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Woman Breaks Engagement After Fiancé Says He Loves His Mom The Most, His Family Goes Ballistic
Woman looking upset and deep in thought while resting on a soft pillow, reflecting on family dress shopping conflict.

Woman Breaks Engagement After Fiancé Says He Loves His Mom The Most, His Family Goes Ballistic

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Forget “something borrowed, something blue”—this bride got stuck with something stolen: her choice.

A few days ago, Reddit user Sad_Highlight31 described how her fiancé’s family excluded her from dress shopping, and when she expressed her disappointment about it, they outright said that her opinion didn’t matter.

The groom’s mother declared the gown was about her son, not her, and to make things worse, her fiancé sided with his mom, insisting the bride needs to apologize if she wants to keep the peace.

RELATED:

    This woman thought she had met the love of her life

    Couple holding hands and smiling outdoors, highlighting man lashing out at fiancée over family dress shopping issue.

    Image credits: Dax Dexter Delada / Pexels (not the actual photo)

    But when the couple began to plan their wedding, her hopes for a happily ever after began dwindling

    Alt text: Text about man lashing out at fiancée after his family went dress shopping without her, showing relationship conflict context.

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    Text excerpt about a man proposing marriage and involving parents, highlighting family and fiancée relationship issues.

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    Two women examining white floral lace wedding dresses while dress shopping without the man’s fiancée present.

    Image credits: Los Muertos Crew / Pexels (not the actual photo)

    Text discussing cultural wedding dress shopping traditions and family excluding fiancée from dress shopping.

    Text excerpt expressing frustration about being excluded from dress shopping and wanting to be included on a big day.

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    Text excerpt showing a man lashing out at fiancée after his family went dress shopping without her, causing upset.

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    Young woman crying with eyes closed, upset and emotional during a conflict involving dress shopping and family tension.

    Image credits: Alena Darmel / Pexels (not the actual photo)

    Text from a story about a man lashing out at his fiancée after his family went dress shopping without her.

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    Man lashes out at fiancée after family goes dress shopping without her, causing tension and emotional upset.

    Text excerpt showing a fiancée upset after man’s family went dress shopping without her, causing conflict.

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    Middle-aged woman looking upset while checking her phone, reflecting tension related to dress shopping with family.

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    Image credits: Greta Hoffman / Pexels (not the actual photo)

    Text excerpt about a man lashing out at fiancée over family's dress shopping without her, causing upset.

    Text about a man lashing out at his fiancée after his family went dress shopping without her, causing upset.

    Text expressing confusion about marrying a man who prioritizes his mom and expects getting along with her.

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    Young woman looking upset and contemplative, resting on a soft blanket, reflecting on dress shopping conflict with family.

    Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo) 

    Text showing a stressed man writing about feeling overwhelmed after his fiancée got upset over family dress shopping without her.

    Text showing points about relationship challenges and doubts, with focus on family and love issues causing conflict and upset feelings.

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    Text excerpt discussing family priorities and managing a mother’s tantrums in a relationship conflict.

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    Text showing a man lashing out at fiancée after his family went dress shopping without her, causing upset feelings.

    Image credits: Sad_Highlight31

    Image credits: Natasha Fernandez / Pexels (not the actual photo)

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    Wedding planning  is often stressful

    Preparing for your big day involves a lot of exciting steps, but the whole experience can also take a toll on you.

    According to a 2023 Zola survey of more than 4,000 engaged couples, more than half (52 percent) of them described wedding planning as “stressful,” while six in ten (59 percent) went even further and used the word “overwhelming” to summarize the process.

    Only six percent said that they weren’t stressed, meaning that nine in ten (94 percent) of the population feel some sort of version of this emotion while executing the vision for their nuptials.

    There are many different sources of wedding-planning stress that can affect couples, like budgeting, figuring out who to invite (and who to put on the B-list), selecting the perfect attire to wear, and so on.

