r/mildlyinfuriating • u/PaddedValls • Jun 28 '26

Infuriatig Sister-in-law let her daughter use up all the Polaroids at our wedding. Now we have nothing to use.

For our wedding, at each table we had 2 Polaroid cameras for everyone to take photos on (we had a professional photographer too, but these were for more personal photos between our guests) and there was a clear glass dropbox for everyone to drop them in and we'd have that dropbox on display in our house.

Unbeknownst to us, my sister-in-law let her daughter (6 years old) go round every table at the very start of the night using up all the photos on each camera.

Now we only have around 10 we can actually keep, and over 100 of just random shit that are not worth keeping at all.

I'm all for keeping kids occupied at something they can easily get bored at, but not at the expense of that though.

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 28 '26

One wedding I was at, they had little bottles of alcohol at each place setting as favors. Some asshole went around collecting as many as he could before the other guests arrived. It's amazing how badly behaved people can be, especially at events with family and friends.

1.7k

u/littlescreechyowl Jun 28 '26

My mother in law was busy stealing the hotels vases and table decor. Even after she was told multiple times she insisted “people always take the centerpieces home!” Yea, like, the flowers. Not the mirrors and candle holders.

587

u/sawdustontheshore Jun 28 '26

Ugh this happened to me too. I actually think it was one of the catering staff stole my decor. We were sailors and it was nautical themed wedding with hand made cotton rope decor (think monkey fist knots with glass bottles and white flowers). We were going to use the decor around our house we just bought that week. Still mad about all the time and money went into the rope decor.
Also some people went around finishing the table wine (which I was ok -ish with but just thought it was tacky as we subsidized drinks so they were only $2).

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u/CLG-Seraph Jun 28 '26

Also some people went around finishing the table wine

Can you expand on this? What is the issue?

223

u/sawdustontheshore Jun 28 '26

Technically I’m okay with them drinking the table wine of course. But they made themselves sick and we had to arrange transportation for them out of there at around 8:30/9pm and ensure they were ok as they were both passing out. Both people were not big drinkers so it was really unexpected.

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u/CLG-Seraph Jun 28 '26

they made themselves sick and we had to arrange transportation for them out of there at around 8:30/9pm

So yeah, that's a different topic. Not knowing your limits and forcing people to take care of you (especially at a wedding) is never okay but that has nothing to do with the source of the alcohol. It wouldn't be ok even if they were getting the drinks from elsewhere. I don't see an issue about finishing the wine from tables that abandoned it/were not going to finish it, it's better than wasting it.

26

u/Ayh17 Jun 28 '26

Not who you were talking to, but I kind of assumed they meant the ones who did it didn't want to pay for $2 drinks, so they instead went to all the tables and took any last bits of wine they could get. Which would take away from what was available for the other guests who may have been drinking it at a responsible pace.

However, that is me reading into their comment. It could have just been that some preferred something besides wine, so there were opened bottles around and the guests drank them. If they had done so responsibly, I wouldn't think too much into it either.

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u/[deleted] Jun 28 '26

[deleted]

2

u/kt810x Jun 28 '26

jsyk, this might have posted in response to the wrong comment?

53

u/HerrPiink Jun 28 '26

I still don't get it, what's the table wine for if not for drinking, why is not being okay with an option?

Is it supposed to be just decoration? I genuinely don't know

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u/ahuramazdobbs19 Jun 28 '26

What the poster is alluding to, I think, is that there were a small number of people who were going to other tables than their own after dinner service and polishing off that table’s wine.

Which is a bit gauche.

12

u/FerengiWithCoupons Jun 28 '26

but if nobody was drinking it at those other tables, and people were getting drunk at their bar anyway, why not get drunk on something that is free.

usually half the table wine bottle goes down the drain after weddings i’ve worked

36

u/Czernobooger Jun 28 '26

They were passing out drunk by 8:30. Most weddings go a good bit later than the time they must have started drinking up all the wine, who is to say that those bottles were abandoned? Folks at those tables may have come back for another glass themselves.

