Without attempting to place myself in the position of wedding ethics guru,

I feel compelled to point out extreme examples of Bridezilla-itis.

One of my bridesmaids is the maid of honor in someone else’s summer wedding, which is hurtling toward her and her bank account at warp speed.

The bride has decided that she wants a Jack and Jill wedding shower, where EVERYONE invited to the wedding is also invited to the shower. Do the math and it comes up to be the price of a small wedding. Since the maid of honor is responsible for throwing the bridal shower, the expense and aggravation has landed squarely on her shoulders.

She’s made attempts to get the bridal party together, and they’ve balked at spending a minimum of $250 each for a bridal shower. There was a lot of brainstorming, a lot of talk about who could make what and an some kvetching about how much the bride expected.

However, my friend’s tale of woe doesn’t stop there. She then talked to the bride, who informed her that she didn’t want paper plates or a “backyard barbecue ghetto shower.” She also didn’t want a VFW (ghetto), a sheet cake (ghetto) or paper napkins (ghetto). She also expected a DJ and a wedding cake. I believe it was here that her head spun around and she spewed pea soup all over everyone.

Even more aggravating, rather than the bridal party talking to each other and calmly sitting down and talking to the bride, everyone is complaining only to each other, so nothing really changes.

Brides, take a lesson from this:

1. Your bridal party has limited funds. They’re already paying a lot to be in your wedding. Go easy on them.

2. By the time your ranting and raving like a lunatic and screaming, “They must eat wedding cake,” everyone will be too afraid of you to tell you you’re acting like a nut. So, it’s up to you to rein in your own behavior.

 3. When the wedding is over, it’s good to still have some friends left.