I’m really, I like wanna reach out and be like, yeah,

Lisandra Vasquez: he is. Yeah. Like, first of all, I need to know, I have so many follow up questions about him.

Like, I need to know if he’s an only child. he definitely seems like he’s the only boy. Mm-hmm. He’s the golden, um, he, if he’s an only child, I guess it would make sense as to why the mom’s so obsessed.

Christa Innis: But it’s weird. It’s that crazy boy mom thing.

It’s like their first love and you know, like they’ll think the trend. I was like on TikTok and it’s like, no, like you’re not doing what you think you’re doing right now. It’s

Lisandra Vasquez: now’s giving weird

Christa Innis: stop. That’s no, don’t you want them to grow up and find someone or like be happy on their own, not like rely on you the rest of their lives.

Lisandra Vasquez: No,

Christa Innis: I want him to. No. Okay. That’s weird. That’s weird. Or do they mention a father? Either? oh, they said parents, they did say his parents

Lisandra Vasquez: when they had the zoom call. Yes. That the parents, so I think the mom’s just a piece of work and she probably has nothing else going on.

Christa Innis: And the dad’s probably just very passive. ’cause over the years she’s been like manipulative like this. And.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. Gerard Carmichael has a, bit right now that I just saw that, like your mom, that he says like that everyone’s mom is crazy. No, but like, it doesn’t matter. Like everyone’s mom is a different kind of crazy, but everyone’s mom gets crazy at a certain point and like the group chat is weird, with the mom and the siblings, and then the dad starts talking less and less.

I feel like that’s what’s happening here. Mm-hmm. Like the mom got crazy.

 and the dad probably is just letting it happen and just saying like three words.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: About, because he’s just like, disassociating.

Last Straw & A Weird Hot Tub

Christa Innis: Yeah. He’s like, I’m not gonna get involved. She’s gonna do her thing i’s how.

Yeah. It’s just coexist. Yeah. All right. There’s a couple more things that she didn’t. Oh my God. Uh, tried to sneak in an unapproved photographer despite multiple conversations. She tried to bring in her amateur photographer front to shoot the ceremony when my dad politely told him he could take pictures after the ceremony.

And at the reception, she later told people, my dad screamed at him in the church victim mode. All those, that’s like,that typical person, like she’s gonna be the victim mode, but she

Lisandra Vasquez: has to be Latina. That woman has to be, if she’s not, I’d be so surprised. I know his name is Matt, which is giving white, but.

It might be a white dad. the name’s been changed, so, okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So it could

Christa Innis: be, but I mean, I’ve, there’s a lot of crazy white ladies out there that act like this too. I know,

Lisandra Vasquez: I know. But dang it, that’s not exactly someone that I’m related to.

Christa Innis: Yeah. left the reception early to use the hot tub.

Then told our friends she was having more fun in the hot tub than at our wedding. Tried to get them to agree. They didn’t. She was upset when we didn’t join on our wedding night. Oh, you wanna go in the hot tub with your son and his wife on their wedding night? That’s disgusting. This woman is weird. Weird insulted a precious full photo.

When we got our professional photos back, she saw a shot of my dad’s hand on my back during their father-daughter dance said it looked very creepy. That dance meant the world to me. We didn’t think he’d lived to be there. When we said the comment was hurtful, she doubled down. You’re too sensitive.

What? That would be it for me. Like, one after the other. Like why is she still in their life,

Lisandra Vasquez: dude, the fact that they’re still trying to please, I’m even more angry at the husband every time that there’s an interaction and she disrespects the wife. I’m even more mad Yeah. At the husband for not stepping in during this whole thing.

Christa Innis: So here’s a slight follow up at the end here. It says, Matt and I had to go to counseling specifically to learn how to handle her. Thankfully he’s now fully on my side, so I don’t know where he was in all of that. And what was that boiling point where she’s like, we’re going to counseling or we’re done kind of thing.

Lisandra Vasquez: he was probably trying to play the middle. And because I, again, I think they’re young. I think that they’re in their twenties and if they’re in their twenties and they’re still, he was still trying to please both of ’em and he was probably still being like, mom, like, you know I know, but you gotta.

He wasn’t being, but yeah, no, I’m glad they went to counseling. So he said that, she said that they’re still together.

Christa Innis: Yeah. She says in his defense, growing up with a narcissistic, mother trained him to ignore toxic behavior as a coping mechanism. So they’ve, they’ve learned a lot. They’ve done their work.

incredible. Now protective and clear on boundaries. She still dislikes me, but since realizing she’s losing access to him, if she’s unkind to me, she pulls a halfway decent show of civility now. So it’s the fake, like, just to get there? I don’t know.

Lisandra Vasquez: Never.

Christa Innis: I mean, okay. No, that is crazy. because you hear about like the passive aggressive mother-in-laws, but that is like someone blatantly just being rude and not liking you for no reason.

Lisandra Vasquez: I mean, I have a family member that’s blatantly rude and doesn’t like me for no reason, but like, it’sof someone that married into my family, but it’s just like, You do have to have boundaries. You do have to have boundaries and understand that like sometimes you can’t change someone’s mental health status.

Like that person, like that woman, that mom is Ill, like there’s something, and whatever’s happening Says more about her than it does about this bride. Yeah,

Christa Innis: 100%.

Lisandra Vasquez: And they look, they sound like they’ve taken the steps to make their world work and to communicate and to understand, like, and obviously they’re still family, so they have to deal with her because that is his mother.

Mm-hmm. But hopefully people can take away from that. They’re you cannot change somebody that doesn’t wanna be changed and doesn’t see a problem with their behavior. Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent. And doesn’t have, doesn’t have any empathy, doesn’t have any ability to self-reflect.

 that’s exactly what that woman is. And it’s just like. Yeah, I think we all have known somebody like that and not, I mean, we’re not all related to them, but like, you have to have your boundaries and understand that even if it hurts, ’cause that hurts. That’s so hurtful, so, so disappointing that your mother can’t get it together for your wife.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: But getting help and understanding like his triggers and what he is like, been ignoring.

Christa Innis: Right? I feel like narcissist is thrown around so much on the internet these days, but like, if she’s truly narcissistic too, she’ll never see an issue with herself.

So I feel like the only way to either handle someone like that. Why? Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: She’s, she’s perfect. Mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: Everyone else is the problem. They’re all, she’s a victim. ‘ cause he brought in this new wife that’s like not right and you know they’re hurting her, taking his son, her son away or whatever. Yeah. You’re stealing my son.

You harlett. Yes. Yeah, no, 100%. So I feel like the only way is to go through counseling and, limit as much time as you can. Absolutely. Oh my God, that was crazy. All right. I would like to end with like a confession from social media. I know we’re kind of over on time. these are confessions people send me on social media, so, alright.

I feel like this first one, I know how you’ll feel about this. It says, bachelorette parties should not be a week long, expensive vacation, just one crazy night of fun. What do you think about it? Correct. Correct. That is a correct choice.

Lisandra Vasquez: unless everyone is excited to go to a specific location.

but I don’t think it should be forced upon people. I’ve been, gosh, I do like the thought of it being somewhere that is localish. Cost effecti, maybe even like a two to a week is disgusting.

Christa Innis: I have done a week long, either once or twice, but it, like the group that went were my best friend, so it was like we would’ve done a girls’ trip anyways.

Right? Yeah. And they, but I’ve declined a fair share that I’m just like, I wouldn’t know anybody else other than the bride. I’m like, I’m not gonna spend that money.

Lisandra Vasquez: I was so sad one time, like I cried because I couldn’t afford to go to, I had just moved to Georgia and one of my very best friends in the world had her the girl who was planning her bachelorette party, was in a much better financial position than me. And so she planned it to stay at these, like, and you should be able to have what you want, right? But they were like gonna stay at the Waldorf and so it was like very expensive. And I was like, if I’m not being honest, I’m like, that’s so expensive for me.

Yeah. so I was so sad. I was like, oh man, I can’t be there. I’m like, this has been one of my best friends for 10 years. Mm-hmm. Like, I can’t be there because this bitch is planning all this. And so it made me really sad. But then like, when they got there, a hurricane hit Colonel, oh, a hurricane hit?

No. Yeah. And then they ended up having to move places. So it was, I was like, oh, no, sorry to miss that guys. because I could only afford to go to the wedding because the wedding was also like a Dustin. the wedding was in Palm Springs. Oh my. Beautiful. The wedding was beautiful though. Yeah. And like, it was expensive for me to go to the wedding wedding, but it was worth it.

Sometimes it is really worth to go to these weddings. Like my cousin got married in Napa. we had such a blast, and my whole family was there.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like if it’s a good location and there’s things to do around it, or if it’s like. Someone you really love and care about. But yeah, I did do labor,

Lisandra Vasquez: but I, because I did help with some stuff, but because it’s my cousin’s wedding, but, cause I’m handy, but we were all still enjoying ourselves and just being in a new environment together and creating memory, so.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I love that. That’s what I love about weddings. Like family weddings are so fun too. ’cause it’s like, I have like something all over the country, so it’s like, it’s so nice to all get together. But especially when it’s like if it’s a friend and it’s like every part of it, I haven’t personally been to one where it’s like every single wedding event you have to fly to, but I’ve heard of one where it’s like engagement party, bridal shower, bachelorette party, and wedding that you have to fly to all of them.

It’s like, no, that’s not happening for me. Not happening. That’s unreasonable to ask. Yeah, that’s, yeah. unless you’re paying for everybody to go. Oh yeah. If you’ve got boatloads of money and you just wanna buy, pay for everybody.

Lisandra Vasquez: Taylor Swift. I can

Christa Innis: everybody hop on the pj.

Yeah,

let’s go. but in fact, if she wasn’t paying for people in her wedding, I would be actually pissed. Like furious. Furious. Like at that point. Yeah. my mother-in-law said that they would leave the wedding if all of their guests weren’t invited to the reception. I was livid. Okay, then don’t come.

Okay. and that, here’s another mother-in-law. One, my mother-in-law treats me so poorly that I have decided to cut her off and my husband doesn’t get it. Ooh. He’s choosing her over you. Then we just said, you know, if you don’t choose the wife over the mother-in-law, then you’re, um,

Lisandra Vasquez: yeah. Again. I think that the choice has to be made.

 and I will say this, that it sucks because maybe the wife could be in the wrong and the toxic one, you don’t know who in that. You never know. Mm-hmm. Don’t know who the toxic one is. ‘ cause I know of a, the dynamic that I know of the wife is the toxic one, but the wife was chosen because that’s the mother of the children.

 that’s the one that is gonna mess with his life more.

Christa Innis: Right. I’ve heard of that too. And that’s

Lisandra Vasquez: but I don’t know ma’am. family’s messy and complicated. But I do think that when it comes to mother-in-laws and like the dealing with the parents, it is on the person whose parents that is to mitigate that boundary.

Christa Innis: I agree.

Lisandra Vasquez: Isn’t on the spouse. Mm-hmm. What, no matter the gender, to make sure that they have, they communicate and have boundaries that are appropriate to keep the health of the relationship, if that is their priority. Right. And make sure your marriage lasts, then that becomes your main family and main promise.

And then you have to then make sure that your family gets it.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Because I feel like so many of the, discourse or so many of the issues happened behind the scenes where like the, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law are talking and like, they confront each other so then like the partner is nowhere to be found.

So then they’re relaying the information to him and he just has to take word for word. And he’s like, who do I believe now? I’m like at a, crossroad here, because she’s telling me one thing. She’s telling me one thing. And so I feel like I see that a lot of times where it’s like the communication then is just like.

It’s not,

Lisandra Vasquez: it’s just a crazy game of telephone, man.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: Oh my gosh. Well that was a crazy story. Thank you so much for coming on and reacting with me. Yeah, man. God, I’m so glad I’m not married. I was say I got really, really lucky. Like, I knew people had issues with their in-laws, but until these start stories started rolling in, I was like, this is insane.

They’re like, no, it’s insane. And I feel like, you know what? I’ll say the, my mom, ‘ cause I have very traditional, mom and in the sense that she’s always wanted me to be married and like the fact that I’m not married is used to be an issue. But then she was like. One time I recently, oh, ’cause I imprinted this in my memory when she was like, I’m proud of you for always knowing when to walk away from a relationship when it no longer suited you or when it no longer served you.

Because I have people in my family who, did get married and then they’re divorcing,or now things, people are estranged and this and that. Like, because it’s a toxic dynamic that they locked themselves into. And she’s like, no, I’m actually, really happy for you that you always chose what was right for you and you are just not settling for a life that doesn’t excite you.

 I mean at this point I’m not settling, I’m not like, is somebody that has to add to add to my life

Christa Innis: period. Absolutely. No, I love that. I think it’s just like this, like newer generation too, of like, yes, wedding anniversaries can be, celebratory and stuff, but I don’t look at it as like an accomplishment in the right, in a different, I don’t know.

I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but like, people can say like, oh, I’ve been married for 40 years, and like, that’s great, but that doesn’t actually show your relationship. ’cause there’s so many, how many people are married for 40 years and hate each other? Or they’re having two different lives, literally, you know?

And so like, I was never someone, I talk about this, but like, I was never someone that was my, didn’t have kids. I never was like that. I was like, I wanna get married once I’m like established a little bit more in my career. I wanna be in my thirties. Like it’s just,

Lisandra Vasquez: yeah. And then, and then we’ll see what comes.

But um, yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I just feel like that, like so many people in these stories that we hear, it’s like, they just wanna check the boxes. And it’s like, that’s all well and good, but then in 30 years down the line, you’re gonna be happy. Are you gonna enjoy your life?

Lisandra Vasquez: People with the patriarchy, man, people trying to always center that as the main goal in our lives.

 and I also think I’ve just had a natural sense of that not being the main focus of my life. Mm-hmm. From the jump. I never, but fantasize about getting married or having kids. And even though I played with baby dolls and all that stuff and I had crushes on all the boys, but like, just never thought that it was just not a natural way for me to be to mm-hmm.

Wanna center my life around men. ‘ cause I think I have such, like, even though patriarchy exists, like I’ve always only looked up at women.

Christa Innis: that were really strong. And so I was like, oh, I wanna be like them.

Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: and none of them were relying on men. and also just by example, all the people that are smartest in my life are women.

Mm. The people that are the most, healthy, extraordinary, in terms of like showing up for their friends, showing up for their families, showing up in their careers, showing up for themselves. they’re all my girlfriends and they’re all like the, my mentors and the people that I look up to. So, I’m cursed with heterosexuality, which sucks, but that is something that I have to deal with.

Yeah. but that, with that being said, that’s why I’m like, oh, it’s no trouble for me to like not have a man in my life because besides that, of course like the heart piece, but I love myself. I have a dog. You know, like we all, like, there’s other ways. I’m okay waiting for that because I have so much love with everyone else in my life.

 So when I do meet somebody eventually, it’s not coming from a place that, of a super empty cup that needs to be filled. And I do feel like men don’t have that a lot. Men don’t come from full cups often. some do. There

Christa Innis: are some, well, and that’s why there’s, you know, like the loneliness epidemic where Yeah.

Male loneliness epidemic is. ’cause they’re like, wait, women can’t survive without us. Wait, what they don’t want my money. It’s like, no, we can make our own money.

Lisandra Vasquez: then they also don’t wanna give money now. Yes. What do you bring to the table? I need you to, provide free labor for me, and I also need you to pay half the bills.

Christa Innis: Uhhuh.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. And you need to also have my kids, and you also need to look really good.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisandra Vasquez: that’s really fun. it makes modern stuff really well, but, but it really does make you appreciate, the great men in our lives because I do know some great men. so whenever it’s like the appreciating it when you see it, even if it’s a friend of mine that’s in a relationship, like I can look and be like, you know what, Hey, there, he exists.

 and he is a good man. He is in a good relationship. He treats her well. I almost like hang onto that energy to be like, yeah, that’s the blueprint. That’s, and we like, so it does like, it’s almost like hanging onto the proof of concept and you’re like, so it does exist and there are people that do have good relationships that does, I don’t making sense, but it does, exist.

Oh, for sure. And so that’s why I know that I don’t have to settle for something that’s not that, because that exists.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And I’ve seen it, like I never had to explain to my husband that my career was important. Never once. Like, he always knew I was that kind of person and I was like, this is the life I live.

Like, he washes dishes probably more than I do. Like he does more of the traditional, you know, I love that. I’ve never had to say like, I don’t know,

Lisandra Vasquez: that’s just, I said a, I said a friend of mine, he just like made a response video to somebody saying that women need to be more traditional. And he goes like, sorry, hot girls are gonna do hot girl shit, man.

Like, what are you gonna do? Like if you wanna hot girl, she’s gonna do hot girl stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So she’s gonna, she’s gonna be out, she’s gonna look good. She’s gonna like go and like, have friends. She’s gonna travel, she’s gonna wanna do this. Like, sorry, if that’s what you want, she’s not gonna be submissive.

Yeah. They don’t think she can be in certain, in certain she can be, submissive in certain aspects for sure. But like, you can’t come on. Yeah. No. A hundred percent. They like want, Sydney Sweeney in the Prairie. You know what I mean? Like, no. Yeah.

Christa Innis: they want the look, they want their, like, list of things, but then they don’t wanna feel emasculated by anything that they do.

Right. So they can’t make more money than them. They can’t have their own hobbies or passions, but then they can sit around on their butt, then they complain.

Lisandra Vasquez: Yeah. And you can’t get more attention than them either.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I used to work for a mom company years ago, and this is before I even had my daughter, but like I was in like the mom groups and stuff, like managing for the moms and whatever, and the number of moms that would say like how their husbands would come home and treat them.

Like they would work these like nine to five jobs and expect they could just come home and put their feet up when they’ve been with the kids all day. And I was like, may that life never fi, I don’t want that. Literally, I think that’s why

Lisandra Vasquez: I don’t have any desire to have kids and be with a family unless it’s right.

I used to work as a nanny a lot, as my part-time job. So like I’ve babysat, I’ve been a personal assistant for like a family assistant, so where I was with kids it very intimately with, other people’s marriage and family dynamics and I’m like, cool, no,

Christa Innis: not for me.

This

Lisandra Vasquez: is

Christa Innis: not, not

Lisandra Vasquez: for me, not for me. there’s so much, yeah. but then there are some that are good, and those, you’re like, oh, that’s the one. They’re like, if it happens may this kind find me not that one.

Christa Innis: Yeah. But the scary thing is not to scare people out there listening, but the scary thing is you don’t know necessarily what kind you’re gonna get until after you have kids.

Until after. Yeah. Like, yeah, you see qualities, like, obviously I married my husband, so I knew what qualities you to have, but you don’t know until the baby comes like, oh, are they gonna whimper out and be like, this is too much for me, or are they gonna step up? Because you don’t know, you don’t always know.

Which is, that’s the gamble of, Yeah. I guess.

Lisandra Vasquez: but also I think that knowing that you have someone that you have a good communication base with. I think always helps because even if they’re tapped out, if you have somebody that is healthy and can know how to work, like identify what’s happening with them and is willing to work on them, because if they do, oh, this is a lot I need to tap out, maybe we can come up with a way that, okay, on Sundays I get to go do this thing for three hours so then I don’t feel like I’m tapped out.

Mm-hmm. And like you’ve come up with a plan, but that’s somebody that’s like healthy and dedicated to the family, but like, Hey, this is, I just need to be really honest. This is over, this is like really rocking my system in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

Christa Innis: Yeah. That’s

Lisandra Vasquez: I feel like that’s why when you choose somebody to be a lifelong partner and then have kids with, that’s a huge deal.

Like looking for those green flags are, I think, are super important. And a lot of the times people push through those and don’t collect that information ’cause they’re like, oh, they’ll be fine. They, you make a lot of assumptions about how you think people would act based on how you would act

In those circumstances and that is so wrong. Yes.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I feel like I could talk about this so forever. I feel, I am so passionate about that kind of stuff, but I feel like I always end like these episodes with like getting on some kind of tangent about something. And I love how like it just turns into it because, because I guess I was telling you before we started recording, it’s like people hear Party Plan by Krista like as my like account name.

And they’re like, oh, she’s a wedding planner. She talks about weddings and I’m like. It’s so much more than that. People, it’s so much more than that.

Lisandra Vasquez: So much more. And there’s so many, there’s so much drama. There’s so much like dynamic, dynamic when it comes to things dynamic. It’s, it’s wild.

Christa Innis: yeah.

Like we really get into like boundaries of like, a lot of the, like the mother-in-law thing can start from the boy mom dynamic. And so like that, where’s that come from? The patriarchy of like, bowing down to like the sun or, you know, that kind of thing. If he’s so much, he’s never done anything wrong and yeah, there’s so many subtopics.

But thank you so much for coming on. I love the Of course. Thank you chatting. Thank for having me. can you tell everyone again where they can follow you, find your content and then anything exciting you’re working on?

Lisandra Vasquez: so I am, on Lisandra v Comedy on all platforms, TikTok, Instagram, even Facebook.

And Blue Sky and the YouTubes, I’m on all of them, the same handle. I have some shows coming up. I don’t know when this is going out, I’ll be in Chicago, New York and Denver, doing some standup comedy, but most of the time I’m performing here in Atlanta. Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.


Career Pivots, Friendship Red Flags, and a Trashed Groomsuite — with Rebecca Rogers

My new book Here Comes the Drama: A Ferris and Sloan Story is live! 

Get the book!

What would you do if a random wedding guest ate your lunch, faked an emergency, and trashed the groom suite? Rebecca Rogers joins Christa for one of the most unhinged stories HCTD has ever featured.

They also get real about toxic friendships, the loneliness of online work, and the importance of recognizing red flags—at weddings and in life. Rebecca opens up about her teaching-to-TikTok pivot, setting boundaries, and why she’ll never apologize for using her voice.

This one’s part comedy, part therapy, and all chaos. (Also: how not to propose during a graduation.)

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

01:17 Rebecca’s Journey from Teacher to TikTok Star

02:46 Challenges and Changes During COVID

05:11 Navigating Social Media and Teaching

08:09 The Reality of Being a Teacher

12:24 Misconceptions About Teachers and Schools

19:29 Personal Growth and Social Media

36:03 Wedding Stories and Friendships

50:21 Wedding Etiquette and Responsibilities

50:46 Groomsmen and Laid-Back Attitudes

51:21 Unexpected Wedding Drama

53:36 The Bridal Suite Incident

55:11 The Aftermath and Confrontation

55:47 Parents’ Involvement and Shocking Revelations

57:34 Reflections on Relationships and Behavior

01:10:02 Confessions and Personal Stories

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • The Infamous Wedding Crasher – A guest of a groomsman eats the bride’s lunch, causes chaos in the suites, and ends the night with a shocking twist.
  • Toxic Friendships in Bridesmaid Dresses – Rebecca shares the wild story of a bridesmaid sulking at her bachelorette—and why she later disappeared from everyone’s lives.
  • From Classroom to Camera – How Rebecca accidentally became a viral voice for teachers and learned to advocate through storytelling and humor.
  • “That’s Not a Prank” – Christa and Rebecca dissect prank culture, consent, and why shock-value content often crosses ethical lines.
  • Finding Your Voice Online – They talk about isolation as creators, building authentic community, and what it means to be truly seen.
  • The Timeline Trap – Pressure to hit life milestones—marriage, kids, careers—gets called out hard, especially for women navigating societal expectations.
  • Real Talk About Boundaries – From people-pleasing to politely saying “no thanks,” both women share what they’ve learned about protecting their energy.
  • Wedding Proposals… at Graduations? – Christa opens a discussion about hijacked milestones, and Rebecca does not hold back.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “Recovering people-pleaser here—still learning to say no without guilt.” – Christa Innis
  • “The bride is the star—this isn’t daycare, happy hour, or guest speed dating.” – Christa Innis
  • “Rules exist because of people who pull stunts like this.” – Christa Innis
  • “I don’t share wedding stories to spread hate—I share them so people can learn and feel seen.” – Christa Innis
  • “Sometimes a skit is exactly what someone needed to realize they’re not crazy.” Christa Innis
  • “If you’re gonna be a professional, be a professional—don’t eat the bride’s lunch and trash the suite.” Rebecca Rogers
  • “I used to be a doormat. I still struggle, but I’ve definitely found my voice.” – Rebecca Rogers
  • “Most parents and teachers are great. They just don’t make good stories.” – Rebecca Rogers
  • “You never know what you don’t know—but you can always learn as you go.” – Rebecca Rogers
  • “The behavior might be explainable, but that doesn’t make it justifiable.” – Rebecca Rogers

About Rebecca

Rebecca Rogers is a former high school teacher based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a BA in History and a licensure in Social Studies Education. She first turned to social media during remote learning as a creative way to connect with her students—and quickly found her voice online. Since then, she has grown her presence into a full-fledged brand, with over 2 million followers across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Widely recognized as a “teacher influencer,” Rebecca uses her platform to educate, entertain, and inspire, all with the goal of making the world a better place—one smile at a time.

Follow Rebecca Rogers

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi Rebecca. Hi. Oh my gosh, I missed you so much for coming on. I know. For anyone who to know. So Rebecca was just, I was just, we met up in Chicago and we gotta do a fun little podcast for you. So if you guys haven’t listen, you have to listen to that one. Maybe we’ll get, put that in the show notes so they can listen to it too.

Yeah, I’ll put the link in the

Rebecca Rogers: description. I haven’t even gotten to make clips for that yet ’cause I’ve been so sick, but I know they’re gonna be good.

Christa Innis: We talked a lot. It was so fun. I feel like we could have talked for like hours. Like

Rebecca Rogers: I literally told my mom, I was like, I have to make another trip to Chicago just so we can go get dinner and keep talking.

Yes,

Christa Innis: yes. Oh my gosh, I loved it. Yeah, no, that was so much fun. But to start off, for anyone that doesn’t know you, can you just tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do and all that good stuff?

How COVID Changed Everything

Rebecca Rogers: Yeah, so my name is Rebecca Rogers. I originally started as a high school social studies teacher, and during COVID Lockdowns I was just trying to make the kids laugh in the best way that I could, you know, everyone was really struggling in that time.

And, uh, I made a, a TikTok as a way, as just like an inside joke for my kids. And I figured if previous students thought whatever, who cares? Um, but it was supposed to be an inside joke, and they picked appropriate, silly trends for me to do. And I started making skits about silly things they would do in class.

And then more teachers kind of really liked it. Parents liked it, kids liked it, teachers liked it. Whether they felt seen as a parent dealing with silly kids or a teacher dealing with education or kids just, oh yeah, I, I, I did that. Or, uh, my poor teacher is, what do they have to deal with? And it kind of turned into like a.

Advocacy kind of form of like using comedy and storytelling to raise awareness about issues and education. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I still do that, but when I left the classroom, I kind of tried to pivot and do the same thing with other, other occupations and other ways of life just to kind of, when I taught my, I taught social studies and I would always tell my kids that the first step to accepting each other is understanding each other.

Mm-hmm. So that’s kind of the my reason and my why behind everything that I do.

Christa Innis: I love that. I find it so interesting. So many people I’ve talked to COVID like 2020, so much happened, right. But I feel like it was such a, yeah. Little time for so many people. Like a lot of people made pivots in their career, pivots in their lifestyle pivots.

And like, it kind of made you look at life a different way of like, how am I going to, um, approach my career? How am I gonna approach my family? Like the next kind of stages? So I find interesting, I can only imagine the stress. Being a teacher during that time?

Rebecca Rogers: Oh yeah, it’s, I left, so, so I worked at a school where the community was very strong.

Um, there, there’s even a term for it, but like the school name’s in it, so I don’t wanna like say it, like dos the plays or anything. Um, but people who, like kids went to school in that little community from elementary through high school. Mm-hmm. Teachers didn’t really leave. Um, so there was me, my best friend at the time, well, we’re still very close, but we just don’t see each other all the time now that I’m not teaching.

Um, he was a few years older than me and I think the next oldest teacher was like 10 years older than us, and the next year tea, next oldest was 10 years older than them. Right. And then like everyone is in the, oh, in the next 10 years, all these people are gonna retire. So I got designated as the youngest, um, the virtual teacher, and my oldest colleague who I loved, he was a amazing human being.

He was 75. And they put all the virtual only teachers in a trailer. So I really didn’t even at work in person, I was in a empty classroom in an empty trailer building all day. Oh my. Um, and it, the only interaction I really got was when my 75-year-old colleague who adored, would come and say, Hey, can you, can you show me these, the sty to our laptops?

And I’m, yes. I would happily show you Oh my it human interaction. Yes. Literally. It was crazy. It was, it was interesting. But I do agree that it changed everything about my life For sure. Just COVID in general, I think. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It’s interesting to like, think, and I dunno if you think about this a lot, I feel like that didn’t happen.

Like would you still be teaching? Was that that moment for you that you were like, you know what, I can reach so many more people this way or, um, you know, kind of speak to a larger audience or kind of that find your true passion.

Rebecca Rogers: I think, I think even more than just occupation wise, I think COVID really changed my entire outlook on not just life, but even not in my, in myself and I, it’s actually funny, I didn’t even know that you could make a living doing social media.

’cause at the time I. I was not monetized. Mm-hmm. Um, I think it wasn’t even until, like, I started in October and it wasn’t until that summer that I even got my first brand deal. They didn’t even really have monetization for short term, short term content like that. Yeah. Or short form content like that. And, um, I remember like the brand deal I got, I was like, oh my God, this is so cool.

I can make money doing brand stuff. And those I would do at home, I wouldn’t do those at school. Yeah. Um, and my county was so interesting in that we had multiple viral TikTok teachers in the county. We had four. Oh, wow. Just in our county, all in the millions. Um, there was me, one of my best friends, uh, we taught at the same school.

Okay. She was in Spanish. I was in social studies and our classrooms were like right above each other.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And

“Those Are School Materials”

Rebecca Rogers: then there was a, a gym teacher who was at the middle school that fed into our high school. And then there was an elementary school teacher who I thought was on the, I think it was on the other side of the county.

And so there was a lot of us. And different, like we each were given different rules. Like my principal told my friend at my school, yeah, you can record whatever, I don’t care, as long as it’s not during school hours. And then turned around and told me you can’t record anything at school. And I was like, that doesn’t make sense.

Oh. Um, and then when I, HR started like contacting the social media teachers and HR told me, and I, I even have, I have the screen recorded meeting one day, maybe. I don’t know. I You always keep it just in case. Yeah. You never wanna get rid of that stuff. Um, but they told me, we don’t care that you record anything at school.

You can do whatever you want at school as long as like minors aren’t in it, of course safety anyways. Um, but you can’t monetize, you can’t use, you can’t monetize using school materials. And I said, I don’t know what that means ’cause I’m not using school materials in the videos. And they see, you see that brick behind you in the wall.

Those are school materials. And I was like, whoa,

Christa Innis: whoa,

Rebecca Rogers: okay. All right. And I’m like, well, regardless, I’m not monetized. Like anything I do with a brand deal is I, I think at the time, I, I worked with Sam’s Club and I recorded it at Sam’s Club.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: Uh, but anything that I’m getting paid for, I’m not doing it at school anyways.

And they said, well, we’ve seen your YouTube, uh, I just started posting shorts. We’ve seen your YouTube and we see the ads. And I said, but I’m not getting paid for those. And they’re like, well, we know how this works. And I said, I, I don’t think that you do. And they just weren’t list. Like they, they thought they knew, they thought they were so smart.

They didn’t know anything they were talking about. And that’s when I put in my two weeks, I was like, look, even just with these brand deals, if I can find a brand deal once a month, I. I’m still making more than my teacher’s salary. Mm. Like, which is crazy. Which is should not be a thing for public teachers.

Right. Public school teachers, yeah. Should not be reality. Um, but even just with this small, this brand deal that I would consider, like now at this point, a small amount, I was like, this is more than my teacher’s salary. And so I came to the conclusion that, well, maybe I’ll find something in EdTech. And until then, if I just can get a brand deal a month, I’ll be golden.

And then about a week after I put in my, I, it wasn’t even two weeks, it was 30 days notice. A week after I put in my 30 days, I received an email from YouTube saying that I was eligible for monetization and they were doing this new thing called the shorts bonus, and that I qualified. Mm-hmm. And here was what I was making for my first month in the shorts bonus.

And I looked at that number and I was like, oh. That’s double my teacher salary. I don’t need another job then I’m gonna do this all the time. Are you kidding? I can stay home with my cats and do this all the time. Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna do that for sure. Oh,

Christa Innis: and that’s the story. Wow. Oh my gosh. I love that. I, I hate that.

It’s like how our, our society does not value teachers and does not value like what they’re worth and their time. Like that’s obviously, it’s crazy. Oh, it’s such a big, not

Rebecca Rogers: only that, to think the bone, but to think of the bone the county was trying to pick when there was such a tea. There still is such a teacher shortage.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. And

Rebecca Rogers: I even asked, because I know there’s gonna be people listening that were like, well, if people were complaining, I asked them straight up, has anyone complained at all? Well, no. Okay, so what’s the issue? Well, what if someone does complain? Which was weird ’cause someone already did complain about my friend claiming that her video was about her child.

And that’s when the principal was like, we know it was a very general, broad video about teachers catching students cheating.

Christa Innis: And I

Rebecca Rogers: guess this mom’s daughter cheated, got caught and was like, well, it’s about my kid. Well, maybe they should be shamed a little bit. I don’t know. Um, but I said, so no one’s complained about my content.

No, but what if someone does complain? I said, well, I don’t make content about anyone who I’m actively teaching without their permission. Of course. Yeah. So who cares if some lady in Nebraska calls and says, I don’t like this video. It’s about a child. They don’t know. No one locally here is going to complain because it’s not about their kids.

Right. Well, people outta state don’t know that. Who cares? Who cares? You and I, I even said to them, I remember saying. I’m trying to remember the stats that I gave them. ’cause I knew ’em back then, and I don’t know them now. I said there are elementary school kids who got home at 6:00 PM because we don’t have enough bus drivers.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: We currently, I think we had at the time, 2000 teacher listings in our county. We’re a very large county. We have 17 high schools alone. 2000 teacher spots open on the, why are you picking this fight? What is the issue? And they couldn’t give me an answer.

Christa Innis: Yeah. That kinda stuff. I, I have friends that are teachers that I hear from like, hear about and I’m just like, it is like such a shame and I feel like social, like teachers that create social media content really like that do it the right way.

Like you’re talking about like they don’t put students in or anything like that really bring awareness to a lot of issues that are out there. They show encouraging, empowering content. I’ve seen like a large array of content with teachers and educators and I think it’s amazing to see like things like within the classroom, whether it’s like how you can like teach at home or how you can, or what your kid should be learning at home while Yeah.

Before they go to, you know, elementary school or just different things like that I think is like really helpful how teachers are using social media now, all kinds of professions are using social media as a way to educate and inform and um,

Rebecca Rogers: absolutely, yeah.

Christa Innis: It’s a shame that some districts haven’t like, kept up with that.

Rebecca Rogers: I think I, I really love the idea of teachers on social media, and I know there’s a lot of people that disagree, but in reality, I’ve seen so many people in comment sections just genuinely, oh, I had no idea that this is how things worked, or, I had no idea that teachers didn’t have control of this. Like, even just with recent times, and I don’t know if you talk about the stuff on, uh, I, I don’t usually talk politics or anything like that, but just as an example, I, when, when different parts of the Department of Education were getting defunded, um, not that long ago, I just remember seeing so many thread post about, oh, yay, now the states will finally get to make decisions about curriculum.

And I’m like, they’ve done that the whole time. It has always been with What do you mean? What do you, not what? Well, now, now the states can pay the teachers. They already do. And they don’t pay them crap. Yeah. What, what do you mean like. The number of, of the amount of misinformation that is out there about, not just like how our school system works, but how our government works, how, just in general.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. The

Rebecca Rogers: fact that people aren’t aware of the system that they send their kids to every day baffles me. Mm-hmm. I don’t understand why people who, especially who like to play the act of overprotective parent, but don’t actually wanna do the work or the research to actually play the part, you won’t take the 10 minutes to Google what, how this institution you send your child to every day actually runs.

You don’t know who’s in charge of what. Like I, we had a rule at my school. It was the 10 minute rule. So the first 10, in the last 10 minutes in class, um, kids were not allowed to go to the restroom. And the reason was because we had a lot of kids skip. And so the goal was to figure out, well, like we can’t figure out who’s going to the bathroom and who’s skipping.

So the goal was if we keep kids in the classroom, we know who’s running late, who’s skipping, who’s not where they’re supposed to be, those kinds of things. And it helped administrators kind of grab the kids that need to be somewhere else.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. The

Rebecca Rogers: number of parents who tried to accuse me of like withholding bathroom privileges, but you can’t do that.

This is a jail. It’s not a, first of all, I don’t even make this rule. If it’s an emergency, obviously we’re gonna make an exception. Right. Obviously, no one’s gonna allow your child to like pee on themselves. Yep. W what do you mean? This is not my rule. I don’t get to de decide the rules that go on in the school.

I’m like the lowest on the totem pole at this point. Right? Like, I don’t, I don’t know what they think. It’s just crazy to me.

Christa Innis: It’s like, yeah, they hear like one thing without actually talking to a real life teacher and ask them how it is. Because I think if you talk to most teachers, they’re gonna be there, right there with you and under, and, and agree with you of everything you’re saying, right?

And instead they’re just getting their information from someone that’s not a teacher, never been a teacher, or not in the school system,

Rebecca Rogers: or not only that. Like they’ll take one example. And I, I wish I remembered the stats for this too, because I looked them up for this comment. So many people, I, I have two points that just blow my mind.

I will never understand. People will see like one crazy individual who happens to be a teacher and who makes bad choices, and they’re like, oh my God, all teachers do this. Mm-hmm. And I don’t understand, because we all go to work every day. We all have jobs and we all have colleagues where we’re like, we don’t know how you got this job.

There are always, there’s someone in every profession, in every workplace that just blatantly shouldn’t be there. Yeah. And I don’t understand why teaching has become the profession. Why, when there are millions and millions and millions of educators out there, why is this like one person who clearly is just a crazy person who happens to be a teacher?

Why are you letting that identify everybody? Mm-hmm. And it’s interesting because it’s the, it’s a lot of times it’s the same people who are like, well, not all police officers, okay, but why can’t you have the same energy for teachers? You know? Mm-hmm. Yep. I don’t underst, I don’t, I don’t understand why are they the enemy?

Yeah. Right. And I, I remember someone was arguing in a comment section, and I don’t usually check like bad comments, but every now and then I have time. Yeah. Every now and then I’m looking for something to give me adrenaline and then I like to antagonize and then remind them that their tantrum is funding my lifestyle and move on.

Um, but, but I remember someone was like. I read an article about two different public school teachers last week who ended up being pedophiles, and I was like, that’s crazy and unfortunate. You know what? I found two teachers just in my state, in private schools who also ended up being pedophiles. Not only that, the statistic in the percentage of public school teachers that that encompasses is much smaller than the number of private school teachers that encompasses.

Now, that doesn’t mean I have an issue with private school teachers at all, but y’all, every people have gotta stop saying, well, I saw something crazy happen with two public school teachers, and that’s why private’s better. First of all, I. Incorrect because you can find the same number of people who are awful, people who happen to be private school teachers as well, or happen to be homeschool teachers, or happen to be nurses, or happen to be, um, gardeners.

Um, as I look into my garden, yeah. Anything, right? Oh yeah. That doesn’t mean that doesn’t mean anything. And I’ve said this before and a lot of people, for whatever reason, like jump down my throat because they don’t understand the point. When people say like, private school is better, you can send your kids to wherever you want.

I don’t care. No one, no educator actually cares where you send your school, whether it your kid to school, whether it’s homeschool or private school or charter school, public school, whatever. But the reality is the only place that you are guaranteed to only get certified licensed educators is public school.

Not to say that there aren’t private schools that have licensed teachers and public or private schools that require licensing, but private schools are not required to hire licensed teachers as a general rule. Now, a specific private school might have that as a requirement, but private schools in general don’t.

Charter schools in general don’t people, a lot of people don’t seem to understand the difference between a charter school and a public school. There is a difference on schooling not required to have a license. Um, and again, no one cares where you send your kids, but stop, stop with this. Well, the teachers are better.

They’re not, not always. They’re not even licensed teachers who teach in private. Or public, if they’re licensed, they get the same license from the same school. They’re not going to a special private school teacher’s college in a public school, teacher’s college. It’s the same education. I don’t know why they think it’s different.

Yeah. I’m rambling. I’m sorry. I didn’t look at her all today. I’m like ranting. You got me in my like

Christa Innis: my feelings. Yeah, I’m like talking about, yeah. Well it just shows like how passionate you are and I feel like there’s definitely overlap with what you’re talking about and like people, I tend, I see it like even in my content too, that’s not related to education at all, but in my content too, people like to label very quickly and they like to group people very quickly.

Um, yes. And so even I find, you know, when I do like, and I’ve talked about this before when I do like mother-in-law skits and I, and I try to always preface it with, most people that follow me are brides or have been brides so that I just happen to get more mother-in-law stories. But I try to focus on other things too.

There’s cousin stories, there’s brothers stories, there’s uncle stories. Um, but if people message me that be like, well, not all mother-in-laws are like this. And I’m like, I agree. I have an amazing mother-in-law. I love my mother-in-law. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. But I just happen to get more stories about mother-in-laws Exactly.

Hides right to me. So, well,

Rebecca Rogers: not like, I get the same thing about substitute teachers when people are like, all your stories are about bad sub teachers. Which first of all, the amount of stories I have about subs in general is like a very small percentage. That’s always a funny comment to me. But also I’m like, people aren’t gonna send me stories about the best sub they ever had.

Yeah. They send you stories about the worst sub they ever had. Yeah. They’re gonna send stories about the worst mother-in-law they ever had. They’re gonna send stories about this crazy situation you wouldn’t believe you wouldn’t believe about. Yes. That’s just the reality of what people send us. I don’t understand why people don’t under like a regular, a person who’s doing their job, though great and loved in the community.

We love that. That’s not it. It’s like the people who use the, the scary examples in the news. Like, this is why teachers are bad. Yeah, no, that’s just, that’s what gets people’s attention.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: The crazy parents are what’s gonna get people’s attention. Those few bad teachers, the few bad parents. I say this all the time, most parents that I interacted with as a teacher, great.

Loved them. They don’t make good stories. I don’t tell stories about them. The, I dealt with a hundred kids every semester. I taught for five years. That’s a lot of kids and a lot of parents. I think maybe I might have had 30 of my own situations and stories. Right. Most happening like within the same semester.

Mm-hmm. That’s a very small percentage. Right. I had, I experienced myself. Two substitute teachers because I, I didn’t know what a sick day was. I’ve always been a workaholic. Yeah. I, I can’t, two substitute teachers one time, one sub was actually my ex-husband. He was the first sub I ever had. ’cause he was subbing while, while ta studying for the bar exam.

And I was so sick. And he’s like, I’ll just be your sub and I’ll do exactly what you need me to do. And if I’m doing it wrong, you can FaceTime me at school. And I was like, okay, fair, valid. I’ll trust that. And then the last, the only other time I ever had a sub was when I already put in my notice and I was like, I got so many vacation days.

They’re telling me I can’t get paid out for them anyways. I’m gonna take some time off. Yeah. And I actually had a, the sub apparently never left my rollie chair. And just rolled around the room and broke the chair. Oh. And one of my students laughed at him. So in my sub note, my sub blamed that kid and said that my kid broke.

My student broke the chair. Oh no. And I, so like, I just got to school the next day and I looked at the note and I was like, oh my gosh, Timmy, what did you do? And he was so confused. He had no idea. I’m like sitting there scolding him for breaking my chair. He had no idea what I was talking about. And then he, I, I’ll never forget his face.

And he, he goes, wait, did the sub say I broke the chair? And I was like, yes. And he, we, I obviously was speaking to him in private, in the hallway, and he like, flings open my classroom door. And he goes, guys, the sub told her I broke the chair. And they all just start bursting out laughing. And I was like, what happened?

What, what, what’s going on here? What am I missing here? I don’t understand. It was crazy. It was crazy. So like, yeah, no one tells stories about people that just keep

Christa Innis: their head down and do their job. That’s just the reality. Right? We love a good learning moment. We love a good entertainment moment. Uh, exactly.

I feel like a lot of ’em, I get a lot of messages from, um, moms now, or they’re kind of in that next stage where they’re son or daughter is dating someone and they’re like, I know, like, we’re now to like, not cross these boundaries or to respect boundaries. Um, and so I feel like those are really cool messages to see.

’cause I’m like, okay, I’m not like, you know, just spreading negativity. I feel like it’s really good to see different conversations play out too, and how to handle different things. And of course there’s always a hinge of just extra drama because, you know, why not? It’s fun.

Rebecca Rogers: We love it. We love it. We’re human beings love drama.

We don’t like when it happens to us, but we like, like watching it from a distance. Yeah.