    Meeting the families is also on that list.

    Image credits:  Ron Lach / Pexels (not the actual photo)

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    A mom and son’s love is hard to beat

    The connection between the woman’s (former) fiancé and his mom is undeniable. “Couples often come together with a feeling of newly discovered love, but the passionate and absorbing bond with a parent is the infant’s first experience of loving, and of being one person of a loving pair,” psychologist Terri Apter, Ph.D., says.

    “Though romantic relationships are very different from ‘blood’ relationships, the biochemistry and neural signals that bond infant and parent are the very same ones used to bond us to a mate. The parent/infant pair in many ways behaves like lovers. A mother and baby lock together in a mutual gaze, each looking back to the other looking at her—an activity called ‘eye love,’ which is also practiced by romantic lovers as they gaze at each other in mutual admiration.”

    This early intimacy leaves a legacy that impacts every subsequent intimate attachment, including marriage.

    “Though it is often said that the family is in decline, the bond between parent and child (and grandchild) remains as strong and as enduring as ever,” adds Apter, author of Difficult Mothers: Understanding and Overcoming Their Power.

    According to the psychologist, a parent-in-law may be loving, but this love is rarely unconditional. Their conspicuous and continual assessment of a son’s or daughter’s spouse, combined with internal vulnerability (“How will my child’s marriage impact my special relationship?”), form the bedrock of conflicts between in-laws.

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    “The person who wants to be both a loyal spouse and a loyal son or daughter can experience a dilemma that can rock a marriage to its roots, and this is one reason it is important to understand the intricacies of in-law relationships,” Apter explains.

    People who read the woman’s story have been saying she should call off the wedding

    Screenshot of a forum comment advising to cut ties as man lashes out at fiancée after family dress shopping without her.

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    Man lashes out at fiancée over dress shopping, causing upset and conflict with his family before wedding decisions.

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    Comment text discussing signs of trouble and love bombing in a relationship, expressing concern about difficult marriage.

    Comment discussing groom's family choosing bride's dress, causing tension with fiancée and highlighting family conflict.

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    Comment discussing man lashing out at fiancée over family dress shopping without her, highlighting relationship conflict.

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    Online comment expressing concerns over a man lashing out at fiancée after family dress shopping without her.

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    Commenter warns about worsening relationship as man lashes out at fiancée after family dress shopping without her.

    Screenshot of an online comment discussing family conflict and tension involving a man, his fiancée, and his mother-in-law.

    Comment expressing concerns about being treated like a second class citizen by a man’s family after marriage.

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    Reddit comment urging someone to leave a relationship, highlighting it’s better to be single than in a harmful one.

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    Comment warning about marrying a man who lashes out at fiancée over family dress shopping without her.

    Comment on man lashing out at fiancée as his family went dress shopping without her, causing upset.

    Soon after, the woman released an update on her situation, saying that’s exactly what she wants to do

    Sad woman looking out of window upset after man lashes out at fiancée over family dress shopping issue

    Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)

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    Text excerpt explaining cultural expectations of obeying parents and South Asian background in a relationship conflict context.

    Man lashes out at fiancée upset that his family went dress shopping without her, causing relationship tension.

    Man lashes out at fiancée after family goes dress shopping without her, causing upset and tension between them.

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    Man lashes out at fiancée upset over family going dress shopping without her, causing relationship tension.

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    Text excerpt describing a man prioritizing his family over his fiancée, causing tension and upset feelings.

    Man with arms crossed, wearing a blue shirt, showing frustration related to family dress shopping without fiancée.

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    And everyone seemed very supportive of her

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    Comment discussing conflict between man, fiancée, and his family about dress shopping and prioritizing mother over fiancée.

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    Comment warning about mother-in-law encouraging abuse, advising caution before marriage and to avoid falling for love bombing.

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    Comment discussing tense family dynamics and issues between fiancée and in-laws after dress shopping without her.

