AITA: Bride gets Internet support as she refuses to include cousin’s girlfriend in family photos

The internet has overwhelmingly supported a bride who excluded her cousin's new girlfriend from family photos during her wedding. The scenario was shared by original poster (OP), Extreme-Arugula-5282, on Reddit's popular 'Am I The A**hole' forum.

The post received more than thousands of upvotes and hundreds of comments from users chiming in with their opinions.

Bride excludes cousin's new girlfriend from wedding photos

In the post titled "AITA for excluding the only +1 at our wedding (NEW gf) from the family photos? She’s pissed," OP explains that her wedding, held over a year ago, was a small, intimate gathering with a strict "no +1s" policy. She wanted the event to focus on bonding between family members visiting from different countries.

She explained, "Our wedding was 1+ year ago, and very classy, and small- there wasn’t a person there who we aren’t related to by blood or marriage. We decided against +1 guests and instead, put a lot of money into making the night an incredible bonding experience. Both of our families are from different countries, visiting the US. Our family members who live state-side were also there, and this issue involves one of them."

However, a month before the wedding, OP’s third cousin, who had just started dating someone new, pushed to have his girlfriend attend. Despite OP’s clear "no" and an explanation of their reasoning, the cousin persisted. Ultimately, OP made an exception due to a family tragedy, deciding it might be a good opportunity for the girlfriend to meet relatives.

The OP shared, "A few days later, I get a TEXT from my cousin essentially pleading for her to be able to come. Says she will keep a “low profile” and will bring her own food- THESE ARE IMPORTANT DETAILS FOR LATER. The writing didn’t sound like him- I’m convinced it was her, from his phone."

"About 4 days after our text interaction, a family member passes away. We were (are) very heartbroken but to cope with the grief, at one point I joked about how “there was room for my cousins GF now, if she wanted to eat the meal they had chosen”. This is exactly what happened. I don’t know why I exactly came to the decision, but I figured “what’s the worst that can happen” and it would be a good excuse for his GF to meet visiting family members from across the world."

On the wedding day, OP noticed the girlfriend in an outfit described as "a Lakers purple Poster Girl micro dress with fishnet cutouts on the sides" and a plunging neckline.

OP had already instructed the photographer to kindly exclude the girlfriend from family group photos, which she believed were significant mementos of her family. However, OP also arranged for the couple to have individual shots to soften the situation.

"A couple of days before the wedding I reached out to my photographer and asked that she request for the GF to remove herself from frame in the family photos if she felt that it was appropriate for her include herself. These photos are a big deal. I DO request that the photographer get individual shots of us and them, and give them a little mini shoot for fun- I did kind of feel bad."

When the photographer asked the girlfriend to step out of frame during family photos, it caused tension. OP notes that she later received backlash from the cousin and his girlfriend, who felt the exclusion was unfair and disrespectful.

"They ended up with 25+ photos of them together & alone. The day of the wedding I saw my cousin and GF floating around the ceremony venue. She looked nice, with a large fur shawl covering her entire midsection. I didn’t think about it again. Walking down the aisle, I get a look of the outfit. It was a Lakers purple Poster girl micro dress, with fishnet cutouts on the side. Later that night, I saw that the plunge went down below her bellybutton. Photo time came, and the photographer sweetly requested for her to move out of frame. I couldn’t tell you if they got a photo of her in the group prior to asking, That’s it. That’s literally, it. AITA?"

Redditors weigh in after bride excludes cousin's new girlfriend from family picture

The post sparked lively debate, with many Redditors defending the OP.

One user wrote, “NTA. You were clear about your guest list. It’s your wedding, and you have every right to make decisions about who is included in photos. She wasn’t even supposed to be there in the first place.”

Another commented, “Not at all, not remotely, not in any way in any world are you TA…for not having your cousin’s new girlfriend in your wedding pictures. The fact that she was trying to invite herself and that she was incredibly inappropriately dressed say a lot about her but are beside the point here."

Some users took aim at the girlfriend's outfit, with one writing, "NTA. The gf sounds mega insecure. She can’t go 1 night or a couple days without seeing the guy? And then to show up in a tacky outfit? That screams “Look at me! I need attention!”

“NTA she was a new girl friend not a long term girlfriend not fiance not a wife. She didn’t need to be in family photos," a user said.

Others criticized the cousin: “Your cousin is the real AH for bringing her dressed like that."

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