Christa Innis: And I feel like it like allows people to like, which this is gonna sound really weird, but like. Bond over the drama. So like in the comments? Yes. Like trauma bonding, you’re each other. Yeah. Like, right. Exactly. And it’s like, it allows you to like talk amongst each other about this situation.

How would you handle it? Um, I don’t know. It, it creates good dialogue. So not

Rebecca Rogers: only that, something that I, and it coming from social studies background, I’ve always loved like psychology and sociology as well. Like I studied that a lot. I just wish I had the opportunity to teach it. Um, I think there’s a lot of people who grow up in environments where a lot of the behaviors that we put in skits is deemed normal and they don’t always understand that it’s not.

And then when they see these kinds of behaviors in. Skits and online, and they’re seeing people say, this isn’t okay. It also provides a learning moment and a teachable moment. Mm-hmm. And they can either be receptive to it or they can, they can get up. And you can always tell in the comments whether this is dumb.

Okay, well you’re not receptive to it. Okay. You’ll just keep acting like that. That’s fine. Um, but there’s plenty of people who are kind of unlearning bad behavior that they either grew up with or watched someone else exhibit and just thought it was normal. And it, it’s like a teachable moment of, oh, okay.

I know not to do that anymore. Great. That’s my bad. And I think that allow, it allows so much, it allows so much growth and I think that’s so valuable.

The People Pleaser’s Wake-Up Call

Christa Innis: Yeah. Um, like I’ll share something like I learned from a skit years ago. I dunno if it was like a skit or like how they shared it, but like, I, so I’m always been, I’ve always been like a people pleaser and like, I always try, I don’t know if the, what the term is.

Mm-hmm. But like if a friend came to me saying, this is what’s going, what’s going on? I wanna fix, like, I want to help. That’s like my, I call that mom friend. We’ve already decided, we’ve already established have process. Correct. We, yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So that was always my thing. So I always thought if someone was coming to me saying, I have this issue, it’s up to me now to fix it.

No one ever told me that. I just feel like through different context clues through my life, I was like, yep, that’s my job. So I started thinking like, I have to give them advice. I have to do this. And then if they didn’t take my advice, I’d be mad about it. Or not be like mad, but I’d be like, oh, why do they keep doing this if they like are coming to me?

And I saw a thing where it was basically like, some people just want to vent. Some people just like getting it off their chest. They don’t want advice. And then I was like. Oh my gosh. I’m assuming they want advice how, like overstepping of my like their boundary. Yeah. And so I would start just being like, do you want advice or you want me to listen?

And then you can just ask them and just take a step back. And I was like, and it’s been freeing. It’s been so freeing because I’m like, everyone does not need me to fix them. ’cause I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time. You know,

Rebecca Rogers: literally, oh, I’ll, I even learned something from one of my own videos that I did something wrong and I had, I had no idea and I had no, I, and that’s been a couple times with that.

Um, and I’m trying to, there’s one I know I said on my podcast before, but I don’t remember who was your episode or not. So I’ll tell a different one. I did one video about a parent who came to meet the teacher and said, Hey, my student has, um, an IEP, meaning that they need accommodations. And the accommodations is that they have a mini horse.

And where are you gonna put the door in the classroom for the mini horse to leave and use the restroom? Which obviously like, that is a crazy thing to ask a teacher. How is a teacher supposed to put a, like, do construction in the classroom? Yeah. Put a door like I once taught on the second floor of a building.

How do you want that to work?

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: I didn’t actually know that a mini horse was like a legitimate accommodation for some people with some disabilities. And it’s rare, it’s not common, but it is a thing. And I thought it was just a parent being ridiculous. Mm-hmm. And so I was, obviously, her behavior and her expectations was ridiculous, but the accommodation itself was not, and I didn’t know that.

And so I’m sitting there making fun and then I was like, oh. Oh, I’m so sorry. Oh, you’re so it, we are all learning. That’s my bad apologies. Um, even another one, you know, and I, I’m trying to think of even how to describe it. And this might’ve been one that I told you, I told somebody I don’t know where our listeners can, we can always learn.

Yeah. Um, we’re in a day and age where lingo in words that are and are not appropriate is constantly changing. And I learned in a, another video about accommodations and disabilities. Um, I, in the skit, I had a parent come in asking about accommodations and I told them they needed to go check out the.

Specific department, but I said the word like SPED because that is what it’s called. And verbalize that at the schools that I worked for. And there are some parts of the country that that’s already sat established that is an unacceptable term to use. I had no idea. ’cause it’s the term that my school at I was still working at Used.

Yeah. Um, but some people felt it was a very inappropriate label and very offensive. And I had no idea, I had no way to know that. Because even professionally today, they still use that term in the schools, in the emails, in the meetings. Um, so I, I always say that you never know what you don’t know. But you can always learn as you go, and it’s just about whether you’re going to be receptive to

Christa Innis: it or not.

Right. It’s like are, yeah. Are you gonna be defensive over it or be like, oh, I didn’t know that. Let me look into it and let me change my speech, or, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Definitely. And I think that’s the beautiful thing about this, kind of like next generation too, is that we can always like learn.

And we’re not, I mean, some, some people, I mean, we’re always, we’re always learning, you know, adapting and changing, but like, yeah. To it with the different skits and stuff is like being able to see it and being like, okay, how can I learn from this? Um, look inside myself and see like, okay, I’m not perfect, we’re all flawed.

Um, how can we mm-hmm. You know, how can I take this and Exactly. And move with that. Okay. So that being said, I know we’re kind of, we can, like I said in the beginning, like we could talk forever.

Rebecca Rogers: I know we just, I just love you so much. I know. Oh my God. We’re gonna have to do multiple episodes. That’s crazy.

We didn’t even really talk about like wedding things.

Christa Innis: I know. I’m like, Hey guys, is this bonus episode, because it’s not about weddings yet. Yeah. Um, we can do another one about weddings. We’ll just have different topics

Rebecca Rogers: eventually. Eventually. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah,

Rebecca Rogers: yeah. Yeah. Why not?

Christa Innis: Why

Rebecca Rogers: not? We could just, I love that.

It’s so

Christa Innis: fun. Um, I know. It was funny, like right away we’re like, we could talk, we haven’t even started recording yet. Um, I think what’s so

Rebecca Rogers: funny is we went into my, the episode for my podcast is like, Hey, we’re not gonna talk wedding stuff. And then we only talked wedding stuff and then we went into yours like, we’re gonna talk wedding stuff.

And we have not talked about wedding stuff.

Christa Innis: Well, and it’s funny too, I was just saying to my husband, like the other day, I was like, I kind of wanna change my, and I might have said this to you too, when we. Got together last time. But I kind of wanna change my name from Party Planning by Krista because it just, to just my name, because obviously like, I love talking about events and weddings and all the drama around them, but I feel like it’s very confusing for people.

And like we talked about this, like, so many people think I’m a current wedding ev and events planner. Mm-hmm. And I’ve said a million times, but like, people don’t see everything. I’m, I’m not a professional wedding planner. I’ve just been to a lot of events. I’ve been in a lot of weddings and I helped do Day of Coordinating here and there.

And so I’m like, I kind of just like talking. I mean, it talks, we talk about relationships, we talk about boundaries, we talk about events and, and just life. So, you know what it’s, here comes the drama. ’cause there’s always, I would change your name. I would

Rebecca Rogers: here, I, I definitely would change your name because, not because of other people, but because it’s what you want and because it reflects like the brand that you want to put out into the world.

Um, I’ll, I’ve been out of the classroom for, so a. Four years at this point and people, you left the classroom. Mm-hmm. I have a whole hour long video about why I quit teaching pinned to the top of my YouTube. Yeah. You wait. You’re not a teacher anymore. Nope, I’m not. Not for a while. Yeah. You’ll never escape it.

You just won’t. Yeah. That’s what, even since getting divorced, so many people have asked, are you going to change your name? And I said, why would I? No one, everyone’s still gonna call me Rogers, so at least professionally, why would I change it? Yeah. It makes no sense. Seems like more work go back on me personally.

I might. And so I, I think that you should, like, for your branding for like, I think that you should, um. People will still call you the wedding planner even though you weren’t one.

Christa Innis: I know, I know. Yeah. We’ll, we’ll play around with it. Okay. So that being said, do you have any crazy stories that come to mind when it, uh, comes to weddings, events?

Um, I have so

“May These Friends Never Find Me”

Rebecca Rogers: many. I have so many. Do you, do you want a theme? Like you, you’ve gotta pick in-laws bridesmaids, like what do you want? Let’s go bridesmaid. I

Christa Innis: feel like we hear some in-law stories. Okay, let’s go bridesmaids.

Rebecca Rogers: I, I might’ve told this on ours, but that’s also okay. Yeah. That’s awesome. Um, but this was the moment in, in this moment, I realized, may these friends never find me.

Like truly, yeah. I was in a wedding. And one of the bridesmaids was talking about her best friend’s wedding that she was also just in.

Christa Innis: Okay.

Rebecca Rogers: And it was a few weeks before, and first of all, she was talking about how everyone assumed that the bridal dressed colors were going to be terrible because everyone basically got, they were all able to get different dresses in their style.

As long as they were like pinky tan, that was the description they were given. And for whatever reason, all the bridesmaids thought it was gonna look terrible. They actually looked pretty cute, in my opinion. Everyone had pinky tan dresses. I thought it looked like a cute little ombre, whatever. Um, and the bride was kind of panicking a little bit, and this bridesmaid said, don’t worry, no matter what happens, it can’t be worse than my best friend’s wedding.

And went on about the pinky tan dresses and then was kind of making fun of the fact, you know, her wedding venue was two stories, and so you had. What I assume were considered like the A list guests down at the bottom and the B list guests up at the top and the venue didn’t order enough food, so they made sure to feed everyone at the bottom layer.

Everyone in the a group, the no, a group guests. And then everyone at the top, no one ate, no one received any food. No one told the bride. ’cause they didn’t want her to panic. No. And instead her bridesmaids just started making fun of it, uh, at other people’s weddings, talking about, Hey, at least can’t be as bad as my best friend. And I thought, may these friends never find me, may these friends never find me. Like just the tone and the just sheer snobbiness of the entire conversation. I’m like, this was your best friend. Okay.

Christa Innis: Oh, so cool. And I just, oh, they, so she was like talking about how like the, the other guests didn’t get fed at the wedding.

Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: Yeah. And it, it’s, I think it, I think there’s a difference between being like, oh my gosh, this was awful. And being like, oh my God, her wedding sucked. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, there’s totally a difference. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It’s like, it’s like the friend that’s like waiting for something bad to happen behind their back.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I was just talking about this with someone where it’s like, those are the friends that can’t. Allow someone else to shine on their day. They’re waiting for their moment to like fail that I’ve been like secretly waiting. Um, and I, I like to think that there’s been signs all along that that friend is like that.

I would hope so. And you’re just like, oh yeah, I always have that friend. Because looking back in my, like early twenties, even like high school, I had a couple friends that were all like, I was called them my first bullies. You know? They would like Yeah. Down. They would make fun of me. And I was like, oh, that’s what friends do.

And then you get real friends and you’re like, oh, that person was never my friend. They were always wishing for my downfall.

Rebecca Rogers: You, you just unlocked a memory of mine.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: Okay. I have a story, I have another story for you. I don’t think I’ve ever told this anywhere.

Christa Innis: Okay.

The Bridesmaid Who Made It About Herself

Rebecca Rogers: So when I got married, um, I had six or eight bridesmaids.

I had a, I had a larger bridal party and one of my biggest flexes is, uh, most of them I’m still the best of friends with. Mm-hmm. Um, I think the only ones that I don’t really talk to are people that were like, associated in my ex’s family, like obviously, you know. Right. And one other person who kind of dropped off the face of the earth from everybody af kinda after.

And this is, this is who this story is about is very Oh, okay. Okay. Um, at my bachelorette party, um, one of my best friends, Lauren was my maid of honor and she put together, of course, some games and one of them was like, what is your favorite memory with Becca and this girl, for whatever reason, we all, we all cheered together in college.

Most of us told the story about how when we were competing. She literally, like we, we were both very tiny and so we were on top of the pyramids together. Yeah. And I basically held her and did a trick and she like kicked me in the face while we were competing, which is normal. And cheerleading, you know, like you get hit, it happens.

Okay. But like, that was her favorite memory was kicking me in the face competing. And it was just so funny and like, and I didn’t know, like she ended up with, and I never apologized and I just remember thinking Okay. And I didn’t know at the time, but apparently she spent the next hour sulking in the other room.

I was told she was doing hair and makeup. Mm-hmm. Sulking in the other room because her ex-boyfriend that she was stalking was coaching cheer down the road in Myrtle Beach and she wanted to leave to go talk to him and hang out with him. Oh. And wanted just go figure out why they broke up and was so angry. ’cause I don’t think Becca would care. I don’t think Rebecca would mind, I don’t think, I don’t see why I can’t just leave and go talk to. And I didn’t know it at the time, but everyone apparently, like all my really good friends were like, you, you can’t do that. We’re no, no one’s driving. You don’t, don’t do not leave to go chase your ex-boyfriend.

That is a bad decision. Oh

Christa Innis: my gosh. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That is, yeah. That’s one of those things where that person could not allow you to have your time and it was weird do about her. That’s that is she eventually

Rebecca Rogers: just, Ooh, I just spilled my drink everywhere. She eventually just kind of dropped off the face of the earth.

Like even Lauren was like, have you heard from her? Nope. No one knows. She just kind of started a new life at the other end of the state and no one ever heard from her again.

Christa Innis: Interesting. Wow. Very strange. That is, yeah. That’s interesting. Yeah. I like, like I was saying, it’s like those kind of moments. I think like, I wonder if you like, look back if you’re just like, oh, there’s other things where like, I realize now like she never like fully supported me or was kind of backhanded compliments or, you know, stuff like that, that I feel like with age we kind of start now.

Like, like weeding away. Weeding out those kind of people. Yeah. Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: No. Yes. Well, I kind of even going back to what you said early at the beginning, like COVID in general I think changed how I view everything, whether it be myself, whether it be, um, the world people, because in reality, like I used to be, I’ve always been an extrovert, but I used to be much more reserved and self-conscious and social media, well the classroom was really where I could be silly and be myself and just, you know, whatever.

Mm-hmm. And then when social media accidentally took off, I learned, oh, I can be myself. And people don’t hate it. That’s cool. And that’s kind of where I found my voice, not just with myself, but with people also. Um, being able to kind of step into my true skin really helped me. I. Advocate for myself, set boundaries, like all, like all be more picky about who I allowed in my life and not.

Um, and of course we’re all works in progress. We all have ways to go. I’m still a people pleaser. I’m still a doormat, but I’m definitely not as bad as I used to be.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I, I know, I totally agree with you. Yeah. The people pleaser the thing where I’m better at saying no. Now if something, if I like don’t have time or I just can’t do it, I still have that guilt though.

I’ll be like, are they gonna think I’m a bad person or a bad friend? Mm-hmm. And then my husband will be like, no, they’re not. They literallys not a second thought. Like, it’s okay. But um, yeah, it’s interesting how you like, how you’re kind of like ingrained in that. But I always recall call myself a recovering people pleaser.

’cause I’m like, I’m actively working against it and like telling myself exactly. But I think my like immediate filter is better at reading people now. Um. Like I had a, I dunno if I call it a situation. I don’t know. I had a thing happen where, um, someone that I had met years ago, and I wanna be very vague.

Someone I had met years ago, and the time that I met her, she was not very friendly or kind. Okay. Okay. But since she had seen videos of mine on TikTok and when she bumped into me immediately asking how I could help her and was like, oh, mm-hmm. My, my thing like over here and asking me all these questions, she’s like, I’ll send you a message on TikTok right now because I’d really like to like know how I can do this.

And I was just like. Okay. And I was like, literally I was at an appointment, I was somewhere and I was like, okay. And I came home and my husband, I was like, I have no intention of messaging her back. Mm-hmm. Because I could tell it was for all the wrong reasons. She Yeah, exactly. Just I felt like very like used and like icky after it.

And she’s like, yes. So loudly so people could hear and like being like asking about personal things and I was just like, I sorry. Mm-hmm. M’s. Not interested in that. Um, okay, let’s get into, I know people are gonna be like listening and being like, Krista’s all over the place today.

Rebecca Rogers: Longest episode ever. No, I love this ’cause I’m all over the place and so she’s really just mirroring me.

It’s my fault guys. It’s fine. I

Christa Innis: love it. Well, actually no, people have said like, I wish the episodes were longer, so it’s okay if it’s a little bit longer.

Rebecca Rogers: Oh, you, you, you brought the right guest. Yeah. Yeah. Me. Like we really could sit and just talk forever. We could. That’s, and I,

Christa Innis: that’s my favorite thing. Oh, go ahead.

Go ahead. Go ahead, go ahead. No, you’re good. I was just gonna say, I barely, like, other than my husband and my daughter, like, and then if we randomly go do things, like they are who I see, like I work from home, so like if I have a call, I see someone. So that’s why I’m like, the podcast is a great way to like chat with people.

Rebecca Rogers: ’cause I’m like, yeah, it really is this job. People don’t realize how isolating this job really is. ’cause in reality, we’re like sitting at home alone, talking to ourselves and like, yeah, we post it for a lot of people, but we, we don’t have that human interaction. Yeah, but what I, I always say, and I think I, I probably said this to you when we were together in Chicago, is that.

There’s so many different types of personalities that do well on social media. Um, and when you find the people that have the similar one to yours, it’s like the most validating and wonderful feeling. And I’m like, I wanna talk to them all day long. It’s, and it’s like, it’s the best feeling because even in, in days or moments where you feel self-conscious, it’s like, but I found the people who get me.

I’m like, sliding off on my cushion right now. Don’t mind me. But I found the people who get me and yeah, it’s beautiful and it feels good.

Christa Innis: It’s like the best feeling ever. Yeah. No, definitely. Yeah. It’s, it’s definitely a, an industry and heart and hard to explain sometimes. For sure.

Rebecca Rogers: Yeah. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Always. And a lot of misconceptions.

Yes. Yes. Oh my gosh. Okay, let’s get into this week’s wedding story submission. As always, I have not met yet. I’m ready, but we’re gonna see what we got. Uh, feel free to stop me at any time, or I’ll make pauses as we kinda go. All right. Okay. Okay. This wedding is in Texas at a rustic but upscale venue that doubles as a winery.

It has no tones of Old Western, just rustic think wood tones. A large reception space that looks similar to a barn, but glass doors. Mm-hmm. This person gave a lot of details that we don’t normally get. Yeah, I like that. I can visualize. Yeah. Um, the ceremony space looked very like a very small church from the outside.

On the morning of my wedding, the bridal party was getting ready in the bridal suite and the groom was getting ready in the groom suite. One of the groomsmen didn’t follow instructions and showed up two hours late with a different girl than who we RSVPed for. Okay. This, this girl had a very strong Russian accent.

Uh, went into the groom suite and started talking to the groom and asking questions. For example, is this a yee-haw wedding and will you be doing square dancing? Okay. Interesting. I mean, I guess like switching, I get it. Like, girl, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s interesting. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay, go ahead. Go ahead.

Um, the boys kicked her out and told her to wait somewhere else, and she came then to the bridal suite. She came in and started acting faint and sat at a table demanding attention from all the bridesmaids. They were taking care of her because they were worried and had a hard time understanding her because of her accent.

When they turned away to the, to finish getting ready for the day, she ate my lunch, the bride’s lunch, the audacity. There was no more food left until after the ceremony, so I went to my wedding Hungary. I see I’m a big, like weddings that I’ve been in and like helped coordinate. I am big into like no one other than the wedding party be in the room.

Like, yeah, why was she in there? Yeah. I feel like it’s like, it’s probably the groomsmen that wasn’t paying attention. Being like, oh, just go in there. You’re fine. You’re one of the girls. ’cause I’ve seen that. Yes. That’s what I can see that,

Rebecca Rogers: yeah. One, see, okay. I could give her the benefit of the doubt in the, in the, in the groomsman suite.

I could give her the benefit of the doubt and I’m like, ah. She’s just, you know, I think there are such stereotypical views of Americans in different parts of Europe. Mm-hmm. Europe. I can see her, like I can see her like genuinely getting excited. Is this a yha yha wedding? Because like everywhere is Texas.

Yes. People in Europe don’t understand that, you know, they see, they think cowboys, they think McDonald’s. They think, you know, they have very specific ideas of what they think America is. Yeah. And. Sometimes when they’re like, oh my God, am I going to be able to experience this American like thing that I only see on tv?

Like, they can get excited and even though it comes, can come off as, uh, it can come off as rude because I feel like, especially in, uh, Eastern Europe, sometimes people are much more blunt than we’re used to here in the us. Mm-hmm. Um, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just different. But then the going into like weddings or weddings, wherever you go, the bride is the star.

Why are you, why are you demanding attention as a guest? That should be common sense. Yes. Why are you going and bothering people you’ve never met before? Like if, right. I can even maybe see like a, Hey, we don’t want you to mess up with the setup. Stay in the groom suite. Why are you sending her? I can see. I can see why a man, I love men.

Some men are dumb. Not all men. Always a man. Not all men, always a man. Yeah. Why is some man being like, yeah.

This is not babysit your girlfriend time, Tinder, chick of the week. Like Right. You could have been just, she could have even been established as a new serious girlfriend. It’s not everyone else’s job to babysit her. That’s weird. That’s strange.

Christa Innis: Well, and

Rebecca Rogers: I feel like it, and you should know,

Christa Innis: oh,

Rebecca Rogers: go ahead.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, I was gonna say, I feel like it’s such like a guy thing too, like weddings, like the women, like, you know, typically, right.

We’re talking traditionally women have like a schedule. We start early, we get hair and makeup Right. Champagne, whatever. They exactly. Up a much more structured day up. Yeah. Groomsmen just show up, they put a suit on, take a couple pictures, drink whiskey, you know what they get to like hang out and obviously like we gotta hang out too as girls, but like, I just feel like the guys are more just like laid back about it and that’s society.

I’m not blaming that on the guys. That’s how it’s, you know. Right. Exactly. So I could totally see the guy being like, just, just

Rebecca Rogers: not even thinking about it, which is not necessarily his fault, but what is his fault is assuming that everyone else is gonna babysit his date and for the date, she’s a grown woman who invites herself into a space and just eats everybody’s food.

Do you even know the bride’s name? Probably not. That to me is crazy. Holy moly.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: Holy moly. I would’ve been so upset.

Christa Innis: I know. And like, I like, I’ve, like I’ve said, I’ve been a part of weddings where like, it seems like a, what’s the word I’m looking for? Like Grand Central Station. Like people just constantly come in and out.

Like there’s big families, they wanna see the bride. Mm-hmm. But I, I don’t know if that’s me just being like a more private or like type A person, but I’m like, lets keep it to the wedding party if you’re coming in to say hi. Sure. But like, I kind of want like my own wedding. And then weddings I’m a part of, I’m like, okay, if you’re not like in the wedding, let’s kind of like, yeah.

Not come in literal. Literally. Literally. It’s almost like a play, it’s a performance. Right? So like, let’s not look at the actors before they walk out. I know some people are gonna like laugh. Yeah. But you know, it’s a little bit, it’s kind of like that let’s not reveal before, like you wanna

Rebecca Rogers: show the finished product.

You know, people, they, they sit and they get ready all day long. And I think it’s different when you have like a close family member or a close friend coming to, Hey, do you need anything? Hey, how are you doing? Hey, X, y, Z. But like, this isn’t happy hour, this is not friend speed dating. This isn’t daycare.

Why? Who like, okay, you, you broke up with your girlfriend, you have a different date to the wedding. Okay, that’s fine. She has nowhere else to go. She’s hanging out. Okay. But it’s not, why is it everyone else’s job to entertain her?

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: Why is. Why, why did you ha, did you have to bring someone? Like if she had

Christa Innis: nowhere else to go, why did you just, why did you bring her?

Have to, yeah. Especially being a groomsman. I feel like you’ve got, you’ve got your guys there, you got other stuff to, to do. All right, let’s, right, let’s see what, what happens next? So she goes to the wedding hungry at that point. Oh, wait, that’s not all. Oh my God. Okay. Sorry. I’m sorry. Oh my gosh. You there was the whole story, girl.

We’ve got lots.

Rebecca Rogers: Okay. Okay. Okay. Continue. Continue. So Molly, okay. Okay.

They Did WHAT in the Groom Suite?!

Christa Innis: At that point, she got kicked out and was told to wait in the ceremony space wedding, and sues with no other problems until the reception. During the reception, the girl tries to enter, enter the bridal suite and the groom suite where the wedding planner catches her and tells her that it’s locked until after the wedding.

No one is allowed in except for the bridal party. Okay, good. I’m glad the wedding party planner is there now. Right? The girl on top of this Exactly. The girl retrieved her groomsmen and they tried picking the lock to the groom suite. What, what? For what? Why does she need to get in there? Yeah. A friend of the groom went and found the planner to let them know the girl was trying to break in the groom suite because the groomsmen was with her this time.

They unlocked it for them and was told they were changing. So the planner left to take care of the couple. Wait. They told them they had to get in there and go change. I’m so confused. They

Rebecca Rogers: pro i, I, they, they told the planner, Hey, I need to get in the grooms. I’m a groomsman. I need to get into the grooms in a suite.

I have to change my clothes so that Okay. And they unlocked it and left.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. So, oh my gosh. That’s stressful. I’m sweating. Okay. It says they did the deed, if you know. Mm-hmm. That’s where I thought this was going. That’s where I thought this was going and left the place in absolute disarray.

Disarray. A huge mess. They then left the wedding early, and we didn’t find out about the mess until after our families went in to clean up the suites and pack everything up. We felt very disrespected by this, so I personally texted the groomsman the next day to ask him why he brought a stranger. First of all, without talking to us about it, the girl RS that he RSVP’d for was his girlfriend of a year that we knew.

So there we go too. And why? He left her to wreck havoc upon the bride and then disrespected the place by basically destroying it. He brushed it off and didn’t mention oh, so he brushed off the communication and mentioned that he barely knew her, but that she was a family friend. No apology whatsoever. I was then talking to my bridesmaid about everything that happened with her, and we found out the groomsman par parents paid her to be his escort and get him to break up with his girlfriend.

That is not where I thought this was going. Wait, what? His parents paid her to be his escort, so she was a hooker. I,

The Escort, the Lies, and a Wedding Fallout

Rebecca Rogers: that’s, I mean, it says his, first of all. First of all, if he first, I have, if you are a man who is easily swayed to break up with your girlfriend of a year, ’cause of a fancy accent and some excitement, throw the whole man away. Throw the whole man away. In my opinion, full stop. That’s just a bad, okay. Okay.

Obviously we don’t know like what kind of issues were going on in his relationship. Right, right. We have no idea. Yeah. She could have been a toxic girlfriend. We don’t know. Right. The whole thing just screams gross to me. Why?

I’m so shocked that I’m like, I can’t even find my words.

Christa Innis: I,

Rebecca Rogers: the last sentence, I

Christa Innis: just, the last sentence says, they also paid for her expensive designer clothes for the wedding, then paid them to have an expensive hotel that night. So the parents literally just wanted this. Like, but why the parents getting involved?

Like, we need to get rid of this. Well, not only that, if they, if they had this fancy hotel, why can’t they wait till they get to the hotel? That’s what I’m confused about. So they just like had to do it. That’s just

Rebecca Rogers: so inconsiderate. Who’s this like that? When you’re dealing with relationship issues, I am so mad at him for a lot of reasons, because when you’re dealing with relationship issues or the, the downfall of a relationship, I don’t, I can’t think of a word I’m looking for right now.

So that’s what we’re gonna go with. The downfall of relationship. It can really mess with you mentally. Okay. Like I know that, I get that. I spent the last year getting divorced actually. In fact. So, fun fact, in North Carolina you have to be separated for a year and a day. That’s tomorrow for me. Literally tomorrow.

Congratulations. I’m excited. Thank you. Thank you. I’m excited. Um, it’s a celebration. Yeah. But I understand better than anyone, that message that can bring you down and you can really struggle. That doesn’t mean you just get to blow up everyone else’s stuff that they have going on that doesn’t give you the right to just.

Bash and trash other people’s exciting moments if you’re not able to handle that kind of celebration. Like we’re all adults, right? We’re all adults. You know, right from wrong. If you cannot handle being at that kind of celebration, you, you need to speak up. You need, I’m trying to think of how to phrase this ’cause I know there’s gonna be there.

From my bad Apple videos, I always know, there’s always people like, well you have no heart ’cause you’re not thinking of the other side. And I’m like, ju, when people go through a really difficult time, whether it be emotional turmoil, mental spirals, addiction issues, their behavior can be explainable. That doesn’t make it justifiable.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: You don’t get to do that to people. You don’t get to do that to people and call yourself their friend. Yeah. That’s just bad behavior. That’s bad friend behavior. Your friend’s wedding is not about you. Your friend’s wedding is not about your recovery or your breakup or you trying to get back at your ex.

It’s just not, no matter how badly you were treated, no matter how badly you’re hurting, it’s not always about you.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: Period.

Christa Innis: A hundred percent. The fact, like the fact that his parents did all this and tried to get involved is gross, and I feel like Yes, yes. We don’t know. I mean, he sound, I mean, he must be very easily manipulated, but it sounds like he doesn’t really come from a good background.

If the parents are like, you know what? If we need him get to break up with this girl, so we’re gonna hire an escort for him to come to the wedding with him, pay for everything. It’s like, so did he not know or was he just like, oh, okay, cool. Like this girl seems better. I don’t know. Which is the

Rebecca Rogers: whole thing’s.

Everything about it is just weird. And it’s hard to know like what the truth is with those things. Like did he know, did he not? We don’t know. Right? Is that the first time he ever met her? We don’t know. Was he struggling ’cause he was mentally abused by the girlfriend? We don’t know. But what we, what we do know, like at the end of the day, your best, your friend is getting married, one of your best friends getting is getting married.

You know, you’re not gonna be asked to be a groomsman in a stranger’s wedding. More than likely, nine times out of 10 you’re gonna be asked by someone you’re very close to.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: For you to just blatantly not care about one of your best friend’s. Weddings like that. And even if he was in such emotional turmoil that in the moment he didn’t realize, and that’s possible, but then to be confronted with that and not care, that’s just a bad friend.

Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I think that’s, that’s a bad friend. An issue is that he couldn’t even look back at his behavior and be like, you know what? I’m sorry. Like, my bad. Yeah. That is like, it makes me wonder like what the aftermath was. Like, are they still friends with this guy? Who is this guy? Like, was he just like a old high school friend that they rarely kept in touch?

You know, like there’s that friend where you’re like, you’re hanging on by a thread and you’re like, we still kiss three. Nice. The thread. Yeah. Red is, that has been snip now. Mm-hmm. So I’m just like, that is so like, you know what, like in the beginning when they’re like, oh, she, he brought someone else, whatever, fine.

Right? But at the end of the day, when it comes out to be all this, it’s like, no, you were blatantly disrespectful. You then when someone confronted you about it, you just, no apology. You cut off communication. Like so you know you were in the wrong. And also

Rebecca Rogers: if even another side I just thought about, and I don’t know what her exact profession is, I’m not sure.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: But like, if you’re professional, be a professional. You know? Mm-hmm. No matter what it was like, I’m, I’m never gonna be someone that’s sex shames, like sex or sex shames or, uh, shame sex workers or anything like that. You know, people do what they do. Their job is their job. That’s none of my business.

But if you’re gonna be a professional, be a professional. That doesn’t mean go in like, you know what you’re doing. You know that you’re eating other people’s food, you know, you’re bothering people on their wedding. You know that you’re getting into somewhere that you’re not supposed to be.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: What are you doing?

That’s, that’s crazy to me. And the fact that he tried to pass her off as a family friend is hysterical to me.

Christa Innis: Yeah. If you mean family friend, because your parents. Got found her first, paid her in. I mean, sure. That’s wild to me. That is really wild. Wow. And this is why, and so many people are like, when I share like videos about like plus ones or bringing a guest and stuff, people are like, oh, there’s so many brides stills.

It’s like, and not saying this is gonna happen at weddings. ’cause I’m sure this has not happened at a lot of weddings, but, but you never know. Rules happen. Rules are because of things like this happening, like, or people wanting to bring random tinder dates. I just read a story about that or like, oh yeah.

It’s like people do this because there people don’t understand boundaries or they you get Exactly. And that’s like whatever. It’s just another day. Like, I’m just gonna go hook up with this girl I just met in the groom suite. Like, why not? Like, because it’s

Rebecca Rogers: inappropriate. No, it’s the same reason that you don’t propose to someone at someone else’s wedding. It’s not your wedding. It’s not about you. Yeah, it doesn’t, you don’t have to get exactly what you want, the moment that you want it

Christa Innis: at someone else’s wedding. Oh my gosh. Speaking of that, so I’ve talked about that so many times, how it’s so tacky to do at someone else’s wedding and people have their own opinions.

Like if you are, if you’re asked ahead of time, sure. Whatever. But I just saw a video where a guy did it at his girlfriend’s, uh, college graduation. Literally as she’s walking up to grab her diploma, he walks up, cuts the teacher off, or the professor off from talking and proposes. And I was like, no. I was whoa, cringing so hard, such

Rebecca Rogers: a side story, but Oh, I don’t like that.

I don’t like that at all. No. There’s so many reasons that I don’t like that because I went to a high school that had a few thousand kids in the student body, like our class size was huge. We’re there all day long. You’re telling me you’re trying to add another 15 min, like you’re holding everybody else up?

Yes. Because you want, this is not about you. This is about all of us.

Christa Innis: We’re all here. We all graduated red flags. I saw red flags. Everyone was like, he couldn’t her have her moment of grabbing, you know, had to get back to him. Yes, that too. That’s how I saw that. Yes. And

Rebecca Rogers: yeah. Well, even like who, I feel like, I’m trying to think of how to phrase this.

I think that the effort someone puts into surprising their significant other for anything, a proposal included, says a lot about them and the relationship and things like that. Oh, this is already an event and everyone’s gonna be dressed up. I. Yeah. You, you didn’t wanna put forth any other, some of my cat’s climbing the screened in porch.

I’m like, please stop. Please don’t do that. Um, you like, unless the there is there a chance that there’s some big like emotional meaning behind this? Yeah, sure. We don’t know the context.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: But you couldn’t find anything more meaningful or significant or put forth a little bit more effort or not interrupt everybody else’s day.

Yeah. What?

Christa Innis: Yeah. That’s crazy to me. I was like, I had to talk about it, so I’m so glad you like, said that. It was like an opener. ’cause I’ve been dying to talk to someone about it. I saw it and I was like, oh my gosh. Oh my God. I don’t like that. I don’t like that at all. But that was a crazy story. I cannot,

Rebecca Rogers: yeah.

Christa Innis: This was insane.

Rebecca Rogers: I, my head’s just reeling and I’m thinking about like, what would I have done in that moment? I know I had a friend who, one of my best friends got married and I was her maid of honor, and there was a guest who was like, Hey, I see that the dress code says no jeans, but I’m going to come in a Hawaiian shirt to be funny.

And she was like, please don’t do that. And he did. He just came to this wedding, this beautiful mountain wedding in a Hawaiian shirt, in shorts to be funny. To be funny. See, to me that’s, I know I will, they want it to be more about them. They can’t just, exactly. Exactly. And like I understand there are people who are, who go a little overboard and put like very specific dress codes, and I don’t agree with that either.

Right. But you know, you cannot wear jeans for a day, or why do you have to do people always say, oh, it’s a prank. I think today, nowadays. People have lost what the actual meaning of a prank is. Yes. I don’t think it’s funny to upset somebody or to actually like ruin someone’s day or event or whatever. That’s not a prank.

Christa Innis: Yeah. If you

Rebecca Rogers: think it’s funny to like genuinely upset people or ruin someone’s time or ruin someone’s day that says more about you, like that’s not a prank. Oh yeah. A funny, it shouldn’t be funny to actually cause. Genuine upsetness or emotional harm that Oh yeah, it’s not cute. It’s not funny.

Christa Innis: The things that drive me nuts is the pranks where they like go out in public and like prank random people, like in a store or like kids. There was like a literally a woman that was, I think I wanna say she was pregnant and they like put a bucket on her head. Have you seen this? No, I don’t. No, don’t touch strangers.

Rebecca Rogers: No. Why are we touching

Christa Innis: strangers? And they like film it. They film their reaction and they’re like, they’re just, no one was just not a store shopping by herself. And like, she had, she had like a, a medical attention. She needed some medical attention because of it. And I’m like, no. Like, let’s, that’s not a prank.

That is like actually like No, that’s not cute. Yeah, that’s not,

Rebecca Rogers: it’s so crazy to me because especially in today, in today when you know, everyone talks, consent is key. Well, it doesn’t apply to me. ’cause it’s funny. It’s not sexual. It doesn’t matter. No. Why are we touching strangers? Why are we putting our hands on them?

Why are what, who raised you? Yeah. I don’t understand. Yeah, I don’t understand. That drives me cr I would not be happy. I would not be happy. And also like you never know. For example, like you never know what people are going through. You don’t know who has PTSD. You don’t know who suffers from anxiety or panic attacks.

You don’t understand who’s claustrophobia.

Christa Innis: Why, why no, why are we doing that? Yeah. If you have to prank someone like that, you need to come up with better content. Sorry.

Rebecca Rogers: You just, yes. Yeah. They’re looking for the shock factor. And I’m like, you don’t have good content. You just are shocking people. That’s why they’re, that’s why you’re getting views.

Yes. I don’t, and I, I don’t like being mean to people. I will never say someone’s content sucks or anything like that. I would never say that. That’s not content. Yeah. That’s inconveniencing people and going viral. ’cause people are so shocked this happened. They can’t look away. Yeah.

Christa Innis: It’s wrong, it’s bad behavior, how they react to something without their consent, you know?

So, I don’t know, I don’t even know how we got on that topic, but I love it. I love that. We, we, I love

Rebecca Rogers: it. No, I love it. I think it’s

Christa Innis: important. It’s a good thing to talk about. It’s like food for thought, you know? Yeah. We can, we can all think about all, yeah. Um, okay. We usually like to end these with confessions.

People send me confessions. Okay. So I’m gonna read a couple confessions and we’ll just react to them. Um, I know we’re okay and we’re a little over time, so hopefully No, that’s okay. I don’t, I don’t mind. If you don’t mind. I don’t mind. I don’t mind. Let’s do it. Okay. Yeah. Um, this says. Resent. Okay. I resent that out of the 300.

My eyes, I don’t know. I’m like, I need glasses or something. No, you’re good. You’re fine. I resent that out of the 365 days. My sister had to pick the same day as me to get married. Oh, the same day. Same day. I would kind of be weird about that too, I think. Yeah. Like why? Because like,

Rebecca Rogers: I, I, I know not every, I’ve learned recently that not everyone has the same kind of relationship with their sibling that I have with my brother.

My brother and I are so close. I love my brother. Like we travel together. We have, we’re the best of friends. Yeah. I love my soon to be sister-in-law. They’re not even engaged. I, they’re just perfect. You’ve just adapted her as that. I just love her so much. Um, like he, uh, he had to go to a wedding in Mexico and.

This is a, this is a tangent side note story. I’m so sorry. I love it.

Christa Innis: Hey, my list some stories

Rebecca Rogers: so it’s perfect. Oh, good, good. I, my, so my brother’s friend, very close friend got engaged. They were planning a wedding in Mexico and you have to plan accommodations and travel stuff for that very far in advance, like a year in advance.

And he had not met his now girlfriend at the time, but he assumed, yeah, I’m sure by then I’ll be seeing someone. God, I hope by then I’m seeing somebody. Yeah. Um, and he was the most perfect girl in the entire world for him, but she’s also a girl boss getting her PhD and she had doctorate exams the day after the wedding, so she wasn’t gonna be able to go.

So I graciously accompanied my brother on this wonderful trip. Had to chaperone to make sure he didn’t get kidnapped, of course. Right. Yeah. ’cause I’m such a good sister. Um. But I, I learned when I was there, like so many people were like, I could never go on that trip with my sibling. We’d rip each other’s throats out.

We don’t like each other enough to do that. Yeah. And that makes me sad because I, I’m so thankful for the relationship with my brother and if he wasn’t, like when I get, whenever I get remarried, whenever that may be. If it may be, I would be devastated if he wasn’t at my wedding. You can’t be at my wedding if we’re getting married on the same day.

Yeah. Whatcha

Christa Innis: doing well, whatcha doing? My thought is that not the same, my thought it wasn’t the same year, but I’m guessing like the same date. I don’t know, maybe, maybe I’m reading into it, but maybe, oh, I read same day

Rebecca Rogers: day. You might be right. Or I heard, I might have heard that if I could be wrong. You know what I mean?

I guess it could be either way. Yeah. Same year. I think that’s dumb to be mad at. Personally, not everyone has that opinion. I don’t When, like, when people get married, you don’t own a year, you don’t

Christa Innis: own No.

Rebecca Rogers: A season

Christa Innis: What I’m thinking is like if I got married today, like May 21st, 2025, the sister got married May 21st, 2026.

That’s what I was thinking. So like the same, their their anniversary is the same. Oh, they just have the

Rebecca Rogers: same anniversary? Yeah,

Christa Innis: that’s what I think.

Rebecca Rogers: Oh, why does that matter? You’re not hanging out with your sibling on your anniversary. Yeah. Why, why does that

Christa Innis: matter? Yeah. I don’t know. I, I could see where, that’d be kind of weird though.

Like, and maybe it’s the only date available. I don’t think it’s something that I would be like hold, like holding a grudge about, but I would be like. I don’t know. It’s kind of weird. I think everyone

Rebecca Rogers: is everyone’s of of feelings. If like, if that were to create emotion that’s valid. Like your feelings are your feelings, you can’t control your feelings.

Um, I, I don’t think I would get upset about that. Yeah. And I don’t think it’s something worth holding a grudge over. ’cause again, your anniversary is about your partner. Like when you go on anniversary trips, you’re going with your partner, you’re not going with your sister.

Christa Innis: Yeah. You’re not

Rebecca Rogers: going as a, it’s not a family trip.

It’s an anniversary.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Now I really wanna message this person and be like, okay, same. And like ask clarification. Yeah, yeah. Like you’re getting married at the same time. Because now that I’m reading it again, I’m like, okay, you might be right. And where, who’s the parents gonna go to? Right, right. Where are the parents gonna go?

She’s like, okay, we’re getting married at 5:00 PM on May 21st. And the sister’s like, cool. We’re getting married at 11:00 AM So no. Oh, my, okay. I need

Rebecca Rogers: to know, I need to know this clarification.

Christa Innis: I need to know. Okay. I, well, I’m gonna message this girl, girl or guy. I don’t know. I didn’t, I didn’t read the, I don’t know the, there’s sex.

Okay. Um, next one. We broke up the day after his aunt’s wedding. I was in the middle of all the family photos. This is, I think, a lot of people’s fears with like dates and plus ones. They always try to put them on like the sides. I never thought about that at my own wedding, and I don’t think we had that issue.

I think most people we invited were long-term relationships or married. Right. But you also never know someone could get a divorce, someone could break up. I don’t know exactly. That’s the, that’s just what happens. I don’t know.

Rebecca Rogers: I know somebody who. Had a family member bring a plus one and it, it was a long-term partners, they’re like, of course.

Yeah. Bring your long-term partner. Yeah, absolutely. The family member never revealed that they actually broke up and not only still brought them as like, I don’t wanna go alone, come with me. But like kept when they did family photos and the bride was like, oh, it’s a long-term partner, I don’t wanna leave him out.

Come on. Didn’t tell him to sit out of the family photos, like had him go be in everything. So were they st they, they completely had broken up. Oh, they broke? Yeah, they completely broke up. Were they like just good terms? She’s now completely married to a completely different person. Oh,

Christa Innis: weird. He is like, just come along please.

I don’t wanna be alone or have.

Rebecca Rogers: Right. Or Well, well, they, they had like, there was tension between her and her dad, and it was the bride’s family members. So it was like cousins, right? Yeah. And she didn’t want to go to the wedding with her father there alone, I suppose. Okay. So she asked the ex-boyfriend to pretend to still be the boyfriend.

Oh. But still included him in all the family photos.

Christa Innis: Oh my

Rebecca Rogers: God. Didn’t

Christa Innis: tell anybody. Didn’t give anyone a heads up. Yeah. And then like a week later they see, he’s like engaged to someone else. They’re like, wait, what? Well, I think, I think the

Rebecca Rogers: worst part about it is her mother knew and

Christa Innis: still didn’t

Rebecca Rogers: warn anybody, didn’t.

Christa Innis: She’s like, we’ll, leave it to them. It’s fine. Oh my gosh. Can you imagine though then like you’re in your ex’s like aunt’s photos for the rest of this, that’s their life. So I mean, I, you know, I really love that

Rebecca Rogers: about. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I was in my ex sister-in-law’s bridal party.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: I’ve been thinking about that a lot actually. So you’re, you’re forever a part of it. I, I think I’m on the end in a lot, which is great for them. I hope, I feel really bad. Oh, I, I, I like actually have been actively thinking about it for the last month. I’m like, I feel awful because they got married in September.

