A woman shared that her family scolded her for drawing “unneeded” attention to her and her girlfriend by catching the bouquet at a family friend’s wedding.
Sharing her story on Reddit, the woman explained that everyone invited to the wedding was allowed a plus-one, so she brought her girlfriend, despite her family not being too comfortable with her sexuality.
“I’m the only out and proud person in my family (which is large) and my parents make a habit of not telling people about it. When I put my girlfriend down as a plus-one my parents let the bride know to ‘avoid surprises’ as a gay couple can take attention away from the bride apparently,” she wrote via Reddit.
“Well, at the actual wedding (which was great), a lot of people were friendly as I did some free photography as a gift. At the reception another photographer took over and I spent time with my girlfriend which meant we were getting a lot of dirty/scandalized looks for dancing and sharing food,” she continued.
At one point during the ceremony, the woman’s parents asked her and her partner to step away from the dance floor because the groom’s relatives were “upset” that two women were dancing together.
“During the reception the bride got up on the DJ stage and said she was going to do another bouquet toss for all of her guests, and both me and my girlfriend got in the crowd as she wanted as many people as possible to participate. I’d been taking some photos closer to the stage for fun as she got up there so we were close to the front,” she recalled.
The woman ended up catching the bouquet. She noted that since she and her girlfriend had only been together for a few months, it was a “fun thing” and nothing serious.
However, the woman’s sister and her sister’s boyfriend confronted her, telling her she pulled a “d–k move” by drawing “so much attention” to her and her girlfriend by catching the bouquet.
“She had been talking to some other guests our age who had been making some comments about how our parents must be happy that at least she is going to give them grandkids and that I must’ve embarrassed them all by making such a scene. My parents later said the same thing had been said to them,” she continued, adding that her family felt she went “too far” and caused a scene by catching the bridal bouquet.
In the comments section, Reddit users rallied behind the woman, with many slamming her family for not accepting her for who she is.
“At my cousin’s wedding, her 6 year old niece caught the bouquet. There is nothing that says you have to be seriously considering marriage to try and catch it. The homophobic folks can get over themselves. The bride and groom had no problems with you two being there,” one person wrote.
“Why is the blame always on the queer person for existing, and never on the obnoxious bigots who make a huge fuss over nothing and bring all the negativity??” another chimed in.
“Unfortunately your family is homophobic and I would distance myself if I were you,” someone else recommended.