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    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Writer, Senior Writer

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    Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Rokas Laurinavičius

    Writer, Senior Writer

    Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

    Indrė Lukošiūtė

    Indrė Lukošiūtė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

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    I am a Visual editor at Bored Panda, I'm determined to find the most interesting and the best quality images for each post that I do. On my free time I like to unwind by doing some yoga, watching all kinds of movies/tv shows, playing video and board games or just simply hanging out with my cat

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    Indrė Lukošiūtė

    Indrė Lukošiūtė

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    I am a Visual editor at Bored Panda, I'm determined to find the most interesting and the best quality images for each post that I do. On my free time I like to unwind by doing some yoga, watching all kinds of movies/tv shows, playing video and board games or just simply hanging out with my cat

    What do you think ?
    Raya
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Even before getting to the update I already knew it was a story of south Asian Muslims 😭

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    as a south asian (not a muslim, tho), yep the story at the beginning was pretty telling of the culture.

    Load More Replies...
    Cee Cee
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thank goodness the OP has her father supporting her. Village and city in this culture find it hard to reconcile. I think it unusual the man is from a village and the OP the city. This marriage will bring nothing but misery to the OP. I hope she doesn't go forward with this.

    Raya
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I agree! One of my friends, a city girl, is dating a village boy. She wants to marry him and they’re already having issues, because he doesn’t want to give up his way of life and she doesn’t want to give up hers. She’s too blinded by love to see it won’t work out (imo), so I’ll just have to let it take its course and pray she doesn’t go forward with the marriage, because like you said, I fear it will just cause misery. Not to say it can’t be done, but it is an extremely taxing and difficult thing to build one uniformed life together (particularly in this culture) when the backgrounds are so different. It requires so much compromise and sacrifices that most couples just aren’t willing to do the sacrifice part but still want to be together

    Load More Replies...
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    Jaya
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "I couldn't believe that came out of his mouth, because clearly he never was like this, not even for once". Girl, you didn't even know him, you met him only 2 months ago, he didn't even have a chance to show who he was yet. I feel so horrible for everyone who lives in a culture where you're expected to get married so soon. It's a recipe for disaster, a couple of people will get lucky but so many people will marry the wrong person and have an unhappy or unfulfilling marriage.

    Julia H
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    💯 he was wife hunting and on good behavior

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    Raya
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Even before getting to the update I already knew it was a story of south Asian Muslims 😭

    Stardrop
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    as a south asian (not a muslim, tho), yep the story at the beginning was pretty telling of the culture.

    Load More Replies...
    Cee Cee
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thank goodness the OP has her father supporting her. Village and city in this culture find it hard to reconcile. I think it unusual the man is from a village and the OP the city. This marriage will bring nothing but misery to the OP. I hope she doesn't go forward with this.

    Raya
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I agree! One of my friends, a city girl, is dating a village boy. She wants to marry him and they’re already having issues, because he doesn’t want to give up his way of life and she doesn’t want to give up hers. She’s too blinded by love to see it won’t work out (imo), so I’ll just have to let it take its course and pray she doesn’t go forward with the marriage, because like you said, I fear it will just cause misery. Not to say it can’t be done, but it is an extremely taxing and difficult thing to build one uniformed life together (particularly in this culture) when the backgrounds are so different. It requires so much compromise and sacrifices that most couples just aren’t willing to do the sacrifice part but still want to be together

    Load More Replies...
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    Jaya
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "I couldn't believe that came out of his mouth, because clearly he never was like this, not even for once". Girl, you didn't even know him, you met him only 2 months ago, he didn't even have a chance to show who he was yet. I feel so horrible for everyone who lives in a culture where you're expected to get married so soon. It's a recipe for disaster, a couple of people will get lucky but so many people will marry the wrong person and have an unhappy or unfulfilling marriage.

    Julia H
    Community Member
    2 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    💯 he was wife hunting and on good behavior

    Load More Replies...
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