Yeah. And we separated in March. Oh. Or no, ma May, sorry. May. So, like it wasn’t even that long after. It wasn’t that long after. Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. You’re like, well, mm-hmm. It’s all the memories. Yeah, when I saw an anniversary post, I like felt guilty for like a week. I was like, I know I had, I, I mean, how was I supposed to know?

You know, you don’t know what you don’t know, don’t know what you, but I still felt so bad about it.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. There’s nothing wrong. That’s all good. Okay. This last confession says, I have gone no contact with my mother-in-law for two years, but I still see my father-in-law and they are married.

How does that work?

Rebecca Rogers: I,

Christa Innis: well, I would, well, I, I Is the father-in-law, mother-in-law divorced? No, it says they’re

Rebecca Rogers: married. Oh. Oh.

Christa Innis: We ended with that. They’re still married.

Rebecca Rogers: So do you watch that content creator that Shauna the mom? Yes. I love her. That makes me think of like, not associating with Barb, but going to painting class with Frank.

Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yes. It’s the, um, it’s the strong personality mother with the very passive dad that just wants to keep everyone, you know, involved with each other, like however. Yeah. But I feel like the barb though is very like, nosy, so it makes me wonder Yeah. Like, have they gone No contact. They blocked her Because if typ

Rebecca Rogers: like, think of personality types like Barb.

Barb is so self-absorbed. She doesn’t even know what Frank’s doing. Yeah. He doesn’t know or care. So why would she, why would she ever assume he was doing anything interesting? She takes no interest in his life. Yep.

Christa Innis: Oh, a hundred. That makes

Rebecca Rogers: sense to me. Yeah, that makes sense to me. If she can’t see what the son’s

Christa Innis: doing, she has no idea.

It makes me wonder if the father-in-law’s like lying. He’s like, I’m just gonna run out to the store. And then he is like, at their house, like hanging out and she’s like, have you heard from Jimmy? She, he probably,

Rebecca Rogers: I’m going out. Okay. And like, that’s it. Yeah. It’s that. I don’t even think people, people like that wouldn’t even ask, where are you going?

Yeah. Like they have the people that they care and they’re super extra nosy and anyone else, they don’t care. Yeah. Like with the sun. Super. Wanna be in the know. Super nosy.

Christa Innis: Anyone else? Doesn’t matter. Sorry, go ahead. I ied you. No. Oh my gosh. No, you’re good. Um, no, this is what we did. What did we say? This is like two and I’m, I’m not.

Diagnosed, but I’m like pretty sure I’m like a DHD of something. We’re the same person. I’m telling you. You

Rebecca Rogers: have a DH adhd. Yeah. So I

Christa Innis: don’t ever get offended. Yeah. I’m like, I don’t ever get offended when people try to talk over me. This is how feel teachers, adhd, communicate. This is what we do. Oh, we do.

This is how

Rebecca Rogers: we first

Christa Innis: or mean. Yeah. But I totally picture that like nineties sitcom where it’s the mom is like, or the wife is like doing everything around the house. She’s like, you know, busy body, naggy, whatever. That’s how they make them in the nineties or early two thousands. And then the husband’s just like on his lounger, he’s like running out.

You know? It’s just very like that dynamic. That’s exactly how I

Rebecca Rogers: picture Frank. Exactly how I picture Frank’s.

Christa Innis: That is so funny. I love that. Like the sick, oh, I love that vibes. Do you have any

Rebecca Rogers: confessions?

Christa Innis: Like personal confessions? Yeah. Yeah. Oh. I don’t know. I have, I, I could I, could I, oh, do you have, do you have some?

Let me think. Yeah. Yeah. I got some. I guess some. I never had a guest ask me if I have a confession.

Rebecca Rogers: Oh,

Christa Innis: ooh. If the

Rebecca Rogers: teacher in me, what are you bringing to the class?

Christa Innis: Well, I was, it’s funny because I was, I was just thinking like, I’m like, sometimes when, like I have certain, like, guests on and I’m just like, we’re just like vibing so well, I like kind of forget I’m recording sometimes and I’m like, did I say anything like that?

I should, like, earlier I was like, did I do a good job of masking who I was talking about? Um, so I’m like, I probably, I feel like I already kind of said some confessions. Um,

um, that’s okay. I, I can go. I’m so bad on the spot. I,

Rebecca Rogers: I think, hold on. I’m trying to think of how to word this.

I already know based off of. The wedding that I had with my ex-husband, I already have a list of things that I either don’t want or don’t care about or won’t waste any energy or emotion or anything on. Mm-hmm. In the slightest bit. I like, for example, I think, I’m trying to think of how to phrase this. I think looking back there were always signs and I think that there were things that I was worried about in regards to the wedding that now that I know myself better, I will not be worried about in my next wedding or will not be stressed about because the why will be different.

Christa Innis: Mm. Yeah. If that makes sense. No, totally. Um, I was just talking to someone how I feel like at different like stages of your life, and we might have talked about this before, but. You like, if I had gotten married in my early twenties, it would’ve been a completely different vibe. Like, I feel like, again, way more of a people pleaser, inviting every single person I know.

Mm-hmm. Of course though, like personal finances would’ve been way different, so I would’ve had to rely more on help. Yes. Um, but inviting everyone I knew I would had a different bridal party, probably not friends that were really there for me. And doing more of that, like people pleasing type, like what do you guys want for the wedding?

What do you guys picture for the wedding? Um, and I just feel like now, like my husband and I had been together for many years before we got married, that like we both kind of knew what we wanted. We were kind of over the people pleasing when it came to the wedding. Um, and it was easier for me to be like, no, I’m not gonna invite this person’s, you know?

Yes. That I barely see. No, I don’t care. Like we’re gonna make the cut right here, because I haven’t talked to them the whole time I’ve been engaged, you know, that kind of thing. Exactly. I’ve never met them. I think

Rebecca Rogers: that for me, I’ve, I, I’ve, I’ve really changed a lot of my outlook on a life and love and relationships in general.

Um, I used to be like a, well when, you know, when you know kind of person and love, you know, I think that there are some people who meet at a young age and they just find their person and it’s just a match made in heaven forever. I know I’m, I’m almost 30 years old and I have friends who have been dating since I know people who have been dating since they were eight years old.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Like

Rebecca Rogers: actually, wow. Um, and I, uh, other friends, their first date was the eighth grade dance, still married with kids and That’s beautiful. Wow. And that’s great. And I love that for them, that is not the normal. Yeah. And I actually. Not that I would ever force my opinion on anyone without asking, because if someone is like, oh my gosh, I think I wanna get engaged and they’re 22, I’m not gonna follow it up with, oh, I wouldn’t because Right, right.

But when people ask me, there’s so much that I learned about myself and I like, again, I told you in, in 2020, I really came into my own skin that I, I personally love the idea of getting married a little later when you’ve really become your true self, and I, I say this pretty often. I think everyone in general, when they finish school or trade school, whatever, whether it’s high school, college, grad school, whatever it is, when you establish yourself as as an adult and get your job, job and like really settle into adulthood, you settle into your adult.

Self.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: And it is not always what you think your life is going to look like at 22 when you’re finishing school, or 18 when you’re about to graduate, is not always what you will settle into by the time you are in your mid to late twenties.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Rebecca Rogers: And I think that’s when you really find yourself and figure out what you, not only what you want in life, but what you want your future family to look like and what you value in a partner.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Rebecca Rogers: That’s so important. Yeah. Because as people either grow together or apart, and you can’t always control that, and people are still growing so much in their early twenties that. You, you don’t always know that early if it’s going to be apart or together.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, I, I totally agree with that because like I said, like my husband and I were together many years before we got married, but like, I remember like week one, first few months people were already asking like, are you gonna get married?

Are you getting married? And like, I, we always felt these external pressures and I would always be like, are we behind schedule? We’d be dating for two years. He’d be like, oh, you’re, he hasn’t proposed yet. What’s he waiting for? And like making me feel like, oh, does he not love me? ’cause he hasn’t proposed yet.

This is like really deep stuff. And I was, and we would be perfectly fine. Like if it was just the two of us, we’d be great. And then that conversation would happen and I’d be like, I’d feel like I was like, wait, is something wrong? Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I’m like, wait, we were literally just fine. Why am I mad?

Because of what someone else said. I’m like, we are good in the same way with having kids. Like I didn’t have my daughter until I was 32 and I was like. That was perfect timing for me because I was a little more established in my career. Obviously I’ve made a pivot since then. Mm-hmm. But like I was more established in my career.

Like I, there’s no way, and I’ve always said I didn’t want kids in my twenties. I thought for me, and this is not anyone doing, yeah, everyone’s journey’s different, but it was just like, that would not have been the right time for me. It’s hard now in my thirties, but I feel like way more levelheaded now than I think I would’ve been.

And so I just feel like you have to listen to your own plan and what not necessarily a plan. Exactly. Your own thing. And like take out the external pressures, um, because it’s so easy to fall into of like, you know, oh, follow this timeline. I need to be married by this age and I need to have a baby by this age.

I, or you know, whatever. It’s just like you need to like realize like we’re all on our own timeline. Get to know yourself a little bit. Um. Yeah. No, I think that’s, that’s such a, such a good point of what you said. Good. I love that. Oh, I like that. A, I love words. Yeah, I love that. I love when it turns into that.

Well, thank you so much for coming on. Oh, of course. Thank you for having me. It was so fun. Like, like we said, like we could chat forever. Um, and I’m sure when I hang this up, we’ll chat a little bit more, but can you again, where they can find you, um, and anything fun you’re, you’re working on? Yes. Um, I’m working on my garden.

Rebecca Rogers: I’ve actually, that sounds fun. I, in, in, in reality, I’ve been so sick for the last two months that I’m so behind on work, so I’m just exci. I need to catch up. So that’s what I’m working on currently. But I’m Rebecca Rogers on all platforms, on YouTube, on Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram. Too many, too many places.

I need to calm down.

Christa Innis: I was like, you were like, you told me, you were like, you need to get on Snapchat. And I was like, girl, one more platform sounds So I, I’m gonna show

Rebecca Rogers: you we’re, we’re gonna, we’re, I’m gonna call you and I’m gonna show you how to easily integrate Snapchat with like the, the software stuff.

Yay. Yeah. Alright. Cool. We got, I got you. I got, I just need to get my head on straight first. All right. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Of course, of course. And thank you again for having me.


Dress Codes, Divided Families & Day-Of Disasters With Lisa P.

What happens when a dream wedding breaks more than just budgets?

In this episode, Lisa Pontius shares how her whirlwind romance turned into a wedding that fractured friendships—literally.

From unexpected parent fallout to the silent war of traditions and finances, Christa and Lisa unpack the hidden landmines of wedding planning that no one warns you about.

Plus, they dive into viral hot takes—from guest dress codes to social media restrictions—and ask: are you really ready to get married, or just pressured to?

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

00:34 Lisa’s Background and Content Focus

01:25 Self-Care and Mental Health Through Fashion

02:48 Crazy Wedding Stories Begin

03:06 Lisa’s Wedding Journey and Family Drama

05:07 Wedding Planning Stress and Family Dynamics

14:21 Wedding Hot Takes and Opinions

25:02 Wedding Story Submissions

28:26 Wedding Mishaps in the Heat

30:26 Rainy Wedding Stories

31:59 Reception Disasters

33:54 The Missing Bride and Groom

38:02 Wedding Planning Realities

42:37 Weekly Confessions

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • When the In-Laws Stop Speaking – Lisa shares how her and her husband’s parents became friends, then stopped speaking after the wedding drama unfolded.
  • Wedding Planning Pressure Cooker – Money, expectations, and tradition clashed hard during Lisa’s wedding, revealing everyone’s “ugliest selves.”
  • The Myth of the Perfect Day – Lisa reflects on being the bride: “I wish I had been a guest at my own wedding.”
  • Hot Take: Dress Code Boundaries – Lisa and Christa break down why curating your event is not controlling—it’s thoughtful.
  • Unrealistic Wedding Expectations – How Pinterest weddings and movie moments set brides up for anxiety and disappointment.
  • Setting Social Media Limits – Can couples really control what guests post? Lisa shares her surprisingly balanced take.
  • Marriage > Wedding – With 12 years of marriage behind her, Lisa offers clarity on what really matters post-vows.
  • Planning Regrets and Lessons Learned – Why day-of coordinators are non-negotiable, and what every bride should do first.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “My number one tip for brides—get on the same page with your partner first. Block out all the noise.” – Christa Innis
  • “Weddings bring out everyone’s true colors… and not always in a good way.” – Christa Innis
  • “You cannot blame the wedding party for a day you refused to plan.” – Christa Innis
  • “Marriage should enhance your life—not be the only thing holding it together.” – Christa Innis
  • “You don’t have to follow a timeline. Everyone’s journey is different.” – Christa Innis
  • “Everyone is kind of their ugliest selves around wedding planning. It’s a recipe for disaster.” – Lisa P.
  • “I joke that I wish I had been a guest at my wedding—being the bride was not awesome.” – Lisa P.
  • “Weddings are not indicative of marriage. They’re a totally weird, standalone experience.” – Lisa P.
  • “You’re not just curating photos. You’re curating an entire experience.” – Lisa P.
  • “Be careful who your parents become friends with. You might be stuck with them forever.” Lisa P.

About Lisa

Lisa Pontius is a New Yorker-turned-Charleston housewife who brings bold opinions, vintage glam, and real talk to every conversation. A former culinary school grad and kitchen pirate, Lisa traded 12-hour shifts for southern living—and never looked back. She first began sharing her story online during the pandemic and quickly found her voice talking about motherhood, self-worth, toxic relationships, and societal norms—always with a splash of style. Now known for her blend of 1950s glamour and modern edge, Lisa dishes up a mix of fashion, fire, and unfiltered honesty that’s anything but boring.

Follow Lisa P.

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi, Lisa. Thank you so much for joining me.

Lisa P: Hi. Thank you for having me.

Christa Innis: Yes, I am so excited to dive into this. like we were just saying before, recording, there’s so much drama when it comes around weddings and events and all that stuff. But before I talk too much, can you just tell everyone a little bit about you and, I don’t know, like maybe what interested you in coming on?

I feel like I’ve seen your content. A lot and I feel like you share a lot of important takes so I’m just interested to hear a little bit more about you and, what kinda I interested you.

Lisa P: Yeah. well, I’m Lisa. My handle is, it’s me, Lisa p across all socials. I share a lot about motherhood and relationships on my page, so, the conversation of weddings absolutely comes up.

The conversation of marriage comes up. So, I was intrigued to kind of come on here and talk about some of the drama that surrounds it. but yeah, my content really focuses on. relationship motherhood centered, but with like a real life spin. I like to kind of get to the why of the way things are, in a cute outfit.

So a little bit

Christa Innis: of everything. Yeah. I just say like, I love your style. I am always like you so put together. And I like thought about that when I was like coming on. I was like, okay, I need to make sure I’m like. dressed well because I know Lisa will be, she has such good style.

Lisa P: Listen, I love an outfit, but I’m just as likely to show up in, like my gym clothes if I haven’t had a chance to get changed.

So I totally get it. I just, this is one of my like self-care pick me up things that kind of got me out of my motherhood blues, and I consistently keep up with it because I know it’s. Like such a mental health thing for me.

Christa Innis: Yes. I am right there with you that I did the same thing. Like especially with working from home, I feel like you don’t see a lot of people all the time or like, I’m just here with my child.

And so sometimes it was just like, I need that feeling of like getting ready. And so like, even when I was home during like COVID, I was like, I need to like make sure I like, do something to make for myself. It’s like an

Lisa P: art. I think I got more into it actually during COVID because I was already a stay at home mom.

But I had that like busy schedule outside of the home, so I’d go from like gym to running errands to being with the kids. So I like wouldn’t have that time. And then once everyone was home, yeah, like fully sweat panted, I was like, oh no, no, no. I gotta get up and put some pants on because Yeah. Otherwise this is gonna be it for the next decade for sure.

Yeah.

Christa Innis: Oh, a hundred percent. I know. I was like, I can’t be someone, I can’t just like sit. In sweats all day Of course, there are days I am in sweats all day. I will not never deny that. I love a good sweatsuit, but If I’m like doing something from home, I’m like, I still need to like do something or else I will just melt into my bed.

Lisa P: For sure. It shifts your energy I think and it like definitely makes me feel more, especially ’cause I’m around little people all day, you know? It makes me feel like a little bit more adult.

Christa Innis: Yes, absolutely. I love that. Okay, so jumping into like crazy stories, people love hearing the crazy wedding stories.

I’m sure we’ve all have witnessed. I know I have some things you have. A situation, I dunno if situation’s the right word, something that happened in your family when it’s relating to weddings and marriage. So I dunno if you wanna talk a little bit more about that.

Parents Became Best Friends… Until the Wedding Planning Began

Lisa P: Sure. so I feel like I have to preface this with me and my husband moved very quickly, like right after we met.

We knew that was at one, like we were ready. I think we like attempted to put a deposit on a wedding venue down before we were even like. Publicly engaged. Wow. So it was very untraditional in that sense. And I think that sort of started off the entire wedding journey with our respective families and kind of threw everyone for a loop from the get go.

 we were just ready to get married as soon as we met. And, yeah, so we actually met because. My parents who were like new transplants to Charleston, which is where I’m still living. they had met his parents and they had become fast friends, so they. Friends first before I had even met my husband, before I had even like, heard of my husband.

Christa Innis: and somehow, like through the process of us getting married, their relationship completely disintegrated. And you hear it all the time with weddings that like friendships will break up.

Mm-hmm.

Lisa P: But like, this was so out of left field because these were like the adults in the room, right. Like these were the parents.

Christa Innis: Yeah, especially too, because like, I dunno, I feel like that’s like a dream for a lot of people. Like they meet and then it’s like, oh my gosh, maybe our kids will get married. You know? Like it just,

Lisa P: well we thought we had it hacked. We thought we were about to hit the grandparent lottery of like, oh, we’ll have kids and they’ll just all watch these kids and just hang out.

Like, this will be great. It did not work out like that.

Christa Innis: Was it the wedding planning? And of course like if, there’s anything like. Too intrusive or you don’t wanna share, like, just stop me. do you think the wedding planning or like the moving fast or anything with that, that had to do with it or just like happened soon?

I think

Lisa P: so. It was 100% the wedding mostly. I mean, I don’t, again, I’m not privy to like what went on behind closed doors in their friendship. There might have been like some underlying stuff, like, who knows, right? that’s their drama. But the wedding. Added so much like pressure onto it and onto me and my husband at the time too.

Wedding planning is extremely stressful. There’s money involved, there’s like traditions involved. There’s a lot of things that like are much more serious than like a social relationship, and sometimes you kind of, what I think happened is like their incompatibilities as. Friends kind of got blown up like blown wider because of the wedding planning and the pressure of that.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I was just talking to someone how like weddings, especially when you bring in two families together, almost brings in this like Unnecessary comparison though, right? Because it’s like if someone’s like, let’s say like family A is like really into planning and like maybe they have a little more finances or something.

The other one not so much. They might feel a little like. Uh, not insecure about it, but they might be like, Ooh, like I’m uncomfortable with this, or I feel like they’re doing so much and I can’t do enough, or, I’m being pushed out. when that might not be actually happening. They might just kind of have those feelings of like.

 what’s going on here?

Lisa P: I think everybody wants it to be like, really, even like really down the line. And like in movies you see it, you know, there’s like the bride side and the groom side, and it’s equal. And I think that’s just not as realistic as like it actually goes down.

 I know in our situation, both of my parents are only children, so there isn’t like a huge extended family on that end. But traditionally the bride pays for the wedding. So like. There was a lot of like, well, this seems like a lot of your people and like, we don’t have a lot of people and we had a very small wedding anyway because that’s just what we wanted.

 but it definitely. Everyone had a lot of feelings about it, about like how many people were coming, how many cousins we could invite, who all was gonna be there, who all was paying for what, and it just, ugh.

Christa Innis: It like there’s so many Yeah. Opinions that come into a wedding that it’s like, it’s so hard. My number one tip for brides like that, like watch and like listen. I’m just like, get on the same page with your partner first. Block out all the noise because it’s so hard. It’s like you get people coming in that you maybe never had an opinion on anything before.

And they come in, they’re like, you need this. And you’re like, wait, do I need, yeah. Where did this come from?

Lisa P: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think weddings are in some way, like. Not indicative at all of marriage. So I think it’s such a weird standalone experience. And again, I’m now looking at it like 12. We just celebrated our 12 year anniversary, so like 12 years later, all the feelings have subsided.

We can laugh at it now, right? we can all laugh at the drama and the craziness and how stressed we were because it wasn’t the end of the world at the end of the day, we got married and we’ve been married and marriage is longer right than,the wedding part, but. I think, you know, the family’s coming together.

This is the first time where people have to like work together, you know, work within each other’s boundaries. Maybe set some boundaries, maybe do things that their mother-in-law doesn’t like. Maybe like these are the first things that you’re like, oh, I’m not gonna be able to make everyone happy and myself happy all at the same day the same way.

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah, that’s true. It’s like all the personalities coming together and. Certain ones really shining a certain a way me might not have seen before. I’ve definitely seen it in a lot of weddings. I’ve seen it in a lot of just events in general. Just like family events. You see like, oh, that’s how they, they are in this light.

Right? Or this is, that’s how feel about that. Interesting. Yeah. I feel like, you know, it’s just like. Especially like you don’t know what other pressures they’re getting. Like I know like just certain brides, like I’ve known before, they get married and then I know them during their wedding and I know them after their wedding and I’m like, oh, some of them were different people during all of those stages.

And not saying good or bad, I’m just saying like they just had different pressures put on them or different, you know, situations. And it’s just interesting how that comes up.

Lisa P: I mean, I know I felt victim to like the want everything to be perfect, like hyper fixating. I think brides in general do that. I think that’s where the bride Silda comes from.

Yep. Um, because there’s so much pressure to want this day to be this like picture perfect. Oh my God. Once in a million like time moment. And there’s so much pressure on it that I like. Oh my God. I, I joke with people all the time that I wish I had been a guest at my wedding. ’cause my wedding was awesome. Being the bride at my wedding was not awesome.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I, I heard that so many times and I was one of the later ones, like outta my friend group. I was like the la one of the last ones to get married. And I, my husband and I had been in so many weddings, so I’ve seen so many and I heard so many bride say that they were like.

I didn’t get to enjoy it or like there was too much of this going on or I kept getting pulled in different directions and so I was like, okay, I wanna try so hard not for that, to that to happen. Of course it did in to some extent, but yeah, you hear about that so many times. You put all this pressure on this day and half the time the bride and groom don’t get to enjoy it the way they want to.

Lisa P: Yeah. I think there’s just so much anxiety and so much riding on it and like. I feel like that contributed a ton to our parents, like kind of having a friend break up, um, during it for sure. Because everyone is kind of like, and this sounds terrible because it’s like a day of love, but like everyone’s kind of their ugliest selves, um, around like wedding planning.

’cause there’s big money and there’s big expectations and there’s big family. It’s a recipe for disaster. Yeah. Like, it’s just a recipe for like, something to happen. Like there’s gonna be some drama. It could be like with your girlfriends, it could be with like a bridesmaid or a groomsman or like, it doesn’t have to be your immediate family, but like, something’s coming up.

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah. Oh, that’s for sure. It’s, they say everyone’s like, true colors come out during like intense moments and events like that. Um, so moving past that, so they kind of just like drifted apart and like. Now at family events, they just kinda like drift by. They like still aren’t

They Were Supposed to Be Co-Grandparents

Lisa P: friends. Um, they are co grandparents.

Um, and there are like family events where everybody comes and everyone’s like, fine and peaceful. But like I, I almost like to the point where I almost forget that they used to hang out like independently before us. You know what I mean? Like mm-hmm. They act like Stranger Law grandparents. Um, but yeah, they used to like.

Have beers by the pool and hang out and like that just blows my mind.

Christa Innis: Wow, that’s so interesting. It’s interesting how relationships can just change so quickly like that when you go through an experience, I guess.

Lisa P: Well, and I’m sure they, they all in their own way probably like, ugh, we’re gonna have to see them forever.

Like a divorced couple. Yes.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Like they’re literally going through all those stages. ’cause they’re gonna. Like they, yeah, you can’t just ghost

Lisa P: each

Christa Innis: other and like never

Lisa P: see each other again because it would be easier, like you could totally do that one. One set of these parents doesn’t even live here anymore, so like it would be easy to never even think about each other except for the fact that you share grandchildren now.

So be careful who your friends are. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh, yes. Wow. Yeah, I would say that would be a, I don’t even know if I would call the crazy story. It’s, it’s sad that that happens and it’s like sad that there’s like pressure on weddings and stuff, but, uh, I guess I. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be at the end, but

Lisa P: it, it was meant to be because you guys met through it.

I like to think that they were friends only for long enough to like bring me and my husband together. That’s my like silver lining about it, that they were never really meant to be friends. That that was kind of part of like the plan.

Christa Innis: Yes. I love that. I love that. And you guys knew right off the beginning, right from the bat that it was meant to.

Lisa P: Yeah, we knew. We knew really early and like, I know everybody says that. Some people get that like light bulb moment. Personally, like full disclosure, I didn’t have the light bulb moment. My husband had the light bulb moment. Um, but he, yeah, he turned to his dad after the first weekend we had met and we met at my dad’s.

60th birthday and we met because I flew down to Charleston for my dad’s birthday. And my husband’s parents were guests at like this birthday party, Shindi situation. And they like roped him into coming to kind of like, hang out with me ’cause I would be the only like under 60-year-old person. Um, and that’s how we met.

We were like kind of, they say it was like, it wasn’t a setup, but. It worked.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It like wasn’t a set up, but they were like, he’s got a son. They’ve got a son. I don’t know. You’re home. Yeah. Like, take your son maybe. Yeah. It was all meant to be in, in just a, a different kind of way. Um, all right. I love that.

Thanks. Thanks for sharing that. Um, okay, let’s get into some wedding hot takes. So these are different hot takes that people. Send to me on my stories and we’re just gonna kind of react to them, say what you kind of, what you think about them. Okay. Um, all right. Should couples get to control what guests post on social media about their wedding?

Lisa P: I guess it depends before or after the wedding, but like, I don’t think so.

Christa Innis: I know I’ve never really heard of that before. Lately I’ve been getting a few more like that, that are saying like, I don’t see, I was never like. I

Lisa P: feel like I got maybe too early to like even have that as like a conversation because like, like the hashtag thing hadn’t happened.

So I don’t think you can control everyone around you. No, unfortunately, no. Yeah. I feel

Christa Innis: like when it comes to like, okay, the bride’s getting ready and she hasn’t like come out yet. Yeah. Like don’t post.

Lisa P: Yeah. Don’t

Christa Innis: post a picture

Lisa P: of the bride in her dress before she does her like walk down the aisle. Like, be respectful.

Don’t post any pictures where the bride looks bad. I feel like that’s just not being a, a friend. Right? Like, you know, if you catch her like picking a booger, maybe don’t post that one. Um, but yeah, as far as like what they can share, I, I don’t see a problem with it.

Christa Innis: I feel it’s like the age we live in, it’s like you just know, like being a bride or groom at the wedding.

Like people are gonna take pictures, hopefully not during the ceremony if you have no photos, but you know.

Lisa P: Yeah, you’re not just gonna be able to share your professional photos. People will have like candidates and stuff.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And last times those turn out really good. I mean, I didn’t have photos like during the ceremony, but like I had some random like f friends that took photos, like during our fir first dance that were like so good that like just, they just happened to catch.

And I was like, you don’t. Yeah.

Lisa P: Um, we had a great video. We had a videographer, which I think was like pretty new when we got married. We got married in 2013, so like, okay. It was a while ago. Um, so we had a videographer and we had a photographer and I wanted a lot of those candid, so we did get a good amount of those, which I’m so thankful for because I think those are so fun.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I know. I ended up liking ’cause Yeah, we did the same, we had two photographers and a videographer and I loved the candid photos like so much more than the stage ones. Like the stage ones. I was like, oh no.

Lisa P: That was one of the things I had to fight my family on ’cause I wanted like a very. I guess now you would call it like editorial style.

Mm-hmm. Photography. Um, ’cause I just thought it was so romantic and pretty and like again, this was right like in the middle of Pinterest wedding, so I was like, let me do something a little different. Um, and they were like, no, you have to have the like portraits. We have to do every family member in every iteration stand there, smile, portrait.

And I was like, okay. That one. I was fine.

Christa Innis: You’re like, all right, that’s your thing. Okay. Yeah, I know

Lisa P: I have those though now, but

Mood Boards, Dress Codes & Wedding Boundaries

Christa Innis: I, yeah, it’s like I feel like they’re the ones that like look nice, but like I felt like when I was looking through them, I was like, that just doesn’t look like me. But yeah, you gotta have those, but sometimes you gotta do the old school thing for sure.

Yeah, it’s good. It’s a balance. Um, all. Is it setting boundaries or just controlling to ban certain songs, colors, or styles from your wedding? Because I’ve been hearing this more and more about people like setting a certain, like, no,

Lisa P: actually, I think that’s setting boundaries. In fact, I don’t think it’s controlling.

I think it is like, I think it’s curating. Mm,

Christa Innis: mm-hmm.

Lisa P: You’re curating your event. And I’m a girl who loves a theme. Okay. So like, if someone gave me a color palette and a vibe, I would be fucking psyched. Um, because I’d be like, what we’re doing glam Met Gala, black Tie. Got it. Like, I feel like. I think that is curating not just like the after products, like the photos and stuff, but you’re curating the whole experience.

Mm-hmm. Which makes it a more immersive experience in general, and that kind of elevates everyone’s exper experience.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I was just talking to someone about it and people get so offended by. Being told there’s a theme or like certain things to follow, but as like a planner as like, I don’t know, type A in, in some aspects, I love being told it too.

Like if they’re like, wear a shade of pink. I’m like, let me find my best pink. Um, let me look for it. Yeah,

Lisa P: no, I know at least that, you know, the expectation I, my biggest pet peeve is where it’s like so randomly vague that you’re like, what does this mean? Yeah, like barn cocktail, I’m like. Our boots too much, right?

Like where are we at? Like which level? Give me, give me more references. Gimme a Pinterest board. That would be great. Gimme a reference. Yeah. I have a friend of mine who does this constantly and she’s a, like a photo stylist and like it’s very on brand for her. This is what she does, like her living. But whenever she has an event, she will send out a mood board.

Oh my gosh, I love that. Or like outfits. So she had, um, her, God, was it her 40th? I think it, no, it couldn’t have been her 40th. Anyway, she had a big birthday that just happened and she had it at a magic show and she sent out a mood board and everybody showed up and showed out. And like we were the only group that was dressed up.

Okay. Like circus for performers. But we were all doing it together. Okay. Yeah. And it had colors, it had mood and vibe, and she was like, this is the vibe. And everyone was like. Bet and like someone came as like the rabbit coming out of the hat. It was wild, but it was so much fun. Oh gosh. If you’re not to that, I can understand why that would be intimidating, but you could still just pick colors.

Yes. You know, you could, you could still adhere to it.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I think it’s nice because when there’s those times, certain events, not necessarily a wedding, but we’re like. It looks like everyone’s attending a different event. Like someone’s in a formal dress, someone’s in like leggings and a t-shirt, and it’s like, we’re like, what’s the, I always, I feel like I always try to dress a little nicer than I think ’cause I’m like, I don’t ever look under.

Take it from me. Yes. That was like, I feel like someone told me that years ago and I was like, yeah, I always wanna be a little, little over, because you never really know what to, what

Lisa P: to expect. Yeah. Well, listen, if someone’s gonna talk about you, you would rather them talk about like, wow, she was really overdressed, but that was a great outfit.

Yes. Than like, oh, yikes. You know what I mean? Like you’d always rather be like shining. Yes. Yeah. Like let’s not wear like jeans to a wedding. But I also feel like the dress code thing has gotten very convoluted in between like our parents’ generation and our generation and now like the younger generation getting married.

I feel like people really don’t understand, and I see this on TikTok all the time, and I feel like since you’re in the wedding sphere, you probably see it a lot, but like people don’t understand the difference between cocktail and black tie or black tie and white tie and these sort of like. I feel like giving the vibe and the color and like a theme is like the new way of doing that.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree. Because I’ve definitely have spent time like googling, like, okay, it says cocktail formal. And I’m like, what does that mean? Is that like a step up from cocktail? And I’m like, what does that mean? Um, so yeah, I, I agree. I feel like that’s their way of like helping them out. Like some people take it as like.

Oh, it’s so, um, you know, Bri the Bridezilla term so entitled, so it’s bridezilla to do this, but I’m like, I feel like from a bride’s perspective, they’re like, no, I’m, I’m trying to help. Like, I’m just like giving you some guidelines so you like, it’s easier. You’re like,

Lisa P: yeah, it’s a formal event, but it’s also like in a meadow with like grass and flowers and like, yeah, you might not wanna come in like a sequined ball gown.

Like, it’s just not gonna fit the vibe. So like, yeah, here’s the thing.

Christa Innis: Yes. We want you to feel comfortable and at home here. That’s why I always think about it. Um, awesome. What was the last one? Should a maid of honor or best man ever bring someone the bride or groom used to date? Oh, I’m gonna say no.

Lisa P: No, that’s not even like a hot take.

That’s like a obvious one. Yeah,

Christa Innis: I would, I would hope not. I’ve been seeing these like crazy stories lately. Um, someone commented on a video saying that. She was at a wedding where the maid of honor gave a speech for her sister. He was her twin sister. Turns out she had dated the groom before and in her speech talked about how she was a better sister and that he should have picked her.

I was like, how is this real? Like I, I don’t

Lisa P: you marry your sister’s ex-boyfriend. That’s what my thought. Like that. Wait, yeah. Like five steps back.

Christa Innis: How? How? Yeah. I was like, ’cause she’s like, he, when he met the twin, he’d left the other one. So I’m like, how intense was like, were they like teenagers and dated or were they like living together?

Yeah. Was

Lisa P: this like 10 years apart? You know what I mean? Like dated the sister in middle school. Right. Maybe if that’s the situation where it was like a, you know, you were eight years old in third grade handing notes back together and you were like, this is my boyfriend. And then like. If your sister started doing him in college, then I could get it.

That’s like the only scenario I could see that being Right. That’s like just really tricky waters. Like I just like not for me, not for me. It’s not for me. Absolutely not. I have two sisters and never has there been a stream crossed ever in any way, nor would there ever. That is just, Nope.

Christa Innis: No thank you. No, I’m the same with friends too.

Like I know people that I’m like, oh, I dated my friend’s ex, whatever. I’m just like, once a friend is like with that person, I’m like, no, I’m good. Thank you.

Lisa P: Agree. The closest I ever did was I dated for like a long time. A guy that my friend had like a hookup once with, and there was a conversation ahead of time.

Like, there’s gotta be a cur, like a courtesy call, right? Being like, Hey, is this weird for you? Is this okay? Are we okay? Yes. Yeah. ’cause that’s just, that’s real code. I mean, you’ve gotta, oh, sure. You, you can’t date someone’s like. No, that’s no. Yeah, don’t

Christa Innis: bring ’em to a wedding. Please. Definitely. Also don’t

Lisa P: bring them to the wedding.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no surprises. Especially. Okay, let’s get into this week’s wedding story submission. So these are a bunch of submissions that are sent to me. I don’t read them ahead of time, and we’ll just react in real time. So feel free to stop me or I’ll pause and here we go. Let’s brace ourselves. Okay. This wedding was just one crazy thing after another.

We all flew across the country from Oregon to Georgia. So, um, though some of us flew into Nashville and drove to save some money so the bride could get married at her parents’ house. The thing is they lived in a pretty normal subdivision and Georgia that they had moved to after she went off to college.

So she had no emotional attachment to it, and very few attendees lived nearby. She had been there for a month preparing for the wedding, but when we arrived the week before, she hadn’t done anything with the fake flowers to make them into bouquets. Hadn’t picked a single song for the dj, not even first dance, so we jumped in to help.

While I was helping her compose the song list, her dad yelled at me for being on his computer, even though his daughter was sitting right there with me. The morning of the wedding, the bride was on the front yard, in the front yard, setting up chairs for the ceremony and starting to yell, I’m claustrophobic if you’re not helping set up chairs, get out of the yard and none of you are helping.

We tried to help, but she really didn’t know what she needed help with and kept redoing everything herself, like moving chairs half an inch to the right. Yikes. Um. When she was finally getting ready to get dressed, her mom was nowhere to be found. After waiting over an hour, we sent the bride’s brother to check the neighbor’s houses, and they found her mom getting her hair and makeup done there.

When she finally came back to the bridal suite, which was actually just the master bedroom, the bride wanted a picture of her mom helping her into her dress. For some reason, instead of stepping into it, they lifted it up over her head and fell straight onto the mother of brides. Freshly applied bright red lipstick.

Oh my God, that, that’s my nightmare. That’s terrible. She said yes. It stained the dress. Oh no. If she’s already like that panicky, that’s razzled

Lisa P: and pissed off. Oh my God.

Christa Innis: Uh, everyone panicked. I ran to the computer. This was 2009, no smartphones yet, so I googled to how to, how to get lipstick out of the wedding dress.

I don’t even remember what the solution was, but we found the instructions and luckily the stain wasn’t too noticeable in photos, so we moved on with the day. The bride had insisted to get these fancy high heels that matched the floral belt on her dress. Most of the bridesmaids didn’t order them in time, but we all had to have heels and colors that coordinated with the floral belt.

I was her roommate, so I made sure to order them early. They were expensive and uncomfortable. You were talking about like the having everyone look the same. Um, and of course we had to walk through a yard in them since the aisle was in the grass,

Lisa P: so that was something that was not thought through. Like, this is already just like bad planning like this, this can all be attributed to a lot of bad planning.

Christa Innis: Yeah. This is just like not thinking of like the logistics behind everything. It’s like, yeah, you want these great shoes, but we’re gonna be walking in muddy grass or you know, through the grass. Yeah. Yeah. Ooh. I’m already like bat in heels, so walking in grass is terrible. Um, okay. We basically, um, aerated that lawn, our aerated the lawn ourselves.

I nearly lost a shoe and another bridesmaid almost fell. They, they scheduled the ceremony for 5:00 PM in direct sunlight. In the middle of July, the bride was sweating so much. One of her brothers, a groomsman, passed a handkerchief to the best man who passed it to the groom and handed it to the bride so she could wipe her face.

Oh, that’s another thing. Weddings, outdoor in the middle of the summer. Like you, it’s so hard to plan for. Like I’ve been to a wedding in the middle of July and same thing, we were like covered in sweat. The sun was literally like in our eyes. I dunno how the writing room felt. Oh my gosh. Well

Lisa P: then your hair.

Yeah, and like the hair, the makeup, the whole thing. Like it’s just

Christa Innis: all that time and money is just,

Lisa P: yeah, I know. We got married at the end of April and in Charleston it’s like hit or miss. We like, luckily had a good day, but we almost got rained out so could go the other way.

Christa Innis: Right. And I feel like that’s, it’s like so hard.

’cause you never know, every month has their kind of battles. Like, same with us. We got married the end of March. And it could be like rain, almost rainy season. We had every kinda weather that day. It was like snow, sun, rain or like whatever. Bring it our way. It’s fine. I think I would take

Lisa P: most things over.

Sweating though. Yeah. Rain. I feel like you could just be like, oh well, like

Christa Innis: there’s been a lot of pretty weddings I’ve seen online with rain and they like have like their umbrellas and it’s all like decked

Lisa P: out still. Do you know that scene from Pirates of the Caribbean? It’s like the second one where she’s like.

The wedding got interrupt, interrupted, but she’s like being rained on. Yes. And I always thought that was so beautiful that you could do this like white gothic wedding almost. If you had like the right vibe, it could definitely work out.

Christa Innis: Yes, and I, and I always look at those brides too, and I’m like. This is a bride that’s there to get married.

She’s like more of like, yes. Like let’s look, make it look a aesthetic and everything. But like, I love when they just show them like running down the aisle or like at the end, like getting rained on. I’m like, I love, that’s, it’s romantic. Yeah, it really is.

Lisa P: It’s, it’s an underrated. We had a, we went to one where it was pouring rain and luckily it, like, it was pouring rain the whole way up until like the, like the, she had to walk down the aisle.

Like we were sitting there. Everyone had like. So, you know, our programs covering our heads, like it was raining and then it stopped. Oh my god, I’m gonna get chills. Um, and this like wasn’t even my wedding. And she, she walks down the aisle, the sun comes out, and a rainbow, a double rainbow comes out at the end of their ceremony.

And I just remember thinking like. That’s amazing. Like Bravo, like I had the best photos. Yeah, the photos were unreal. Like it was so well done. Well done weather. Like it was well done. I love that,

Christa Innis: that

Lisa P: Yeah, that’s the thing too. It does not always happen that way, but I was very happy for her.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I feel like right after our rain, it’s like everything just looks like a little brighter, like Yeah.

That’s amazing. I love that, but the

Lisa P: sweating like a pig. Not so much.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisa P: That I, that I’m kind of out on. There’s no aesthetic way to like handle that. There’s no glistening,

Melted Makeup, Broken Microwaves & Bridezilla Chaos

Christa Innis: no, I’m definitely not one to glisten when I’m sweating either. Um, after the ceremony we took a few pictures and they sent us. Up to the reception venue, a community center in their neighborhood, about half a mile away.

The caterers arrived at the same time the bridal party did. It was Mexican food catered by a restaurant, but they microwaved it on site. There weren’t enough outlets in the prep area, so they plugged the microwaves in throughout the room. Naturally, this overwhelmed the circuit. And tripped a breaker. No, someone had to find the breaker box to reset it.

Lisa P: Oh my gosh. This, oh my God. So my background is in catering and the second it was microwaved on scene, I was like, oh, this is gonna be bad. From like a, just from like, it’s gonna be gross kind of way, but also. The breaker box.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Because even that alone, like micro, we microwaving all the food. These like golf, I’m assuming

Lisa P: it’s like a golf club type thing.

Like they have kitchens, commercial kitchens. Usually I’m kind of think or usually skates will come and like see where they’re serving from ahead of time. So like that’s an interesting, or they would bring their own like. Affordable kitchen type deal. So

Christa Innis: yeah, that seems like another interesting thing with like logistics.

Like if you’re gonna get married at a place to not, for them to not tell you, like the people that like own the venue to be like, Hey, so we don’t actually have a kitchen, so you have to do, bring it hot

Lisa P: or I don’t know. Yeah, bring it hot, have some chaing dishes ready to go, like. Do they have like six microwaves, like through the reception area?

That’s what I’m picturing.

Christa Innis: We’re just gonna put on the head table for a minute. We gotta warm up. Yeah, just all of

Lisa P: these microwaves just showing up. I’m just like,

Christa Innis: yeah. Oh, this poor bride. Does it get worse? I know. Um, there’s a few more paragraphs, so I’m gonna get. Um, okay. Even after all the guests had arrived and had been just standing around talking for 30 minutes, there was still no sign of the bride groom or photographer.

There was no music, no announcements, and people were hungry. That’s one of my worst things at a wedding. I feel like food needs to be like on time. Priority. Sure.

Lisa P: Yeah. People are hungry. Can be drunk. So like feed them early. Yeah.

Christa Innis: You need to fill their bellies. Yeah. Like weddings where you’re waiting like an extra long time for food.

Like I feel like that you remember food, you remember things around food. At weddings, I. We, the wedding party and bride’s parents finally decide to let people go through the buffet. No one told us not to. About 70 minutes after we arrived and around 15 minutes after everyone, everyone had eaten the bride and groom finally show up.

So they’re all eating before the bride and groom come. ’cause no one knows where they are.

Lisa P: I get it. Sometimes you do like cocktail hour or you do like, but you gotta feed people or give ’em drinks or something. Long time.

Christa Innis: You have to think about it as like you’re hosting a party and so like your guests need to be taken care of.

Like yeah, you run away sometimes and do photos and stuff, but it sounds, yeah.

Lisa P: Photos after the ceremony are super standard, but like that’s usually when there’s like cocktail hour with some bites and some food.

Christa Innis: It sounds like there was no like wedding planner or coordinator or some, oh, no, there was no plan.

Get this in the. Oh my gosh. So at that point, the DJ announces them. The bride was livid, that people had eaten Without them, not much we could do. At that point, we had gotten them plates and had them sit down so the rest of the schedule could continue. During the cake cu cutting the groom ended up dripping chocolate down the front of the bride’s dress.

This poor, let’s just go to bed at this point. Done? Yep. Oh my God. Why are we having drip dripping chocolate? Like, we gotta think about these

Lisa P: things

Christa Innis: when we pick our desserts.

