If you've ever been a part of a wedding, you'll know that some soon-to-be-married lovebirds can be a little demanding on their bridal party. But have you ever actually been asked to step down as a bridesmaid?
That's exactly what happened to Courtney Duffy, who recently received an email from her friend, asking her to "relinquish" her bridesmaid duties and send back her outfit, because she appeared to be too busy studying to fulfil her obligations. Luckily for the jilted bridesmaid though, a kindly airline was all-too-happy to help her out in her friendship drama.
It all started when the MBA student at Ivy League school Dartmouth College posted a tweet asking JetBlue Airways to refund her flight cost, attaching an email from bride-to-be 'Alex', who had written to her to axe her from the wedding.
The letter - which many people have labelled as passive-aggressive - read:"Hey! I'm so glad to hear you booked flights! I'm sorry classes are taking such a long time to sort out. I know how hard you're working to be here for the wedding and it means so much to us! I have a massive favour to ask you, though — and this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to ask anyone — but I need to ask you to relinquish your duties as a bridesmaid. Come to the wedding, have a fabulous time, and travel in the time you need to without stressing about anything else!"
It continued:"When I asked you, I was really hoping that you could be a part of this whole thing — the bachelorette trip, at least the weekend, prep and the full night of the event (a Sunday night flight means you won't even be able to be there for the whole wedding) ... the whirlwind nature of what your travel has become just won't work with the duties as a party member. I'm so, so sorry!! Please don't feel you're letting me down, I am asking you to do this. I love you and value your friendship so much and I fully understand the need for you to prioritise school! I want you to be able to focus on that without also worrying about any extra wedding worries."
Just to put the final nail in the friendship's coffin, Alex went on to admit that she was planning on another friend stepping into Courtney's shoes and requested that she send her wedding jumpsuit to the other woman.
"And I know this is incredibly awkward, but there is a possibility that I might be able to have someone else step into the role and assume the duties," she wrote. "Could you please mail the jumpsuit to me? I'll Venmo you the postage and the cost of the jumpsuit — just let me know the total. I know everyone is looking forward to seeing you there! I know I am! And if you'd like to chat on the phone, let me know! I promise we're totally cool! All my love, Alex".
Understandably angry and hurt after receiving the email, Courtney decided that she wouldn't be attending the wedding after all, and tweeted Jet Blue Airways asking for help. However - after reading the tweet, which clinched over 9,000 likes and 1,300 retweets - the low-cost American airline went above and beyond, not only refunding her, but also offering to pay for a future girls' weekend for whenever the two friends decided to patch things up.
Their unexpected gesture shocked the young student - and the rest of Twitter, who of course, all chimed in to give their two cents on the situation. The incident divided people, many of whom encouraged Courtney to say goodbye to the wedding and the friendship.
"Girl, I would have sent that dress overnight. Do you know how lucky you are being asked not to be bothered with a demanding bride? I don't know when it turned into all of this but some brides want their bridesmaids to put out a lot of $ to celebrate their love. Don't look back," wrote Twitter user @globalerica.
Others, however, believed the email was completely reasonable, with a fellow user putting: "There must be some back story that I'm missing because the email request seems reasonable and considerate to me." They were joined by another person, who wrote: "Bridesmaids should be there for the entire wedding festivities. She didn’t disinvite her but just took that extra crap off her plate ... But we only know one side."
To finish things off, Courtney posted a message to all brides and grooms out there, asking them to stay down-to-earth when it came to their nuptials:
So whose side are you on? Do you think the bride was right to axe the absent bridesmaid? Or have we all just witnessed a particularly bad case of Bridezilla bug?
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