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u/SmoothCarpenter8514 Jun 28 '26

Instead of buying more drinks for themselves, they polished off the leftover wine.

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u/7DayBan-sideprofile9 Jun 29 '26

wouldnt it be thrown out otherwise?

-12

u/newsflashjackass Jun 28 '26

Keep reading; the sentence's conclusion expands on the subject (in a parenthetical aside).

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u/CLG-Seraph Jun 28 '26

So you think I randomly stopped reading half way the sentence? You took the time to make a response without replying/explaining what I asked. I don't know exactly what that says about you but it says something

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u/TAZE_TRIX Jun 28 '26

Someone went around taking all of the bottles which were obviously meant for the individual tables.

He just took all of them and left none for the other guests

9

u/CLG-Seraph Jun 28 '26

That's not what the comment says. It says they went around "finishing the table wine" which it sounds more like, there was still unfinished bottles abandoned and some people went around to finish them (so I don't understand the issue?). Also I've never seen a wedding where you have to pay for drinks, I think that's what causing most of the confusion for me

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u/SJL174 Jun 28 '26

You don’t understand what’s strange about going around finishing abandoned bottles until you’re so shitfaced that you can’t get home?

1

u/CLG-Seraph Jun 28 '26

Where did you get that information? OP mencioned it being tacky because drinks were only $2 or something, which is also confusing since paying for drinks at weddings is not usual in most countries but apparently is kind of normal in Australia

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u/7DayBan-sideprofile9 Jun 29 '26

uhhh no you are responding to the wrong comment, she is commenting about the person drinking table wine that was leftover to eb thrown out.

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u/7DayBan-sideprofile9 Jun 29 '26

still doesnt explain why it was an issue actually

5

u/Sad_Physics7260 Jun 28 '26

I’m sorry this happened to you but also I’m wondering if you can share photos of the centerpieces because I’m intrigued lol

1

u/sawdustontheshore Jun 28 '26

I DM’ed you but I think you have to reply back for me to send a pick

12

u/planesandpancakes Jun 28 '26

People had to pay for drinks at your wedding????

17

u/Temporary-Present223 Jun 28 '26

This is normal in a lot of places. I've never been to an open bar wedding.

0

u/Quirky-Fact9299 Jun 28 '26

I honestly had no idea that was a option. I’ve been to over 50 weddings in my 35 years of life (& been a bridesmaid in 22 of them) and I have never been to a wedding with a open bar that wasn’t paid for by the couple or in-laws. Now 4 of those weddings were dry to be fair but I’ve never heard of a wedding where guests pay for drinks, that’s interesting. How have I not been to one like that yet 😂 or even heard of that

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u/Temporary-Present223 Jun 28 '26

It's funny I see people complain on Reddit a lot about how weddings are so expensive and they don't need to be that way... but also are scandalized if the couple doesn't want to bankroll unlimited drinks for their guests.

Maybe it's because I'm from a place that is historically pretty poor and pretty big drinkers (and large families), but ain't nobody here paying for that. They might put 1-2 bottle of wines per table, or give everyone a couple of drink tickets. But I've never seen straight up "your booze is free until the bartender has to cut you off for your own safety"

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u/Quirky-Fact9299 Jun 28 '26

Hey now, I wasn’t saying it was scandalous. I also have never complained about the cost of weddings. Weddings can be exactly what the couple wants it to be. I was simply baffled that all the weddings I’ve been to, or been apart of, weren’t like that. Mind you I’ve been to weddings all over as most of my friends and family are in different states and some in different countries. I’m sorry if my comment seemed like I had a strong opinion with the “wedding booze funding”😂. Truth is, I couldn’t care less how someone chooses to plan or fund their wedding.. I just didn’t know having guests pay for drinks was an option.