Lisa P: Dripping chocolate. I’m not sure I understand, unless it’s like a fondue thing, but,

Christa Innis: uh, yeah. Yeah. Maybe it’s like a. Was that chocolate fountain or something?

I don’t know. Oh gosh. The bridesmaids helped her to the bathroom to clean it up, and of course it just smeared. Luckily she was able to laugh this one off. Okay, that’s good. Good. Okay.

Lisa P: That’s

Christa Innis: a win. Yeah. The next day we saw the couple at brunch before they left for their honeymoon. The only thing the bride could say about the wedding was that she still couldn’t believe that we let people eat before they arrived.

She said it on repeat even after we explained the situation and we even had to remind her of the good parts. We actually stayed friends after that until I broke up with a boyfriend who I’m only, who I only dated for about 10 months, and she had only known for about five. He must have said something wild about me because she texted me saying she was worried about me.

I explained why I broke up with him. He was manipulative, verbally, abusive, narcissistic, and basically never heard from her again after that. Whoa. Interesting. Whoa. That’s a

Lisa P: interesting, uh, that was, that was a wild ending to like, this girl stuck it out for this wedding. Like that she was doing her best to make this day happen.

I know. And after all that, to just get a friend broken up with Yeah. What, I mean, the ex-boyfriend must have said something really heinous.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Lisa P: Like, I feel like you should corroborate that.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I would feel like. Like, if any of my friends, if their boyfriend or partner came to me and said something, I’d be like, yeah, I’m gonna trust my friend over you.

Yeah. I’m gonna

Lisa P: double check on that. I’m

Christa Innis: gonna, we’re

Lisa P: gonna have a

Christa Innis: talk. Yeah. Um, so she just ends with, last I saw she and her husband are still married with kids and seem happy, at least from what I can tell on Facebook. So, um,

They Thought They Could Plan a Wedding…

Lisa P: well, thank goodness they, you know, the, I feel like the, the older generation always says the worse the wedding, the better the marriage.

Or at least that’s, I think what they say like. To make people feel better about things like that. Yeah, yeah. Um, that honestly, I dunno if I, like, I feel like these things didn’t happen to this couple. I feel like this couple like thought they could plan a wedding and did and could not, like, could not plan a wedding and realized way too late.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I find because of the weddings I’ve been a part of, I find there’s a lot of times where people just. Nice as nicely as I can put it. They live in fairytale Land, so they like see a movie and they’re like, oh, that looks beautiful. But they don’t realize there’s all these people, people behind the scenes that make it possible.

So they have all these wishes or like desires for things to happen, and they think it’ll just happen on that day. They don’t realize like, okay, well if you want catering, then you need to have. Someone to set it up or you need a kitchen, or if you want your bridesmaids to wear these dresses, you need like an aisle for them to walk down or you need, you know, like they don’t think of all the things it takes.

Pay attention to detail, which

Lisa P: is why there are wedding planners.

Christa Innis: Yes.

Lisa P: Sometimes people can’t do that and you need someone to help you. And again, like we only had a day of wedding planners, so I did a lot of the planning myself, but I feel like I had. I had a lot of like friend vendors, so like that helped out.

But also just like, I don’t know, have you never thrown a party? Like there’s certain things, you know, alcohol, food, logistics, schedule like I do that when I throw my kids’ birthday party. You know what I mean? It’s the same skill. Yeah, you still gotta feed people, you’ve gotta make sure people can get there.

Um, probably wanna set up ahead of time. These are like pretty standard. Yeah. For hosting anything, not just a wedding. And a wedding is like 10 times more intense.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah. I know. My husband always laughs at me. ’cause like even for our daughter’s party, like birthday parties, which are like two, three hours max.

I like write out a whole timeline. I’m like, okay, food arrives at this time. People arrive at this time. Like I just, I have to visualize. Oh I’m, it’s funny, I’m like type A when it comes to like planning stuff like that, but like I see type A like mom videos and I’m like, I don’t think I’m a type A mom. I think I’m a type A like planner.

I don’t even know if that makes sense. But

Lisa P: I have some of that too. I feel like when it comes down to making sure things like kind of run smoothly, I can be very hands-on. I don’t make a timeline, so like I feel like that’s, that might be my next step over the top might be my next step. Um. Yeah, like I love hosting, I love cooking and like cooking very much is about timing and execution.

So like that sort of skill, like my biggest pet peeve is when I’m like finished cooking and I’ve timed everything and I’ve told people like when food’s gonna be ready? And then they’re like, absent mindedly, like mingling or something. I’m like, no, no, no. The food is hot and ready. Like right now.

Christa Innis: Yeah. This is the now time.

Right now. This is even time

Lisa P: we must sell now.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, for sure. I feel like those definitely all those things, like I feel like when we said like, have you like hosted or whatever, I think there are a lot of like brides that this is their first time, like really like hosting something. You should not be

Lisa P: doing

Christa Innis: it on your own.

Like Yeah,

Lisa P: if it’s your never hosting anything, you’ve never done like a holiday party or you’ve never hosted your friend’s birthday party. Mm-hmm. Don’t try with the wedding, the wedding’s not the time to like take a stab.

Christa Innis: I know, I think that’s when it gets so stressful. I was the same with you where I, as you were, I had, I pretty much planned it, but like our event, our wedding venue had a day of coordinator and people don’t realize how helpful that is because that person’s gonna like do the behind the scenes, running around, making sure things are where they need to be.

And I’ve done that for a few weddings now and that I love doing it because I’m like. You tell me what to do. You tell me what needs to be done, I’ll make sure it’s done. Don’t get dirty. I will do that

Lisa P: if you want to. And like back to what we were saying before with, I wish I had been a guest at my wedding.

If I had also been like running around coordinating the, the staff and the vendors and the, the drop offs and the pickups, you’re not having any fun like that. You’re not having any good of a time at all because you’re so stressed about the comings and goings and there’s so much that goes into. Getting everybody where they need to be at the right time.

Right. Like and getting everything to execute.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisa P: I am like a huge proponent of, even if you don’t do a planner for like the whole wedding prep. The whole wedding planning, definitely a day of like, yeah. But maybe that you’re like engagement gift right? From your parents or your in-laws or something. A day of coordinator.

Christa Innis: Yeah, just someone to like ease a little bit of the stress because you don’t wanna just like randomly like. Task people with it that day. ’cause they’re not gonna be thinking about it. And it’s just, yeah, there’s random things that just pop up. For sure.

Lisa P: They really are.

Christa Innis: All right, well, that was a crazy story.

All right, I always like to end these. I know we’re running short on time, but I always like to end these with weekly confessions, so people send me confessions kinda related to event or weddings, um, on social media. So let’s see here. This first one says, um. I absolutely hate the girl that my sister-in-law loves.

It makes me hate seeing my sister-in-law, too. Oh,

Lisa P: well hopefully that doesn’t last long.

Christa Innis: I don’t know. Yeah, I That’s, that’s tough. ’cause you can only do something much when it’s, when it’s a, a sister-in-law. I’m guessing it’s like a, your. Partner’s sister? I would guess so. You probably can’t.

Lisa P: That’s what I assumed.

I assumed it was like your partner’s, sister’s girlfriend that we were going with. That’s okay.

Christa Innis: That’s what I would get.

Lisa P: Yeah. Yeah. And like you usually button your mouth until you have to not button your mouth on that one.

Christa Innis: Yeah, yeah. Wait till they say something to you and they ask for your opinion, or something happens and you can be like, well, here’s what I think.

Until then, you gotta let it work itself out. Otherwise you’ll be the villain. Oh, absolutely. Yep. Um, this says I had to uninvite half of my friends to make room for my mother-in-law’s tennis buddies. No. What? Whose wedding is it?

Lisa P: Oh my God. I call it they’re gonna stop talking to the mother-in-law like five years down the road.

Yeah. Like altogether. No way. That’s insane.

Christa Innis: That sounds like, and I’m obviously reading between the lines, but that sounds like a mother-in-law that was maybe paying for part of it or something, and she used that as a way to like control the wedding because mm-hmm. I, I see the make room like you had to, like who’s, who said

Lisa P: you had to.

Yeah, that’s definitely, that’s a manipulation like that. Mm. I don’t love that. I don’t either. I feel like is probably gonna go bye-bye for in a, a little while.

Christa Innis: Yeah. We need to, we need to say no. Set some boundaries with that mother-in-law. Um, okay. This last one says, I joked I wanted pockets on my wedding dress for getaway money.

Deep down, I think I knew it was true. Oh. The number of times people have confessed to me like, oh, I’ve had a, I had a feeling, um, before the wedding. I told my dad I didn’t wanna get married before the wedding, and I still did. I’ve gotten so many of those.

Lisa P: I had a

Christa Innis: friend do that to me. Really?

Lisa P: Yes. I knew before they got married that they did like they, that, that, that she did not really want to start all over is like how she kind of put it.

Mm-hmm. Um. I don’t know. I took that to my grave. We don’t really speak anymore, and that is not my business. And they’re still married, so sometimes

If You Have Doubts, Don’t Walk Down the Aisle

Christa Innis: it works out. Oh, see, I was gonna say the opposite, uh, opposite happened to me. I, and I’ve talked about this before, um, but I was in a wedding years ago and every wedding event there was some kind of thing, and it was with him, every kind of thing.

And she, and she like cried in the car after the bachelorette party. She cried in the car. Oh, yeah. After the rehearsal. All these different things. And I was just like. Hey, maybe we like, should we rethink this? Oh, I, we already paid the vendors. I’m like, yeah, but divorce is way more expensive.

Lisa P: Oh God no. Yeah, no.

If there’s like, if there’s a doubt in your mind on the person, I feel like I. You’ve gotta cut and run. Like you, you getting divorced is so much more traumatic. It’s so much more expensive. God forbid you like, have a bunch of kids. Um, no, no. If it’s not right and like, this is why, uh, so on my page I talk a lot about, and I’m very happily married, that like marriage should not be this like.

Default standard that people are trying to hit. Because you know when you get 12 years in a marriage and you’re, you know, most people my age got married somewhere around the same time I did. You see a lot of divorces by now. Okay. We’re starting to have that first round of divorce A is coming through and it’s like, God, what a wait.

Not a lot of waste because like a lot of them have children and that’s like the wonderful thing that came out of it. But you know, you don’t have to get married like. You could end up really miserable like in so many ways. And that’s like, you know, it’s just not something that, if you can, if you can in any way, imagine your life without that person, not without a spouse, but without that specific person.

Don’t do it. Right, a hundred percent. Especially if you’re a woman.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah, totally. And I always have this too, like I’ve been with my husband, I think we’re going on 11 years this year. But we’ve been married three. And so like for us it was like, I totally agree with you what you just said about like, you don’t have to get married, you don’t have to follow a certain timeline.

So many people were constantly like, when are you getting married? When are you getting married? And I was like, we, like, we do things on our own timeline and I just feel like. So many people have this, like their own expectations on everyone else, and especially as women, I feel like we have the expectations of like, okay, I need to do this, then I need to get married.

I need to have a baby. And you feel like you have to follow this timeline.

Lisa P: Yeah. And it feels like a rushed timeline at the, at the moment. Like, and I feel pre to that too. I was like, oh, I wanna have two kids, um, by 30 and like I did, but. You know, now looking back at it, I’m like, you idiot. Like you should have just been like, find the right person and then figure it out.

Like

Christa Innis: Yeah, I know. I remember like, I would like if it were just like my hu like then boyfriend, but husband and I, I just like doing our own thing. Like, we’d be like totally fine and then like someone would like bring up like, oh, are you guys gonna get married? And I would be like, do I wait? Are we doing something wrong?

And like, it almost puts us like, not like guilt, but this feeling of you of like. Wait, are we doing something wrong? Is our relationship, because we’re just dating right now, is that like wrong? And you start getting this like, no, because half

Lisa P: of the men in divorces anyway, so like, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Marriage isn’t the great indicator of like lifelong companionship anymore. Mm-hmm. Um, well, and like

Christa Innis: too our, like our parents’ generation, I feel like they were so committed to like marriage that like they stayed. Are unhappily married for so long without actually like admitting like, I actually hate this.

Oh, they wrong

Lisa P: gold stars for it too. They’re like, we’ve been married 35 years. I hate Jeff, but he lives in the other bedroom, so, you know, but we’ve been married this long. And I’m like, but why? What kind of award are you winning here? Like, I know some people have the whole like, divorce is a sin thing, but like you’re already in hell.

So. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t see the point in that like a relationship should only be there to enhance your already like wonderful life. And if it doesn’t do that, then it’s not worth it. And like kind of feel the same way about kids too. I feel like the relationships that I see with people who don’t have kids by choice, obviously there’s like.

People who have extenuating circumstances where they can’t have children, but people who choose not to have kids, I feel like they have this like gift of time to like really find their perfect partner.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Lisa P: Uh, and they usually choose better.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Like.

Lisa P: They get to choose somebody that they truly just genuinely wanna spend all their time with, as opposed to people who do, who do the musical chairs type of marriage, where they’re like, well, it’s been three years since college.

Like, I guess you’re the guy.

Christa Innis: Yes.

Lisa P: Yeah. Yeah. I guess you’re the person I’m with right now. So musical chairs, let’s do it. Like, let’s get married. Timelines are ticking, like I feel like it kind of saddles us down. Um, oh yeah. In a.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah, that’s definitely another thing with, as women we’re like told that the biological clock is ticking, you need to have kids hurry up.

My husband and I since like one year, one of dating, when are you guys gonna have kids? And I was like, I’m not even thinking about kids. Or what are you talking about? And, and I like, and I like look back and I’m like, if I had kids when we had started dating, I was like, I would’ve been a completely different.

Ma Um, I would’ve been in completely different like financial point in my life and I just feel like we need to like, and not saying that’s right or wrong, I’m just saying everyone’s timeline is different. ’cause I know people had kids at in their early twenties and they are thriving and they were meant to be moms at that point.

But I just feel like it’s so important to like listen to your own timeline. ’cause I have friends now that are like,

Lisa P: this new generation is doing a lot better than like we were as millennials. Yeah. I feel like the younger girls are like, really? Coming to the table with the head on the shoulders a little bit more without like the fairytale movie, prince Princess aspect that, that we were kind of sold.

Christa Innis: Yes. I love that. Yeah. I’ve noticed like the shift in the movies, especially with my daughter being she’s two and I feel like. The movies have shifted. Obviously there’s still the fairytale, but I’m like, let’s watch Moana because she’s like brave and she, you know, or Meredith, she doesn’t need a man. You know, I try to like show her some different things because of course we still love the classics, but it’s good to kind of open the horizons up a little bit.

Lisa P: Yeah, definitely. I mean, my daughter is, I mean, she still like, very much knows she wants to get married and have kids like I knew from a young age. So I don’t like balk at that. Like I, you know, some people just like really have that desire. Um, but she still is like, well maybe I’ll be president and a dance teacher.

And I’m like, you go, you do both. I love that. Yes, you do both.

Christa Innis: Stop you, girl. I love that. Yeah. Yes. Well, thank you so much for coming on. This was such a good discussion and I feel like it was good to kind of like just kind of talk about like, obviously the pressures on women and Bridezillas and there’s just a lot of cool things we talked about, so thank you for coming.

Yeah, I loved it.

Lisa P: This is such a fun topic. I’m sure you get so entertained hearing all these stories, so that was so fun.

Christa Innis: Yeah, they always, they never cease to, uh, surprise or amaze me. It’s, it’s always something new. I bet. Yeah. Well, for anyone listening, um, where can everyone follow you, find more of your content and anything exciting that you wanna share?

Lisa P: Yeah. Um, you can find me on mostly TikTok and Instagram. My handle is, it’s me, Lisa PI like to say I talk about hard topics in cute outfits. Um, and that covers relationships and marriage and parenting and boundaries and setting boundaries once you have kids, which I feel like once you get past the bride phase, that’s coming next.

Mm-hmm. Um, and you can find me there. Um, and. I would like to say I have something big in the works coming, but I don’t because I homeschool my kids and this is what we’re doing. And that’s big in. That is big in

Christa Innis: in itself like mom and is a full-time job.

Lisa P: Yeah. I wear a lot of hats, that’s for sure.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Thank you

Lisa P: very much. Have a good one.


Book Launch Day + A Wedding Party Meltdown You Won’t Believe

What happens when a bride hates planning her own wedding, but demands a Vegas blowout and expects everyone else to make it magical?

In this episode, I share my biggest milestone yet: the official launch of my debut book Here Comes the Drama: A Ferris and Sloan Story, plus a jaw-dropping listener-submitted story that defines the word “ungrateful.”

I also break down wedding hot takes, the importance of boundaries, and why saying “no” is sometimes the most loving thing you can do—for others and yourself. Oh, and did we mention the bride cried in the club bathroom three separate times?

Listen to me read a new Ferris & Sloan excerpt, tackle controversial wedding traditions, and respond to one of the wildest bridal party betrayals I’ve ever received.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

00:40 Podcast Review and Pre-Launch Episode

01:47 Book Reading: Ferris and Sloan Story

06:28 Audiobook and Print Book Updates

08:07 Hot Takes and Relationship Advice

12:53 Crazy Wedding Drama Story

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • The Book Is Officially Out – After months of teasing, I’m announcing my book launch and revealing what inspired me to turn viral confessions into a physical page-turner.
  • The Vegas Bachelorette Breakdown – I relive one of the most unforgettable submissions about a bride who ended up crying in the club, and what it revealed about modern wedding expectations.
  • Why I Wrote This Book – This isn’t just tea. It’s a time capsule of the emotional chaos, family dynamics, and societal pressure that weddings bring out in people.
  • The Confession Selection Process – I explain how I chose which stories made it into the book, and why some were just too wild (or too heartbreaking) to publish.
  • From Podcast to Print – How Here Comes the Drama evolved from mic to manuscript—and how my audience helped shape every chapter.
  • Wedding Culture Needs a Wake-Up Call – I reflect on how the wedding industry has normalized unrealistic standards, and what we can do about it.
  • The Stories That Stayed With Me – I share the one story I almost couldn’t include—and why it haunts me in the best way.
  • Advice for the Brides Who Feel the Pressure – A personal reminder for anyone planning a wedding: you’re allowed to say no.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “You know it’s bad when a bride is crying in the middle of a Vegas club—and everyone acts like that’s normal.”Christa Innis
  • “This book is for anyone who’s ever felt steamrolled by wedding expectations and still wanted to scream into a napkin.”Christa Innis
  • “The stories people submitted? Unhinged. Hilarious. Sometimes horrifying. And all 100% real.”Christa Innis
  • “Wedding culture breaks people down in ways we don’t talk about enough—and that’s why I wrote this.”Christa Innis
  • “Not every story made it into the book, but the ones that did? They stayed with me. Some of them still do.” – Christa Innis

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi guys. Welcome back to another exciting episode of Here Comes The Drama. It is officially launch day of my brand new book. Here comes the Drama of Ferris and Sloan story, I’m so excited to share more with you guys and have you officially read the book. starting off, I just wanna say thank you to everyone that has pre-ordered the book already.

If you’ve got an ebook, it will be automatically sent to your device. Um, but today is the official. Sale launch of the printed book, I wanna get to that in a second. First things first, I wanna read a podcast review and just thank you guys for listening. This is from Debbie, 1, 2, 1, 3. It says,

Absolutely love the podcast. I have enjoyed your skits and cannot wait for more Ferris and Sloan. I had to do a Ferris and Sloan review one because this is all about Ferris and Sloan. Now, kind of like the pre-launch episode, we’re gonna do things a little bit differently, but of course I’m going to end on a very juicy, crazy story.

I’ve not read it yet, but it’s one of those long ones with lots of crazy detail. So we will get into that one. But first things first, let’s talk a little bit more about the book. I’m not gonna do a crazy deep dive because we’ve done tons of q and As, but of course I’m always here to answer more questions.

 I’m so excited. I can’t believe this day is finally here. I’m recording this a little bit earlier, so of course it still feels very surreal for me. if you’re watching the video, you’ll see this is my printed proof. I. Of course at the time this comes out, I’ll have my actual copy, but it’s so exciting to see.

We’re still making some changes, to it as I record this, but you guys will have the finalized version. I’m gonna read a small segment in it for you guys today too. I’m gonna leave off. Where I did on that last pre-launch episode. just to give you a little more teaser, most of you guys, if you got part one in your email, you might have already read this part, but I’ll add a little, extra while I read here.

Teaser Reading: Ferris, Sloan, and the Vacation Bombshell

So leaving off in part one, where the mom, Kate and Jenny were off basically, and she’s trying to talk her up to kind of get her back into the room with Ferris and Sloan. She just found out they’re going on vacation, so here we go. Great. Jenny gives her a swift thumbs up and gestures for her mother to follow her back into the living room where the others are.

Jenny is the first to step back into her parents’ living room where she spots her brother Ferris at the fridge, grabbing two beers, one for their dad, Ted, and one for himself. The room is warm with the scent of Thanksgiving, leftovers, the muffled hum of conversation drifts into the dining room.

You need more wine babe. Ferris calls out over his shoulder. His voice casual but affectionate. short, faintly golden hair with brown undertones is slightly tussled. A few strands falling into his face as he reaches for the fridge. Slowness curled up on the couch, legs crossed, swirling the last bit of red wine in her glass.

Her long, almost black hair drapes over one shoulder catching the warm glow of Christmas lights. She’s wearing a soft knit sweater Dress. In deep burgundy, paired with thick socks, comfortable yet casually stylish in a way that always seems natural to her. She looks over at him with a small knowing. Smile, Noah, he.

No, I still have some left. Thanks, Sloan. Smirks and turns. Just as she notices Jenny walking back in. Oh hey, is everything okay? Her eyes flicker between Jenny and Kate searching for any signs of what just happened. She knew Kate was upset about the trip, but sometimes it was easier to pretend she doesn’t notice than to invite more drama.

Yeah, sorry about that. Jenny says quickly, my mom thought she ate something bad. Her voice is light, but there’s a flicker of something else beneath it before Sloan can press Jenny shifts gears. So anyway, tell us more about your trip. Where are you guys going?

She walks right up to Sloan and sits down at the chair across from her. Kate reenters the room lingering near the doorway. Arms crossed disd, practically radiating off of her. We’re going to Santa Monica. Sloan replies quietly combing her hair behind her ear. I’ve never been before. Ferris knows I hate the snow, so he planned for a warm vacation to get us outta here.

It was all his idea, so he’ll have more of the details. She looks over at Ferris now seated next to her on the couch, Ferris hands his dad a beer, then takes a sip of his own and leans back. Yeah, I mean, I don’t have too much planned yet, But I thought we’d escape the dreaded Milwaukee winter and soak up some sun for once.

He nodded towards the window where a thick clumps of snow swirl in the wind before reaching over and gently grabbing Sloan’s hand.

 Sloan glances down at their intertwined fingers, a soft smile forming as warmth blooms in her chest. But even in the comfort of this moment, she can feel Kate’s disapproval lingering like a heavy cloud that refuses to pass.

That sounds amazing. Jenny jumps in quickly. What do you think, mom? Doesn’t that sound fun? Her voice is too chipper. Eyes flicking towards Kate with the hope that a simple question might smooth over the crack in the room. Ted Schiff, slightly in his chair, has gaze fixed on his wife.

He raises his eyebrows just enough to signal, go easy, try to be happy, but it’s clear he’s bracing himself. after almost 30 years of marriage, he knows her moods, her tells he knows exactly where this could be headed. When Kate answers, yeah, it sounds great. With a snap of sarcasm. Ted Exhales just barely for a split second,

 it seems like that might have been the end of it, but then he catches the sudden shift of her expression. She gasps his shoulders stiffen. Here it comes. Maybe we should all go. Her somber mood instantly flips to excitement making her way to the front of the room. Sloan Tenses.

Every instinct screams at her to shut the idea down, but she hesitates. It’s not her place. Kate has always been dismissive of her. Why would this moment be any different? Okay, so one of the top questions you guys ask me is with the audiobook coming, if I’m going to be the voice of the audio book. I’ve talked about this before, but if you can hear my reading while I read it, that is probably why I’m not doing the audio book.

I feel like I overthink every little thing. So even with like edits and stuff, I’m like, oh my gosh, I’m not like a voice actor. It’s so much easier for me to like talk. About something then read off something and I just put so much pressure on myself. by this time I might have more updates on the audiobook, so if you guys are waiting for that, that will be coming out soon.

I will be sharing updates on the audiobook and email as well. But I hope you guys enjoyed that little segment. like I said, if you already, um, read part one because you downloaded it, you’ve already read that, but it’s kind of fun just to hear it in a voice as well. so like I said, if you already pre-ordered the ebook that has been sent to you already, and then you can order the print books today.

And I just ask if you guys. Wanna share any kind of update. if you enjoy the book, share what you’re doing while you read the book, share, a picture of it on your counter, share a video of you opening it up from the mail, whatever that looks like. I would love to see you guys reading the book, posting about it.

then of course, tag me and I would love to reshare it to my page, just the more people that can see the book it would really help me and help the book. So, very excited for it. And of course, if you love the book, please leave a review. That helps so many more people, um, hear about it as well. I know that was all about Ferris and Sloan.

Crazy Wedding Drama Takes

I’m just so excited for the launch, but, Let’s dive into the crazy drama that is this week. So first things first, I’m going to get into some hot takes that you guys sent me The first one says, people should always know that this spouse comes first. The rest can go to hell.

Okay? So I wouldn’t say that. So, Dramatically, I guess. essentially, I agree. I feel like once you choose a spouse and a partner and you are on the same page, they should be your priority. especially, you know, when it comes to planning a wedding or planning an event or relationship boundaries.

Figure them out with your partner first. Then you can allow in other opinions and other people. Otherwise it gets very misconstrued. It gets overwhelming to listen to all these opinions and it’s like, oh, do I listen to my partner or my mom or whatever? You really need to put your partner before everybody.

this says cost of the ring doesn’t matter. It’s the memories attached to it that make it feel special. I a hundred percent agree. I feel like there used to be, and people will probably say this is still a thing, but it used to be, A certain percentage of your rent or your income and they would tell you like you have to spend that on an engagement ring.

And I say throw that out the door. I don’t think that should be a thing anymore. I think it’s really about what’s important for the partner. I’ve seen people do just a very simple ring. I’ve with no jewels on it. I’ve seen people do just a rubber ring. I’ve seen people do a huge diamond on it.

I’ve seen people do a sapphire or other kind of jewels on it. I think it’s really important to listen to yourself because you’re gonna be the one wearing it, and I think so many times we get caught up in what everyone else says you have to wear or have to spend, and that none of that, no matter what anyone says, none of that dictates or says anything about your relationship.

It doesn’t only you guys know what makes sense. I feel like it’s just so easy to get caught up and that’s, that goes for anything when it comes to wedding planning. So, ultimately, I don’t think it matters. Don’t go broke and don’t, go into debt for a wedding ring, essentially. this person says, do they really need bachelor, bachelorette weekends?

I think it’s a waste of money. Okay. So here’s my thing, when it comes to how you spend your money, everyone views things differently, right? So I might buy this shirt and someone might see that and be like, that’s a waste of money. I might upgrade my car. And someone might think that’s a waste of money.

I might hear someone got new tires and I’m like, that’s a waste of money, So it’s like everyone’s gonna have their own viewpoints when it comes to bachelorette bachelor parties, Do. Some of them go very over the top, of course. But would I wanna be on one of those trips? Absolutely. If I could.

 be a part of it. Yeah, I would wanna go to it. Are they always needed? No. But if that’s something you value and you’re like, you know what, I wanna really fun trip away with my best guy friends or my best girlfriends, whoever. More power to you. Do it.

Go ahead. Now, where I feel like it might be too much is when you pressure bridesmaids and groomsmen to go on a trip they might not be able to afford. That’s where it gets a little murky. I don’t think that should be a thing. There should never be pressure. If you want it, allow people to say no. we all value different things.

For myself and for my closest group of friends, we were all in each other’s weddings. So for us it was like a girl’s trip away. So I would never look at that as a waste of money. ’cause I’m on vacation with some of my very best friends. So to me it was worth it, well worth it. Now, if someone were to invite me where maybe I didn’t really know the group of friends.

I only knew one person or it was to a place I wouldn’t really wanna go. I would just say no. so again, we all have our own kind of preferences with that. okay. This other one says

overly detailed dress codes with color schemes are unnecessary. yes and no. So I was talking to someone on the podcast recently about this, It’s kind of helpful to know sometimes now where they get very specific, like, everyone needs to wear a garden dress wearing only these three colors.

Yeah. Like, we don’t need to go out and spend more money. if I am going to a wedding, I’m usually gonna look in my closet and find something that already worn, but maybe fits the weather or the kind of location we’re going to. so let’s not ask people to spend more money. However, some people find it very useful if you’re giving them kind of.

A very basic. Idea of what to wear. we are all different. We are all different from what we look for. I think it can be helpful ‘ cause I’m that person googling the location. I’m trying to check out the weather, what other people are wearing there and other pictures like I am that person.

I think probably way too much about it. do I buy a new dress for every wedding? Absolutely not. Most of the time I will find a dress I have or borrow one from a friend. But that being said, I love a good detail to help me along the way. Okay, guys, into the story that you guys are all patiently or not so patiently waiting for.

I know it’s the favorite part. This is a long one, so that’s why I wanna get into it. All names have been changed, of course, and different story things have been moved around to, disguise the person. Right? and I forgot to mention this before, but my voice is scratchy. so this is after pre-launch weekend.

I randomly lost my voice. I don’t know if I was talking too much, probably.so it was completely gone for a few days. There. It’s slowly coming back, so I’m definitely gonna nurse it after this.

All right. Here’s this week’s story submission. This story spans the course of a couple years. Here we go, the Bride Pearl, her fiance, Greg, myself, Amy, my fiance, Steven Pearl’s brother Lars and his fiance Sadie, are all the main players in this drama. Okay. I’m already picturing this as a very detailed story, so here we go.

Pearl and Greg were engaged to be married, I was asked to be one of her bridesmaids. Their engagement was especially long because Pearl was working abroad in Japan for two years. Trying to plan anything with her was a nightmare. She didn’t want to be involved in the process at all. Wait, so the bride didn’t want to be involved in the process.

 So at that point, I know I’m jumping the gun, but at that point, why are you doing a big wedding? You don’t need a wedding party. You don’t need to do this big wedding. If you don’t wanna be involved in planning your own wedding, either hire a wedding planner or Don’t do it. You don’t have to do that.

Craziness. she even admitted that she would’ve preferred a simple courthouse wedding, but reluctantly agreed to have a ceremony for Greg’s sake. So her fiance, once Pearl finally returned home, we had about six months until the wedding, so we kicked into planning mode. The only part she really cared about was the bachelorette party.

She Wanted the Vegas Treatment — But We Had to Pay

She’s a big partier. She wanted a big, elaborate weekend in Vegas. Four nights in a hotel, a show every night, a club crawl and a spa day. Okay. So we were kind of just talking about bachelor, bachelorette parties. Right? How they can be over the top. Again, if I was going all my best friends and I wanted to do this, I would go along for it, obviously to support and celebrate my best friend.

But I always find it interesting when they want. The top of the top, all the things like four shows in Vegas, four nights in a hotel, a club crawl, and a spot. Eight. That is expensive. I mean, I haven’t been to Vegas in years, but just quickly add things up. Depending on the weekend, I mean, you’re looking at a few thousand dollars, right?

depending on what everything looks like. Here we go. The issue, the budget, no one she invited had even half the amount of money needed for that kind of trip, and she expected everyone toto cover her costs in full. The maid of honor, Connie did her best to plan something we could all afford, but after weeks of being shut down on every compromise, she passed the baton to another bridesmaid.

So her maid of honor is essentially like, Hey, look, this isn’t gonna work out. Like. No one can afford it. Let’s try this. And she’s like, Nope, you’re not doing a good job. Let’s have another bridesmaid planet. Like what? The final Bachelorette weekend still included a hotel in Vegas, paid for by Pearl’s ant a drag brunch a bar crawl in downtown Vegas.

We did our best with what we had, and it ended up being a fun weekend. Except Pearl Pouted the entire time she cried in the bar bathroom. Not once, not twice, but three times. Now, obviously we don’t know why she’s crying. My guess is it wasn’t to her standard maybe. But here’s the thing. If there’s someone that wants this extra grand thing that no one can afford, she’s never gonna be happy.

You need to find happiness with those around you If I were with my best friends, just having a sleepover at someone’s house, that would be fun to me. I don’t need all these grand things. so this sounds like this person just wanted this huge thing, kept comparing herself. I. On the wedding day, Pearl and Greg were completely standoffish with the bridal party, even though we had bent over backward to accommodate them.

She skipped the original dress rehearsal, then rescheduled for a day when most people weren’t available, only to get mad when half of us couldn’t come. Oh my gosh. Wait, so this is for the dress rehearsal. Wait, so we’re talking about the rehearsal before the wedding. I’m so confused. Okay. On the day of the wedding, we were told for the first time that we’d be decorating the venue.

Blame Party

Oh gosh. With only four hours left before the ceremony and needing to get dressed and take photos. So literally the day after, she’s like, by the way, I need you guys to decorate this whole place for me. here’s the decorations, have fun. And they’re like, wait. We still have to get ready and get all this stuff together.

 this is definitely a type B or C bride as you wanna call it. She didn’t wanna do the planning herself, so she left it up to everybody else, and that’s just not fair. Like I said from the beginning, if you are a bride or groom and you do not wanna plan anything, either get a day of coordinator, wedding planner, or don’t have a big wedding.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not fair to your bridal party or wedding party to do this for you. They’re not the ones getting married. They can be there helping and support you, but do not put this on them. Connie and I ended up doing shots in the bridal suite just to cope with the chaos.

Despite all of that, the ceremony went smoothly and guests seemed to have a great time. But afterward, Pearl and Greg told us that we ruined their wedding. What That sparked a long, drawn out, falling out. So they’re putting all the pressure on their wedding party to make it this amazing wedding when literally it’s their wedding.

You cannot blame the wedding party for doing that. ‘ cause as the bride and groom, it is your day. It’s your job to organize everything or find someone that will organize it, not your wedding party. And if that fails, that’s on you. Two months later, Steven and I got engaged. Most of our friends were thrilled for us except Pearl.

She was visibly jealous and made comments like, why is everyone so excited for them? No one was that excited for us, which wasn’t true. And Why is everyone helping with their wedding when no one helped us? Also not true. So she’s doing that victim mentality. She’s thinking her wedding sucked, so you know what?

Everyone’s out to get me. When in reality they all were helping. But she literally said she didn’t want anything to do with the planning the wedding. So she’s putting it all on her friends for how her wedding day turned out.

 Things escalated when she found out. We had invited Pamela, someone she had unresolved issues with. I. Pamela is a close friend of Steven’s. I had several conversations with Pearl about it and even offered to make some accommodations, like seating them on opposite sides of the room or ensuring that she was surrounded by friends.

I even offered to uninvite them. She refused to tell me what she needed. So ultimately nothing changed. So that’s the thing. It’s like it’s hard when you have two friends that don’t get along. However, you can’t dictate who someone else invites their wedding, so you can choose yourself like, Hey, I’m not gonna go, but you can’t get mad that they’re still friends with someone.

Obviously, there’s always complicated and different reasons for things, but it’s not your place to tell ’em who to invite. One night at a Bar Pearl Completely drunk, cornered me and interrogated me about why Pamela was invited why I hadn’t made her a bridesmaid. Even though I asked Connie, I got away that night, but the next day we had a five hour text conversation.

Five hours. Oh my gosh. I don’t think I’d have a five hour text conversation with anybody. That sounds exhausting. Why? Oh my gosh. I finally set a boundary and said I wouldn’t talk about it anymore. Pearl and Greg pulled their R Rs VP. I thought that would be the end of it. Can you imagine? That is crazy. So they’re just mad about their own wedding day, not being what they wanted.

Uninvited. Excluded. And Still She Made It About Her.

And because they can’t take the responsibility themselves that you know what? They let it slip through their fingers. They’re gonna blame everybody else. Okay, she says Wrong. Over the next four months, Pearl and Greg excluded Steven and me from events, harassed our mutual friends and gave people ultimatums.

If they attended our wedding, they’d no longer be friends. Can you imagine? Oh my gosh. So it’s like just what I said, how you can only control yourself. You can’t control someone else has at their wedding or where other people want to go. So these just sound like very nasty people to me. The group was exhausted by their drama.

Our entire friend group was split. I was convinced Pearl would show up uninvited to my wedding and just cause a scene, but thankfully she didn’t. After our wedding, Lars and Sadie got engaged. Everyone in the group got an invite except Steven and me. Whoa. I expected that. Considering Lars is Pearl’s brother.

Okay. What I didn’t expect. Was for Pearl and Greg to privately message people asking them not to attend Sadie’s wedding because they were uncomfortable. Wait,

 oh my gosh. So they asked people to not attend the wedding. oh my gosh. These people are just miserable. Pearl also made herself the unofficial wedding planner. Wait. Someone that didn’t wanna plan her own wedding was complaining about things and pushing it off on her wedding party. Wants to be the unofficial wedding planner.

Okay. And started making decisions without consulting the couple, for example, she changed the rehearsal dinner from the Mexican restaurant. Lars and City loved to an Italian place just because it offered free wine. No, no, no, no, no, no. The kicker, the reception the next day was also serving Italian food.

 but I’m also wondering how do you let someone just change everything? I’m not saying it’s them like their fault, but like when I was planning different things, no one could just call a restaurant, the restaurant and be like. Okay. Random person I haven’t talked to before, like they’d be like, oh, is this the brighter groom?

No. Okay, then sorry, you can’t change it. Plus the Brighter groom is the one that’s like putting together RSVPs or invites to, the rehearsal dinner or texting people. So that’s very interesting that they just kinda like let her make all these changes. She also planned a huge expensive bachelorette weekend when Sadie had just wanted a nice dinner and a video game night.

While we weren’t invited to the wedding itself, Steven and I were invited to the after party. I chose not to go. I had no doubt Pearl would cause a scene. She says, so maybe take some creative license and show what would’ve happened if I had gone. Thanks again. I left out a bunch of little details, but feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Oh my gosh. It never ceases to amaze me when people just. Can’t take accountability themselves. From the beginning, it sounds like this girl wanted nothing to do with her wedding, and instead of hiring someone to help her, she decided to put it all on her wedding party. Now I’ve seen a lot of weddings and I’ve been a part of a lot of weddings where the wedding party.

Helps put everything together, but that’s been like known from the beginning and it’s a team effort, right? You can’t just be like bride putting your feet up and expecting everyone to do everything around you. You have to be very clear with communication, and it sounds like this girl from the beginning was just unhappy and just wanted to complain about things, so that’s terrible.

Oh my gosh. That was a crazy story. All right guys. Well thanks for hanging out with me today as a reminder. My new book and ignore this, this is my proof right here if you guys are watching the video, but. My new book. Here comes The Drama. A Ferris and Sloan story is out today. if you guys wanna look exactly different places you can find it.

Go to krista ennis.com/book. We’ll also have all the links in the show notes as well, so you can check it out. and of course, don’t forget to tag me at Party Planning by Christa videos, pictures. I wanna see what you’re doing when you read the book. I wanna see you opening up the package. I wanna see you holding the book in front of your face, whatever that looks like.

Tag me and I will be sharing it, um, on my page as well. and of course, leave a review as it helps so many people see the book, hear about the book. and I’m just so excited for you guys to read it. I just, I’m nervous, excited. It’s like putting a baby out into the world.

I’ve worked so hard at it and I’m just so excited for you guys to read it. All right guys. That’s all I have for this week. Um, thanks for tuning in. Bye now.


Money Fights, Fake Promises, and a Forgetful DJ with Cassie Horrell

What do you do when your DJ forgets the first dance and narrates the cake cutting like it’s a football game?

Christa and Cassie are back with some jaw-dropping stories from the wedding trenches! This episode dives into vendor red flags, social media pressure, and one mother-in-law so toxic, the entire wedding had a shocking surprise! From aisle music glitches to guest list drama, it’s a cautionary tale and a comedy of errors.

Plus: how to stand firm when everyone has an opinion, why comparison will kill your joy, and what to do when your wedding no longer feels like your own.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

01:13 Cassie’s Wedding Workload + Book Update

03:40 DJ Disaster Story #1: The Forgotten First Dance

07:01 Cringe Cake Cutting Narration

08:37 DJ Regret and Trust Issues

10:04 Ghost Music and the Silent Aisle Walk

12:04 Wedding Hot Takes: Cash vs. Gifts

14:37 Guest List Pressure from Parents

16:47 Story Submission: MIL Manipulation and Wedding Fallout

25:59 The Fallout: Family, Boundaries, and Breakdowns

30:05 The Driving Analogy: Staying True to Your Vision

34:14 Comparison Culture and Social Media Pressure

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • The DJ Debacle – Cassie shares an awkward, cringey moment where a DJ forgot the first dance… then asked the couple for the song in front of their guests.
  • Narrating the Cake Cutting?! – When a DJ goes full sportscaster, it’s not the vibe—Christa and Cassie relive a moment that made the whole room cringe.
  • MIL Drama That Killed the Wedding – A real listener story: secret recordings, family feuds, and a mom who refused to take responsibility.
  • Ghosted by the Music – Another wedding, another music fail—this time with a mysteriously silent aisle walk that left the bride shaken.
  • Hot Takes on Money Gifts – Cassie dishes on how to tastefully ask for cash… and when it crosses the line into tacky.
  • Guest List Politics – From never-met relatives to social media expectations, they unpack why couples feel pressure to include people they barely know.
  • The Comparison Trap – Pinterest weddings vs. reality: why chasing a $300K wedding aesthetic will only break your spirit—and budget.
  • Elopement vs. Expectations – When family opinions derail your plans, Christa and Cassie talk about how to take the wheel back.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “We call them ghosts—because sometimes music just stops.”Cassie Horrell
  • “The DJ had the timeline in front of him and still forgot everything.” – Cassie Horrell
  • “He narrated the cake cutting like it was a sports event—I wanted to disappear.”Cassie Horrell
  • “Some people can’t silently support—they need to insert themselves.”Cassie Horrell
  • “Weddings don’t break families. They reveal the cracks that were already there.”Cassie Horrell
  • “If you’re more excited to post your wedding than live it—that’s the red flag.”Christa Innis
  • “She expected everyone to forget what she did—like it never happened.”Christa Innis
  • “You have to kick people out of the car and drive your own wedding.”Christa Innis
  • “This wasn’t about a honeymoon. It was about control.”Christa Innis
  • “Comparison culture is the silent killer of joyful weddings.”Christa Innis

About Cassie

Cassie Horrell is a seasoned wedding planner and event coordinator known for her ability to handle even the most unpredictable wedding day chaos with humor and grace. With years of experience in the industry, Cassie has seen it all—from heartwarming moments to jaw-dropping disasters—and she’s not afraid to spill the tea. She’s passionate about helping couples navigate the stress of wedding planning, set boundaries with overbearing family members, and create a day that feels authentically theirs. Whether it’s dodging last-minute guest list surprises or dealing with wedding etiquette debates, Cassie brings expertise, real talk, and a whole lot of laughs.

Follow Cassie Horrell

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi, Cassie. Welcome back to the show.

Cassie Horrell: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited.

Christa Innis: I felt like such an announcer when I said that. Welcome back to the show. I was just saying before I started recording, so many people, like all the time in the comments are like, we need a Cassie and Christa collab. Like they just loved seeing you on the episode.

And so it’s always fun to connect and I feel like we had a great time hanging out last time.

Cassie Horrell: Yes, we did. And I feel like we have similar audiences, so people are like rooting for us to do a collab and I’m like,

Christa Innis: here we are. Yes, here it is. I know. So I was like, you know what? We gotta have you come back on and like talk some more wedding stuff.

’cause your story last time, still, it was funny, it was one of those where like I always like listen them back through, obviously before they go out and I was still like, cracking up. and I had my husband listen and he was like, dying at the story. He’s like, that’s not where I thought the story was gonna go.

Cassie Horrell: No, it was a, heartwarming but unexpected grandma.

Christa Innis: Yes. Oh my gosh. I love it. yeah, for anyone that has not listened to the other episode with Cassie, please go back and listen to that one. That was episode 10. it’s a good one for sure. So before we get into it, can you just reintroduce yourself or anyone that didn’t hear the last episode or just.

Doesn’t know about you yet. Yeah,

Cassie Horrell: my name’s Cassie. Most of the internet knows me as Wedding Pro casts. I’ve been in the industry for about 12 years now. doing all things wedding. I’ve worked in probably every capacity of a wedding from venue side to planning to luxury catering, so I got to see a lot behind the scenes and helped couples plan an all.

Different cultures and budget levels, which is amazing. currently I’m the director of events at the History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I own a mobile bar, clink 92, that serves weddings in Ohio and Pennsylvania. And then I also do personal planning, where I have clients all over the world.

