THE WEDDING FIASCO

The wedding collapsed so badly that the maid of honor's boyfriend ended up rescuing it, one cheesecake and wrinkled linen at a time.

In July, the narrator's "best friend" of 23 years announced her engagement and asked her to be maid of honor. The narrator agreed, even though the friendship no longer felt especially close. Then planning started, and the cracks showed fast. The bride, known as S, wanted everything done exactly her way, but on a tiny budget. She chose her LDS church gym for the reception, called it "hideous," and still pushed for expensive decor she didn't want to pay for.

By August, the narrator stepped back from planning because S was too demanding. She still agreed to help with setup the day before the wedding, and she threw a bridal shower with help from S's cousin. But the closer the date got, the less had actually been done. Invitations went out only three weeks before the wedding. S planned for 250 guests. And there would be no real meal, just cheesecakes and wedding sheet cake.

The day before the wedding, S asked the narrator and her boyfriend to show up at 7 a.m. expecting a full crew. Instead, only the couple and S's fiancé appeared. The boyfriend got to work on tables while S spiraled, changing her mind constantly. Then came the real inventory: cheap decorations still packed in a tote, Shein linens unopened and unpressed, and a long list of things still needed, garlands, pumpkins, tea lights, tablecloths, napkins, even the bouquet.

The boyfriend took over. He went to Costco for cheesecakes, flowers, ribbon, and floral pins. When S kept asking to search for specific flowers, including irises, he shut it down. As she later texted, "we are doing all white. Text us the flowers you hate so we can avoid them. Bye we gotta move fast!" The answer back was blunt: "Nope! We arent changing it. This orientation is beautiful and you will love it."

While the narrator and her boyfriend built the bouquet, cut cheesecakes, and assembled pipe and drape, S's family got pulled into the scramble too. Her mom and sister helped briefly, then got dragged into cake pickup and laundry drama. The family discovered S didn't even own an iron. That night turned into a marathon of ironing and steaming, with the narrator, her mom, S's disabled sister, and S's 80-year-old mother all working on wedding linens.

The chaos didn't stop there. S forgot her bouquet in the church fridge and called the next morning for the narrator to unlock the church so she could get it. Then she asked the narrator and her boyfriend to arrive two hours early at the reception, manage the food table, cut and plate dessert, refresh water, and finish setup. They brought servingware from home; the narrator's mom lent water dispensers.

At the reception, the boyfriend and narrator were effectively unpaid cater waiters. S arrived late. The guest book had been forgotten. The photographer kept guests waiting. When the leftovers were being packed up, S wanted to take home every last cheesecake and cake slice, but the boyfriend boxed some for the narrator's family and coworkers instead.

After S left for the Anniversary Inn, the narrator, boyfriend, family, and ward members cleaned the church, took down the decor, and packed everything away. Many people thanked them, including S's mom and the fiancé's family. The narrator said it felt like she had catered the wedding against her will.

By the end, the whole thing looked exactly like the mess it was: dollar-store decorations, wrinkly teal Shein linens, teal-and-orange pumpkin cake decor, and a church gym filled with only about 100 of the 250 invited guests.