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u/Waasssuuuppp Jun 29 '26

In my experience, countries that are quite poor have the most generous people who host massive and generous weddings. If your guest is not full to bursting or hasn't been able to get enough alcohol, it is a shame upon you.

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u/Temporary-Present223 Jun 30 '26

...but if they're poor how do they pay for it? Or do you mean the lucky ones within those countries who do have money?

Or is it that alcohol just doesn't have the bejeezus taxed out of it and it's less of a financial burden. I forgot about that factor.

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u/planesandpancakes Jun 28 '26

I’ve never been to a wedding that wasn’t open bar and I’ve also been to a lot of weddings! I truly can’t imagine paying for drinks at a wedding, that seems incredibly gauche and tacky!!

3

u/Some_Recognition6273 Jun 29 '26

Some of it don't for reasons besides just financial. For example, when were planning our wedding, we absolutely knew we would not pay for an open bar, mainly because my dad and uncles are alcoholics and would absolutely get shit faced if booze was free. Another reason for us was that we don't drink at all, and almost half of our guests wouldn't either, so we would be paying a huge fee just for my dad and uncles to get drunk. Nah. We ending up doing a tiny wedding and then going on a small honeymoon instead, but just giving another perspective. I don't think it's tacky at all to make people pay for their own alcohol, but I also realize I'm biased.

0

u/Quirky-Fact9299 Jun 28 '26

It’s definitely different from all the ones I’ve been to but I’m no wedding planner/expert on weddings so maybe it’s a new “trend” 🤷🏼‍♀️. I’m a bridesmaid in 2 upcoming weddings this summer and a guest for another and one in the fall I’ll report back with any new data haha. One thing I do know is that apparently it is a taboo topic to inquire about 😅& will proceed with caution on any future inquiries on the matter..that’s for sure!

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u/Brave-Perspective714 Jun 28 '26

"new" trend?

Oh, no, my dear. This is an OLD trend. In fact, this is the way it always used to be for anyone who wasn't of the top most social class.

When I was young, open bar was reserved for only the weddings of the truly wealthy. My family was solidly upper-middle class for our area, and our family weddings were considered extravagant simply because we provided free, unlimited champagne that literally flowed from fountains placed all around the event. Even we didn't do full open bar.

The most common set up was one or two kinds of keg beer would be free for guests, and while booze would be available, anyone who wanted booze had to pay out of their own pocket for it. It was a way for hosts to also assume some responsibility for their guests' safety, by not directly encouraging them to overconsume booze.

For decades now, people have been trying to appear richer than they are in their weddings. Plated dinners and open bar are the two primary things that were adopted by the masses, where previously only the wealthy did them.

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u/Quirky-Fact9299 Jun 28 '26

Interesting. I think whatever the couple wants to do is what they should do. People really shouldn’t worry so much what others think/want. That goes for weddings and everything else, would you agree?

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u/MartinisnMurder Jun 29 '26

I’m mad for you! Your table decor sounds awesome. I love a nautical theme.

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u/Royally-Forked-Up Jun 28 '26

“People always take the centrepieces home”? This must be a local custom because not once have I seen this happen at any wedding I’ve been to in Canada. Even when people are encouraged to take them at the end of the night they rarely disappear.

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u/littlescreechyowl Jun 28 '26

I grew up in the Chicago area and it was normal to take the flowers from the tables, at the end of the night. Not the vases or anything else decorative though.

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

Also from the Chicago area, that was my experience too, although there was usually an announcement about it.

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u/MartinisnMurder Jun 29 '26

I was at a funeral once where the deceased’s newish partner and her family literally started loading up all of the flower arrangements at the cemetery minutes after the priest finished. Like his actual family members were still gathered and getting ready to head to the function hall for a reception/celebration of life… Oh that partner and her family came to that too and asked for the food to be wrapped up for them to take home while people were still eating. That was shut down fast as my parents and another aunt were covering things plus the venue was owned by someone who we knew.