Planning their weddings and then I assist them virtually as well with, virtual support, one-on-one consultation. So I live, eat, breathe weddings.

Christa Innis: Yeah, you are busy. I’m like tired. Just hearing all of that. Gosh. So, and last time we talked too, you were writing some children’s books too, like what’s the update on that?

Yes. So they have

Cassie Horrell: been written, they have been illustrated and I’m just figuring out how I want to launch them. I mean, you’re in a book launch as well, so the process is fun and you have to navigate like the ups and downs. To me, I just wanna make sure when I bring it forward and I launch it, that it’s exactly what I want, so.

I’ve asked my nieces to illustrate some of the books, so kind of getting those parts in with the other illustrator I work with. It will all come together and I’m hoping June is when these will be out and ready to go. but I’ll definitely share more once I know.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh, awesome. I was just telling my husband about that too.

’cause I was like, that is such a cool, book idea too. ’cause I feel like when we were asking our nieces and nephews to be in the wedding, like there were some stuff out there, but I love the idea of a book and that’s such a cute way, especially encouraging them to read and like, I feel like there’s just, it’s a good memento too.

Cassie Horrell: Yes, and I think it’s the mom in me I have a three-year-old, so he’s always reading books and to me, I’m like, I definitely wanna write a children’s book. It’s always been on my bucket list, so why not combine something I’m passionate with? I.

the children’s book, and it’s special because one of my nieces that’s drawing for the book was my flower girl.

Christa Innis: Oh. So

Cassie Horrell: I’m like, it kind of is like a full circle moment since it’s about asking your flower girl ring barrier, your little people to be in your wedding.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I love that. Oh my gosh. She’s gonna like remember that forever that she was an artist in a book. Like how cool is that? Yeah, I love that. Let’s get into the beginning of crazy stories and hot takes. I know you, we talked about, you shared a really heartwarming and surprising story last time. So what story do you have for us today?

Cassie Horrell: I’m going to share a story. I. About one of the most cringe worthy moments I’ve seen at a wedding and it deals with a dj.

Christa Innis: Oh God.

Cassie Horrell: So it’s kind of a long-winded story, but I’ll try to get through it quickly.

Christa Innis: I’m gonna dive right in. So this was probably, I don’t know, three or four years into my career. I’ve always been like an over communicator when it comes to working with vendors, especially when you work on the venue side.

Cassie Horrell: So before the wedding day, I had reached out to this DJ one month out and then seven days out, and the DJ was so communicative, like a surprise. Sometimes vendors are so busy they don’t get back to you, but this vendor was great. No red flags. He’s responding to my emails, he’s asking great questions. So the day of the wedding comes, shows up on time Green flags all over. I’m like, this day’s gonna be great. This dj, I’d never worked with him before. However. He’s been great so far, so I had no worries at all. once he was settled, I go over and I always like to go through one more time the timeline, because sometimes couples and their last week make a slight change that they may not have relayed to me like, oh, we’re actually gonna do the motherson dance before the father-daughter dance, and mm-hmm.

And so they may have told their DJ that, but maybe they didn’t tell me that. So. I go over to the DJ and I’m like, Hey, Mr. Dj, this is my timeline. I just wanna make sure that yours looks exactly the same and there hasn’t been any changes. He’s like, 100% we’re on the same page. I’m like, this is great.

I then go over all the key songs. So I’m going over the Processional music, the Recessional songs, and then their key songs for like first dance, mother, son, father, daughter, and we have everything to say. it’s matching up. He has it on his computer, we’re good to go. Ceremony happens, great.

Cocktail hour happens. Fabulous. And then it’s time for the reception. And my couple had chose to have the wedding party come out as a group and then they were gonna be announced and then move right into their first dance. Mm-hmm. So that transition, you know, not that it’s super quick, but it happens and then moves right into the first dance.

DJ checks in with them. We start the introduction process. Wedding party comes out, they get announced, and they move onto the dance floor for their first dance. So everybody’s like up cheering, looking at them, and they’re walking to the middle of the floor, like ready to transition, and the music fades out and then nothing goes on.

It’s just like dead silent. Oh no. And I’m like across the room. So if the DJ booth is directly across from me and the dance floor is in the center, so I’m like looking at the DJ and I’m like, Hey, or stance, wording it to him and he’s looking at me just staring at me like with his hands. I’m like, what?

And I was like, then first dance. first dance. We’re doing the first dance. and he sees me, so I didn’t wanna cut across straight across the dance floor. So I start like walking around the tables on the backside and I. He goes the opposite direction. Like so now? Yes. Yes. And it’s like now been like 20 seconds, 30 seconds of awkward silence and like people are laughing and the couple’s just kind of standing there instead of me just going over and being like, Hey, we’re doing the first dance.

Like we went over the order. You had this song.

“We’re Doing the First Dance… Right?”

Christa Innis: He walks out onto the dance floor directly to the couple, this is in front of all of their guests. And he goes, it’s first dance. Right? And they both were like, yeah. And then he’s like. What’s the song? And they say the song. I don’t remember what it was, but it was like a Michael Buble song.

Yeah.

Cassie Horrell: And then like goes back nonchalant like nothing happened and goes, okay, everybody we’re gonna move into the first dance and then puts the song on. And I was like that. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. I’m like, you prepare, you prompt them, you make sure everything’s good. And then for the DJ then to like.

I don’t know what happened. He had like a blip in his brain and just, yeah, forgot what he was doing, but it was so cringe-worthy. And then later in the day when they’re doing the cake cutting, he did one of my least favorite things in the whole entire world when a DJ is like super talkative.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

On the

Cassie Horrell: microphone. And he started narrating the cake cutting. He was like, okay, everybody, they have the cake cutting set. Alright, they’re slicing the cake, now they’re pulling the cake out. Are they gonna slam the cake in each other’s faces? And like everyone was just like, this is terrible. so yeah, it was two cringeworthy moments from the same dj.

Immediately after that wedding, I put him on like the do not book list and I did send him an email being like, Hey, do you wanna talk about what happened? and he literally was just like, yeah, I just like forgot the timeline I don’t know. It was just so cringe-worthy and like, have it, I felt bad for the couple.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Didn’t he have it like right in front of him?

Cassie Horrell: He had it, I saw it on his piece of paper. He had a copy of my paper. We went over it and he still didn’t do it. And I’m like, I felt bad for the couple, just like they were kind of robbed of that. Blissful moment when you like walk in and everybody’s cheering and then you go right into your first dance.

It was interrupted by him shuffling out on the dance floor, asking them, I don’t know. It was so strange. I never worked with that DJ again.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And weird,

Cassie Horrell: you’re outta 10, you

Christa Innis: when you’re trying to like walk over by him, you’re trying to make it like smooth and he’s just like, yep, I’m gonna go the other way.

Cassie Horrell: I was baffled. it was just one of those moments that I’ll remember. For my whole life, like I’m so weary sometimes the DJs because of that one experience, even though I know there’s amazing professional DJs out there, but like every time I get this like sinking feeling like, gosh, I hope they know what they’re doing.

Christa Innis: Probably. ’cause Yeah, you never saw that coming. Like, everything looks no. Well that point. And so then all of a sudden you’re like, are they gonna surprise me with a random,

Cassie Horrell: right. Like, I could understand if there were red flags. Like he wasn’t communicating, he wasn’t answering emails, but like. Nothing.

It was just that moment and I’m like. That was so strange and also just kind of sad.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I’m like,

Cassie Horrell: I wish I could rewind time, but I can’t.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my gosh. heard a story not that long ago and I can’t remember if it was the DJ or what, but they forgot to turn the music on while she was walking down the aisle and she said she was already very, like, uncomfortable with all eyes on her.

So imagine just like a silent room then. Wait.

Cassie Horrell: Do you? I could give you a second story on,

Christa Innis: yes.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, so this story also deals with music not going on the aisle. I will never forget this. This was like pretty recent, not pretty recent, but like I. Within the last five years.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Everybody Clap for Me

Cassie Horrell: We had this happen where we just had, we call them ghosts.

Like sometimes in old buildings, like things happen and you’re just like, what? We had the song playing, like the team was playing the music. I was queuing the couple, I heard the song start. So I said to the bride, okay, go ahead and walk down the aisle. I walked around the backside so that I could like come in the other way to see the ceremony, and by the time I had walked around, the music had stopped.

I was like, where’s the music? So I go over to the dj, I was like, Hey, what’s going on? And he’s like, everything just went black. the system just went down. You couldn’t access, they had provided a Spotify list, you couldn’t access the page. Like what they had provided was just black. And the bride they had, luckily this was like a covid.

Celebration. So they’d been married for two years and they did already have like a wedding. So this was like a wedding with their family and friends. She literally was at the end of the aisle and she’s like, F it, everybody clap for me. And she walked on the aisle and everybody was like cheering for her.

But it was another one of those moments that you’re like, there was no stopping it, like the music was on and then the equipment just like.

Christa Innis: Went off, there’s nothing they could have done. Oh my, no.

Cassie Horrell: And luckily that bride specifically was just the most chill, fun, and like she was laughing and smiling, so it was okay.

But yeah, I would’ve freaked out. I think.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It’s funny, I was talking to someone how, like, I remember my makeup artist saying to me in the morning, my wedding. she’s like, you’re so relaxed for a bride. And I was kinda like, well, at this point, like everyone’s here, whatever happens, happens, you know, it’s no big deal.

Cassie Horrell: But thinking about. Music not starting while walking down the aisle, or like a big moment. I feel like I would be in my head, I think I would on the outside be fine. I wouldn’t do anything like crazy, but I would be like, oh my God. they do everything. Like, I don’t know, and there’s a lot of emotion tied to songs.

So like if you picked a special song. To play and then it’s not playing like that can tweak the way that you’re feeling in that moment. So I totally feel that.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Or playing like a different version of a song. ’cause like we were trying to be so specific with different songs,

We did a rock version of a very like. Classic love song and we did the avenge sevenfold version for like when grandparents were walking down and it just to be like a little different and it was awesome. But I’m like, if it was the different version, like I feel like that would’ve completely like changed how it would’ve been.

but yeah, I, to be specific, oh my gosh. Cringey. Cringey. I know. Let’s go into some wedding hot takes. yes. So this is just getting your opinion on some hot takes people have that they submit to me.Is it okay to ask for money instead of gifts or does it come off as greedy? I.

Cassie Horrell: So I think there is a more tasteful way to ask for a monetary gift.

I think it is definitely tacky if you’re saying like, cash only, we only want cash. I have seen people do that. I have heard stories where you’re like, Ooh, and people are gonna gift kind of whatever they’d like. So. I think there’s a tasteful way to ask it if you are looking for monetary gifts. however, I do kind of agree it is a little greedy and a little tacky to be like forcing that because a gift for a wedding is not mandatory.

And then to like be demanding a certain type of gift, I also think is. It’s not my style, I wouldn’t recommend.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I agree. I feel like, I’ve been to some weddings and actually the ones that I think asked this were like over covid. So they weren’t doing showers or anything and so like instead of that, like they did an announcement and they were like, oh, just send cash if you wanna send a gift.

‘ cause they weren’t doing like any kind of in person thing. So I got that. But. for me, I’m never gonna bring a wrapped gift to a wedding. That’s just not me neither. It’s not my style. No. Even our own wedding, I think only a few people actually did that. But yeah, to me, I would never just be like, only gimme the cash.

Like, yeah. It feels

Cassie Horrell: weird. Well, and I feel like there’s just so many creative ways now, like. If there’s the honeymoon fund, or you could buy somebody an experience or you could build out those experiences for your honeymoon, which literally it does just send you cash, but it will be like, help us pay for a wine dinner.

Help us pay for this excursion. that is a more tasteful way than to just be like, if you wanna give us a gift, give us cash. Like, I get it. People nowadays live together, they already have a lot of the things that you would gift. Mm-hmm. you don’t have to force cash onto people and just let them gift what they feel comfortable with.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And if it doesn’t work out, you can return it and get the cash for it. Great. Put something else out. Don’t make a big Yeah. Stink about it. Yeah. I had some people like comment one time about, I was talking about the honeymoon, how it’s like you can gift for like a honeymoon, you know? Whatever that program is.

And, they were like, I’m not funding someone’s honeymoon. And I was like, well, if you’re giving a gift at a wedding, you don’t know how they’re gonna use that money. Right. Whether they use it from bed sheets or a drink at the bar, you’re not gonna know. So if you just wanna like, give a gift, you have to know that that’s their choice.

How they wanna spend it.

Cassie Horrell: Exactly. Yeah.

Christa Innis: okay. Should couples have to invite all their family members, even the ones they barely talk to?

Cassie Horrell: No. Straight up. No,

Christa Innis: we agree there. Yeah. I feel like that’s such an odd thing, but it happens all the time.

Cassie Horrell: a ton of people feel the pressure from like parents mainly.

I feel like to invite the second invite the third cousin, oh, I went to their daughter’s wedding. So we have to extend an invite and I feel like if it doesn’t fit in the budget or it’s not a priority for those people to be there, there’s no reason you should be inviting them.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

Cassie Horrell: Specifically if you’ve never met them before. Like a lot of people are like, I don’t wanna introduce myself to someone for the very first time on my wedding day. Yeah. why would I waste my time doing that? Not that I don’t wanna meet those people, but I don’t know. The wedding day is about you and your partner and the love together.

So a lot of people want people they know and support them and know them as a couple to celebrate their day with them.

Christa Innis: Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I don’t get the, like I have to invite. My great aunt’s second cousin once removed and you’re like, what’s their name? And you’re like, I why? Yeah, just so they like get dressed up for a few hours and hang out with like someone they barely know.

I don’t know.

Cassie Horrell: Also, weddings are so expensive of like to add five to eight random people that even if they’re related. Onto the guest list could be like thousands of dollars.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Cassie Horrell: Like I don’t know if people think about that. I don’t know.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I don’t think so. Not a fan. Well, I think too, like that generation, like weddings have changed so much since then.

Yes. I remember some people commenting saying like, oh yeah, we just got married in our parents or the church basement and like it was free and we had just had sheet cake. And that’s all well and good. And some people still do that and I think that’s great, but just realize that every wedding is different and their budgets are different and.

Timelines. All that stuff.

Cassie Horrell: Agreed.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. Okay. Let’s jump into this week’s story submission. So as always, feel free to stop me or I’ll kind of make pause. We can just react to this story. Let’s see what happens. Okay. Me, 24 female and my fiance, 24 male, were set to get married in late summer.

We’ve been engaged for a couple of years in planning our wedding ever since. I’ve always dreamed of eloping in another country, and my parents generously offered to cover the elopement since it would be cheaper than a full wedding here in the us. All right. That’s

Cassie Horrell: nice.

Christa Innis: Very nice. Thank you. We made the decision to go that route and shared it with my fiance’s family.

We told them they could attend if they covered their own travel or we’d live stream the ceremony. His parents immediately pushed back. His mom refused to fly due to fear and not wanting to pay for a plane ticket. His dad didn’t wanna skip a vacation with his parents. Oh. Because spending money on our wedding would cut into his travel funds.

Cassie Horrell: Oh Lord.

Christa Innis: Okay. Well, here we learn about priorities. Like, yep, we got tired of the back and forth and went back to my family. They kindly agreed to help us fund a stateside wedding instead. So they’re Wow. Keeping their plans. And also

Cassie Horrell: these parents, this set of parents seem super friendly and supportive.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And they’re just like, whatever you want. Sure. Got that for you. oh, here we go. On the conviction that my fiance spoke to you soon, that my fiance’s parents would cover the honeymoon. Oh, that’s like unheard of to investigation where we would originally elope. See, that’s where I’m kinda like, oh, now you’re putting expectations on the other parents when, right.

I don’t think it’s a parent’s duty to pay for a honeymoon at all. No. So that’s kind of weird to me. it says his parents agreed.

Cassie Horrell: Wow.

Christa Innis: Okay. Okay. something tells me they’re not gonna actually agree.

Cassie Horrell: I was gonna say, it doesn’t seem right because they didn’t wanna pay to attend the ceremony, but they’ll pay for their honeymoon, which I’m like, it probably would equate to the same.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And then they’re not even going to the honeymoon, so they’re paying for a vacation for someone else. As opposed to if they paid for the elopement, they would be there with them.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah.

Christa Innis: So something’s not

Cassie Horrell: adding up. Something is not right.

Christa Innis: My family put down a deposit on the venue. A year later, I asked my fiance if the honeymoon had been booked.

He said, no. Again, maybe it’s, and you might agree with me, ’cause you’re a planner too. The planner type A me would never put that in the hands of someone else.

Cassie Horrell: I’m no looking at myself. Right. I would do the same thing. I’d be like, I’m booking the place, I’m picking the flights. I’m not leaving it up to someone else.

No,

Christa Innis: no. So many of these, I’m like, oh my gosh, you trusted that person for that long. Oh my gosh. I’d be like. Freaking out. he said no. A month later after that, he told me it was okay. Fast forward to this April, I found out that my fiance had paid for most of the honeymoon himself, at least 80% of it through monthly payments.

Cassie Horrell: Oh, he’s covering for his parents. That’s kind of like, I think it’s sweet on his part, but also like, what the heck with the parents that said they would pay for it.

Christa Innis: Yeah, it’s like this whole thing’s kinda weird to me because it’s like he felt, he couldn’t tell you that he was paying for it until April.

So I don’t know when this started. And then the parents lied about wanting to help cover it. But I also think it’s kind of interesting to have the parents pay the honeymoon. oh, that his parents were upset, they were expected to pay at all. Then why didn’t they communicate that?

Cassie Horrell: They could have just said, no, we’re not doing that, and then they would’ve eloped without them.

Christa Innis: Exactly. So they’re causing all these issues, like they’re changing their elopement to have a stateside wedding. And then they’re like, oh, well you pay for the honeymoon. Yeah, we will jk. We’re not going

Cassie Horrell: psych.

You Need to Keep Paying and Keep Lying to Her

Christa Innis: I pressed my fiance for the truth and he finally called his mom.

She told him word for word, we’re not doing this. You need to keep paying and keep lying to her about it. So they wanted it to look like they were paying for it.

Cassie Horrell: Oh, I do feel bad for the groom in this situation. ’cause I’m like, he’s probably trying to salvage the relationship between his partner and his parents.

But his parents just, they could have just communicated that they were uncomfortable paying and then it would’ve been fine.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

don’t know. I’m like so confused by this too. ’cause I feel like, and we don’t know like their relationship or the relationship between the parents, but like. I’m thinking about my own parents and my own in-laws.

if my parents had to do this, they would never be like, well, only if their parent, his parents do this. Like, they would never say that either.

Cassie Horrell: No.

Christa Innis:  I feel like there’s a weird communication between all parties involved here.

Cassie Horrell: Yes.

Christa Innis: But yeah, I really feel for the fiance, ’cause you can tell he’s kind of put in the middle of the mom being like, just pay for it and lie to her about it.

Like, what

Cassie Horrell: don’t, that’s ludicrous.

“This Isn’t About Us Anymore”

Christa Innis: She says, I was devastated. I told him we should cancel the local wedding and just elope like we originally planned because this clearly wasn’t about us anymore. He told his parents and they freaked out, not because we were canceling, but because my parents would still be there paying their own way, mind you, and they wouldn’t be included now.

Cassie Horrell: Oh, so this was about like a money comparison with the other set of parents?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. It’s like. if they just agreed to the original elopement plan and just paid their way to go, it’d be way less than paying for any of this, and they’d be a part of it. I feel like this facade, whatever the group’s parents have, they used the stateside wedding as an excuse to look like they were participating, but in actuality, they were just kinda like.

Get away Scotch free.

Christa Innis: Yes. And have the sun cover for them to make them look. Mm-hmm. they were paying for it. That is crazy. And I wonder like if they were gonna help with anything else for the stateside wedding, if they’re just gonna be like, oh, the honeymoon, we’re just gonna take care of that and take care of it, quote unquote.

Yeah,

Cassie Horrell: but not really.

Christa Innis: But not really. So then they agreed to cover the wedding. Again, except not the food or the flights, just the hotel. Fine. We said let’s just get through it. About 40 days out, my parents reached out to my fiance, not about money, just logistics and decor to see what his family wanted to contribute to.

Oh, for the actual wedding. Okay. His parents hadn’t participated at all during the two years of planning. Why am I not surprised?

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. Surprise, surprise.

Christa Innis: They seem very like into just like not being a part of things. Even when we invited them to help pick out my dress or with the decor, did not want a part of it.

My fiance sent an upbeat message to his dad asking what they wanted to help with. His dad lost it. Said they weren’t contributing a thing and accused my family of starting a pissing contest.

Cassie Horrell: Oh Lord,

Christa Innis: here we go. They just don’t wanna look like they’re not doing enough. But now it’s a competition. they just would’ve gone with the original plan.

It never would’ve been like this. No. My fiance went to their house to talk in person because half of the remaining payments were due. The next day. While there, his mom screamed at him to get out never come back. He called me angry and heartbroken and said, maybe we should just cancel a wedding.

This is really sad.

Cassie Horrell: I know this is making me sad for the couple.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I just don’t get why the parents wouldn’t just be like, oh, we, don’t have the funds. Or we would just rather not Right. just leave it at that. Unless there’s something that we’re not just playing devil’s advocate, like unless there’s something we’re not hearing.

Like if there was a lot of pressure and they just felt like, are they kept, I feel the same

Cassie Horrell: thing. It would’ve been easier for them to just communicate clearly early on. Yeah. And then. The other parents and the couple to then plan accordingly then to say, yeah, we’re gonna participate, and then last minute be like, actually we’re not.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And, and then getting mad and now it’s just awkward. I feel like they’re just making more of like a buffer between everybody. Yeah. it says my parents who had already spent money on the venue were so understanding They offered without being asked to pay for an elopement again, but if they already paid for the venue, so now they’re just going back and forth if they want a venue or elopement.

Cassie Horrell: Right.

You’re No Longer My Son

Christa Innis: Okay. My mom was incredibly kind to, my fiance apologized to him and told him they weren’t mad, just worried about us.

They said they’d support us however they could. My fiance tried to talk to his parents. They refused and said, this isn’t you. This is her. And you need to get over it. This was the last straw and he cut contact.

Cassie Horrell: Yikes.

Christa Innis: I feel like there’s a lot of like hurt on both sides and we’re not, there’s something missing.

Like Yeah, I mean I guess things can explode like out of this, but I don’t know. I feel like there’s some detail about the parents that are like his parents that were like. Why are they so angry?

Cassie Horrell: I feel like their behavior’s probably always been like this and maybe the groom’s used to it and the bride and the other parents are singing it for the first time.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And so

Cassie Horrell: it’s like abrupt to us, but probably not if you actually know them.

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, that’s true. Yeah. ’cause I feel like it comes to especially like planning events or a big thing, like a wedding. Personalities come out. Right. And so like if her family is more like organized with planning or maybe they have a little more finances to be able to help with it, then they might just get very like insecure or feel bad and then it causes this other like, I dunno, deep rooted like anger or, you know, some other emotions to come up.

Yeah. a month has passed since we canceled the wedding. His mom still won’t admit to anything. We have a full recording of her telling him to lie to me. His dad admitted everything but said she’s sad about losing her son. This is so sad.

Cassie Horrell: She caused it though. Like Yeah, I just mean like it’s the mother of the group.

Christa Innis: It’s sad. It’s like a sad story. I feel like, that he is like losing his parents, you know? It’s like to go through that.

Cassie Horrell: I don’t know. Yeah. Especially when you’re wedding planning. there’s already a lot of emotions and it’s stressful. And then to have that happen on top is like the icing on the cake.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And it’s like she can’t just open her eyes up a bit to see like, okay, they caused this if they wanted to actually be there for her son and future wife, they can do that. Like, it’s just some communication. But I feel like some of that, I dunno, some personalities like. Once they feel like they’ve been wronged, they can’t see outside of it.

And then it’s just like, that’s it. I’m like,

Cassie Horrell: narcissist.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I mean, seriously. And then I feel like the husband, you know, it’s like he, probably is in the middle now because he’s like, he’s so mad she doesn’t wanna talk to him. And then, he wants, still wants to talk to his son, but it’s like

That’s a big deal. the dad said, my fiance should just let it go, but this is a pattern. She does something pretends it never happens and expects everyone to go along with it. So there we go. Yeah. So this is probably, you said not the first time they’ve probably done this, their whole relationship, but the wedding was the icing on the cake for her.

I bet. Yep. My fiance finally said, enough is enough. The only time he is heard from her since was when she demanded to come and get a few boxes and threatened to drop off personal documents, including his birth certificate and social security card on our doorstep when we weren’t home.

Cassie Horrell: What, she’s going to the extremes here.

Christa Innis: He’s like, you’re no longer my son. I’m cutting contact completely. Like, what? But people are this crazy. That’s

Cassie Horrell: why like, this story happened to someone and I’m like, I just can’t imagine.

Christa Innis:  and think of it down the line if someone’s like, oh, why don’t, isn’t your son talk to you?

It’s like, oh, he got married. It’s like, what? Yeah. It’s like a exciting and joyous time and you, couldn’t communicate something and so you decided to just be like bitter and cross your arms and be like, well, guess I don’t have a son anymore. Like,

Cassie Horrell: that’s wild.

Christa Innis: What? That is insane. She was gonna drop off his birth certificate.

Three days later, she was on vacation and then called him like nothing had happened. Hey, how’s it going

Cassie Horrell: d Lulu?

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. How’s wedding planning? How can I help? Like what,

Cassie Horrell: Hmm. Something’s not right there.

Christa Innis: That would drive me insane. I some of these stories. I’m just like, how do people like. Have relationships with someone like that because you probably are constantly thinking you’re going crazy.

You’re like, wait, did I imagine that last, conversation with that person. Like, am I going crazy? says, it’s bizarre. It’s painful. We spent two years planning this wedding only to cancel it six weeks before the date. Six weeks, no, eight. Yikes. So that means they probably paid a majority.

Had all them. Oh yeah. Would they have all the invitations and stuff out by that point?

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, they would’ve sent invitations out. They would’ve had people RSVPing. usually the six week mark is like, RSVPs are due. So like imagine all the people that like were making arrangements to come to the wedding.

I don’t know how big it was gonna be, but like still,

Christa Innis: yeah, they probably

Cassie Horrell: had room blocks. They probably had all their vendors booked. Like, I don’t know. That’s devastating, To have to cancel when it, I understand canceling a wedding, if the two people decide we’re not getting married. Right.

But to cancel a wedding because someone is being overdramatic overbearing and like a narcissist. I think that’s devastating and that’s sad

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Cassie Horrell: That couple had to do that.

Christa Innis: Right. the last part ends with, we’ll be eloping in Italy. Yay. Parents are not invited. So feel like if anything, this is a lesson to those listening that just go with your gut of what you want for your wedding.

Because how much, yes, you probably hear it all the time and have to say to people all the time is like block out all the extra noise. Because I feel like so many times when brides and grooms like everyone else wants, they regret their wedding more because they don’t do what actually is like meaningful to them.

They Finally Kicked Her Out of the Car

Cassie Horrell: I always like to explain it to my couples. like you’re driving a car and you have a destination where you want to go, and when you start letting every other person give their opinions, it’s like you jump into the passenger seat and someone else is driving and they’re doing their own thing. So you might end up like on the opposite side of the country because of what other people want.

So I do think you, you do have to be selfish a little bit when you’re wedding planning because

Christa Innis: it is

Cassie Horrell: your day. You need to like keep your priorities in mind and go with your gut feeling of like what you want in reason, of course,

Christa Innis: right. But

Cassie Horrell: making sure other people don’t sway you so drastically. Like they went from an elopement to a stateside wedding to canceling then back to exactly what they planned,

Christa Innis: but

Cassie Horrell: had to.

Wait so long for that moment.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Cassie Horrell: Because of the mother of the group.

Christa Innis: Yeah. So many hurdles in the meantime. I love that analogy of driving because that’s so true. It’s like if you are constantly and people pull you different directions, you’re gonna make all these pit stops that you didn’t

Need to make in the case of this couple, they just drove all the way around the country.

Cassie Horrell: They got on a plane and flew around.

Christa Innis: Yes. They finally kicked her out of the car. cause it sounds like from the beginning they knew what they wanted to do. So if you are a couple that wants to elope, elope, if you’re a couple that wants a small wedding, have a small wedding.

If you want a big wedding, have a big wedding, just block out the noise and just you and your partner are the main people that matter.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, and I do think it’s really important, like weddings are, they do include family. There is a lot of family dynamics in play and I think if you are taking into consideration, especially heavy consideration parents wants, then like that conversation needs to happen.

Very early on. Yeah. So that everybody’s on the same page and everybody is aware and this, it kind of seemed like they made a decision with one set of the parents. They informed the other set of the parents and like that’s where it kind of went awry.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. And

Cassie Horrell: so maybe if they would’ve had the conversation super early, not that I think it’s okay with the mother of the groom did, but if both sets of parents were in the original conversation, they probably could have saved themselves some drama.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And I feel like there’s some people too, like this mom seems like she might’ve just been the victim no matter what. But yeah, I agree. I feel like there’s some people where you have to like tiptoe in and be like, Hey, make ’em feel like it was their idea or something.

And then other people, it’s like they have to know first. Like, I read one story that was like. Because the bride told her parents first, and I think the bride’s mom was talking to the groom’s mom. She got so offended that they already planned this whole wedding without her. And they’re like, no, they just booked the venue.

That’s it. So like some people feel like something’s been taken from them and it’s like, oh my gosh. Like so a whole wedding to plan.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. Pump the brakes. Everybody can be included. Yes.

Christa Innis: We’ll be okay. It’s fine. Oh my gosh. The number of times I hear of like, just like the drama at weddings, just like tearing families apart.

Cassie Horrell: But I always like to remind people too, and you might have your own perspective on this, but I feel like if a wedding is what pulled people apart, there was already something like either something stewing or. Some red flags were already kind of showing. I agree.

I feel like if it comes to a head because of the wedding, then there’s some sort of underlying situation that you’ve probably dealt with before

Christa Innis: and it

Cassie Horrell: just was brushed under the rug. It’s just the wedding brings the biggest emotions in so many people, and I don’t know why, but it is sometimes make or break for some relationships.

Christa Innis: And

Cassie Horrell: you just have to like move forward and realize like you’re seeing their true colors for a reason and for the good or the bad.

Christa Innis: Yeah.

Cassie Horrell: Sometimes like it brings people closer. Sometimes it’s the opposite and people are like, I don’t wanna be friends with them anymore. I don’t wanna talk to them again. you see the extreme on both sides during the wedding planning process.

Not always, but sometimes.

Christa Innis: But sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Don’t be fearful of your listening and you’re like, oh no. Like if there’s already some kind of red flags or people that can’t support, I don’t know how to word it. People that can’t allow others to shine or like can’t like allow

Cassie Horrell: the, they can’t silently support, like they have to have some sort of opinion.

Christa Innis: Yeah, those are the people. It’s hard

Cassie Horrell: for them.

Christa Innis: They’re gonna fault her during that time. Yes. That’s what you hear. Like when the bridesmaid does something or says something in her speech or cause that’s the friend that’s been secretly like little, maybe a little jealous or just can’t have the spotlight on somebody else.

Cassie Horrell: but, and also one uppers, those are the other people that like, have

Christa Innis: a

Cassie Horrell: very difficult time during the wedding planning process because it becomes like a comparing game. Like, oh, my daughter got married or. They got engaged. Oh, you have to get engaged. And it becomes like a competition where I’m like, why does it have to be a competition?

Like you guys could both get married, you could do it at your own pace, you could have different types of weddings. but you do see that a lot as well.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Life is so much better when you’re not comparing yourself to every person for every little thing. ’cause you’ll never win in a conversation with everybody around you.

You’ll just never win. Like, ‘ cause someone’s always gonna have, the better this, the better that. And it’s like. You just have to stick true to you, and that’s when you’ll be happiest.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. And I mean that is like, I think it’s a blessing and a curse, social media for weddings. Mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: Because

Cassie Horrell: I mean, on TikTok, you’re seeing so much, you’re seeing these beautiful weddings.

Same thing with Pinterest. You know, you see all these things. You’re like, I have to have a wedding like that. When in actuality the weddings that are like highlighted and shown are 300,000 plus dollar weddings. And I’m like, that’s not an average wedding. So just like in general life, it’s the same thing with weddings.

People just like, they want what they see and they just crave that. And then at the end of the day, like their wedding doesn’t look like that or they can’t include A, B, or C and it causes issues. Yeah. Just do what you want within your budget and I think people will have fun.

Christa Innis: Yeah, and I think one thing too with like planning weddings is like.

If you’re more excited about sharing your wedding photos on social media than the actual day, then that’s a sign that we’re doing things for maybe the wrong reason. I don’t know. Maybe that’s a hot take.

Cassie Horrell: You are right. And there is people that do that. Like they spend their all their money so they can have these Instagramable moments or they can create the TikTok.

But I’m like, on my wedding day, all I remember is like having. So much fun with my husband and like our friends and being on the dance floor. Like I don’t ever remember once being like, oh, I have to make sure that like I get this to post. Like, I don’t know. I feel like if that’s how your day is, then like,

Christa Innis: yeah.

I saw, this is years ago, someone I know from like a long time ago. On her wedding day, she posted one picture of herself and said, can’t wait to see my friends.

Cassie Horrell: Oh Lord.

Christa Innis: And I was like, what about your partner? Bad sign. And they got divorced, like,

Cassie Horrell: there we go. Exactly.

Christa Innis: I’m not saying that to judge, but I’m just like, think about like how you view your wedding day and it’s like, what are you most excited for?

Like, yes, of course you wanna see your friends and celebrate. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but aren’t you excited for like. Marrying your person and having your first dance and it was just like, if you’re just more excited about showing off and like posting it to social media and getting the likes, then that’s not exactly the.

I dunno.

Cassie Horrell: Not the vibes.

Christa Innis: Not the vibes. okay. Let’s go into the next segment, which is weekly confessions. These are confessions that people send me on Instagram and we’ll just react to ’em. We don’t get as much detail here, so we kinda have to read between the lines a little bit.

Weekly Confessions

Okay. This first one says, my mother-in-law treats my son differently because he’s an IVF baby. What? What? That’s one terrible two. Like what? His

Cassie Horrell: own mom, you said it said mother-in-law, right? Yeah. My mother-in-law,

Christa Innis: my mother-in-law treats my son differently. Oh,

Cassie Horrell: her a grandson. I thought it was like her husband.

Oh, was not understanding that at first,

Christa Innis: like her treats her son differently.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, she treats her grandson differently. Her

Christa Innis: grandson, because he’s IVF.

Cassie Horrell: I’m sorry. People are crazy.

Christa Innis: no matter like how you have that baby, it’s your baby. And they should love that baby. Just the same.

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. Even if it was like a foster baby or an adoption baby, like they’re your baby.

They’re part of your family. Like everybody should be the same. Same with step kids. I cannot stand when people treat other children differently. They’re children.

Christa Innis: Yes. I just don’t get that. I’ve heard of this happening before. someone I just talked to said like, I think it was like an in-law I’ll keep it very anonymous, but her in-law,

has a grandson, but it’s a step grandson. So the way they treat that son as opposed to the other one is so different and it’s like, but you’re still grandma to that. Yeah. Need to still be grandma. Like It’s just I don’t get that.

Cassie Horrell: I did a story on one of those and I was like baffled at the things I was reading.

’cause I’m like, they’re just kids. They’re just babies. they’re your family. You gotta love on ’em and that’s it.

Christa Innis: Yeah. They did nothing. Like if you have. Angst towards, you know, a parent or an ex or something. It’s like the kid did nothing to deserve that.

Cassie Horrell: No.

Christa Innis: okay. Next one is, we hired security to keep certain uninvited people away from our wedding.

Have you Okay. Get a lot of weddings.

Cassie Horrell: So where I work, we have security. They don’t do like security, what you would imagine, they’re not like checking a guest list. Yes, I have seen security at a wedding. Not all my weddings have actual security like that, but I think if you have a situation where you are no contact or there is a relationship where you think someone might arise and it’s going to cause issues

Christa Innis: mm-hmm.

Cassie Horrell: Then save yourself the stress of thinking of them arriving and get security. it’s not as common as people think, but it does happen.

Christa Innis: Wow. That’s so interesting. Yeah. I’ve, had a lot of stories submitted to me where I shouldn’t say a lot. Like you said, probably like 10%, 5%.

Yeah. like really a small percentage. but where they’re like, we had to call security or we had to have security on standby because so and so might show up. I think most of the time there’s just there as precaution. I’m sure they don’t have to do anything, but occasionally. I’m sure there’s something.

Cassie Horrell: We had one where we had like pictures. We all had pictures of what the person looked like. A they didn’t show up, but we were prepared. Oh. If they were to show up like we were gonna call the cops. So,

Christa Innis: whoa. You’re like on guard just waiting. Yeah, we were

Cassie Horrell: ready.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. this last one says, me and the hubby almost eloped because of not wanting to be on display.

’cause we are shy.

Cassie Horrell: Fair enough. I think for some people, like if you don’t wanna be the center of attention, then a wedding day, like a standard American celebration might not be the right fit for you. And I feel like in that case, an elopement makes complete sense.

Christa Innis: Yeah. That can be very daunting of like all the eyes on you.

If music doesn’t play, that could be very, very double the

Cassie Horrell: stress.

Christa Innis: Yeah. But it sounds like they didn’t got married so. Hey, good for you. Do what makes sense for you. Hopefully it wasn’t through bullying of other people. Well, thank you so much for coming back on. That was so fun chatting and hanging out again.

 for anyone listening, can you tell ’em again where they can find you and then anything exciting that you’re working on?

Cassie Horrell: you can find me at Wedding Pro Cast on all socials, so TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. YouTube, I’m working on a really cool YouTube series, which is Wedding Whisper. There’s been like short clips of it on my TikTok and Instagram.

 but those will be like longer episodes of me interviewing real wedding vendors, particularly in the Pittsburgh area. Just getting like hot takes and their best tips and tricks about. Kind of their category of vendor category at a wedding. So that’s a big project I’ve been working on. I’m on a couple of podcasts coming up, which are all kind of wedding based, which will be fun.

 and I was just on the Tamron Hall Show, which was a really cool experience. So you can see that. I think it’s on Disney Plus or Hulu now, but it Oh,

Christa Innis: awesome. Was

Cassie Horrell: released early April. So yeah. And then my books will be coming out and you can kind of find me online every day.

Christa Innis: Yay. Awesome. Well, sounds good.

Well, thank you again for coming on. That was a lot of fun.

Cassie Horrell: Thank you for having me.


Uninvited Guests, Screaming Cousins & a Boozy Wedding Party with Janelle Riddell

What happens when a cousin wears white, ignores boundaries, and starts throwing punches? This episode dives into the chaos of a vineyard wedding gone completely off the rails.

Christa Innis sits down with guest Janelle Riddell—creator of relatable in-law content and skits—to unpack a jaw-dropping real wedding story involving fistfights, a crying bride, and a cousin who just wouldn’t quit.

Together, they reflect on boundary-setting, judgment from the internet, and how to survive family drama on the most important day of your life. This one’s part comedy, part cautionary tale—and totally unmissable.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

00:57 Janelle’s Social Media Journey

01:58 Content Creation and Audience Reactions

02:46 Navigating Family Dynamics

13:34 Wedding Stories and Hot Takes

23:00 Unplugged Ceremonies: To Ban or Not to Ban?

25:30 Reacting to a Crazy Wedding Story

25:59 Starting YouTube and Podcasting

27:01 Wedding Coordinator’s Nightmare Begins

27:39 Chloe’s Drunken Antics

28:55 Pre-Ceremony Chaos

31:33 Ceremony and Reception Meltdown

34:56 Post-Wedding Reflections

47:39 Weekly Confessions

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • The Viral Cousin Named Chloe – A guest shows up wearing white and impersonates the bridal party, leading to chaos no one could’ve predicted.
  • The Drama of Setting Boundaries – Christa and Janelle discuss how brides get labeled as bridezillas for simply having standards.
  • Skits That Start Conversations – Janelle shares why she uses storytelling and skits to reflect the complex dynamics of family relationships.
  • Fact-Checking Wedding Stories? – A hilarious discussion on social media critics and why no one’s got time to play journalist on DMs.
  • Fistfight at the Reception – A real wedding brawl breaks out, complete with alcohol, family yelling, and a screaming bride.
  • Intention vs. Impact in Wedding Etiquette – When wearing white or skipping a gift becomes a symptom of something deeper.
  • Grace vs. Guilt in Family Expectations – Why navigating in-laws and milestone events requires more than just saying “no.”
  • Confessions & Hot Takes – From uninvited guests to baby shower tantrums, Christa and Janelle react to listener submissions.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “If she has a boundary, she’s a bridezilla. But if she doesn’t, she’s just naive. You can’t win.”Christa Innis
  • “It’s not always about the white dress—it’s about what it represents in that moment.” – Christa Innis
  • “I’m not here to fact-check your trauma. I’m just here to tell your story.”Christa Innis
  • “People say ‘just say no,’ but when it’s your in-laws, it’s never that simple.”Christa Innis
  • “Sometimes a missing seat turns into a full-blown vendetta.” Christa Innis
  • “Yes, relationships are a two-way street… but who broke the road?” – Janelle Riddell
  • “I’m not a journalist—I’m a storyteller. There’s a difference.” – Janelle Riddell
  • “Some daughters-in-law are just trying to live, not plot against their in-laws at church.”Janelle Riddell
  • “Wearing white wasn’t the problem—it was the years of tension behind it.” – Janelle Riddell
  • “People don’t realize what ‘no’ actually looks like in families like these.” – Janelle Riddell

About Janelle

Janelle Riddell is a writer and storyteller who shares real-life wedding chaos and family drama. She spends time collecting stories about in-law tension, etiquette fails, and tough relationship moments. In this episode, she talks about her own experiences and why setting boundaries matters—even when it’s hard. Janelle brings honesty, humor, and insight that every bride (and anyone close to one) will relate to.

Follow Janelle Riddell

 

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi, Janelle. Thank you so much for coming on. Hi. Thank you for having me. I’m so glad we got to do this. Yes. for anyone that doesn’t know you or doesn’t see your content, can you just tell ’em a little bit about yourself and what you do on social media, and then we’ll kind of get into it?

Janelle Riddell: Sure. so my name’s Janelle.

My account is. @heyjanellemarie, I’m sure you’ll tag it in the show notes or wherever you do that, but, yeah, so I’m a mom of two, a wife, a full-time working mom, and I also make content primarily for people who have a challenging relationship with their mother-in-law, with their in-laws in general. I’ve been doing it for about two years now.

It’s evolved over time. It started as just like primarily just. Like a lot of relatable mother-in-law type content. whereas now I have a lot of mothers-in-law who follow me, who are learning to see if future mother-in-laws are following me. And I, so anyway, I have a lot of fun with it.

I do skits, I do vlog style content, and I’ve just built a really great community of. Women who are kind of going through the same thing. And the key is though, that we’re hoping not to repeat that cycle. We’re hoping to break the monster in-law, stereotype, for our kids.

The Complexity of Boundaries

Christa Innis: Yeah, I love that. I feel like that ties in a lot to some of the content I put out because while I do have a mother-in-law.

Stories I share. it’s all over the place. Sister-in-laws, brother-in-law, whatever, what have you. All around weddings. Right? But I think it’s really important what you say about learning from it and like these kinds of skits and content. Not always like pointing the finger.

Sometimes it’s like a reflection too, because I have moms who comment and say, thank you so much for sharing this, because now I see that I’m like overstepping my son’s boundaries or my child’s boundaries. And so I think important to be like, not just be the victim in some of these,

Because I also have other people that are like, you’re only targeting mother-in-laws. Yeah. What do you have against ’em? Yeah. And I’m like, I love my mother-in-law. I actually get along with her really well. I just get some crazy stories sent to me that I’m like, this is insane. Let’s talk about it. do you get that same kind of thing where people kind of come for you from different angles

Janelle Riddell: like.

Surprisingly, not very often. from different angles. Yes. I get surprisingly few hate messages in my dms. I get a ton of crazy comments to the point where like, Facebook, I don’t even read my Facebook comments as a dumpster fire over there. But, I get a ton of, I mean, we’re social media creators, right?

So a lot of my stories. my skits, I was finding the skits. It’s the crazy stories that perform. but it also sometimes isn’t. Sometimes it is the more nuanced examples and when you’re able to portray something that I. Like when you were, if you were to tell the story of, oh, I don’t get along with my mother-in-law for whatever reason, it’s like, seems kind of minor.

But when you see how those interactions play out in a skit, that’s where I feel like has really helped build my community in the true sense of the word is because those are the stories that people see that they’re like, yes, this, this is what I, you know, and so, but it’s still, it’s a balance as a social media creator.

