Everyone knows that staging a marriage proposal on someone else’s wedding day is just plain rude - or so you’d think.
But a man named “John” appeared to have missed the memo when he popped the question to his girlfriend “Jane” during his best friend’s wedding.
The unnamed bride who felt upstaged by the incident recently wrote to Slate’s advice column ‘Dear Prudence’, asking if she was right to feel angry.
Her story went viral after Twitter user @ashuhhleeee_ posted a screenshot of it last week and needless to say, Twitter was fuming on the bride’s behalf.
In the letter, the bride explained that her wedding day had been a long time coming.
“My husband and I started dating, got pregnant, had a child, moved in together, bought a house and got a dog in that order. Our friends and family have asked us for years why we weren’t married yet. We always pushed it off to build better lives. We’ve done really well for ourselves and finally reached a point where we could afford a huge blowout wedding to celebrate our lives with everyone we know and love. My husband’s best friend, ‘John,’ was the best man/officiant,” she said.
“The setting was beautiful, everyone seemed happy, our families were overjoyed. My mum may have used the phrase ‘hallelujah’ a few dozen times. The entire atmosphere felt moving.
“So moving in fact that John stopped mid-ceremony to propose to his longtime girlfriend, ‘Jane’, and reveal her pregnancy.”
Not only did John interrupt the ceremony, he ensured he and Jane became the primary focus throughout the day.
“I couldn’t even hear the vows my husband wrote or the rest of the ceremony over the noise of Jane’s happy sobs, her very surprised family who were also guests and people seated nearby congratulating her. Even the videographer cut to her frequently during the ceremony and you can’t hear anything over the chatter,” the bride explained.
“When John gave his toast, he apologised for being caught up in the moment and then proceeded to talk about he and Jane’s future with nary a mention of us. During the reception John and Jane became the primary focus of our guests.”
To make matters worse, John even requested that the band play a special song for he and Jane to dance to, while the actual bride and groom watched on in despair.
“I am so shocked and angry that I keep asking myself if this is real life,” the bride said.
“My husband hasn’t spoken to John since the wedding and our mutual friends think what he did was rude but that my husband should just get over it. My husband has joked that he’ll resume his friendship when John and Jane give him a $40,000 check for ‘their half of the wedding’.”
The bride finished the letter by asking agony aunt Mallory Ortberg, aka ‘Prudence’, how she should go forward.
Ortberg said the incident “merits a fight” in order to help everyone move forward.
“In between ‘getting over it’ and ‘never speaking to John again’ is the happy medium of ‘having a difficult conversation with a longtime friend who did something selfish and self-absorbed on your wedding day’,” she said.
“He’s your husband’s best friend, so your husband should tell John just how upset his behaviour during your wedding made him.”
But people on Twitter had other suggestions and soon started sharing their brilliant but brutal ideas for revenge.
Moral of the story? Don’t be a dick at other people’s weddings.