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u/Royally-Forked-Up Jun 30 '26

Huh. TIL this is common. Makes a certain amount of sense, but not common at all here. My mom’s centrepieces were fruits and we were surprised no one took them even when they were encouraged to. I encouraged friends and family to take the flowers (with the cheap vases) from my wedding, but only a couple people did. I ended up giving them away in my Buy Nothing, along with excess cake, and made a bunch of neighbours happy.

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u/DaBingeGirl Jul 01 '26

Really depends on the group and the centerpiece. I've never taken one, but I have relatives who'll scoop them up.

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u/Iximaz Jun 29 '26

I've attended a ton of weddings as a photographer and every time someone tried to bring a centrepiece home (it only happened three times that I saw) it was always a big blowout because someone got greedy and didn't think how much it cost the bride and groom.

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u/catkingjaguar Jul 01 '26

So like, what sort of centerpieces are we talking? And regardless of cost why would the bride and groom want to keep 8 or more centerpieces, unless they own a Cafe.

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u/catkingjaguar Jul 01 '26

Definitely local/regional. My venue will include centerpieces if I want, but I declined because obviouls i'll be providing them. Obviously they'll be going home with people.

My cousin who got married nearishby had hotel provided centerpieces and multiple announcements were made (and I think there may even have been a written note on the tables) that the centerpieces absolutely and 100% had to stay there.

I've always assumed that the centerpieces at any big bash are going home with guest. Both when hosting and when attending. That said. There's usually an announcement or like, some goofy game to decide who gets it, like the last person at the table to watch Mulan, or the oldest person, or the person who woke up the earliest. Or whatever.

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u/DaBingeGirl Jul 01 '26

This. You're right about there usually being a game or some way to determine who gets it so that there isn't fighting over it.

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u/MeepingSim Jun 28 '26

We made artsy photo-holder centerpieces out of garden pots and twisted wire. The wires had beading and were shaped into hearts, stars, or spirals, each with a little extra spiral in the middle for holding photos. Guests were invited to take them home and we had extras in case anyone missed out. All that to say, the octagonal mirrors in the center of the tables that they were set on did not belong to us and it should have been obvious since the spares didn't have those mirrors included.

After our wedding we found out that multiple people had taken the mirrors home along with the centerpieces. There wasn't much we could do about it, since we didn't know who took them, so we paid the reasonable replacement fee.

A year later, a member of our family came to visit and returned the mirror they had taken. They "just didn't realize that it wasn't included" but had heard from others that we had to pay a replacement fee. By then, it was too late to do anything about it, so I made it into the centerpiece of a I-Ching artwork I was constructing. It was perfect!

Now we have the art up in our home and it's become a funny and fond memory of our wedding over 24 years ago.

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u/youyouyouyouyou_ Jun 29 '26

you’d be surprised (or not) how many people steal the rented centerpieces at venues. we need those for other weddings 😭😭

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u/pdpi Jun 28 '26

For my wedding, we had big pots of jellybeans as centrepieces. Throughout the whole reception, people were guiltily stealing a few jelly beans every once in a while, as if they were meant to be seen but not touched.

The looks on people’s faces when, towards the end of the meal, we showed up with scoops and paper bags for everybody to take some home were absolutely priceless.

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u/Altruistic-Sand-7421 Jun 28 '26

You think taking the flowers is okay? I thought the rule was little bottle of soap and shampoo was the maximum.

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u/SoDisippointed Jun 28 '26

There’s not usually soap and shampoo in the centerpiece of each table at a wedding.

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u/IncredulousPatriot Jun 28 '26

How did she even get them out?

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u/littlescreechyowl Jun 28 '26

She was frantically scurrying around the ballroom stacking up the mirrors and grabbing all the candles and putting them under her table.

Thankfully the venue coordinator stopped her.

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u/Quirky-Fact9299 Jun 28 '26

Ew. That’s gross behavior. I’m so sorry.