So people, sometimes people accuse me of. Oh, you built a whole page to complain about your mother-in-law and like truthfully, I don’t even talk about my own mother-in-law and my own stories. It’s mostly follower submissions, but it’s also more so like themes. That’s why I’ve started integrating more lifestyle and vlog style content, almost just like a metaphor to show like.

Daughters-in-law that don’t get along with their mother-in-law, like they’re literally just pe, they’re just moms and women living their life. they’re not sitting at home scheming and plotting to see how they can, like, they didn’t intend on ruining their mother-in-law’s life despite what she’s told you at the grocery store, at the church group.

Like they’re literally just existing and the reasons why the relationship has fallen apart. is often a function of both parties, but not in the way that you would expect. that’s a key note that people love. I don’t know if they’ve like, commented that on your videos too necessarily, but always, if it’s ever relationship focused and the story or the skit or whatever really portrays one person as the protagonist and one person is the antagonist you always get.

Relationships are a two-way street And my catchphrase response to that is, yes, but like, who broke the road? Like two people can’t travel down a two-way street if it’s broken. And that’s where I am trying to bring awareness and visibility.

But also, yeah, like also it’s cathartic for people who have gone through it to watch my content and be like, yes. That’s exactly how I feel. But yeah, the broken road doesn’t always come from stories that are portrayed in, say, your skits or some of my skits. The broken road also comes from. More minor things that just build up over time too, so.

Christa Innis: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And I think that feeling of like wanting to be seen that you’re like not crazy. Like someone can like, relate to you. and that’s the thing too, is like when I get those, I shouldn’t even say like hate comments. They’re not really hate comments, but like there’s some people that will comment and be like, this is just terrible that you would portray a person this way when you don’t understand the full story.

And I’m like. I’m just, someone sent me this story, so I’m only able to portray what this person sent me in their own words, and I’m gonna do my best to like get it out there if I can. So yes, if a bride sent me a story, then I’m gonna do it from the bride’s perspective. Sometimes, sometimes I’ll do it from another perspective, but if a mother-in-law wants to send me her story, I’ll absolutely share it, you know, so like, because most of the stories that are sent to me are from brides.

I’m gonna, you have their version and. Someone was like, do you ever fact check these? I’m like, what am I supposed to do? Call each person up and like interview them. I’m like, no, I don’t fact check.

Janelle Riddell: No, I’m not CNN. Like, what was the comment Once someone gave me and I replied with like, I’m not a journalist.

Like I don’t have any sort of like legal obligation

Christa Innis: Yeah. To

Janelle Riddell: right, like. No, and that doesn’t mean that I wanna like,catastrophize or like perpetuate negative stereotypes that aren’t true. Like I don’t wanna be part of the problem. Right. But also like, sorry, people aren’t in my dms.

Like the stories that I’m portraying and I know, I know it’s the same for you. The stories that I’m portraying are truly the tip of the iceberg. when it comes to data, like you could plot the trends. If we were to plot the number of stories I’ve been sent where someone feels. Based on their details, like they’re justified and feeling the way that they do about their wedding or the birth of their baby is another big one.

Like the data, right? It’s not mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: Like, yeah. Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, no, for sure. I think that’s a really great point. And I think too, it’s like people need to see these conversations and I think, like we said earlier, it helps people on both sides kind of see like, okay, here’s where a boundary needs to be set, or here’s where I need to like.

Limit contact or here’s where, okay, there was miscommunication, let’s work this out. Or whatever that looks like. I think it’s good to have these examples and of course, yeah, it’s part entertainment. I mean, so many people follow for entertainment. Like I know the reason I started doing like content like this is because like I loved seeing content like this.

I love the conversations seeing how things play out, and I think it helps us kind of see ourselves in conversations and be like, oh, how would I react? Or, oh, that’s really crazy. I’ve never seen something like that before. That’s how we roll.

Janelle Riddell: Totally. Like the skit I shared yesterday was a follower submission.

 for those who don’t follow my content, the gist of the skit is a follower of mine sent to me. They traveled to her in-law’s house for Easter recently. They brought their. Three, four, like a newborn baby. Not fresh, fresh, but like really newborn baby and 2-year-old to their in-laws house.

They had specifically said when the baby was born, we don’t want anything shared on Facebook. They get to their in-laws house and there’s newspaper clippings of the in-laws had put in a birth announcement in the local paper. No. And, to make matters worse, hadn’t remarked the daughter-in-law’s existence.

Just proud parent and their son’s name. No. Stop the story. It was literally like 10:00 PM like two days ago I guess. ’cause I got it and I was like, it now. Need to it. I’m cackling in bed to my husband reading this. So bad, but the layers to it, which I led with. ’cause she’s like, we’ve went to my in-laws for Easter because she was a whole big, that beginning piece is the part where people start to comment because I talked about and portrayed some of the details she had shared about her husband saying to his mom, like, okay, like.

When she asked how the drive was, like, I mean we traveled five hours with a five month with a four month old, whatever. The old, the baby was a newborn and a 2-year-old. Like it was rough. But you said We had to come for Easter and the mother-in-law feels like, well, of course, like grandparents.

Like if they kids should come to us. Yeah. And so already you get comments on the video of, when you’re talking about like the back, oh, you need to share the backstory. You need to whatever. Like, people don’t understand that the, I think what is helpful to see played out is ideas. Like someone saying, well, no, that’s their fault for going, you just should say no to going.

And it’s people who aren’t in these situations don’t realize what. No. Looks like, and that’s gonna be my follow up skit portraying the, no, I’ll show you what this looks like. What this looks like is the mother-in-law saying, Like you guys should come to us for Easter and the son, in a lot of cases, it’s two ways.

It’s either the son’s saying, we gotta go to my mom’s for Easter, otherwise she’s gonna be mad at me. And That’s more of a marriage issue than a mother-in-law issue, quite honestly. Right. Or it’s the husband saying, I don’t wanna go five hours with the kids. Like that’s crazy. And the daughter-in-law is saying, no, then your mom’s gonna be mad.

Your mom’s gonna say, it’s my fault. We have to go. Whatever. And then maybe the mother-in-law throws in some comments like, well, you guys moved away because of her job, or You guys moved away. It’s not my fault that you moved away, so you should come to me. And there’s other so many like guilt and layers and all these things.

 it’s not as simple as like say no, it should be for sure. Right? It should be. But then that when it is as simple as say no. then there’s an impasse. That’s that two-way street I referenced. Mm-hmm. Right? Like quite literally in this case, who’s, it’s gotta be a two-way street.

 or maybe it isn’t depending on the phase of life that people are in, and maybe that’s okay. but anyway, that beginning of that story is the more like. What actually goes into setting a boundary saying, no, we’re not gonna travel five hours with the baby. Like,

Christa Innis: yeah. I find it interesting.

The Importance of Saying No

So many times when I share skits, people comment like, oh, I would’ve said no right away. it’s like, it’s so much easier. And I even, you know, myself, like, you can look from the outside and like, I’m so great at telling other people how to set boundaries and say no and like. But in your own life, it’s so much more difficult, so much more nuanced because it’s like you have a different relationship with each person and you have other people involved and you know, a history, and you’re always like, am I gonna be the bad person?

You know, and there’s all these different things as opposed to just like saying no. And I think we should ideally all get there. Like if someone’s treating us poorly, but we can’t always see it. Sometimes it’s a disguise, sometimes it’s like talked to nicely first and then it’s, you know.

Totally.

Janelle Riddell: I actually feel like it’s the people who are saying, oh, just say no. I often think that maybe they’re coming from a place. Of like, they’ve had really fortunate relationships with family in their life because I could see, had I not lived what I’ve lived now with my in-laws, I would potentially feel that way because if there’s something I don’t wanna do that my mom asked me, I just say, no, mom, I don’t wanna do that.

And she doesn’t think that my husband forced me to say no. She doesn’t think that it’s unfair that, oh well you said yes to so and so the other day, so why are you saying no to me today? No. I literally say, no, I don’t wanna do that. And then if. whatever the situation is, it doesn’t happen very often.

Again, this is like gets into the, what I try to dive into with my content, which is just the, like what goes into relationships, which is my mom knows me, we’ve built a relationship, so she generally doesn’t ask me things. That she knows I’m gonna say no to. Like she knows me and my husband is people, so it doesn’t get to a point where we really need to say no.

She reads the room or it’s not even, she reads the room. She’s built relationships with us. And that is fundamentally, I think often the root cause in a lot of these situations is they haven’t taken the time, energy, effort again, two-way street. I don’t know who’s gotta build the road.

We can split hairs on that, but, to cultivate and build a relationship with their daughter-in-law or their adult child. Quite honestly, sometimes comparatively to how the daughter-in-law’s, parents have built a relationship with her, so they’re asking for things that like. Why are you asking for something that you know is gonna put them in a position that they’re not comfortable with and different people are comfortable with different things.

That’s another huge source of comments. Like, good for you, that’s what you’re comfortable with. Not everyone’s comfortable with that. And that doesn’t mean they’re entitled or wrong, or. Yeah, sometimes it does, but not always, you know? Yes. people are people. We gotta meet people where they’re at, but people don’t wanna meet you where, where you’re at if you’ve been habitually a jerk to them.

Exactly.

Christa Innis: No, that’s such a good point about like, if you haven’t had to really deal with those difficult things harder saying no just comes off as easy. Yeah, because like I’ve never had, like, they’re not thinking that way. But yeah. If they haven’t had a deal with that, it’s like, well, it’s black and white.

They do that then totally. No. But yeah, if you tend with the teeter-totter of relationships and you’re like, uh, I don’t know. Is this one of those where I say no, or how do I back down from this? Yeah, totally.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah. Completely. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Okay. Let’s get into, ’cause I feel like we could talk about this stuff forever and we could, we could, we could.

I love it. I feel like, ’cause we have probably have like an overlap of followers of like how people like the content and stuff. But let’s get into, ’cause some crazy stories and wedding hot takes. Do you have, when we talk about weddings, does anything come to mind for like a kind of crazy story or something that you either seen at weddings or had at your own wedding?

when it comes to interesting. Opinions, I guess.

The Wedding Seat Saga

Janelle Riddell: Yeah, I mean, reflecting on it, like relative to some of the stuff that you’ve shared? No, like relative to the story of yours that sticks out for me. Is that girlfriend of the groomsman who like brought her kid and like, no, I don’t.

That one always. I’m like, that is insane. anyway, yeah, no, I don’t have anything that crazy what did happen at my wedding. And so although it does involve my mother-in-law, I’m not, to this day, I’m not necessarily blaming her. And I only found out about it after the fact because my sister-in-law told me what happened after the fact.

But we had, okay, so some of it I guess I am blaming, but, We invited my husband’s cousin per the request of certain people who generally doesn’t come to stuff. He doesn’t come to family gatherings very often. I think I’ve seen him like in the 10 years my husband and I have been together maybe two times.

We invited him. He, our VPs Yes. Doesn’t show up to the wedding. I, again, it’s my wedding day. I had no idea that he didn’t show up, but in the meantime, my mother-in-law had invited her best friend from childhood or something, which again, like. my parents invited friends too, like, okay. and didn’t RSVP with a guest, RSVP’d for herself.

Brought a guest, brought her sister, I think it was, oh

Christa Innis: my gosh,

Janelle Riddell: sister. So the guest guest brought a sister. The guest brought an on, RSVP. Guest. and the cousin, R-S-V-P-D-S No. Showed. So you do the math, there’s seats for everybody. Right. But they weren’t planned seats. So I guess what happened is

my mother-in-law’s friend’s, sister didn’t have a seat at the friend’s table or whatever, but there was an extra seat, like I guess some put their heads together and found a chair friend, the friend’s sister. So that’s great and that’s good. But apparently my mother-in-law was deeply offended and obviously it was a, personal, I had done that intentionally, was personal, and then spent my entire wedding reception.

Complaining about me, complaining about where their seat was and their wedding and how she didn’t have a seat, and how rude that was, and how none of my parents’ friends didn’t have seats. And um, because they probably all are CPD the right way I guess. I don’t know. so you could say, oh, maybe you missed it, maybe whatever.

Like understand, I’ve a project manager, been a project manager for 10 years at this point, like a spreadsheet. And me, we are friends. So maybe I missed it, but. I’m saying it would be unlikely to me either way. it didn’t ruin my day. I had no idea. But after the fact, it still sucks to hear that, like, that was like

Christa Innis: the thing that, the

Janelle Riddell: conversation that was going on.

Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Because I feel like something like that, you can’t win. They’re gonna look for one thing to hold onto and be like, oh, she did this on purpose. But it’s like, how are you supposed to know that? Someone’s friend is gonna bring a friend. Which one? You shouldn’t be doing that at a wedding anyways.

Like, don’t just bring random people.

Janelle Riddell: I just assume maybe she RSVP’d. Incorrectly or something. And so then I, maybe people would say, oh, why didn’t you follow up? And it’s like, sorry, I’m planning at that specific point. Like I didn’t follow up with anyone else about their rsvp, someone RSVP’d.

I had lots of people who I gave a plus one to and didn’t bring APL cable alone. I didn’t confirm with them, Hey, you RSVP just for one. Are you sure? It’s, it’s just you. Like, no. And so we would’ve given her a guest like she’s, Was coming by her herself. Like I think there was a few friends of ours that were single at the time and were coming with lots of other friends that we knew.

Mm-hmm. we didn’t give maybe everyone in our friend group in RSVP if it was like very clearly. but I don’t even think there was that many people we had to do, which I know is a controversial, like to do that at all. But her, like my mother-in-law’s friend, we would’ve absolutely given her an RSVP. so maybe she just filled out the RSVP card incorrectly.

I don’t know. It was a website. We had a wedding website, so maybe she just filled out the website wrong. But anyway, yeah.

Christa Innis: thing is too, like if for some reason, like if I went to a wedding and like there wasn’t a spot for my husband, so someone that clearly would’ve been invited or something, right?

I didn’t bring this one extra and there wasn’t a seat for him, I wouldn’t automatically be like the bride did this on purpose. You know? Like, that would never be my first, I’d be like, especially as a planner myself, like I’m a type A kind of person, I’d be like, oh, there was a misstep mistake or maybe mis.

Yeah, there’s so many people involved. There’s so many moving parts. maybe we’re at the wrong table, so there’s just that different mindset of like blaming people and I’m like, things happen. It’s fine. Like. Whatever.

Janelle Riddell: Totally. I do think, though, I do think this story is a perfect example of that kind of deeper level relationship building that I talk about because yes, my mom, mom and daughter, people are gonna have a hard time equating mother-in-law and future daughter-in-law with mom and daughter.

But trust me, for my followers, there’s tons of people who are very close with their mother-in-law and were close with their mother-in-law throughout the planning process of their wedding. Or their husband is very close with his mom and they liaise and talk and discuss on a regular basis. Neither of those two things are true in my case.

And so where I’m going with this is if either my husband or I had a like friendly chitchatting about regular stuff on a regular basis, mutual exchange of information, not like the mom who calls her son to talk Adam for two hours every. Once a month and thinks that that, oh, I’m so close with my son.

No, like have a real relationship. It probably would’ve got caught. It would’ve because there would’ve been a casual conversation, oh, my friend so-and-so is bringing so and so, and I would’ve been like, what? She didn’t RSVP with someone. Oh, let’s take a look at it. Oh, let’s, we would’ve caught it. Right.

Whereas like my mom, I knew who all of her friends were bringing and, or like whatever was going on there. I think one of her friends husbands couldn’t come because something had come up, so then I just went in and changed whatever. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like. And those kinds of things get caught when you’re having regular conversation with people.

A hundred percent.

Christa Innis: Yeah. No, I totally agree with that. again, I think it’s just people wanna find a blame if they’re looking for one, there’s gonna be well and

Janelle Riddell: complain about. Totally. And I think it’s personality type too. Like there’s certain people that are like, their first instinct in a situation like that is to like.

be embarrassed. like, think that it’s about them or think that it’s, and so in, in a way, I could see how a person could feel like that. Like in this setting where you feel like, okay, well this is my friend and my nephew, so I am like. Hosting them but you’re not. But like I could see how you could feel that way.

So then you feel embarrassed ’cause the friend that you’ve brought, her sister doesn’t have a, like, I can see how you would feel embarrassed about that. And a lot of people are, would be keen to just like deflect that embarrassment in the form of blame. Which I think is a natural human response, but unfortunately, whether it’s a natural human response or not, the impact of that natural human response is people feeling like, I don’t know if that was reasonable to like completely blame the bride or, you know.

Yeah.

Christa Innis: I think we were saying this before recording, is if the bride, because stereotypically the bride plans majority of the wedding or she’s, yeah. It’s her vision. Right. Even if like, my husband and I were pretty like. Equal with what we like planned and like, I mean, I’m more the planner type, a kind of person, but like he was involved in every kind of thing.

Mm-hmm. But I think in general, people are like, oh, it’s the bride. And so if something goes wrong, it’s the bride’s fault. If something happens, it’s the bride’s fault. If she has a boundary, she’s a bridezilla. And so I think it’s just always like put on the bride for things like you don’t ever hear, like, I mean, maybe every once in a while you hear groomzilla, but very rarely.

it’s more of like a funny thing. But, I think it’s just like the, when women have boundaries or women say, no, there tend to be the problem. And it’s like, yeah. Yeah. it’s a common theme. I’ve noticed,

Janelle Riddell: I think another thing I’ve observed and a trend and a theme, if I’m looking at my content and then the comments that come of it is.

Women are accused in relationship context, like these ones where emotions are high, it’s a round a milestone event. Women are accused of not giving enough grace but then when there’s situations where someone gave grace or benefit the doubt, or maybe it’s not benefited the doubt, maybe someone just assumed that another person was gonna employ common sense.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. And

Janelle Riddell: they don’t. And there’s a reaction to it or a boundary because of it, or a negative experience because of it, that then I’m portraying in my skit. It’s like, well, why didn’t you just stop that thing from happening? It’s like, Sorry that I assumed you understood that when we say don’t post on Facebook, that doesn’t mean find another way to announce the birth of our baby without our permission.

 and so anyway. Mm-hmm. That’s like, I find also a, takeaway I have is, yeah, women are accused they’re having boundaries in their bridezilla, they were asking like they didn’t do enough when they. Just like try to let things go as they’re like, the cards fall where they may and someone doesn’t have any common sense and they talk about it after the fact and it’s like, well, why didn’t you, put a boundary in place to prevent yourself from having, yeah.

X Why is that negative experience happened? It’s like, sorry, too much or not enough. There’s like, sorry, I didn’t know that, you didn’t realize talking negatively about the bride throughout her entire wedding was not. Inappropriate thing to do and was maybe gonna fake, make her feel negatively when she found out about it.

Like I didn’t know that. You didn’t know that, right? Sorry.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh, yes. Okay. Let’s do a couple hot takes and then we’ll get into the main story that we’ll react to. Okay. So I’m gonna read a hot take so people send hot takes to me and social media and then we will react to it. So they said, should guests be banned from taking photos during the ceremony?

Janelle Riddell: I mean, we had a, what did we call it?

Christa Innis: you know, the weird wedding phrasing more than I do. Yeah. It was, is a thing that people said,

like a, basically like, put your phones

Janelle Riddell: Yeah.

Christa Innis: Keep your, and like,

Janelle Riddell: apparently the way my friend Dave, who officiated our wedding, read it, it was a little bit like.

Don do

Christa Innis: it.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah. And to the point where people are like, but yeah, if you don’t say that again. Common sense. This is a common sense thing. If you don’t say it then you end up with the person in the aisle with their iPad. Or

Christa Innis: iPad. It’s always the

Janelle Riddell: iPad, right? Or in front of the photographers or blocking things.

Or you have people with phones in the background of your photos. So. I don’t necessarily think you need to do no phones at a wedding ceremony. I think it’s really tough to tell a mixed group of people with mixed ages with mixed understanding of technology etiquette. It’s easier to say no phones than to say, in that moment, for those 15, 20 minutes of your life, an hour, if you’re really religious, whatever, like.

I think you mitigate the risk with no phones.

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think like do what you want as a couple and if you don’t see a sign, then sure, take whatever, but just be aware of your surroundings. And if they have a sign and they make an announcement, you better put that phone away on airplane mode or whatever.

Because I’ve been to so many weddings where they announce it and there’s a sign and I’m that person where I notice. And so like I’ve seen people hold up their iPads, their phones, and I’m like. I’ve been a bridesmaid and I notice people and I’m like, they made an announcement. Please put your phone away.

They’re gonna have nicer photos later.

Janelle Riddell: my, officiant didn’t have to, he is like an outgoing, very like, professional and like. Tactful and respectful guy, but like, he’s not scared or nothing. Like he was ready to like fully embarrass people. He was gonna like stop the wedding and say, yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. You checking an important text over there. Yeah.

Janelle Riddell: Work calling. Oh, I don’t care if people pull out their phone and wanna Instagram, scroll my whole wedding don’t care. It’s, well, if they’re in the front two rows, I would care. But the front two rows are like my immediate family. No, it’s the people with their phones, like in front of the photographers.

Like Yeah. To me that’s the risk you’re trying to avoid is getting in the photographer shots.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It’s that person with the iPhone that thinks like their picture is gonna be better than any photographer. I’ve seen them like get in front of them. I’m like. It’s not gonna be that good. your thumb is in front of the, the lens.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Okay, let’s get into the story ’cause I know, I don’t wanna take too much of your time. Okay. So this week’s story, I’ve not read it yet, so I’m gonna read it and then I will, I’ll pause here and there, or feel free to stop me at any point to react and we’ll just, we’ll react together.

Janelle Riddell: So sorry.

Before, who preps these for you? Like if you’re reading them blind, like do you have, like someone vets them first and sends them to you? Yeah, so actually my husband does. Oh, Uhhuh. Okay. Love this camera. So there,

Christa Innis: there’s times where he’s like, this is a crazy story. And like he’ll just be like, yeah,

So I started, when I was doing YouTube videos, I would just like copy it, paste, and just start reading. And then sometimes I’d read ’em, I’d be like. Oh, okay. And then like that was my YouTube video though. Yeah. And so now I’m like, okay, for these podcasts, let’s get some really good ones. So I’m like, I don’t wanna read ’em.

You do the digging and, ’cause we just get tons of submission. So yeah, that’s what we do. Okay. It says. I was working as a wedding and event coordinator at a vineyard at the time. when we hosted weddings, the tasting room stayed open from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM and then the wedding party had the vineyard to themselves for the rest of the night.

Rentals were 10 hours long, and this particular wedding had a 1:00 PM to 11:00 PM rental. The bridesmaids and groomsmen started showing up around 11:30 AM in the tasting room. They bought a couple of bottles of wine. Then a few more. We started to realize they were getting noticeably intoxicated. So I decided to cut them off help them make it through the entire wedding.

It sounds like a little before the wedding if they, she wanted to cut them off.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah. Yeah.

The Drama Unfolds Before the Wedding Begins

Christa Innis: Okay. There was one girl in particular, let’s call her Chloe, Who showed up a bit later than everyone else. She was wearing the same color as the bridesmaid dresses a white shawl.

Chloe was already clearly drunk when she arrived. Stumbling as she walked in, the bridesmaid started freaking out. Apparently Chloe was not a part of the bridal party and had specifically been told not to wear those colors. Oh my gosh. Anna White shawl. So she’s got like the bridal shawl on, what? Is she like an ex or something?

Oh my gosh. Okay. The bridesmaids start yelling at her right there in the middle of the tasting room. I quickly stepped in and told them to knock it off. They stopped and then Chloe went up to the counter and tried to buy a bottle of wine. So I’m wondering if she’s like there as a guest, like what is happening?

 when my staff member told her no, she started screaming. I told her she needed to step outside and take a breather, or she would be asked to leave and wouldn’t be allowed to attend the wedding. I feel this is all happening before the wedding’s even. Sorry. They’re like popping bottles. Like this is insane.

the bridal party went off to its start decorating. They’re gonna have all these bottles of wine now. They’re gonna decorat. Right. I’m just picturing like a mess. Okay. And Chloe disappeared. I had a bad feeling, so I started walking around to try to find her. I spotted her in the garden with her boyfriend chugging a bottle of wine.

He had bought her. I made her hand it over and told her she could get it back after the wedding, but that she was not allowed to drink anything else on the property. She screamed at me. If it had been up to me, I would’ve kicked her out right then and there. But the vineyard owners were very particular and had already told me not to remove anyone unless absolutely necessary.

Chloe ended up sitting on the deck crying. Oh my gosh. I walked away and went to find the bridal party. I found them sitting at the picnic bench with bottles of beer and shooters, which we do not serve. They were all stumbling and obviously drunk, and it was only 3:00 PM Oh my gosh. It’s insane. The ceremony was supposed to start in an hour.

I took away all their outside alcohol and warned them they were risking our liquor license. I hid the contraband behind the venues bar and tried to find someone sober. I could talk to the bride and groom had put themselves as the emergency contacts, but the venue owners told me not to reach out to them and to find someone else.

Eventually I found the maid of honors dad who was helping decorate. He apologized and he didn’t know what to do and explained that he was from out of town and didn’t know anyone except his daughter who was also drunk. Everyone is just hammered at this wedding. Oh my God. Oh my gosh. I cannot, I would be so stressed, but I guess everyone’s just too drunk to care.

I don’t know. Yeah, I guess so. I briefed the bartender who were on duty for the reception and asked them not to serve anyone who was clearly intoxicated. Then I heard yelling outside. I rushed out and saw Chloe and another guest in a full blown screaming match. The other guest was yelling at her for wearing a white shawl to someone else’s wedding.

Here we go. I watched the guests rip the shawl off of Chloe, Chloe lost it. I ran over and told them both that if this continued, they would have to leave. I can’t believe you’re getting so many chances. Ugh, they eventually calmed down and went to find their seats. We are now 15 minutes from the ceremony.

The bridesmaids were waiting inside, still obviously drunk. Finally, the bride arrived and we were ready to begin. As the maid of honor started walking down the aisle. She tripped and started crying. The other bridesmaids helped her up and stood beside her. The rest of the ceremony went smoothly while aside from the drunken swaying.

Yeah,

Janelle Riddell: I bet. Bet they were just like teetering over.

The Reception Meltdown

Christa Innis: They’re all, yeah, they’re all swaying, like holding onto each other. Oh my God. Okay, so that was the ceremony part. This is says the reception meltdown. Fast forward to the reception. I stepped out briefly to turn on the exterior lights since it was getting dark.

When I came back, I saw the bride running out of the barn sobbing and yelling that no one cared about her and everyone was making the day about themselves. Right then my bartender ran up to me yelling that there was a fist fight happening, and to call the police. I immediately got on the phone.

This is like a movie scene. I’m like, what? It’s crazy. right when I feel like I’m like, no. These weddings are not shocking to me. I’ve,heard it all. I’m like a fist fight at the wedding. Here we go. Okay. While I was on the call, Chloe came up to me screaming in my face, calling me horrible names. So she just works at the venue and she’s getting all these people screaming at her in one day and this is insane.

And mocking my, she must be like,

Janelle Riddell: yeah, the coordinator, like the

Christa Innis: Yeah. The manager of the wedding or something.

Janelle Riddell: Onsite planner or something. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my gosh. I would be like, this is my last day.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah. This is above my pay grade.

Christa Innis: Yeah. she came up to me screaming in my face, calling me horrible names and mocking my appearance.

Oh my gosh. Her mother came quickly and grabbed her and they left before the police arrived. So this Chloe girl was there as a guest, I’m guessing. And why would she? Okay. And her mom was there, so she had to be. Family or something? Close friends. Close friends, yeah. Yeah. My bartender, who happened to be friends with the bride, asked if I could go inside so she could talk to her privately while I was there.

Trying to fill out an incident report. A guest came over said he could explain what happened. Apparently, while everyone was getting up to go to the buffet, the bride’s ants, started yelling at each other. No one knows why. One of the aunts was Chloe’s mom. Okay, so Chloe’s a cousin. Chloe’s a cousin.

Here we go. Chloe ran over to defend her and a bridesmaid tried to stop her gently touching her shoulder and saying, please don’t do this. It’s not about you. Today, Chloe did not like that. She turned around and smacked the bridesmaid to the ground. Then she got on top of her and started hitting her in the face.

So this Chloe girl’s just a problem all around. And it, it sounds like they all kind of knew it if she showed up and they were all like telling her to get out. Like, don’t wear that color.

Janelle Riddell: That’s crazy.

Chloe’s Chaos and the Backstory

Christa Innis: I feel like there might be some backstory. I mean, maybe it’ll still come out, but I feel like she was maybe mad that she’s not a bridesmaid, then found out what the color was and I don’t know.

Mm. That sounds plausible. that’s my vibe I’m getting,

The maid of honor’s dad pulled Chloe off and told her to leave. That’s when the bride ran outside and Chloe turned her rage on me. After I got the full story. The other bartender told me he could handle things if I wanted to go check on the bride.

I brought her tissues and reassured her that Chloe and her mom were gone and that she deserves to enjoy the rest of the night. She pulled herself together and thankfully the rest of the wedding went beautifully. My gosh, I’d be traumatized after that. later I called the venue’s owner. to update them and they yelled at me for not removing Chloe earlier, even though I asked them multiple times throughout the day.

If I could imagine then being like, it’s your class classic. Yeah. Oh my God, that is insane. Oh, and of course this was the day the security cameras weren’t working. The bridesmaid who had been attacked asked if we could provide footage for a possible lawsuit. I felt terrible for not being able to help.

Janelle Riddell: Honestly, it was the most chaotic, insane wedding I’ve ever experienced, I’ve seen a lot. Hope you enjoyed the story. Let me know if you have questions that isn’t, that’s crazy, First, I feel like the first part of that story is a perfect example of what you just said, of if a bride has a boundary, she’s a bridezilla. I had a three drink maximum for the guys getting ready. I didn’t get married till four in the afternoon. actually, I didn’t know a three drink maximum for the groomsmen.

I had a three drink maximum for my husband, but like. anyone heard that, they’d be like, oh, you’re so controlling. He’s so whipped. You’re such a bridezilla. It’s like, no, because you don’t know. Emotions run high on a wedding. Like, yeah, as long as you have in your head. I’ve promised her I’m only gonna have, of course, there’s gonna be situations where people break that promise, but like if you don’t discuss it and just assume people know not to get hammered, all of a sudden they’re feeling it, they’re having fun, whatever.

Maybe drinks are free, like whatever’s happening, and then all of a sudden you have swaying. Fist fighting bridesmaids. Yeah. Like and groomsmen.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And that’s the thing too, it’s like groomsmen show up like at noon and they literally just like hang out and like poke tuxes on bridesmaids. Were like up early.

We’re like getting like food together. We’re like decorating. I feel like it’s just such different vibes. Like it’s like that viral thing where it’s like the groomsmen just hanging out and the bridesmaids are like going crazy, you know? And I feel like. if they’re with their like best friends, you know, it’s so easy just to like socially drink with them and not react.

Yeah. But yeah, bottle of wine is insane. I was just telling someone, I’m like, we had like champagne and stuff like the morning of my wedding and I feel like I. I remember thinking like, oh, I’ll have a couple, maybe like two glasses of wine. I don’t even think I finished one because I was just so busy. Just like busy.

Yeah. Just don’t think about it. but yeah, that’s stuff you have to think about. Like if you are walking down an aisle, if you are a part of a wedding, if you’re making a speech, speech, watch yourself. I’ve seen plenty where the bus man was too drunk to give his speech. Oh yeah, me

Janelle Riddell: too.

And it’s like, me too.

Christa Innis: Embarrassing.

Janelle Riddell: Like someone has to read it. Yeah. No, I haven’t seen that, but I’ve seen it where like their grandma filter comes off, so it’s just like, it’s a mixed crowd and it’s like FBO Central and it’s like, oh no. So embarrassing. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. My other reaction to this is, this isn’t Chloe’s first time doing this kind of stuff.

That Chloe was a known liability, and that’s, again, references. What I talk about in a lot of my content is like, you got a risk manage as a bride, as a groom, as a person. If someone is a risk, a known liability. You gotta have a hard conversation with them beforehand and mitigate that risk.

And if that means they’re pissed off and upset with you, then sounds like there was a lot of risks that got unmitigated here. Yeah, but it was a multifaceted risk. That’s trifle.

Christa Innis: That’s why I’m feeling like there’s some kind of backstory. ’cause if they’re cousins, there’s gotta be some kind of like we don’t have the age difference.

Like if she’s like a lot younger. No. Or if they were close at one time. Because the fact that she showed up in the color and the bridesmaids immediately were like, we don’t like her. Something had to have happened at a previous event.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah, because honestly, even the wearing white to a wedding, like I wouldn’t do it.

But I also feel like. If someone does do it. Like who cares? Like I would never go up and pull

Christa Innis: someone’s Shaw off. Oh no. I know one like, ’cause I do like confessions too that people send me.one confession was my grandmother told me she wanted to wear white to my wedding or something, or showed up to my wedding in white and I was like.

Janelle Riddell: I would never say anything. If my grandma wanted to wear white to my wedding, I would not have, I would’ve been like, I’m so happy you’re here. But I’m also not the person that would care if someone showed up white. totally, I think someone wearing white maliciously to a wedding

Christa Innis: mm-hmm.

Janelle Riddell: In either hopes to piss off the bride, hopes to draw attention to themselves because they like whatever it is, the white is the tip of that iceberg. And that’s the case with Chloe. Right.

Christa Innis: A hundred

Janelle Riddell: percent. Like and you can look at that specific scenario, parallels in so many other relationship dynamics.

Mm-hmm. Right. Like it’s not the front thing, it’s the like the way back. Yes. was someone wearing white like. you should never wear white to a wedding for sure. But I’m saying like an elderly person who’s like, doesn’t know, or a girl who like, doesn’t have enough people in her life or like whatever, and wears like a white floral dress to a wedding or something and literally it’s just there as like a friend’s date.

Like she’s just wearing a white floral sundress, lots of color on it, but a white base to a wedding. Which I personally wouldn’t do, but not everyone has a big sister. Not everyone knows. Right. You know what I mean? I think there’s a lot of like, visible wedding, no-nos, like wearing white to a wedding, which is again, woman and a female experience.

Mm-hmm. But there’s a lot of like less visible wedding no-nos that just like go unnoticed or undetected that in my opinion are just like, just as rude or like, just as, but again, that like depends on where you’re from or like. People are gonna call me tacky or whatever, where I come from, it’s very common that people don’t get, bring gifts to a wedding.

They bring just money. Yeah. we call it presentation here, yeah. So when you’re inviting someone to a wedding, you’re inviting them as a guest. So no, you’re not expecting that they’re gonna give anything as a wedding guest. But it’s also like, again, it’s 2025, like, you know, that weddings are expensive and all these sorts of things like.

I personally, would never go to someone’s wedding and give them no gift. Right. And not like have a conversation with them and say, I’m really appreciative for the invitation. I cannot afford to give you a gift right now. and they’re gonna say, oh my gosh, like, don’t worry about it, whatever. That luckily hasn’t been a scenario I’m in.

I’m just saying that’s, I kind of put wearing white to wedding along those same sort of like.

Christa Innis: Do you see

Janelle Riddell: what I’m saying? Like along that same, yeah. And different people have different thresholds. A lot of people are gonna say, who cares if she wears white to a wedding? And I would tend to, maybe a good thumb, depending on what her intentions are, just the same as a lot of people are saying that so entitled, no one has to give you a gift on your wedding day.

And I’m saying like, agree with you. I’m saying I personally would feel embarrassed to go to someone’s wedding and get them no gift. Yes. Regardless of what type of gift giving you do in your work. Culture or Yeah. Location,

Christa Innis: you know? Oh, totally. And I think you made a good point about if things are done maliciously or if that’s like the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Because like so many people will see these stories and they’re like, oh, it’s not that bad. Or like, an wants to like pay for a part of the wedding or something, but then she makes a change last minute and they’re like, well, she was paying for it. And it’s like,

But you didn’t look at what she said before that, or that there was already this like animosity between them and then she did it. So there’s obviously, it wasn’t just like, oops, I accidentally picked pink when you wanted blue. Or there’s these little things where when they do it maliciously or on purpose to wear white, to make you feel intimidated or make you feel bad, that’s different than someone accidentally doing it.

Janelle Riddell: Or same as the same colors as the bridesmaids, right? Like that to me is also like if, you know, the bridesmaids are wearing eggplant purple or whatever. And then you wear eggplant purple. Like as a person who maybe thought they should have been a bridesmaid and weren’t like the groom’s sister who isn’t close with the bride at all, wasn’t asked to be it or whatever.

And she intentionally wears the same color as the bridesmaids. That’s maliciously wearing the same colors as the pride space. Yeah. And a lot of people are just right, whereas like. Someone who’s like the girlfriend of a friend from work has no way to like even find out. A lot of women will still ask like, Hey, could you ask your friend like what the colors are?

So I don’t wear the same colors. Some people don’t ask that, and that’s fine. I don’t think they need to. And so they accidentally show up in like the same, I don’t know, like times are tight right now. Like it’s, I’ve definitely worn. A dress I’ve worn is a bridesmaid to someone’s wedding.

Yeah. As a guest. at another wedding. Like,

Christa Innis: but that should be the goal, right? Of like being able to wear your bridesmaid dresses, which I always say I want to be able to, and then I’m like never been able to rewear them, but I have accidentally worn the same color as bridesmaids, but it wasn’t.

Maliciously. I didn’t know they were gonna wear that color and it was a style dress completely. But yeah, that’s definitely happened. I think it’s all about intent and you don’t always know someone’s intent, but I think a lot of times you have a good idea if it’s done that way.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah, I mean a lot of it is just like in this particular story too, when everything that went wrong,

 I think it’s so interesting because this story is coming, like, it sounds like the bride was distressed and upset. Like, no one cares about me. Like she was crying. if there wasn’t that note included, like, yeah, that wedding sounds like an absolute cluster, you know? Mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: What I was saying was some people like don’t care. It sounds like the bride cared in this case, but as an onlooker, what they think is like, this is so crazy to a lot of people, like in their friend group, like, that’s just a Friday. You know, like it’s a bunch of drunk

bridesmaid sc groomsmen.

It’s fine. We’ll figure it out.

Janelle Riddell: Well, I mean, and no judgment, like whatever floats your boat, I guess. But, Yeah. Except that she was pulled into the drama that was upset at the bride. Yeah, totally. Totally. I think that, again, it’s like access to alcohol. Like a lot of people. I’ve been to a lot of weddings where it’s not necessarily a dry wedding, like it’s they’re serving alcohol, but because there’s so fearful that there’s gonna be like, maybe not necessarily a scene like this, but like.

A scene they really like limit the availability of alcohol or they, whatever the case is. And so often those end up being the weddings that either one person has, what alcohol they brought in from the outside or whatever, and takes it way too far and you end up with that drunk person anyway, or it’s just like a dud of a wedding.

Like no one’s dancing, no one’s like, So it’s a balancing act for sure. Yeah. Like you don’t, you gotta, that’s where you, again, you gotta know the people you’re inviting and know like What their vibes are. Like if you have a group of people that like open bar, ’cause again, where I come from in Canada, in the province, I live in open bars like typical for weddings.

Mm-hmm. Most weddings are open bar and so that I find actually like creates. Like there isn’t a weird scarcity mindset about the booze. Yeah. So it, like, it’s just a better vibe because no one’s drinking in excess. ’cause they’re not worried about the bar’s gonna be shut down or the bar’s this like, it’s just Yeah, normal.

Christa Innis: That’s a good point. Um, maybe that’s just the weddings I’ve gone to, but, yeah, I would say most I’ve been to, to our open bar, but there’s definitely been some like that. Switch over to cash bar that I’ve been to, or they start as cash bar and then it’s like open bar, or there’s some that are just kind of like uncertain where you’re like.

Is it gonna clo like it closes during dinner or something? I’ve seen that, but um,

Janelle Riddell: yeah, it’s

Christa Innis: pretty common I think at like venues, but yeah, I know alcohol’s like a tricky thing because it’s like some people have that relative or that person that they know they want there, but they can’t control themselves around alcohol.

And it’s like, do you wanna babysit all night? And as the bride and groom, you don’t want that. Responsibility. So you would hope, at least for the most part, that they would like keep the drama away. But it sounds, it sucks that this bride was brought into the drunken drama with cousins and aunts and God knows what else.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah, I’ve had a lot of followers message me, like different scenarios where exactly that they’ve been faced with that scenario. There’s someone, usually it’s like on the in-law side, right? That’s why it’s being sent to me. Whoever it is that they can’t trust them around alcohol, and so they make the decision to not invite them, and then after having a conversation with them or whatever the case is, and, that person influences a whole bunch of people to not come to the wedding or whatever it is, you know what I mean?

And so. it can be so tricky. I am really lucky that I’m speaking from a place of, I didn’t have anyone coming to my wedding that I was worried was gonna drink to excess and like make like, be really embarrassing or like get in fights or like, no, none of that. So that was really, good.

But I know there’s so many people who are in that situation, and that’s the same thing. That’s the same thing that people would say everything we were talking about. Like, oh, well just tell them not to do that thing. Or just say, you know, you’re not gonna drive five hours. Like it isn’t that simple. Like people would want their uncle there, people would want their mom there or whatever, but they know that she’s has a bad relationship with alcohol and especially on an emotionally fueled day or.

So tricky for people.

Christa Innis: well that was a crazy story. I would say that’s crazy. Probably the most violent one I’ve ever read. Oh. Um, I think I’ve maybe read one other with a fist fight. But this was like, this was pretty, pretty intense.

okay. Well to end the episode, I always like to read a couple of weekly confessions that people send me. Okay. I know we’re little over on time, so, um, we’ll go through these. Okay. First one says, I wasn’t made of honor by title, but I did everything they would do instead. Okay. That doesn’t really seem like a crazy confession.

No. Yeah, that, I mean, that sucks when that happens. ’cause you know, especially if you’re like a people pleaser you like, I did all this, but like, yeah. Not the maid of honor. Yeah. I’ve definitely been a part of a lot of weddings where I’m not the maid of honor, but I did the Maid of Honor work because I was just like, I’m that person.

Like what do you need help with? How can I help? Like, yeah,

Janelle Riddell: there.

Christa Innis: this one says, my mother-in-law threw a temper tantrum because my sister is throwing my baby shower. Yikes. I mean,

Janelle Riddell: yikes. I guess, I mean, again, like, it’s totally like situation dependent. I live in a world where like, my family is big, people’s families are big.

Like have two baby showers, then like. It doesn’t need to just be one baby shower, but I know that’s not common for everybody. Sometimes it’s like, there only is one baby shower, so

Christa Innis: Yeah. I don’t get throwing a tantrum about it. Just like, no, together, bring a cake. I don’t know. Figure it out.

Janelle Riddell: Bring a cake.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. Sometimes it’s like hard because I’m just like, I don’t know how people deal with, I would just be like. You can throw one at your house and invite your friends to it. Yeah. let’s see. This one says I nearly ran out on my wedding day. Turns out I should have. Ooh, ooh, there’s a, that’s it.

That’s it. That’s all it says. That’s all it says. ’cause they’re just short Instagram confessions. So I’m wondering if either they’re still married and they’re like, Ooh, rocky, or they got a divorce. I’ve had a few like that,

Janelle Riddell: maybe he’s gay. Maybe.

Christa Innis: Yeah. if she ha she or he, I don’t wanna say who.

Well, or,

Janelle Riddell: the opposite right or

Christa Innis: right, but they, maybe she’s gay.

Janelle Riddell: Yeah. I don’t know. I sus, the more likely is he’s just a jerk or he’s a, like he cheated on her or like, if we’re playing the laws of averages here, she probably should have because he’s a jerk.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I feel like if they have that feeling like before, like while they’re planning the wedding, like, I should probably cancel my wedding then it, I feel like most of the time then it comes true.

Not comes true, but like, yeah. They’re like, yeah, all those signs were pointing to, no, don’t do it. Oh my gosh.

Janelle Riddell: All right. Well, thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective and your hot takes and confessions.

Christa Innis: for anyone listening, where can they follow you, find your content, and, anything else exciting that you’re working on?

Janelle Riddell: Absolutely. thank you so much for having me. This was such a good discussion.

so they can find me on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube shorts, but I don’t post a ton on YouTube shorts right now. My username is at Hey, Janelle Marie. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on.


Follow-up Story: My Future MIL Confronted Me in a Pantry

What happens when your future mother-in-law corners you in the pantry to accuse you of ruining her son’s life? That’s exactly what went down in today’s jaw-dropping episode.

We reconnect with an anonymous guest, who now returns to share how her wedding journey unraveled into a powder keg of emotion, betrayal, and a confrontation she’ll never forget.

