Woman's Story About Her Mother-In-Law Wearing A Literal Wedding Dress To Her Wedding Actually Has A Positive Ending
There is no shortage of wedding day horror stories on the internet, but one Twitter user just took the (wedding) cake with her viral story about her mother-in-law showing up to her wedding in a wedding dress of her own.
@AmyPennza originally threw out the incendiary tweet in response to a prompt from Jimmy Fallon asking his fans for their best #WeddingFails.
It’s Hashtags time! Tag a tweet with #WeddingFail and then tell us a funny or weird story from a wedding you were at. Could be on the show!— jimmy fallon (@jimmy fallon) 1560868823.0
And Amy certainly delivered, asking Twitter to "top that" along with an image for proof.
And, yikes!
My mother-in-law wore a wedding dress to my wedding. So, yeah, top that one, Twitter. #weddingfail @jimmyfallon https://t.co/IjqvnXT6Ps— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560960497.0
The tension in that picture is palpable, and people were having a field day with it:
@AmyPennza @jimmyfallon Is your fist balled? LMAO...if not, it should've been? JFC...that's some cold ass game right there.— CJ Baldwin (@CJ Baldwin) 1560988521.0
@AmyPennza @jimmyfallon https://t.co/FhG7k1deBt— Haley O'Shaughnessy (@Haley O'Shaughnessy) 1560974287.0
@AmyPennza @jimmyfallon Oh my goodness! I've seen mother-in-laws wear black but never a wedding dress. That takes the cake.— Tammy (@Tammy) 1560965357.0
But the internet wanted all the deets, not just the teaser.
@AmyPennza @jimmyfallon GIIIIIIIRRRRRLLLLLL! You cannot just drop a bomb like this and then walk off. It’s called a… https://t.co/FGEf6Gus3R— Alexandria Ashley (@Alexandria Ashley) 1561002152.0
@AmyPennza @jimmyfallon Hi Amy, hope you’re having a great day. We’re all interested in hearing the story on how to… https://t.co/WQJIs6j5EB— Audrey Brooks (@Audrey Brooks) 1560974178.0
@AmyPennza @jimmyfallon I'm ready to throw hands 😭😭 What was she thinking?! Her hair is even in an updo! I-🤮 I need the FULL story 😭— ReamogetsweMthethwa (@ReamogetsweMthethwa) 1560969102.0
So, after some prodding, Amy revealed the rest of her story.
And it's a doozy.
So, a couple people have asked for the story behind The Dress. Sorry for the delay! I have four kids (yes, I marrie… https://t.co/liJtrnGIMi— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990712.0
I didn't know what my mother-in-law planned to wear. I didn't think to ask. https://t.co/Gq6p2E50Gx— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990715.0
The morning of the wedding, all the women in the bridal party cram into a tiny room in the church. You know, body g… https://t.co/fekpFzzln1— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990715.0
She walks in. I see it. https://t.co/avuU12yjuq— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990719.0
Amy somehow managed to show some incredible restraint upon seeing the dress.
I don't remember much about the day. Most people say their wedding is a blur, and that's true for me, too. But I kn… https://t.co/0jqjjJ0yAK— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990719.0
Later, my sister (matron of honor) said she didn't pull me aside and talk about it because she hoped I was too dist… https://t.co/C7aYtbgqGg— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990720.0
But secretly, they both spent the reception looking at me, then each other, then MIL, then me, then the cop the ven… https://t.co/VK5MpEPAHi— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990720.0
I'm happy to report the wedding unfolded without bloodshed, or anyone being shoved into the champagne fountain.— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990721.0
And for anyone looking to make the mother-in-law a villain, Amy shed some light on her mother-in-law's background that's actually pretty heartbreaking.
Here's the thing: My mother-in-law is extremely frugal. And I don't mean she just enjoys a good bargain. To underst… https://t.co/vm3dFcSiPg— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990721.0
She grew up in extreme poverty. As a child, she used to sneak into the kitchen and eat match heads. That's a pica c… https://t.co/iPIL9zIdoU— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990722.0
When you grow up with nothing, it stays with you. Forever, I think. No matter how much money you earn, there's alwa… https://t.co/HVvv2md6A6— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990722.0
But her upbringing didn't make her hard. Or cruel. Or selfish.— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990723.0
Amy shared some of the ways her mother-in-law is frugal, including taking vegetables out of Bloody Marys to save for salads, painting her glasses red with nail polish to look more like Sally Jesse Raphael back in the day, and regularly filling up a water bottle she keeps in her purse with leftover water from eating out at restaurants.
So her dress choice for the wedding really came as no surprise.
So when she spotted The Dress at an incredible bargain, she couldn't turn it down. If you ask her now, she says she feels terrible about it.— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990727.0
Although, she also told me, "I think I've still got it. We should raffle it off."— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560990728.0
But just because she likes to save a buck doesn't mean she doesn't have a giving spirit, as Amy points out.
She's frugal. But she's also incredibly generous. When my twins were newborns, she drove across town every night, s… https://t.co/4FJ1LsN4Xa— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560991507.0
So, yeah, the wedding dress was a shock. But it gave me a pretty funny memory. No one who attended has ever forgott… https://t.co/xHqSAQhbrr— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560991510.0
Sure, she wore a wedding dress to my wedding. But she has more than made up for it since. When I told her about thi… https://t.co/hepAauL5oS— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560992195.0
And, because I'm a romance author, I'd be remiss if I didn't add: And they lived happily ever after. https://t.co/E8oCQnzb6a— Amy Pennza (@Amy Pennza) 1560992197.0
So it sounds like all was forgiven, and everything worked out in the end.
People were actually kind of shocked.
@AmyPennza Unexpectedly wholesome conclusion— Snuffles (@Snuffles) 1560991882.0
@AmyPennza I’m verklempt https://t.co/1usWQ2lvLz— LDMichaelis (@LDMichaelis) 1560996282.0
@AmyPennza This reply was worth the wait and I do believe you hit the MIL jackpot. 💕— Bernie Lane (@Bernie Lane) 1560991809.0
@ya_habbibi @AmyPennza Yes! These examples humanized her MIL lovingly, I came here expecting sumn else. I have a fa… https://t.co/BkAdY7X2JS— joy adjacent (@joy adjacent) 1560992939.0
Not everyone is as forgiving as Amy, though.
@AmyPennza @iSmashFizzle It's a great ending but I'm still kinda mad tho... https://t.co/kmCXbZfnjB— Lesly (@Lesly) 1560995206.0
@leslysimmons @AmyPennza @iSmashFizzle Same 😂 like no matter how frugal you are you KNOW wearing a wedding dress to… https://t.co/3vcNifK8gL— sierra kazmirski (@sierra kazmirski) 1560995781.0
Which begs the question: How do you think you would've reacted?
If you're a mother-in-law or a daughter-in-law with a difficult relationship, help is available. The book Reluctantly Related: Secrets To Getting Along With Your Mother-in-Law or Daughter-in-Law, available here, offers strategies to help maintain the peace.