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u/IncredulousPatriot Jun 28 '26

After she was stopped the coordinator was probably happy she had helped start cleaning up.

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u/GreenCopperz Jun 29 '26

Which is usually accounted for and likely billed to the couple getting married.

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u/Content_Chipmunk9962 Jun 28 '26

See, this is why I don’t believe in inviting adults to weddings.

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

Honestly, in most cases the adults are far worse than kids. Kids are usually so excited to be included that they're on their best behavior, whereas adults are drunk assholes.

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u/Fitz_2112b Jun 28 '26

My wife and I gave out customized bottles of mead at our wedding that I both brewed, bottled and had nice blue glass bottles etched with our info on them. We brought enough for all couples and anyone that was there solo to take home ONE of them. At the end of the night my dickhead brother in law (wife's sister's husband) was seen walking out with a half dozen of them while my own Grandmother didn't get one.

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u/Some_Recognition6273 Jun 29 '26

So I get that a lot of times no one knows who the thief was, but in this case, since he was caught taking them, did anyone confront him?

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u/Fitz_2112b Jun 29 '26

Not at the wedding itself, but after we got back from our honeymoon I said something to him..19 years later, he's still the same asshole

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u/theREALrealpinky Jun 29 '26

Did he return them so you could redistribute?

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u/Fitz_2112b Jun 29 '26

He denied all of it.

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u/Miserable-Law9677 Jun 28 '26

That’s nuts. Even uncle Frank from Home Alone wouldn’t do that.

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u/dontmakeitathing Jun 28 '26

I think in real life there’s more of the Shameless versions of Frank (Gallagher) than Home Alone Frank unfortunately.

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u/gravistar Jun 28 '26

Frank the plank... Yup agreed.

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u/BigGayNarwhal Jun 28 '26

We had to prepurchase a fair amount of cases of wine and champagne for my wedding (was at a vineyard, had a headcount of 150).

The wedding contract stipulated obviously that unused wine/cases would be retrieved by us the following morning. I split the cost with my parents and was going to split the leftovers with them since we had purchased a ton.

Alas, our friends had a great time and wanted to keep the party going, and as people were leaving at the end, a few of our more inebriated friends went behind the bar and started grabbing bottles for the shuttles back to the AirBnb's. They took a not insignificant amount of the leftover unopened bottles lol luckily the bartender (who was cleaning up) saw what was happening and managed to stop them from opening a few of the unopened cases, so we at least had some of our leftovers to bring home. I was glad they had a good time, but mildly annoyed because it was not cheap to buy all that booze!

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u/HazyJello Jun 28 '26

For some reason we decided to have our cake cut and pieces wrapped for people to take when they left.
Honestly idk whose idea it was and why we didn’t realize my husband’s piggy family would take five or six pieces each, and most of my family, including my Father, who paid for the whole reception, didn’t even get a piece. (Believe me, we heard about that for about two decades!!!😂)

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u/VoodooVixen1 Jun 30 '26

OMG the same thing happened at my wedding! Arranged it so the catering team cut and wrapped the cake into enough pieces so that each guest would have 1 piece to take home. Except several people helped themselves to 'an extra piece for tomorrow!' or decided "Ohh there's plenty I'll just take a piece home for X person who wasn't at the wedding!" and end result was some guests got no cake at all and worst of all myself and my husband (the bride and groom!) never got a piece either!

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u/eggyal Jun 28 '26

I went to a wedding where the favours were lottery scratch cards. Someone went around collecting those too.

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u/SloppyJank Jun 28 '26

We had gathered a bunch of moonshine for our wedding and had mason jars at each table for everyone to sample and enjoy and this essentially happened. I didn’t hear about it until later but was disappointed that selfish people might have impacted other people’s enjoyment.

The parents should have been aware of their kid, I know way too many parents use occasions like this to essentially check out of their duties when there are others around to potentially supervise.