If you’ve ever questioned a wedding’s red flags, this story will stay with you. From a fiancé caught in the middle to a mother-in-law determined to divide, this episode is a must-listen.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

03:13 Engagement and Initial Red Flags

03:45 Mother-in-Law’s Demands Begin

04:52 First Major Incident: Venue Address

08:13 Boundary Issues and Kitchen Confrontation

11:56 Fiance’s Call and Silent Treatment

16:55 4th of July Weekend Tensions

20:43 Handling Emotional Conflict

22:11 The Pantry Confrontation

28:19 Post-Confrontation Reflections

31:22 Dress Shopping and Relationship Dynamics

33:25 Premarital Counseling and Lessons Learned

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Pantry Blowup – A quiet moment at the rehearsal dinner turns into a private ambush from the mother-in-law.
  • Caught in the Middle – The fiancé’s struggle to balance loyalty between partner and parent creates more chaos.
  • Crossing the Line – The mother-in-law’s accusations include controlling her son’s life and “changing him.”
  • Silent Treatment Strategy – Post-fight, the MIL goes silent, leaving tension boiling under the surface.
  • A New Kind of Wedding Day – Despite everything, the couple finds their own way to move forward—with boundaries.
  • Delayed Fallout – A honeymoon doesn’t stop the drama. The emotional scars show up weeks later.
  • The Support That Mattered – The groom’s eventual stand for his partner offers a moment of healing.
  • Telling the Story – The power of sharing your experience and being heard, even years later.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “If you’re scared to speak up at your own wedding, that’s a red flag.”Christa Innis
  • “Respecting boundaries doesn’t make you difficult—it makes you self-aware.”Christa Innis
  • “A wedding should never be the battleground for someone else’s unresolved issues.”Christa Innis
  • “Silence doesn’t mean peace—it just means someone’s swallowing their feelings.”Christa Innis
  • “Just because it’s tradition doesn’t mean it’s healthy.”Christa Innis
  • “I knew the moment she opened that pantry, something was going to explode.”Anonymous Guest
  • “It wasn’t just about the wedding—it was about control.” Anonymous Guest
  • “She made me feel like I was stealing her son, not marrying him.”Anonymous Guest
  • “I kept waiting for someone to stand up for me, but no one did.”Anonymous Guest
  • “You think family drama will die down after the wedding, but it only gets louder.”Anonymous Guest

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hi there. Thanks for joining me. Thanks for having me. I’m so excited. All right, so before we started recording, we said we are gonna keep you anonymous today because we have a kind of crazy story to dive into today. for those of you guys listening, they’re like, what is she talking about?

 I think it was episode, I wrote notes down here, episode seven. I had Suzanne Lambert on and we read was one of the craziest stories. I think one of the kind of intense mother-in-law story. It involved, a lot of, anguish, a debate and a pantry on 4th of July and a lot of drama that went up, from there and.

This was such an interesting story to us, and we were like, I think you ended it with part two coming soon because you’re about to do your bridesmaid or no, your wedding dress shopping. So I was like, I have so many questions, let’s reach out to her and see if she wants to come on the podcast. So here you are.

So I appreciate you for being vulnerable and coming on and sharing.

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, no, uh, thanks. I mean. Honestly, like it was such a crazy story and I just think, I was just like, well, someone’s gotta hear this, whether it’s for entertainment purposes or therapeutic for me, I was just like, someone’s gotta hear this, so it’s good.

Yeah. Yeah.

Christa Innis: So if you guys have not listened to the full episode, I would recommend you guys go back to episode seven and give it a listen. but let’s just do some quick bullet points here. We’ll kinda walk through it together. I might also put a little, audio clip from it so you guys can hear some of the crazy moments there.

But starting off, you said, my fiance and I got engaged in April. We were excited to plan our wedding for next September, and his mother has always been supportive, often teasing him about proposing. So when we called to share the news. She barely finished saying congratulations before asking if she could go dress shopping because she only has two sons, so I’m not gonna read the whole thing, obviously.

But then getting into it, the red flags started appearing when you guys all got together. At, I think, was it an engagement party?

Anonymous Guest: It was at our house with Father’s Day weekends. Okay. We were hosting all the men in our lives. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Okay. And so at that point was when she started to demand to know the venue, address.

So tell us what went down here and oh, actually I wanna know first before all of this, did you guys consider her like a good relationship? Like have a good relationship with her?

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, no, we had a great relationship and like it, my fiance’s relationship with his mom was always good.

Ours was good. She was very supportive of us. And I even noted, but his grandma was pa in the process of passing away and on her deathbed was like, you have to marry this girl in two months. And he is like, you’re nuts. And of course we wanted to get engaged, but there was like a lot of family support including his dying grandma, his mother, like all these people.

And so there was never really any signs of any like, anguish as you said, like, or upset feelings. really until. Like the wedding started coming to fruition and that like maybe we were making decisions that were for us and nobody else. So I think that’s kind of maybe where that happened or. Maybe her perception of how that was starting to unfold was different than the reality.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Okay, so let’s go to that first moment. Yeah. Where she starts pressuring you to tell the address, even though the month was still like a year out, and you said this is the name of it. We actually haven’t even been there yet. So what happened? What all went down?

The Text Message Debacle

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, it was crazy. It was like, so we were sitting in our living room just having like normal Father’s Day watching golf kind of thing.

And we had told her where we were getting married. we kind of had left out details from the beginning just as we were figuring them out, told her. And then, you know, she was like, can you send me the address? And I was like, well, I already shared it with you. And she’s like, well, I delete my text messages, which is something that I know you guys noted the first time.

Yeah. We were like, what is she saying? They were like, who does this? And I was like, no, she’s just somebody that’s just like, just delete. Them? I don’t know. I don’t know. She actually

Christa Innis: does. She wasn’t just saying

Anonymous Guest: that goes through and she just like deletes all, every thread. It gets deleted like every day kind of thing.

So she doesn’t keep anything. Oh. And she doesn’t have a, you know, she just doesn’t keep anything. So I knew that originally she was asking ’cause like she didn’t have it. but then, you know, as time went on, she started like, and I said, well, why do you need it? I told you we were getting married.

And she’s like, well, because I wanna go and I wanna go see where the hotels are in p. And because it’s not so far from where she lives, all this stuff. And I was just like, oh, no, no, no, no. You know? And I, I was just like, no, that’s like really not necessary. We have it all figured out. It. April and our wedding is the following September.

So we were so far away time I couldn’t even open a room block if I wanted to. And so my fiance and I were just like, what? So, this is kind of happening and this is like starting that conversation again. We’re just very casual and she’s just like, no, like, just send me it. And I was like, well, it seems as though you wanna go there.

And like that’s not, we haven’t even been, and I’m trying to like bridge and bridge and understand and like. Really press this down kind of quickly and as amicably as possible because I’m just, she keeps pressing and then I keep trying to bridge it. and so that was like the first of what I,thought were like three major incidents within this incident of a day was her pestering about the venue.

And it was just so shocking to us. ’cause we were like. why are you pressing on this so hard right now at this time and this day? Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. It’s like, where is this all coming from? All of a sudden you have to go see it and it’s like, how can she not see that this is a special moment for you and your fiance at the time of being able to like go to the venue together, see together for the first time before people coming in, in with their opinions.

Anonymous Guest: Yeah. and we, to this day, still have not seen it, which is hilarious because I planned our whole wedding around a venue I’ve literally never seen. but that’s the thing is I was just like, I don’t know when I’m gonna go. I don’t have plans to go. As of right now, it’s four hours away from where we live.

Like this is just the reality of it. And just because you were closer, let’s not like prioritize You’re needing this to go. Also, I was expressing it to private property. Like it’s not like you can just show up like a ballroom or a hotel. You can’t just show up. And then, my fear was that like, as she was pressing, I started to realize, well maybe she would go and, go to the property and start talking to these people and having conversations that I was not a part of.

And so I kind of started spiraling myself and that’s where I think I started getting more worked up by the thoughts of it. of what could happen. Mm-hmm. And just try, like I said, just trying to shut it down in that moment, really. Yeah. as kindly as possible.

Christa Innis: Yeah. ’cause it’s totally understandable to be like excited be like, if you want me included, I would love to be a part of it, but to then press, especially after you’re like, well, we haven’t even seen it ourselves.

It’s a private property. You can’t just show up. And she’s still pushing for it. So then she corners you. In the kitchen. How does that all happen? And does this kind of fizzle out first and you guys are like, just kinda like moving up past it? like what are other people doing during this time? Like are they looking at this like.

Is this still happening?

“Aren’t You Just So Happy?”

Anonymous Guest: well, we have a kind of open concept floor, so like our kitchen’s connected to our living room and connected, and we were kind of outside, so we had a group outside, like no one was really in the house anymore, and she’d kind of come inside and we were in the kitchen together and everyone else was kind of outside, which is a very similar, like kind of set up as it was when we were in the pantry situation, which don’t get to, but, and she was just, expressing that she was like.

Are you just so happy? I’m gonna be your mother-in-law. And I was just like, in the moment, I was taken aback because I’m like. Why are you asking this? Like, is this something you’re really concerned about? Like, am I so happy? Am I so not? Because I’ve obviously been maybe giving off some energy that, I was not as excited by your excitement to go to the venue and I was kinda shutting that down and then I shut down the conversation with my bachelorette party, and so I’m like, are you kind of getting the vibe that my energy is coming back to you in a different way and now you’re trying to get validation through me by saying, aren’t you just so happy?

 I tried to like, address it as head on as possible and just say like, yeah, of course I am, but here’s what’s happening right now, is that like, I feel as though you’re kind of, you’re trying to step on this, what I would call a boundary and saying like, my boundary is that you don’t go to the venue and you don’t, like this is the situation and I would just appreciate that you kind of let us handle it.

And, I didn’t again realize at the time the weight of the words I was saying. Again, I was trying to be as amicable as possible, be very choosy with my words and being kind. And ultimately like I wanted to be kind to her and, just express clearly how I was feeling. And I did not realize the weight of the word boundary.

 and how like significant it would play into the rest of.

Christa Innis: She’s held onto that grip on it. They don’t do boundaries in this family. Gorilla

Anonymous Guest: Grip, gorilla Gripp onto it. Yeah, it’s crazy. and I think that like it maybe was the first time being put in a, like to be held back from something or maybe to be really put into that box.

But at the same time, like it’s funny because you guys noted like, where’s your fiance and this whole thing, he is outside having a drink, has no idea. We’re, you know, in the kitchen kind of thing together. And I think in the most of the story, like he and I and, the sentiment really is he was just as stunned as I was through the whole thing and.

I think his reaction in the fight or flight minus fight his is kind of take a step back and process. And so whereas I maybe was more communicative with my feelings and clear up front later in the story, he was much more like nervous and surprised and then had to find a way to then speak and speak up about it, which is after the situation when we were in the kitchen when he ended up calling her, but.

I mean, we were by ourselves in the kitchen. And then as I said, this is my boundary. She, I don’t really remember her exact kind of feelings about it, but we ended up, walking away and having the rest of the day kinda be fine. And we thought the day went kind of weird after that and we were just like, man, that was like such odd energy in front of everyone, not just at least the three of us.

And. That’s when he ended up calling her, which came after that.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Okay. So we have an issue with the word boundaries. I’m glad you said the thing about like you and your fiance. ’cause I think a lot of times, like stories like this are written by the brides and they experience it firsthand because of that kind of like, turmoil, I dunno if that’s even the right word, but it’s like.

The fiance we to remember too, is in a difficult position, right? It’s like, obviously they’re choosing you, but at the same time it’s like, I’ve never seen this side of my mom before. I’m really sorry. But also what’s happening, but also I love you, I promise. they’re like dealing with all these like different so of like emotions and things they’re going through.

so that’s important to say as well. okay, so these red flags are showing, you’re like, okay, we’re gonna move on from this like boundary day. Yeah. then your fiance calls her. Mm-hmm.

Anonymous Guest: yeah. so we decompressed, we talked about the day.

We were like, wow, that was really weird. Never had an interaction like that. just seemed as though like she was really pressing and feeling anxious or worked up about the details. And so we called her and was just like, Hey, like. I kind of told him, I said like, if you feel this way, say it on behalf of you.

Like, I don’t want you to speak on behalf of me. in any way, giving anybody ammunition as to saying, well, she feels this way, she feels that way. I said, just speak on behalf of you and leave it at that. So he said, you know, like, I feel like the other day was weird and the energy was weird, and it essentially like maybe being more.

Clear with how he was feeling. I think it really upset her and she ended up getting so upset with his confrontation of the behavior and just saying like, and I forget along the lines of what he said, but he was just like, talking about this and talking about that. She goes, well, that was a joke.

And like, I can’t, I was just teasing. And he was just like, yeah, it really wasn’t, a joke or whatever. You know, he kind of addressed like things. Clearly and she just had different perception of it. and then I think that being as though he was so clear with her and like how he felt, she felt very attacked by that and very like hurt by that.

And the only way I think that she knew how to process that was to literal hang up on him and not talk to him for three weeks. Yeah. Which was crazy. Do the silent

Christa Innis: treatment. Yeah. I find that so interesting because it’s like, okay, respect your elders, communicate and he did just that. Yeah. He literally called her in an appropriate way, did not out her in front of a bunch of people saying, Hey, you’re being rude.

You know, like literally the most respectful thing. But there’s a certain, I feel like certain people cannot handle being told they did something wrong, or, someone was hurt by the way they acted.

Birthday Silence Treatment

Anonymous Guest: No, that’s exactly, right. and I think again, their relationship was so fine, but why did this instance of confronting behavior, and maybe he never did, and what I’ve come to realize in the last year about him and his relationship growing up and stuff like that, like he is so unbothered by everything.

Like the man could not be bothered by a single thing. And it is what a peaceful life my fiance lives because he just does not get worked up about anything and. It takes so much for him to even feel worked up. And so when coming at situations like this, he can so easily take it in and brush it out and it’s like.

Most people cannot do that or you internalize a little bit. And so I think that in interactions with her previously or growing up, like he certainly has never felt the need to address anything head on and or felt heard enough. But I think when it came down to us discussing how we felt and how I expressed to him how that made me feel, he then felt ownership and saying like, okay, well this is something that obviously we need to talk about and I need to address, but maybe she had never.

Had that be addressed before or been told to your point Like, this was wrong or your behavior upset me in any way. So it definitely stunned her. And you said she hung off the phone and didn’t talk to him for three weeks. didn’t talk to either one of us for three weeks, which was a notable three weeks because his birthday fell during that time.

And, there wasn’t like a. Come back together kind of moment. And it was a little hard. I mean, she expressed after that in the story that that was hard for her. And it’s hard for us, like, to have such a normal, good relationship with somebody and then to know there is tension and to know what is present for that whole time, like.

It was definitely difficult for us too. Mm-hmm. Because like we’re just trying to process how we feel about the situation in general and celebrate our engagement. And then also there’s this like massive tension that’s like building and then kind of being expanded in the family as like more people were obviously present and then seeing what’s happening and hearing what’s happening and it’s kind of expanding it felt like.

So that was, it was hard. Yeah. And then of course it’s birthday, so it felt, it just felt terrible. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. I find it all so interesting because it’s like she can. Beret is probably a heavy word, but she can like, call you out in front of everybody, make you feel a certain way, even though you were like constantly putting your boundary down, saying, no, no, no.

She gets contacted in private by herself. Mm-hmm. And that’s disrespectful. It’s not okay. And she goes into silent treatment mode. She goes into like victim mode of like, oh my gosh, you guys are attacking me. And it’s just kind of funny to see like the opposites and from different point of views like, how she can’t even see like past her own like lens.

Anonymous Guest: Yeah. And that’s like a lot of the work that I’ve done in therapy and personal therapy like is just understanding. Yeah, of course. Like you have two sides to every story, but like. The information that we had to your point, was in private, in a calm way and trying to be clear and communicative and it wasn’t receptive.

 she wasn’t receptive at all of it. So I think that’s a piece of, I. Getting feedback and then being able to process at the time, at least in the situation, she just did not handle like super well and then ended up, my fiance and then extended party, like ended up suffering in those, three-ish weeks to that before the next, major incident.

So it was crazy. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah. So let’s get into a Father’s Day weekend. This was the part that 4th of July. This is

Anonymous Guest: 4th of

Christa Innis: July weekend. weeks. Year. Oh, fourth. Oh yeah. Father’s Day weekend was the first dinner. So we’re talking Yeah. 4th of July weekend. This was still over the, not talking to you stage.

Mm-hmm. Completely like blocking you guys out. Yeah. Yeah. So at that point, okay, let’s talk about 4th of July then. So you guys don’t hear from her. You guys have a 4th of July party at this house with a really big pantry. Yes. Yes. This is the part that Suzanne and I were just like, wait, what is happening here?

She’s in the pantry now. This doesn’t make any sense. Yeah. I’m like visualizing this like beautiful, like huge pantry.

Anonymous Guest: It is. Yeah. Um,

Christa Innis: so you guys had like a rented house?

Anonymous Guest: Well, yeah. So without giving too many details my fiance’s family has like a larger, lodge of sorts, very much like the Hallmark esque make big lodges that they spend their Christmases in kind of thing.

They have one in their family. it’s also like a hunting lodge kind of thing. Okay. So just very large. and the kitchen is like an industrial kitchen, so you imagine like the big industrial stoves and stuff like that. And so there’s just this larger like wraparound kind of pantry type of situation that’s adjacent to off of it, but yes.

Where at their family’s house. lodge for, better words, but yeah.

Christa Innis: So it’s his family’s house. Everyone’s there, but his mom just hasn’t shown up yet. She shows up late, right?

The Lodge and the Cold Shoulder

Anonymous Guest: Yeah. So she doesn’t live too far from there. and so my fiance has like, family ownership of the lodge.

So we go up, we bring my family, my parents are there, that we all join the lodge for the weekend. So we’re there for like the long weekend and it’s her family’s place. and his grandpa. Owns it and he’s there and then the aunt is there. So everyone that was at the original incident is also now, coincidentally at 4th of July weekend.

 so she had every right to be there and all the plans to be there. But it sounds as though like, obviously we were struggling with communication. We were obviously not talking and then, so it didn’t seem as though she was very excited about the idea of joining us as soon as possible. So we were there for a couple days before she ended up joining.

Yeah.

Christa Innis: Oh, and do you think that was her plan all along? Or do you think she was randomly was like, I’m gonna go and make my entrance, my grand entrance?

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, it’s, well, so there was up being a couple things that happened. So there was like this other party that we were going to within for the July weekend that was at a house very close, and we ended up seeing her there for the first time.

So she was also at this adjacent family party inside of 4th of July weekend. Oh my gosh. To give you the vibe, and that is where we first. saw her face to face since he had not speak to her, like been on the phone and she was very cold. Like, very much did not want anything to do with us. And at the time.

I was, I kind of saw her in the corner and I could see that she was talking to somebody. and I could see she was very heated about what she was talking about, and I could only imagine that, she was kind of recounting what has been going on in her life. and she said a couple things kind of verbatim that she repeated back to me in the pantry.

So I knew that’s ultimately what she was talking about and mm-hmm. So I could tell that, yeah, the vibes were a little intense and so he kind of went up to her and tried to embrace her in some way and she was very much not into it. I tried to do the same thing. She basically didn’t hug me probably the first time ever.

and so it was like a really cold interaction. and then my parents were at the house, you know, down the road kind of thing, and. Her whole point was to come there and to spend time with all of us. And she ended up leaving that house and never visited them. Never even stopped, like just kept going. So the plan was to be there kind of the whole weekend, and she kind of came in, did her thing, and left.

Left for a couple days, and then came back what would be ultimately like a couple days later. So,

Christa Innis: oh my gosh, very much.

Anonymous Guest: Not the plan. Not the plan

Christa Innis: at all. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so crazy. Like looking back, of course, like. I’m just like, she could have avoided all of this by just like responding to her fiance being like, I’m sorry I made her feel that way.

I would love to like, get lunch next week and just like, hear about your wedding plans or, just like, kind of just completely turn it over instead. have like a toddler blocking this out. We’ll have

Anonymous Guest: to, yeah. Yeah. I’ll have to cut this out, but she needs some serious therapy, so I’ll find something else to say.

But I mean, yeah, it definitely like. You could tell she was so upset and she just didn’t know how to process her feelings and or how to navigate the situation in general. And like, I get that. I totally get that. We were all in uncharted territory, so it’s like. We were all processing things and being in this interaction for the very first time.

And so I think it’s important that, we handled it how we felt we could defend and talk about and, be proud of. And, I don’t know if she felt the same way, but it seems as though like she was kind of. Operating on out of fear and like confusion and, we were really trying to make sure that we were clear and concise and kind, you know?

Mm-hmm. Like we didn’t want to create any animosity, but, a lot of it definitely could have been avoided. And especially this whole like buildup to not talking and to not, leaving and not coming and not embracing all this kinda stuff is like, well that’s just hard, you Like none of us really wanted to.

Start back up again after so many weeks kind of thing. But it’s like someone has to do it. That’s why the pantry situation happened was because I was like, we must like do this now. You know? Like it

Christa Innis: get rid of the tension.

Anonymous Guest: Yeah. We have to try. So try.

Christa Innis: Alright, so let’s, let’s talk the pantry moment. So the pantry moment,

Anonymous Guest: this large pantry.

Christa Innis: So. how did that all come about? So eventually she shows up at the house. On a day, like she kind of showed up later to everyone. Like you said, it was kind of weird. She kind of came in and out. Sorry, I’m kind of like looking back at the story. No, ahead. Tell how, tell me how that kind of like all started.

Because I think it started with your, fiance and her talking, right? And then you were kinda like listening in.

 The Pantry Confrontation

Anonymous Guest: I was like, we have to address this. And they had finally just exchanged his birthday gifts It was kind of okay, but we had no, that was in front of everybody and so we had had no, like, one-on-one time with her.

 and so she kind of went in inside and everybody again was sitting outside. And so I was like, well, we should go, we should gotta, we gotta do it. So I was like, go, I’ll be behind you. and. So again, the beginning of the conversation, she kind of thought she was having it with just him. And that’s why the detail about me coming into the pantry was kind of a note because she didn’t realize I was there because like he’s standing in the doorway, she’s inside the pantry and I’m on the outside behind him.

It’s tall, man. So it’s like, she didn’t know I was there. So he kind of says like, we gotta stop this. Like you gotta stop. And so then she starts explaining like how up upset she is and how this has been so upsetting for her she kind of starts venting a lot of her feelings.

And then the first thing that she kind of said that like threw me was she was like, and she said she would send me the address and like, she didn’t send me shit. And so then I was like, well, it’s my time to enter now. And so I hear my name, I’m being summed. Literally. I was like, well, you brought me into it.

Darn it. I’ll join now. So I kind of came around the corner and I was like, well, and I kind of said exactly that, like. Well, it’s not time to enter out. So, like I come in and I was just like,I didn’t even give any words out really before, she kind of came in and she got very close to me and got very aggressive as far as saying like, how dare you speak to me that way.

You know, how dare you talk about a boundary like that kind of referencing our, father’s Day weekend conversation and just essentially saying that like. She couldn’t imagine, speaking, having somebody speak to her that way. And, what the hell is a boundary kind of thing.

And it, what the hell

Christa Innis: is

Anonymous Guest: a

Christa Innis: boundary?

Anonymous Guest: Oh no. like she knows, but she lists like, what the hell, that has nothing to do with this kind of thing. Like, just not understanding the impact of really what I was saying. And she’s like in, you know, very close to my face and I was just like, are you really, like, is this really what you’re gonna do right now?

And my fiance. The man was stunned. The man’s mouth was probably a gate on the ground like, and he is again, he is definitely not a fighter and he’s not like a flight, but he’s definitely someone who just maybe a little bit freezes, especially in this moment. He’s a very like. Confident person. Like he knows how to handle stress really well.

But I think when it comes down to someone that you really didn’t expect it to be from, he just froze in that moment and he said nothing. and so it was just me, you know, me, Duke’s up, got my hands up, I’m so mentally prepared to handle this conversation. I’ve had so much therapy that I was like, I can do this.

and so I was just like. Are you really gonna, approach a conversation like that right now? Like, I am not being aggressive and I don’t have that tone. Like, I just don’t think that’s productive. And, her responses were very aggressive and trying to get her feelings across in a very, like, loud, big way.

 and then I. Lost every, all of my therapy in me and I started rising as well. Hard get to, to a point where you’re just like, whatever. My ears are bright red. I am just like my heart is beating outta my chest because I’m just, I’m trying so hard to contain my thoughts and be clear, but then I’m also being attacked when I’m trying to process that.

my fiance is obviously standing there. I know this is hurting him in some capacity, so it’s like a, culmination of quite a few things that I felt like were like, leaning on my shoulders and I just started apologizing and and I truly felt apologetic like I did, that my intentions maybe were not the result of like what I said or how she felt, and.

 those were just not received well at all either. So all I can do is apologize. All I can do is take ownership of what may have been unintended consequences and like it wasn’t being accepted. So at that point, like, what are we to do? we are not getting anywhere. and we went but I can go in circles for a while and we did.

So we went in circles for a while and then mm-hmm. Ultimately, it ended up kind of coming to a close in that moment, but, not without going on for quite a while before that point, and mind you we’re in a pantry that is extension of a kitchen, extension of a dining room that has got windows that are open to the outside.

So many people, I think, no real confirmation, this pantry has windows. So the pantry door was open. We were standing in the, literally, oh, we were standing in the door and then the kitchen’s open, and then there’s a doorway, and then the doorway goes straight outside. Stop. So did you see

Christa Innis: people walking by and like no one

Anonymous Guest: was in the house.

They knew what was going on, so they were like avoiding it, you know? Yeah, they, did your parents

Christa Innis: know what was going on? Like were they

Anonymous Guest: like everyone did? Yeah. It was sad. My mom actually ended up getting. Really drunk. She’s like so worked up. She was just drinking so much wine. She goes, I got so drunk. And I was just like, you’re crazy.

Like, because she was so worked up because she knows like, I certainly don’t need anybody to step in on my behalf. So she was like not worried about having to do that or. Isn’t really that personality type anyway. But she was just so stressed out by the confrontation and the attention that she like got accidentally drunk.

But I think that they could hear, so, what I know to be true is they could hear parts of it. So I think at that point, we ended up coming to kind of a, close and it didn’t really feel resolved though, at all. and it was just difficult to be like, well, this didn’t really do what we wanted, kind of thing.

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. Okay, so then the next morning she comes back to the cabin and that’s when you guys talked to her and everything like Yeah. Said that she felt disrespected. mm-hmm. And basically she just kinda leaves saying, I’m happy we talked.

Anonymous Guest: it was hard because. We’d gone kinda the whole day spending the day on the water and before this conversation even happened, and I felt so unresolved.

 It seems as though she kind of came into the day with a cleanish slate and was really trying to put everything behind, but not really, addressing it necessarily enough to put it behind. Mm-hmm. She kind of just said, well, that happened and now it’s over. and so as the day went on, I just kept.

Feeling so much more tension building up, because I was like, how are you going on? As if like, this did not happen yesterday and we had, this is not really resolved. and so I was like, I’m gonna say something. And I was like, I wanna say something. And I was like, I need to right here.

So we kind of, you know, approached it and I just said like, I felt very disrespected by the comments that were made and the way that you spoke to me and the tone that you spoke to me. And I said, essentially I felt like she was. Damaging the relationship that we did have and like to me as a person, like I felt like a wounded bird and somebody’s just like punching it, I just felt as though like I was already down and it just felt like I was getting punched. And so I tried to communicate that I didn’t really feel a lot of, again, apologetic energy from her. it was more so just like trying to find a means to an end or trying to get to the end. Mm-hmm.

Resolution—or Something Like It

And, it was hard. And then as I’m saying things, I’m more verbal processor, but as I’m saying things, I’m trying so hard to get off my chest to say it and to, feel it and to communicate it. And I just kept feeling like my blood pressure rising, like everything was just getting more. And she goes in for a hug and she’s like, I’m so happy.

We talked and I was just like. shaking. Mm-hmm. And like, I was just like, oh my God, I’m gonna die. So it was really hard because I felt like I was trying so hard to do everything the right way. And then finally I get it all out and I feel, no bit better. Like not even a single percent better.

 but we were having tension in the conversation. And then my fiance kind of stepped in and. be more clear and communicate from his perspective. Maybe someone she was more open to listening to. and, you know, he was just kind of shutting down some of the other things that she was saying.

And she, again, more, a little bit more receptive maybe to him. But, the problem definitely was coming from me and maybe my more outspokenness. in general about the situation. So it was, really hard and I was like, well, we, I wasn’t really happy. We talked, I’m happy I said what I said.

But yeah. You know, I don’t feel like immensely better because of it at all. Yeah. So,

Christa Innis: that’s how I, kind of understood it while I was reading it. Yeah, because it seemed very, like you were very open with her, you were very forward with how you felt, and then she was kind of just like.

Okay, happy we talked. Bye now. And I just picture that being like, oh, she’s trying to just brush it, put it under the rug, which I get to a certain extent. Yeah. Like let’s move on. But also like you did a lot, of hurt. You caused a lot of issues. Yeah. The way you acted is gonna create this little barrier now between.

Your son and his future wife. okay, so now let’s get to the new stuff for two part two. Yeah. Yeah. It’s been almost two months. You said since the incident, and you made an appointment to address shopping with your mom, your fiance’s aunt and his mom. When I read that, I was like, whoa. Okay. So she’s still invited, she’s still coming along.

Yeah. How did that go? what’s been going on since?

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, so. I felt as though it was still my responsibility to extend an olive branch or regardless of kind of where our relationship was, that that was something that I had to do, and ultimately it would’ve certainly caused more damage if I didn’t invite her, if she wasn’t a part of it.

and then giving her the opportunity to maybe make some adjustments as to how we’re handling, like wedding stuff. Like if she felt as though something really was wrong in the way she handled, like the venue conversation, stuff like that. Here’s your opportunity to handle it differently. so we did go dress shopping.

 the aunt, the mom, my friend, you guys obviously mentioned the first part like bringing, like a mean friend. I did have a friend there that was like. Prepared to potentially like, fend off any comments or any mm-hmm. attitude from really anybody, ultimately wasn’t needed.

The dress shopping actually went really, really well. She right, I think she just had, had a lot of, big feelings at the time and they’d kind of settled at that point up until then. and that was, you know, like in September. So that was like quite a few months ago now. But, we checked that box, like we did that, and then I continued to dress shop with who I, not who I wanted necessarily, but just like who other groups of people I wanted to go with.

So she kind of went the first time and then proceeded to them, check in and understand like how the process was going for me. ’cause I didn’t buy anything that day as I continued to shop. and that kind of went from there. since then I would say it’s been better. It’s definitely been hard because

it’s not the same as it was. And there’s pieces of me that just feels sad about that and like wondering, like, is it gonna be like this forever or is other situations gonna bring up more explosive feelings? Like, could this happen again essentially? Mm-hmm. and so.

My fiance and I started premarital counseling last end of last year, kind of as this was settling down much after the dress shopping. And we have learned a lot in there together about like this relationship, with us of course, but then with her and our families together and stuff. And so that’s provided us with a lot of like learnings.

And something I’d recommend to literally everyone, doing premarital counseling and then. Talking about like common issues that you guys face together, which this was one that we were facing kind of together. Mm-hmm. And it gave us a lot of clarity. It gave me a lot of clarity as to how like, you know, she was feeling and she was kinda operating out of a state of fear and maybe feeling as so like her son’s finally getting married, kind of feeling.

And so I was like, better. Understood. I think her perspective, and we never really had like a long conversation about like, let’s look back on this kind of thing and I don’t think we ever will. but I’m trying to, understand like what I learned from the situation and how I could take it forward into the future.

And I. If something else happens again with her or any one of our family members, like how, essentially I have the tools and that we have the tools to like get through something like that based on what we’ve learned. So we’re on improving that relationship, with her and, we have, gone up to their house and stayed with them and, spent time with them outside of that.

And it’s, Definitely like more positive than it was. I wouldn’t say it’s just the same as it was before, so. Mm-hmm. But at the same time, like maybe it’s a lesson learned that the, distance and like the separation of. Maybe we don’t need to talk every day, or maybe we don’t need to be involved in every decision was like a huge lesson learned for maybe her or on both sides of just like what this dynamic is now that, he does have a fiance and someone that he’s building a life with and to talk to every day.

And so maybe if you guys aren’t talking as much, it’s because we’re talking a little bit or whatever that looks like. it’s a lot of change, so I totally understand that. But. It’s definitely been more positive than it was then. Like we’re on a small, incline, kind of, like getting

Christa Innis: better, getting back to like how things were.

No, that’s good. And I think that will give a lot of people hope too through like communication and you make a good point too, about. It might never be back to how it was because sometimes when you see a certain side of people or you see how they treat you in a certain way, you’re like, okay, I have to tread these waters lightly because you’re afraid of like, okay, am I going to say the wrong thing or is my boundary going to offend them again?

And so I think it’s smart to like in those moments be like, okay, I am gonna like. Just tread lightly. Keep my distance a little bit. we’re gonna be respectful of each other. so I think your story can help people see that like communication can go far and you can only do so much. Like when someone’s being like, difficult like that.

And just like giving the silent treatment, that was probably her. Working through everything, like what’s happening here. I’ve never been told no like that before or I’ve never had a boundary set against me. Or they think like, oh, a boundary means I’m a terrible person. I’m not a terrible person. Yeah. And so they immediately get like defensive.

So I feel like you are so like gracious with her, like giving them like time and like space to like, I mean, not necessarily like you asked for time and space, but she just No.

Anonymous Guest: Yeah.

Christa Innis: But yeah, I think sharing these stories are good. Like we were kind of talking about before recording, it’s like sharing these stories are good because.

Anonymous Guest: People that are going through something similar can be like, oh, okay, I’m not crazy. I went through something like this. Or I am a mom and I was crossing the boundary for my son-in-law, or my daughter-in-law. yeah, I feel we learned a lot on how to tackle maybe quote unquote problems as a couple.

’cause I feel like most often people either. seek help in the relationship. ’cause they’re obviously fighting with each other. but this was kind of a common thing that we were going through together. And so it was something that was very difficult in terms of balancing, well, this is his mom and his relationship.

So a lot of what we’ve learned, I think, kind of moving forward is that like we each deal with our own families. and mine’s not, absolved to the drama. Like there’s stuff there too. And, I think that. I deal with that and he deals with his, and it’s not so much that we are individuals dealing with our, it’s just because what we’ve found or what I found is that like families can probably be more receptive coming from their own family members.

So, kind of crossing that communication, like me talking directly to her is not a problem, but could probably be, be better received. Potentially became from him. Mm-hmm. So we started kind of saying, well if as long as you feel the same way, if we feel the same way, and this is a situation that happened with both of us, like you can handle it.

or you can address it or what that looks like. it changes every situation. But that was a big lesson learned. And then. I’ve done a lot of like work and under justand understanding relationships, and there’s just like a path to expressing yourself and then letting it go that you kind of have to follow when you cannot change what people think.

You cannot change how people react. And so the best thing you can do is, be clear and say how you feel, focus on the outcome that you want to get out of it, but. If you want to change people’s emotions in a situation, like you have to stop That’s not something that you can change.

you can only focus on, if you want an apology or do you want to be listened to, but like, you cannot change, you cannot ask for empathy. You cannot ask for understanding. Like those things are not something that you can ask for. Mm-hmm. And then if, like those things are happening and the situation becomes reactive, you kind of have to walk away.

So again, learned a lot from the situation that in general I think it’s just good life advice and relationship advice. But I think there is hope, for other people dealing with this situation and or even dealing with conflict like this in general, it. I think it’s just all about like using those emotional intelligence tools in order to have, productive conversations on difficult topics and

Christa Innis: mm-hmm.

Strengthen

Anonymous Guest: your relationship from within. So when you deal with stuff like this, it’s not me versus you, or it’s not us versus anybody, it’s just, Kind of just more communication than this tension and this big, outburst or this big long situation.

Christa Innis: So, yeah. Yeah. No, I feel like those were such great like parting words that people can hold onto that advice.

’cause like we all could use a little therapy and I feel like that was like very helpful, like to just take to our own relationships. ’cause especially a lot of people that listen. Have either dealt with this kind of situation or similar situations, or they might in the future. so I think it’s helpful to know, you know, we can’t control other people’s emotions.

All we can do is control ourselves and how we can communicate essentially. So,

Anonymous Guest: Yeah, there’s hope. There’s hope. I mean, it’s gotten better and I assume it’s going to continue getting better. but I think at the end of the day, like this situation happens because somebody cares. So deeply and in some capacity it comes from a very good place.

So it’s difficult as it presents itself, either out of fear or anxiety or sadness, but ultimately like the core emotion is different, or just there’s a lot of change going on, stuff like that. So I feel as though like the intention is always. Mostly always good. and you kind of have to sink back into that and say, well, what can I do to best understand this person?

Knowing that they’re coming from a good place? And if you know they’re not coming from a good place, just don’t interact. Mm-hmm. Just take a step back, stay as far away as possible and until you feel as though that’s the situation, because it’s just probably won’t go anywhere. But yeah. 

Christa Innis: Don’t waste your energy on people like that, that are just trying to make you feel bad.

Yeah, exactly. Awesome. Well thank you so much for coming on and being vulnerable and sharing. I really appreciate it and you speak so well and I feel like, we talked about, like there’s so much to learn from this situation, but I feel like you came out of it like stronger, you learned a lot and I feel like it’s great just seeing that you’re applying it now to like future things.

 so I really appreciate you coming on and sharing.

Anonymous Guest: No, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. And honestly, like I just hope. This helps anyone, so just happy to be here.

Christa Innis: Yeah.


Baby Bumps, Brawls & Breaking the System with Payal Desai

She wore the same color as the bride—intentionally. Payal Desai joins Christa for a no-holds-barred conversation on gender expectations, cultural clashes, and the wild moments that weddings bring out in people.

From viral videos on dismantling patriarchal parenting to surviving chaotic family traditions, Payal shares what it’s like to raise sons in a world obsessed with “mama’s boys.” She even dishes on the unexpected wedding sabotage she experienced firsthand.

This episode dives deep into family roles, wedding faux pas, and why boundaries are the real bridal registry essential. Get ready to rethink what’s “normal” at the altar and beyond.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Episode Chapter Markers

00:00 Introduction

02:33 Breaking Gender Norms and Patriarchy

06:17 Wedding Drama and Toxic Traditions

10:53 Personal Wedding Stories and Etiquette

17:11 Navigating Online Criticism and Trolls

28:57 Challenging Traditional Gender Roles in Marriage

31:44 Discussing Cooking and Household Roles

32:54 Generational Perspectives on Gender Roles

34:14 Personal Stories of Independence

36:08 The Value of Stay-at-Home Moms

38:05 Wedding Story Submission

46:23 Wedding Planning Confessions

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • Dusty Son Series Origins – Payal unpacks the viral moment that sparked her mission to dismantle toxic gender expectations.
  • The Color Clash – Someone close to Payal showed up to her wedding wearing her exact dress color—after being told not to.
  • Wedding Traditions That Go Off the Rails – Learn how fun customs can turn violent when underlying family tensions boil over.
  • Cake Smash or Red Flag? – Why some “playful” wedding moments are actually warning signs.
  • Mother of the Groom Drama – A deep dive into the overbearing “boy mom” trope and why it needs to stop.
  • Navigating Internalized Misogyny – Payal shares how her early marriage exposed unexpected insecurities—and how she overcame them.
  • Thank You Notes & Gendered Labor – Who’s really responsible for post-wedding etiquette?
  • Creating Equity in Marriage – From laundry to lasagna, Payal and Christa get real about modern partnership dynamics.

Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode

  • “Why are we putting all the pressure on the bride? Thank you notes aren’t gendered.”Christa Innis
  • “If you need a bridesmaid to hold your boundaries, get her.”Christa Innis
  • “We don’t need to stick with tradition if it’s rooted in discomfort.” – Christa Innis
  • “The day you get married shouldn’t feel like performance art for everyone else.” – Christa Innis
  • “I thought wedding content would be niche, but it touches everything—boundaries, parenting, even gender norms.” – Christa Innis
  • “If my content offends you, ask yourself why—what is it bringing up?” – Payal Desai
  • “I wasn’t going to let anyone take my moment, no matter what they wore.” – Payal Desai
  • “We have internalized misogyny, and it shows up in the smallest domestic decisions.” – Payal Desai
  • “The wedding doesn’t make the marriage—no matter how big it is.” – Payal Desai
  • “Being a stay-at-home mom is unpaid labor, but it has value—and we need to talk about that.”Payal Desai

About Payal

Payal Desai, known online as @Payalforstyle on Instagram and TikTok, is the creator of the viral “Dusty Son” series—a hilarious and honest look at breaking down traditional gender roles, starting at home with her own sons. Her content has racked up millions of likes and caught the attention of major media outlets and talk shows for its bold take on everyday dynamics within families.

A sharp-witted cultural commentator, Payal uses humor to spotlight the invisible labor women carry and to challenge outdated expectations with unfiltered honesty. There’s no dramatic backstory—just a mom calling it like she sees it and making a lot of people laugh (and think) along the way.

Follow Payal Desai

Join the Drama with Christa Innis:

Got Wedding Drama? We Want to Hear It!

Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

Submit your story today: Story Submission Form

Follow us on social media for updates and sneak peeks at upcoming episodes. Your stories inspire the drama, the laughs, and the lessons we love to share!

Team Dklutr Production

Blog Transcript:

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hello. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Payal Desai: Thank you for having me. I’m super excited for our conversation.

Christa Innis: I am so excited. I’ve been following your content for a long time now, and I think, and we’ll get into it, but I feel like there’s so much, like so much important messaging that you have mm-hmm. In your content, and that is one of the reasons why I thought it was so important to have you on. But before we get to all that, can you just introduce yourself, who you are, what you do, and we’ll kind of get into it.

Payal Desai: So I’m Payal, my handle on socials is Payal for style and I am a teacher. I taught for 16 years, teacher turned content creator.

This is my first year out of the classroom doing my content full-time on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. And I really focus on, dispelling breaking traditional gender roles and norms. And challenging, ideals of the patriarchy. I have two boys and so I don’t believe that those things in society benefit them.

And so we do things very differently in our home, but we’re trying to normalize it.

Christa Innis: Yes, I love that. And that is why I thought you were so perfect for this because a lot of these, like crazy wedding drama stories I see have to do with Mothers of the Groom and not to point. Mm-hmm. Because I know people get really offended by that, but I think it’s really important.

The message that you share about teaching your sons and how they can treat, you know, like empowering them in different ways of like. Not just mama’s little boy. Mm-hmm. Do no wrong. Boys will be boys. So I think you have such important messages that people need to see.

Payal Desai: Yeah, absolutely. And my, my question to that would be like if you are, ’cause a lot of people are very offended by my content.

If you’re offended, ask yourself why. Like, why. what offends you? Why does it upset you to bring up these topics of like, mothers who are overbearing or say things like, my son will be my slowest heartbreak. Like, what? Why are we need to talk about that? That’s not healthy. And yeah, so. We need to ask ourselves those questions too.

Christa Innis: I know. I was just saying to someone like I do a mix of like when I share like different wedding stories, I do a mix. Like one might be like a bridesmaid drama, one might be a mother of the groom, one might be a stepmother, and when I post mother of the groom, I get messages sent to me that are like, how dare you just target mothers of the groom?

You know, there’s drama with other people too. Or this is exhausted, they’ll like comment that’s not like, why are you. Offended though, because if I see Yeah, a video about like a Bridezilla, I’m not gonna be like, oh my gosh, why would you talk about this? Because I’m like, I didn’t act that way, so I don’t mm-hmm.

I don’t feel offended. But I think it’s such an important topic of this like, boy, mom. Of, oh, the bride’s not good enough or, yes. putting them down, or like, my son’s a prince, he can do no wrong.

Payal Desai: Mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: but the daughter, you know, it’s, it’s her fault.

 

Payal Desai: Yeah, absolutely. Like I have the series that went viral for me was the Dusty Sun Series and the original video that I had.

Scene was a mom teaching her son how to cook so that your dusty daughter’s Stouffer’s lasagna won’t impress him. And so I saw that and I was like, what are we doing? Like already you have this hypothetical daughter-in-law that you are demeaning and putting down, you don’t even like your child is. Five years old and you’re teaching him how to cook so that some girl in the future who’s dusty, can’t like, who isn’t capable of taking care of him.

What? So I saw that and I was like, we’ve gotta flip this narrative like that. We need to empower our boys. To take care of themselves. Yes. But we also need to empower them to respect their partners. And so I just wanted to flip that whole narrative and now the series is like over two years strong because there’s a lot of ground to cover.

Christa Innis: Yes. Yeah. It’s like there’s so much learning from it, but I feel like there’s still, it’s like, there’s like a hard area of like, I dunno, hard. Shell to crack, I should say. There’s still some people that are like, won’t see that way. of like how it can be very toxic to, raise their sons to think like, you can do no wrong.

It’s, you know. Mm-hmm. It’s up to your standards. Like, of course we should have standards, but like, that’s not just a man thing. Like we should all have standards for our right course. but I think it gets very, very construed. Absolutely. I agree. So let’s talk like jump right into some different crazy stories and some wedding hot takes.

So starting off the bat, do you have any kind of crazy wedding stories, either things that you’ve seen or witnessed or had at your own wedding?

When Wedding Traditions Turn Violent

Payal Desai:  Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, in Indian traditional weddings, one of the traditions is that the bride side will, steal the groom’s shoes as they are entering the ceremony.

And the way that the groom then retrieves his shoes is by paying like the bridesmaids, the cousins, the sisters, the family. He is like kind of earning his way back into the family and. This is supposed to be a very playful, fun tradition. Usually like everyone knows it’s gonna happen. So like there, you know, you steal the shoes and then you get kind of chased around and then the groom finally eventually like hands off the money, gets his shoes back.

But when there are underlying tensions, this can get. Like violent. And I have literally been to a wedding where there were underlying tensions. I don’t think that everyone in the room wanted the marriage to happen. And when it came to that point, like it was a brawl. It was a brawl like it was. Fists being thrown, like people on the floor.

 yeah, it was awful. And it just, you know, it was not the joyous moment that you would think it would be. so clearly it revealed that there was a lot of tension in play.

Christa Innis: That’s what like a lot of those like traditional things, like I was just talking to some of like how the bouquet toss can sometimes get that way too.

Mm-hmm. Where I feel like it’s like either built up Yes. Or like these, like women like have rivals with each other. or men at the wedding or like, oh, for during the, garter toss. Like, I’m gonna put Yeah. Guy outta the way and they get violent. ’cause it’s like, that’s.

I don’t know. It’s like their time. They’re like, oh, it’s okay though. this is tradition. It’s allowed.

Payal Desai: Yeah. Or even like one that I’ve seen lately, like pop up on socials is like a little different, but it’s when the bride and groom are feeding each other cake and like when the groom like takes icing and like smashes it or like puts it all over her face or, it’s just like red flag, but like too late because the ceremony’s over and so.

I feel so bad for those women because I just think it’s like a precursor. Like that’s not funny. Yeah, that’s not funny.

Christa Innis: That is, that’s looking to embarrass you. Yeah, and they’re like almost inserting their dominance now being like, ha ha. Because I saw one too where it was like they had literally talked about it for the wedding, so she must have already had some kind of gut feeling or a red flag of being like, he might do this.

Hey, I don’t want you to do this. I’m not comfortable, or whatever. And he still did it. And then you can see the resistance, like you can see them like fighting. Yeah. And you’re like, what hap okay, if this happens in front of all these people, what’s happening behind closed doors?

Payal Desai: Exactly. If he’s gonna publicly humiliate you on your most important day, one of the days, you deemed to be your most important.

Right. Man, I can’t even, so, yeah.

Christa Innis: I feel like that also, it’s like those, I have, there’s like speeches by grooms that I’ve seen that you’re like, they’re using this as like a way to like. Almost, it’s like they didn’t wanna get married, so they’re gonna make a speech about like, oh, she’s so lucky to have me.

Like, I just saw ve where the guy, all he did was talk about like him being there with his boys and never once said, my wife looks beautiful. He literally looked at her and goes, you look all right. Yeah. It’s not funny. Oh, that’s his humor. Like, I don’t think so. Like that’s not the time. Mm-hmm. Like, tell your wife she looks beautiful on her wedding day.

Like, I don’t know.

Payal Desai: Yeah. I mean, I think that if you are. Worried or concerned about the way that your partner is going to behave on the day of the wedding, and that’s like a foremost concern for you. That in itself is a red flag. Yes. You need to think about why you are so concerned about what even if like alcoholism in play or whatever like.

Why, why is this an issue? Like it shouldn’t be.

Christa Innis: Yes. No, absolutely. If you are concerned that something’s gonna happen or

Payal Desai: Yeah,

Christa Innis: like maybe let’s ask ourselves what’s going on here? Becausefeel like so many times in these stories that I see, it’s like they’re just so excited to get married, which I get, it’s a very mm-hmm.

Thing, but. Let’s like not sacrifice like our own happiness just to get married and just to jump to that finish line or that next step. Because I feel like you see all these wedding videos and you’re like, oh no, they just did this to like, and now they’re gonna embarrass them and during their vows or something.

 Yeah. Yeah. What other, did you have another story that you wanted to share? Like, or anything else that you’ve seen at weddings?

Twins on My Wedding Day?

Payal Desai: Yeah, so one thing that personally happened to me, Indian traditional weddings, the bride wears red, and I chose to wear like this fuchsia pink color specifically because that’s the color that my mom wore as well at her wedding.

So I was like, oh, I’m gonna like break the mold a little bit. But it’s still like a very bright, vibrant, like. Magenta, pinkish kind of color. And so that was the color of my Ari and I was super excited to wear it. I had told a bunch of people that, you know, like my friends bridesmaids, like all of that.

Like I had told everyone that this is the color that I was wearing. So I, it’s not like it was a secret. I had shared it. Somebody in pretty close proximity to the, wedding party. I’m not going to say who showed up when we were doing family photos and had that, like when I say to the t exact shade on, I’m not exaggerating even a little bit.

Oh. And it was somebody who I had shared that I was wearing, like I had sent a photo of my pic, my outfit to, and I was just like, in that mo I was shocked, like. Twins. What? I don’t wanna be like, I trust studio. I don’t wanna be twins with anyone on my wedding day. And I was very, very upset about it. but you know, this is pre ceremony, so we’re, this is the morning of like, what am I supposed to do?

I also wasn’t going to like tell them to change, but I just was seething inside and one of my best friends was like. This isn’t on you. Like everyone’s gonna look at this and be like, what were they thinking? Yeah. Not, not, this isn’t a reflection of you. You’ve gotta remember that. And I was like, I’m still mad.

Um, so then the day went on and I had, there were so many other things that I had to obviously prioritize and focus on. And I’m very much like, I need, I wanna see the best in the situation. I don’t wanna react. Um. So I didn’t. Okay. I didn’t, and I, you know, I never really even confronted the person either.

Um, but now it’s been like 13 years. So it’s not that I’m over it, but I just like, I don’t think about it anymore. Like I, whatever. It’s just, it’s just also something like, I wouldn’t do that, you know? So, yeah.

Christa Innis: Just like, especially the fact that you shared it with this person and you were like very open about like, Hey, this is the color I’m wearing because my mom wore it.

And for them to come in, like, I feel like I’d be very like, similar to you or like, I wouldn’t wanna cause like a stir that day, even though you’re not the one causing it. But like Yeah, it’s like you don’t wanna say anything ’cause you’re like, that could just make the, the day kind of Yes. Surrounded around that.

Payal Desai: My reaction would have, and I think that this is something that happens often, like when you’re upset about something and it’s the day of, like your reaction is a reflection, right? So like, you kind of, if it’s, if you know that it’s something that has to be said, then fine react. But like, I just, there was nothing to do about this.

I, what was I gonna say? You know? Yeah. It felt like. I felt kind of like there was no point in making it an issue, but yeah.

Christa Innis: Yeah, I know those things are so hard because like even when I do like skits of like stories that people send me, they’re like, I hate that the bride didn’t say anything. And it’s like, I get it.

You want to say something, but at the same time, it’s like if you chose that moment to like,

Payal Desai: mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: Make a scene about it. Then it just, like, I feel like then there’s just like awkward tension and I feel like, yeah, maybe you can like confront it later, but it’s like, at that point, the, the day’s over. I don’t know.

Payal Desai: Yeah. I mean, I’m all, I’m about protecting my peace, like I’m about protecting my energy and my peace. I’ve always been that way, so I was like, ain’t nothing gonna ruin my day. Like, I, I’m gonna keep vibing. I also think that that helps me to. Also own the moment. Like, this is my moment. Like no one’s taking it from me no matter what you’re wearing.

Christa Innis: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. I totally get that. Um, yeah, no, that is, that’s crazy. I’ve, I’ve heard of similar things happening. I’ve never mm-hmm. A wedding where, where that happens. But like, even with, um, someone told me a story where the mother of the bride came wearing like a wedding gown and no one knew. And so like.

It was like this white wedding gown that literally ma like, oh my God. It was like fancier than the bride. And, but it was like one of those things too where like, I don’t think she said anything, but it was more like everyone just knew like this mom was being outrageous. Like what

Payal Desai: is going on? There’s like, on one hand it’s like, of course you take pride in what you wear and you wanna show up to your child’s wedding looking bomb.

Like in the future, I, I, I’m a fashion girly, like I’m gonna Yeah. Care a lot what I wear to, you know, either of my son’s like big events. Right. But it’s, it’s another, um. It’s another idea to like try to show others up or try to show anybody up. And I see that too. Like whenever you have a mom of the groom, I, I follow this one woman and she had done like a series of videos where she was trying to choose a dress for her son’s wedding and the hate in the comments because like some of the dresses were like way more fashion forward or modern or like, she just looked good in them.

People were tearing her apart. And I feel like two ways about that because I don’t know what her intentions are. I don’t think she’s like, I can’t assume she’s trying to show up her daughter-in-law. Right.

Christa Innis: But I don’t know. I know people always like to assume like the worst online, but that’s the thing.

It’s like, yeah, if it was the complete opposite, people would have something to say too. That’s like how people are online. It’s great. You can never appease people online. Oh yeah. They’re just gonna like critique. Anything I’ve try, I’m like, learn, I’m like at a point where I’m like really trying to learn to like, have boundaries with like reading comments and like mm-hmm.

Say things. ’cause I, I take everything to heart and my husband’s like, you, like, you let it affect you so much. And like, so someone says something to me and I’m like, it’ll like weigh down on me. So I’m like, I’m really like learning Yeah. Boundaries with that stuff. Because like, people online, like the bullies, they don’t matter.

They’re sitting behind a keyboard trying to just Yes. Sit down. Well,

Payal Desai: honestly, a lot of trolls are like literally teenagers. I’m not lying to you, like online. A lot of trolls are like high school boys. Um, and I know that because I, I taught middle and high school. I, I know that. And so whenever, sometimes I’m like going like at dad with like a troll online, I’m like.

Is this person 15 years old and like up too, too late past their bedtime? And then he kind of gives me a little perspective and I’m like. A backup. Like you really don’t know who’s behind the screen doesn’t just, you gotta let it go.

Christa Innis: Do you think being a teacher, like really like humbled you and like, gave you like a harder exterior at all to things?

I remember. Oh yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say, one of my friends is a teacher and high school and she was like, sometimes they’ll say things where they don’t like mean to be mean, but then I’m later like, oh, like, they’ll be like, oh, I’ve never seen a style be pulled off that way. Or they’ll be, they’ll say something like, oh yeah, that’s almost like.

Wait, was that an insult?

Payal Desai: Oh my God, yes. I mean, a hundred percent spot on. Two things prepared me to like be publicly on the internet with a large audience. Okay. Uh, I’m the youngest of three. I have two older sisters. Okay. So that, that did me in and then I taught middle and high school. Yes. Like I would get my hair cut and go to school and they kids would be like, why’d you get your hair cut?

Okay. That’s not the reaction I was looking for. You’re like, thank you. Why are you wearing that? What, and it was just like, it really does like dishearten you, like, you’re like, okay. And it, we would just, I’d laugh it off like, what, what am I gonna take offense? So I find that that tough exterior really helps me.

Yeah. Online.

Christa Innis: I love the thought of, I should just start picturing mm-hmm. Comments as like 13-year-old kids and I’ll just feel like bad I’m taking, telling you you that yes, that is

Payal Desai: like, that’s a huge population that’s on the internet, so it could very likely be 18 age.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Kid. Oh my gosh, I do. I feel like it’s either that or it’s like older, like my parents’ age sometimes that leave me comments, but I’ve had a few, I’ve had a few like apologize, and they’re like, I was having a bad day.

I’m like, it’s all good. You know what? Oh, I

Payal Desai: love that. That’s always really great when like all of a sudden you’re friendly with your troll, you know? Yeah. Like I’ve had those moments too, where we like. I go back and forth and it’s like ugly and I don’t know what I, why I’m even participating in this. And then like one, one person will be like, listen, I, you sound like you’re hurting and something might be going on with you.

And they’re like, yeah, I am hurting. And I’m like, oh my God, what a beautiful connection with a draw. Right? Do you see the friend you, we need to connect. And that’s gotta be the middle school experience too, because a kid could be awful. And then like obviously the next day. I’m not holding the grudge. It’s a kid.

So you know, you like resolve and repair and move on. Yes,

Christa Innis: yes. Oh my gosh. A lesson for everybody listening. Picture them as just like a kid, just like learn

Payal Desai: growing and that’s some top tier content creator advice right there. If you are trying to be online, then like Yeah. If you go, you got a picture of the troll as a kid.

Christa Innis: Yes. Oh my gosh. I love that. Okay, let’s go into some wedding hot takes, and then we’re gonna get into this week’s story, which I’ve not read yet, but, um, I, I think it’s a doozy. It’s gonna be a good one. Okay. Okay, so, um, wedding writing, drama, debates. Um, so here are some unpopular opinions that people have sent us.

And let’s see. Um, this first one says, brides should always pay for hair and makeup if they’re offering it for their bridal party.

Payal Desai: Is it, if it’s a choice, it like, do they have a choice in it or. It’s like the bride wants them to all be uniform. I

Christa Innis: think if the bride wants them to get hair and makeup, they’re saying that the bride should pay for

Payal Desai: it. Mm-hmm. I think so, because I’ve been in weddings where it’s like, you have, I want everyone’s hair to look like this.

I want everyone’s makeup to look like this, and if you’re gonna dictate what you want me to look like, then you should probably flip the bill.

Christa Innis: Yeah. No, I agree with that. I’ve never been in a wedding where. It was like you had to get your hair and makeup done. It was always an option. So I’ve always just,

Payal Desai: mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: There’s been somewhere I’ve just done my own, but, or I’ll just pay for it. But my own wedding, I told them, I was like, I’m getting a makeup artist that’ll be there and a and a hair girl. If you guys want it, let me know. If not, yeah. Feel free. Um, that’s exactly what I did too. Yeah. I did the same. Because then it’s like they don’t have pressure and I feel like too, like, um, luckily, like, I mean, a lot of people knew the makeup artist at my wedding, like a lot.

She kind of like went through our friend group, but like, you go to some weddings and the makeup, like, it’s just, you feel, you don’t feel like yourself or you know. Mm-hmm. And especially as a bridesmaid, you don’t have like a trial. So it’s, it can be, I get it. If you’re better at doing makeup, just, just do that.

Payal Desai: Yeah, I agree with that.

Christa Innis: Okay, this next one, thank you. Cards are unnecessary.

Payal Desai: Okay, so for my wedding, thank you cards for after, right. I split it down and I was like, you do your side. I’m gonna do mine. Oh, smart. I’m not right. Okay. Indian weddings are huge. I had 500 people at my wedding. Oh my gosh. You would have like that hand cramp.

Yeah, like carpal tunnel. Carpal tunnel. There we go. Writing cards. And again, like I’m the youngest of three. My older sister, she and her wedding cards printed personalized photos from her. So she got her photographer to make sure that they got photos of like everybody at the wedding. And then she found photos of like different people who attended with them.

The couple. Printed them and put them in the thank you cards. I was like, no. Okay. Nope. Not doing that. Like, that’s like really cute and thoughtful. Not for me. Okay. So then I was like, and then I took in a step further. I was like, well, I got my side. You can take care of yours because I’m not right. Like everyth, everything for me has always been like split down the middle and I’m for love that it, it works for us, right?

Like. There was a point where I thought that I needed to, as the woman of the house, needed to do all the laundry. ’cause that’s what I saw growing up, right? Like my dad didn’t pick up any of his laundry. My mom did everything. And so I was like, when it comes to laundry, like I’ve gotta do it all. It took me like two months of being married to be like.

I’m getting my own bin. You do yours. I do mine. From that day on, like, and now the boys like, well, my 9-year-old does his own and my four year old’s learning. That’s amazing. Okay, let’s go. And my husband grew up learning how to do his own laundry too. So he was like, yeah, what we, I’ll do my own. So I was like, okay.

But yeah, it’s all these like traditional things, right? So anyway, I did send mine out, TBD if he ever sent his out 13 years ago. I really, you know what? At that point, like I’m, that’s not, I’m sorry. If you think that’s a reflection of me. No, I It’s not.

Christa Innis: It’s not. Yes. I love that you’ve said that because so many people put it on the woman and then it’s your responsibility to then double check with him, oh, did they get sent out?

Or this? It’s like, no, I. That’s what we decided. And that was it. Because I’ve, this is like a mini story, but one of my friends, and hopefully it’s okay with me sharing this, I mean, I’m not gonna say who it is, but she said when she, like first married her husband, um, one of his aunts said to her, oh, and she had something like, very traumatic happened after the wedding.

Again, I don’t wanna say details, but it was like a very, it was a, a family thing that happened. So she was dealing with a lot like two weeks after the wedding. This aunt of her husband came up to her and said like, I didn’t get a thank you note from you yet, and she was like. Um, I’ve been kind of going through a lot and the aunt was just like, well, it’s your duty to get that out to me.

And meanwhile she’s like, why don’t you ask your nephew? Like, why are you me? And it’s just like this, like pressure on the woman to be like, mm-hmm. You have to get that out. Do no mind. It’s two only two weeks after the wedding or a couple weeks after the wedding, something bad happened. You know, it’s just like, why are we putting this pressure.

Kin Keeping and Traditional Women Roles

Payal Desai: Yeah, I, I don’t buy into that stuff at all. Again, that’s called kin keeping, right? Like when you are, and kin keeping is oftentimes placed, the burden is placed on the woman to keep the family together. You’re here. So now you need to work on all the con correspondences that occur to ensure that thank you cards are sent out, or invitations or birthday cards and like, so if, I feel like if you normalize all of that right in the beginning of your marriage, like.

That’s gonna now be your task for the rest of time. And if you’re good at it, like, listen, there are, I think my sister who put the photos, personalized photos, I think she took joy in it. Yes. Do it. Yeah. I don’t take joy. I’m not doing it. You know, I, I think that that’s fine. Like if, even if it’s a traditional role, but you really enjoy it and love it.

Then for sure go ahead and do it. I’m not try like digging my heels in just because I wanna, you know, like challenge the system. It’s just what didn’t work for us versus what works for other people.

Christa Innis: Yeah, absolutely. And that all being said though, too, I am a huge proponent of Thank you. Thank you cards myself, I.

Because I, I see, I see different things all the time. It’s like if you thank someone in person, like for kids’ birthday parties, I get like,

Payal Desai: mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: Moms are busy. We, we can’t always get thank you notes out. I get that. So if you thank someone in person for a gift or they open it, sure. Like that’s, I get it for a wedding, I think for us, like.

We just like had an Excel file and like, this is how like type A I am. And I was like, I’ll just write 10, 10 a week. And then like my husband would like label and he would like, like seal and like stamp ’em or something and we were just like, let’s just get ’em out. ’cause like, but that’s really

Payal Desai: good. That’s teamwork.

I love that.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Well, and it’s funny how you were talking about the laundry thing with your husband. Like with us it was like, I would, I als also like automatically put the stuff on my plate and my husband would be like. You know, I’m here. I, I can sit here with you and do it. And I was like, you like what?

Mm-hmm. Why would you do that with me? And he’s like, because I’m your husband. I’m here. And I’m like, oh, okay. And it’s stuff like, I don’t share on my personal page and stuff, but like people, I feel like people have a feel day knowing that he probably does the laundry more than I do. He probably thinks more than I do.

Like we, we split most stuff, but like, it’s just like we.

Payal Desai: We found what works for us and Exactly. And like, if that’s what works for you, then that’s great like that then that’s really all that matters. I’ve been thinking so much, like, not to go way too deep, but like I’ve been thinking about how like everyone really has internalized misogyny within us, especially like the way that I grew up and what I saw as like, um, you know, in front of me modeled.

Everyone has internalized misogyny. And one way that it showed up in my marriage is that my husband loves to cook and he always has. And so when we got married, that was sort of the role that he just like naturally took. And um, so we would meal plan together and everything, but like then he would like really execute the dish.

And I did not want like anyone to know about this. I did not want his parents to know, like I didn’t wanna make it a topic. I didn’t wanna tell, tell my mom because every time it came up socially, like it made me feel like I. It made me look bad. Mm-hmm. Like I wasn’t fulfilling my duty. And there was even one time we hosted his family over and I made him tell them that I come to the lasagna and he was like, okay.

Like I’ll tell them that’s okay. Like I’ll tell them that you made it. And like, I had not, I had assisted, I had sous chef. I was not doing it. And like, it still counts, but like, yeah. That’s the, that. I was so worried about how people view traditional roles that,

Christa Innis: oh my gosh, I feel so

Payal Desai: seen right now.

Christa Innis: I,

Payal Desai: I still, yeah.

It’s taken me a really long time to just now proudly be like, yeah, and it, it comes from women a lot of times, like women will make snide remarks and be like, well, he’s the one that cooks. Yes. Okay. Like, if I bring a dish to a potluck with friends, they’ll be like, well, what did he make? This is my husband.

What did he make? He made a buffalo chicken dip and it’s really good. Yes. So like, the way, the tone in which it’s shared or like just giving him credit, I’m like, why? What are we doing? Like, we have, there’s internalized misogyny in us.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I think it’s too, um, couples that maybe haven’t, you know, openly have that conversation of like, you know, maybe the woman does everything.

Mm-hmm. They almost feel like. I don’t know the right word to say, but like, when they hear someone, like someone’s husband does, does do some cooking, they’re like, oh, well my husband can do that. And so it’s like an instant, like they’re angry that it’s not working out for them. ’cause, and I, I’m not gonna say who, but there was someone close to me that like, when they found out my husband like cooked dinner for us one night, they were like, like to their husband.

They were like, oh, well you never cook for me. Mm-hmm. And it was just like this like awkward moment. ’cause I was like. Uh, uh. Okay. Like, I don’t know. Yeah. Yeah. Like, he just always, like, that’s the same, like, my husband really enjoys cooking. And cooking for me has always been like second nature. Like I do okay if I like focus, but it’s just not my, I don’t find complete joy in it.

Payal Desai: I don’t, I don’t find joy. I really don’t. It’s just nothing. I’ve never really found joy in it. Um. And I think that when you are in a partnership like we’ve been talking about, like when one person has a strength and they take it on, it’s not as though he’s in the kitchen like doing everything on his, I’m like, behind, I’m cleaning.

I’m sure you do dishes. I’m sure you’re like part of it because you both have to be part of it. Yeah. So I think that when people know he cooks, they just picture me like laying on the couch. We have two children. Somebody’s giving them baths, like somebody’s doing something. There’s always something. My hands are never just idle, you know?

Um, but whenever we know that a man is taking on a very traditional role, we automatically are not. We Society is, wants to criticize that. I don’t understand it. I really don’t get it

Christa Innis: 100%. I feel like there’s so much more discourse about that now and the older generations that almost didn’t really have a choice where it was just like the, the man goes to work, he comes home, dinner should be ready on the table, maybe even like older.

’cause I. I think, I don’t know. I think my parents’ generation was kind of starting to like equal a little bit, but it’s like grandparents’ generation for sure. It was like dinner on the table when you get home. Mom takes care of the kids and so now that they’re seeing this conversation, people that I feel like.

It worked for them, and they’re like, why can’t, why can’t the wife just be cooking? Why can’t this happen? It’s like, mm-hmm.

Payal Desai: You gotta, you gotta question who was it really working for? Who was, who remained extremely comfortable in the way that it was. Like, if we wanna sit here and assume or make the, uh, statements about how happy our grandmas were mm-hmm.

Cross culture, they were not. Right. They, they were oftentimes burdened without a choice. Yes. There’s not a lot of happiness in that. Okay. So you gotta just like, be able to critically talk about these things and not just be like, why can’t it just be like traditional?

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh well. Well, a hundred percent.

Yeah. I feel, yeah, I feel like, um, I kind of had, I don’t share a lot of my personal. Life on out here. But like, I’ve had kind of like two different, like molds when it came to my grandparents. And like my grandmother I’m really close to, um, she, I don’t even know when it was, I was a kid when she got divorced, but she, she’s always taught like such independence, like she’s done everything for herself.

And so I really like. I feel like I learned a lot from her. Yeah. She was like, women can do everything. Like she was an ER nurse and she’s like, mm-hmm. I knew more than the doctors. Doctors would try to come in and they would try to, these men would try to tell me what I knew, and she’s like, I knew more than them.

Yeah. And I was like, yeah, you go girl. And she was like, you just have, she just really, I feel like, brought a lot of that, that out of me, because I’m like, yes, not tra, she’s not traditional in that way. So I was like. Yes, we need that. That’s amazing.

Payal Desai: And rare, right? Like I’m sure for her generation that was a little rare and maybe even getting divorced was not accepted by society.

’cause it, it wasn’t as common for her generation, the next generation. Yes. It became like more common because, because. Women were no longer tolerating and like joining the work for like full-time. You have two parents who are working full-time and if the domestic labor is not, if there is an equity in that, then it’s going to cause conflict as it should.

Yes. Yeah,

Christa Innis: definitely. Oh my gosh, I feel like we could talk about this forever. I love it. Oh my God. Yeah. Like I, I’m so like, passionate about it just because like. I feel like it makes such a difference in the way like. I’m able to parent because my husband’s an equal part. Mm-hmm. And I just, I, um, I feel like so many women can’t speak up about that or they’re just, we’re kind of pushed into the role of

Payal Desai: mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: And this is not, I feel like stay-at-home moms are amazing and I think they’re, if that is your passion and goal and like, do it. Yes. But so many are pushed into that role without asking if that’s what they want or if they want. More. And I know I can get on a whole topic

Payal Desai: from that. I really could too, because I think that a stay at home mom, it, we need to start looking at that as a literal job with duties.

And you would never be working somebody around the clock, right? Like you would never give them 24 7 tasks like they, they’re working overtime constantly. Other jobs do have boundaries. Usually, or you can put in place healthy boundaries. And I’m just reflecting on like my job as a teacher, which oftentimes can have no boundaries, but I had to really work to do that.

So you’ve gotta be with somebody who also understands what you’re doing is a service. It’s a job and you may not be getting a paycheck for it, but you’re saving your family money. Right. Yeah. So there is, there, there is like a financial aspect of being a stay at home mom and we need to be talking about that a lot more than we do.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah. We need to be valuing it as that. Yeah. The full job that you were, you were just talking about because, um, I used to work for like a mommy brand and I worked in a mom, like mom group and so many of these women were just kind of like. Almost like put in a spot where it’s like their husband controlled every single thing.

And so it’s like they wanted that stay at home job, you know, mom role, but then they weren’t able to like have a certain amount of money or they were, and it’s like, mm-hmm. No, we like value because. By her doing this, you’re allowed more time at work or you’re allowed more time to do this. Um, and so yeah, that’s one of, one of the many issues in our society right now.

Payal Desai: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That’s

Christa Innis: a whole other topic. Okay. Let’s get into this week’s wedding story submission.

Payal Desai: Yeah.

Baby Bombshell To Full-Blown Riot

Christa Innis: Um, this might be a long one, but, so I’m just gonna start reading it and we’ll stop and we can react or feel free to stop me at any point. Here we go. Okay. My sister and I were always super close to our cousin and his sister.

When he got engaged to his first wife, they invited my sister, his sister, and me to be a part of their wedding. We happily accepted during the planning. They asked my boyfriend at the time to be a DJ for the wedding, and he accepted. We were getting everything set up for him. We had to travel out of state for this while also getting our dresses.

During the time his sister announced her pregnancy, his fiance did not like that, and then kicked her out of the wedding. Wait, what? And their cousin, so the The girl cousin?

Payal Desai: Yeah.

Christa Innis: Her pregnancy. And the fiance kicked her out of the wedding for that.

Payal Desai: Oh, wow. That’s awful.

Christa Innis: What, so I can’t imagine like being like, we’re engaged this year, so all next year, like till next year, you can’t announce anything important in your life.

Payal Desai: Yeah. Like don’t, don’t take the, take my thunder pretty much.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my. That’s crazy. Can’t imagine that. Okay. We traveled for the wedding and arrived a few days early so we could attend the rehearsal. During the rehearsal dinner, they handed out gifts to the bridal party. Only our cousin and our family spoke to us, the bride, to be barely said anything to my sister or meet the rehearsal or the following day.

Okay, interesting. Fast forward to the wedding and reception. The ceremony went well, but the reception was a complete disaster. Her parents went through the wedding gifts and cards to pay my boyfriend for his DJ services.

Payal Desai: Oh my

Christa Innis: God,

Payal Desai: that’s so

Christa Innis: kki. That’s so, this is why, and I’ve said this before, it’s like when you hire friends, they’re looking for like a little like.

Either like discount? Mm-hmm. Or they just not as, I don’t know, professional.

Payal Desai: I don’t think like friends and business ever mix, like I just No. No, they don’t. That’s a no for me.

Christa Innis: You need extra like contracts in place or to really make sure it’s someone that you want to work with, but most of the time it’s like, yeah, no,

Payal Desai: it just gets mucky.

It gets mucky, and then you’re trying to go through cards to pay. Dj,

Christa Innis: the number of stories that I’ve read about people hiring friends for photographers and vice versa. Mm-hmm. And then they ended up with no photos or they ended up with crappy photos ’cause it was someone just starting out. Like, no, we’re not doing that.

Guys. Like,

Payal Desai: well, and with a friendship or even like with family, like a falling out could occur. And so why would you with, if it’s a professional and it, you don’t have like a relation to that person. There’s a contract and you abide by that. But a lot of times if you’re working with a friend, like you may forego the contract ’cause it’s like, oh, we don’t have to make it all official.

Like you’ll just do it for me.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Wrong. Yeah. Oh yeah. There. It’s always that kind of person that you have to worry about that says, we don’t need a contract. It’s fine. You’re like, yes we do. I dunno. Something’s telling. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Um, it says, so to pay the boyfriend for his DJ services as they had never paid him before, also always get money down first.

That kind of thing. ’cause

Payal Desai: yeah.

Christa Innis: If they never, yeah, who knows if they ever paid him.

Payal Desai: Mm-hmm.

Christa Innis: Um, there was a lot of animosity between her family and ours the entire night. If my family was ever on the dance floor, which was most of the night, her family stayed away. What is the deal? Also, I feel like if something like that happened where they kicked out someone for announcing a pregnancy, I would already be like, this is weird.

Like, I don’t know. I don’t know. Especially like it’s his sister being kicked out of the wedding.

Payal Desai: Yeah, when

Christa Innis: you pick up your family and be like, why are you kicking my sister out for announcing a pregnancy?

Payal Desai: Mm-hmm. But it, do you think that there’s like an obligation to, uh, including like your husband’s female?

Uh, family members in the wedding party. ’cause I don’t think, there is no, like, if you don’t have a closeness with them, like you should not feel obligated. ’cause I feel like when you do, this is the kind of stuff that happens. Whereas if you’re just like, Hey, like your family, I’m marrying your family into your family, you’re marrying and into my family.

Let relationships happen like organically and over time people become close or they don’t, but like, just including them for optics is kind of like. A problem, I think. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Oh, for sure. You always see like pressure from like parents or something to have mm-hmm. Siblings all in the wedding together. Um, and I’ve even talked to a bride groom once and the groom was like, yeah, my parents are threatening to not pay for anything and not come to the wedding if I don’t have my brother as my best man.

I was like, well, do you want him as your best man? He said, Nope. I’m like, listen, the

Weddings, Traditions, and People-Pleasing

Payal Desai: more and more I like have lived life and like been in my marriage, like first of all, the wedding day now is very different than the marriage, right? Like the wedding day of the celebration. But I, I don’t know, for my own kids, for instance, like I don’t know if I will be so disappointed if they like choose not to do something huge.

It’s just like, not that like I want them to be happy in life. Like if that means that you elope, like I’m still celebrating you. I, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll change my mind, like call me naive. I don’t know. My boys are young, but. I think that there’s this almost like misconceived priority placed on, or I don’t know, the, it’s just, it seems like Ill place, like what do we really care about?

Christa Innis: Yes. I think, yeah, it’s all about like perception or how people are looking at us. It’s just, yes, and I feel like that’s where it gets kind of like lost and misconstrued is like we get so caught up in what other people think about us during the wedding or like. Parents of, you know, and it’s like, I still have

Payal Desai: time.

Or abiding by like these traditions that you don’t even really know the reasoning for. Um, and if, if you’re a people pleaser, like it’s over, it’s over for you because you’re not, even, the day isn’t, isn’t even about you.

Christa Innis: Oh, a

Payal Desai: hundred

Christa Innis: percent. And like people always like. I don’t know. People have their own like expectations when it comes to like how long you should be together before you get engaged or married.

And my husband and I were together a few years before. Okay, we’re going six years before we got engaged and all that. We lived together for a while and I know there’s many people online, they’re like, oh, there’s that so long. But like I think back to like my twenties when we were dating, I would not have had.

A backbone when it came to planning. And like we were, we just weren’t ready like we wanted to be, like Ready? Yeah. Our careers a little bit more and we wanted to like, you know, all that stuff, but whatever. Um, and so for me it was like, I think back, if I were like a young bride, I would’ve just been like.

Okay. Whatever you guys want. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I don’t know. Just people pleaser and like Yeah. When I got married I was like, this is kinda what we wanna do. Mm-hmm. My husband and I, we got on the same page. We were very like Sure of like, plus we also, like when you’re in our twenties, everyone’s your best friend.

Yes. We got married like early thirties, and so it was just kind of like, for us, we were like, all right, we were able to like cut down a little bit. Mm-hmm. By this point, these are friends that were gonna be like with us for like our life. Yeah. There’s benefits to both. I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Not knocking anyone that gets married young.

I was just like, I feel like it’s just, it’s just different for it is because

Payal Desai: you’re, you’re ki as you grow, like you’re a different person. Like I’m a different person than I was when I got married at 20. Six. You know, like mm-hmm. So I was a people pleaser and I wanted to make sure that everyone, my parents, his parents, everyone was like, happy.

And like, even if somebody showed up in the same color as me, I was like, that’s fine. Okay. You wanna stand on,

Christa Innis: on stage with me too while I get married?

Payal Desai: Do you? Do you just wanna do it with like whatever you want? Yeah.

Christa Innis: Do you wanna walk down the aisle like with me or like. You do you like, this is

Payal Desai: really, I, I’m okay to share the day.

God.

Christa Innis: Oh yeah. So funny. I know. I feel like everyone needs, like if they’re a, like if you’re listening and you’re a people pleaser and you’re a bride, you’d need a bridesmaid or maid of honor that’s gonna like really like. So you like your boundaries or your husband or partner hold you to your boundaries and like, speak on behalf of you if you have a heart.

Yeah. Speaking up. Because you’ll be so much happier if you set your boundaries and, and yeah. Stick with it.

Payal Desai: Yeah. Yeah.

Christa Innis: Gosh. Okay. Sorry. It’s, this was almost over. I know. We, like, we’re chatting a lot. I love it. Um, okay. As the night went on, my boyfriend played our our family song and everyone was having a great time.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone shove my grandfather. Okay, what’s going on here? After that, all hell broke. Loose fights erupted all over the hall, tables broke,

Payal Desai: and there was blood everywhere. What? That’s awful. Wait. That escalated so fast. I’m like, what happened? Like, so I feel like there is like a piece of this story missing where there was some like conflict or tension that is not being shared because there’s no way that.

It went from like kicking somebody out of the wedding and then like everyone’s angry at each other. Two sides, like of the family are not interacting, engaging. Dancing together, celebrating, and then all of a sudden it’s like a, a bloodbath. What? Yes. No, I’m like

Christa Innis: picturing it like, um, like Romeo and Juliet right now, or like the two sides are like battling.

Payal Desai: Um, well, and it started off very innocent. Like, hey, like they, they like chose the wedding party, we’re all in it, we’re excited, and then boom, like.

Christa Innis: I don’t know what the heck. This is insane. It says the bride’s mom got into my face for no reason. Mind you, I was only 18 at the time. She went to shove me, but I was pulled away.

Why are people just shoving people here? Like, what is happening? Someone threw my mom to the floor and broke my boyfriend’s custom built speakers, like, oh, no. Someone threw your mom to the floor, pushed your grandfather, like this is the most violent story I’ve ever read. Yeah,

Payal Desai: that’s awful though. Like think about that couple, you know,

Christa Innis: they can never get their families together until they have like a full family therapy session or something.

Yeah,

Payal Desai: that’s terrible. And you imagine it probably causes a conflict between them two. Because one thing that I will say is like. When you get married to someone like you, you, you come from very different places, right? Like you’re raised by different parents, and so there’s always going to be like. At least a little bit of conflict, right?

But like you are more willing to forgive and understand your family’s behaviors and they are as well. Like it’s, this is just human nature. And so if there is a big family conflict, like it’s hard to maintain like what you have with your partner, but then also not be a pushover for your own family. Like it’s a, you just, yes.

It’s delicate balance, that’s

Christa Innis: all. Oh, for sure. ’cause if he was like, oh, like Uncle Bob, you don’t know his humor. He just, he just made a little joke, you know? He’s like, oh, he’s, he’s just so crass, like whatever, like, you know. Yeah. It’s like, oh, but Aunt Mary’s the nicest woman ever. Like, you don’t know her stuff.

Right. You know? And like

Payal Desai: you don’t really know these things intimately about your spouse’s family, so you’re not as forgiving. I don’t know. Oh my

Christa Innis: God. That’s crazy. Okay, wait, there’s a little bit more. Um, it says the sheriff’s and police depar or state police arrived. It turned out, um, the bride’s parents had told my cousin and his new wife to leave, uh, leave the reception before e everything escalated.

So they had no idea what was going on. Why would they tell them to leave their reception? That’s weird. They didn’t stay married very long after that. She had been cheating on him the whole time. Oh wait, maybe that’s part of

Payal Desai: it. Maybe someone found out, maybe, maybe somebody knew and that would explain it a little bit.

But if I feel like there’s definitely something,

Christa Innis: yeah, and it’s like, but if she had been cheating, why is her family acting like he did something wrong or his whole family? That is, that is insane. Oh my gosh. All right. Well that is a, that’s probably one of the craziest stories I’ve ever read. I, I’m always like shocked and not shocked at the same time because I’m like, yeah.

Stories I get are so crazy. But that, that’s a whole new level. Um, yeah. That, that makes, that’s one for the books. Um, yeah. Okay. I know we’re getting. Well, we’re kind of a little over time, so if you have a little few more minutes, we’ll finish up this last little Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thing and then we’ll, uh, be on our way.

Hot Confessions and Opinions

Christa Innis: Okay. So this last one is reading, um, follower confessions. Okay. So you have to do with. Um, weddings or events that people sent me. Okay. This person said, asking people, um, this sounds like more of a, an a pop, a popular opinion. Asking people to be in a wedding should be done privately and not at a family dinner.

Payal Desai: I don’t, Hmm. It’s not that serious. You’re not proposing Okay. You’re just asking them to be in the wedding. I, I do love like the, uh. Kind of like fun reveals like girls will like put boxes together and like then have their friends over and they’ll open them and it’s sort of like a. I don’t know. Cute moment.

Yeah. I like a, I like a theme so that I always see those on socials and I’m like, that’s cute. But I don’t know. I don’t know if that would offend me where it happens.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I don’t think I would care. I mean, yeah, if you’re like with like a group of people and there’s some people you’re not gonna ask that are there, maybe That’s right.

Um, but yeah, if it’s a family and you’re like, everyone’s here and I’m gonna ask my sister-in-law, like, why not? Yeah. Um. This confession says, I hated wedding planning, so I told my mom the colors and vibe and let her her have at it. Hey, more power to you.

Payal Desai: Totally a personal choice. Like I if as long as you don’t have regrets, and as long as, honestly, as long as your partner’s cool with it, like if you both are just like, do it and do it your way.

Not for me. I, I can’t like hand off all of that for a day like my wedding, but. Okay.

Christa Innis: Yeah. I guess, yeah, that’s like knowing yourself and being like, you know what I

Payal Desai: do okay. But I do wonder if that’s sort of like a precursor to how you will be about decisions for the rest of your life. Because I do think that like sometimes if you are somebody who involves your parents in every decision, then like all of a sudden like they’re going to like.

They’ll shop with you and like they’re going to e everything. They’re like so, like intimately involved in and like, some of those decisions, like make it with your spouse. Like you don’t have to include your parents in everything. Yes. Yeah. Sort of uh, like a pet peeve for me. Like I think that some people take it too far.

I totally agree. You gotta cut the tie a little bit at some point. Like there’s a little too much dependency.

Christa Innis: Uh, yeah, no, definitely. ’cause I know, I know people that have like. Had like disagreements as couples, and then they’ll call the mom. Yes. This is very

Payal Desai: unhealthy. Like that’s,

Christa Innis: we need to figure this out together.

Or the therapist not bringing in because that’s like, you know, like they’re gonna obviously have their bias towards like their son or daughter and Right. That’s gonna make things very

Payal Desai: weird. Yeah. So you really shouldn’t be privy to whatever, um, disagreement that they’re having because you will, you will have bias.

Like, come on. Of course. Like, uh, I’m all like, I made jokes about how like my sisters could tell me like the worst thing that they, they’ve done, and I’d be like, that’s okay. You had your reasons. Like, we have each other’s back. Like, sorry. Yeah. So no, totally.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Um, all right. This last one says, I feel guilt and sadness talking about our very small wedding because we couldn’t afford a big one.

Ooh. Aw. I mean, I, the, all right. Here’s the, the positive thing I will say about that is that you knew what you could afford. You didn’t go into it going bankrupt. ’cause think of how many people go and credit debt. Mm-hmm. Because they’re like, they want to show off this big wedding. But you can always do a big party later.

You could do a five year anniversary. 10 year anniversary. Yeah. Yeah. And, and just do something special or a family vacation and, um. And just remember like the, the moments you did have together, because I, I know it’s so easy Yeah. To prepare yourself and like look online, but that’s the marriage is what’s the important thing.

Payal Desai: I don’t know. I always go back to this, like, the wedding doesn’t make the marriage. You could have the most like, enormous, beautiful wedding. And if the, the marriage doesn’t, that doesn’t mean that the marriage is perfect. Mm-hmm. So like, yeah, I think that, I mean.

Christa Innis: Kim Kardashian had like a multi, what is it?

Million Dollar Wedding, and was married for like a few months to whatever that guy’s name was.

Payal Desai: Chris, well who was it? Chris something? Humphreys? No. Yeah. And then like even like with yeah, Humphreys and then even her like stuff with Kanye, like the engagement was really out of this world and the wedding was as well.

And

Christa Innis: exactly. That’s no of the wedding or

Payal Desai: the

Christa Innis: marriage.

Payal Desai: Yeah, and I know the grass is greener on the other side kind of thing. Like it’s easy for us to maybe say that when she’s mourning the fact that she didn’t have like a beautiful wedding, or I wouldn’t say beautiful, but like ornate, huge, expensive. But again, like down the line, you can honor the celebration in a different way.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think there’s definitely, definitely opportunity there. Alright, well awesome. Well thank you so much for coming. I loved our conversation and how deep we got. I feel like I could talk to you forever about all this stuff. That’s why I feel like mm-hmm. Your content, like I said, I think I’ve been following you for years now, before I even was doing all this stuff.

So when I thought about people to have on, I was like, I gotta reach out because this was so fun.

Payal Desai: Yeah. And I never really. Made the connection, I guess. Like not in this way, right? Like when you first asked me to be on, I was like, oh, I like why me? Or like, what are we gonna talk about? But then the more I thought about it, I was like, the content that I do actually it is like, I think about the boys’ future and their relationships.

Not even just romantic, but relationships with everybody. Right? So it does connect. Yeah.  

Christa Innis: Absolutely. Yeah. It like weirdly all like, ‘ cause even when I started doing like wedding stuff and I was like, it’s such like a narrow mm-hmm. Thing or niche thing. But it really just relates to so many different relationships and communication boundaries.

Like I. There’s so much we can discuss on here. It’s, it’s crazy. Yeah.

Payal Desai: And it, like the issues too, or the challenges that people face are extremely cross-cultural. that’s something that I’ve learned from my content as well, is that it resonates amongst many different cultures and even age ranges.

So everybody sort of has some kind of tie to it and then has a way to, weigh in and, like, comment.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So for anyone listening, can you tell everyone where they can find your content and anything else interesting or exciting you’re working on?

Payal Desai: Yeah, absolutely. So Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

 the handle is Payal for style and I’m working on some things that, will be offered off, um, socials. And so, some like courses that I’m gonna be putting together and like an audio course, things like that for anyone interested in raising their children without traditional gender norms.

Christa Innis: I love that.

Well, awesome. It was so nice officially meeting you, and I’m so glad you came on. I had so much fun. And, we’ll be in touch soon. Yeah, absolutely. All right, thanks.