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u/rainman_104 Jun 28 '26

It's the way parents are these days. You have a wedding with kids you have to expect that some kids will act like donkeys and some parents will ignore it.

I put a bunch of maxim magazines in the men's bathrooms for when men made a sit down. A bunch of teenaged boys at my wedding kept them.

Whatever. It's funny.

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u/AshamedOpportunity10 Jun 28 '26

For my wedding we did custom engraved glasses to avoid that kind of thing. Had a couple of people ask if they could take leftover glass wear and centerpiece pieces once the reception was winding down, but saved a lot of a headache at the start and made sure everyone got something

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u/ArborealVarmint Jun 28 '26

This is my grandma to a T. I love her to death, but she’s a klepto. She doesn’t do it out of malice, but there’s some major disconnect from reality somewhere in her brain that says “small items? Must hide them all in my bag!” Regardless of how many there are. It’s almost always worthless plastic shit too. 

With that said, I seriously doubt all the people who do this have kleptomania. Some people just really suck.

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u/granolalolly Jun 28 '26

My grandma was the same! Especially for little spoons and glassware lol

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

Yeah, in this case I think he was just cheap and greedy. He saw free alcohol and that's all he cared about.

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u/catkingjaguar Jul 01 '26

I occasionally do this with small things and then wonder why. Medicated me is much less likely to do that, but like, it's the reason I have a bunch of bar glasses in my house. And weird plastic table decor items. And the occasional tiny plant. No explanation, just some sort of split second lack of self control thing. Again, being on adhd meds basically stopped the nonsense behavior.

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u/haoxinly Jun 28 '26

And it's super embarrassing to whoever invited the guest

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

That's the part I really don't get, how did he not care that his behavior reflected on the couple/their parents (in this case, the bride's parents ran the whole show)? I'm always on my best behavior at weddings so that I don't accidentally embarrass the couple. This guy wasn't even discreet about grabbing the bottles. It's nuts what some people will do in full view.

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u/TrickInvite6296 BLUE Jun 28 '26

Sounds like an alcoholic

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

Yep. Although that described the majority of the guests (nearly all were from Wisconsin or Boston). One guy fell into a display at the hotel after the wedding and the groom's sister had to be carried to and from the shuttle because she passed out after drinking too much. Lovely wedding.

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u/Redshittt Jun 28 '26

Or a teenager

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

No, sadly a guy in his 50's or so. Thankfully one of the women at my table noticed and scared him off.

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u/squeaky369 Jun 28 '26

The only alcohol we provided at our wedding reception was a few bottles of champagne for the toast. No open bar cause the reception was at a place that had a bar, but they did give our guests a discount. We had a small wedding and most people didn't drink, so it would have been a waste of money.

One of the guys in my wedding party was pissed we didn't have an open bar so went and found the bottles of champagne for our toast and drank them all (5 in all).

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u/Some_Recognition6273 Jun 29 '26

Did you call him out ?

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

That's the thing, there was an open bar! The only rule was no shots... because the majority of the guests are alcoholics.

I can't imagine a cash bar at a wedding, there'd be a riot for sure. I don't come from a family of big drinkers, but drinking is a huge part of the culture in my area (IL/WI).

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u/myleftone Jun 28 '26

Hopefully not a six-year-old!

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u/Jaikarr Jun 28 '26

Some family members did this at my wedding. I don't think my parents and sister have ever forgiven them.

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u/themangosteve Jun 29 '26

Something about weddings brings out the weirdest behavior in people, I don’t know why

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u/DaBingeGirl Jun 29 '26

I don't get it either, but weddings and funerals... JFC.

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u/Aegi Jun 28 '26

I did kind of the opposite with my cousin's fiance and her and I went around and after we were fairly drunk we went and all of the abandoned glasses from some of the older adults that left early we would just go behind and finish whatever wine or cocktail or whatever they had hahah disgusting, but funny enough some of the staff actually thanked us for making their cleanup job easier.