When Evie\u2019s best friend\u2019s wedding rolls around, she wants nothing more than to be a part of Jade\u2019s big day. But as the wedding dawns, rumors about Evie\u2019s husband, James, begin to fly around \u2014 including the fact that he\u2019s been uninvited. What secrets lurk between the rumors? And more importantly, are they true?Jade and I had been friends for years. As kids, our families lived across the road from each other \u2014 so we had grown up together. From diapers to high school, we were inseparable. And when college came around, we did the long-distance thing.\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be friends until we\u2019re old and gray and knitting scarves for our grandchildren,\u201d Jade would always say. And I believed her, especially because she made a concerted effort to keep up with our friendship. Even when I got married four years ago \u2014 Jade shared the Maid of Honor spot with my sister and was part and parcel of the entire experience.Now, Jade\u2019s wedding is a few days away, and I\u2019m a bridesmaid. Because we had been such close friends for so many years, she had invited my family to share in the joy of her big day. \u201cEveryone?\u201d I asked her, making sure she knew what she was doing. \u201cEveryone!\u201d she confirmed, giggling. \u201cThey\u2019ve all been a part of my life since we were just kids, Evie. Especially your grandmother! Remember all the toasted cheese sandwiches she made me over the years? That was the best comfort food I\u2019ve ever eaten.\u201dThe closer we got to the wedding, the other bridesmaids took over their duties leading up to the day. I was in charge of the big bridal party dinner a week before the wedding.\u201dMatthew and I don\u2019t want to do the traditional bachelor and bachelorette parties, Evie,\u201d Jade said. \u201cWe want something more classy.\u201d I sat down with her and took notes \u2014 Jade was stubborn; she knew exactly what she wanted, and if I wasn\u2019t paying attention to her, I would mess it up.\u201dTell me what type of event you\u2019d like,\u201d I said.\n
\u201cJust something elegant. But also cozy. A dinner with plenty of drinks flowing.\u201d \u201cAnd the guests?\u201d I asked, jotting down notes. \u201cJust the bridal party,\u201d Jade said. \u201cBut no parents, because Matthew will hold back on having fun if they\u2019re around. He doesn\u2019t enjoy himself because he thinks that if he shows himself having fun, my parents wouldn\u2019t respect him.\u201dThat sounded absolutely absurd. But Matthew was a scientist, and he was strange. He was perfect for Jade, but he could be rather rigid. \u201cHe\u2019s not like James,\u201d she sniggered. I didn\u2019t know what my husband had to do with it. But I did know that Jade had a love-hate relationship with James. Jade would love him on certain days, and they would get along like a house on fire, but there were also other days when she would simply be polite to him.The dinner went off without a hitch. Jade looked incredible in a white dress \u2014 with white dresses being the theme for the events leading up to the wedding. We all partied the night away, reminiscing about the past \u2014 while a tipsy Jade sent my husband to get s\u2019more ingredients from the 24\/7 supermarket.\n
\u201cPlease, James,\u201d she said, hanging onto my arm. \u201cPlease can you get the bride-to-be some chocolate and marshmallows?\u201dMy husband, who had been drinking himself, eventually gave in and called a cab to take him to the supermarket. \u201cI\u2019ll be back soon,\u201d he said.When James returned, the s\u2019mores were made to satisfy Jade\u2019s cravings under the night sky. Everything was perfect.Then, something changed, and suddenly, I was left to wonder if Jade valued our friendship or not. Two days before the wedding \u2014 I sat at home with a cup of coffee, thinking about calling Jade. I remembered my nerves had kicked in around that time. I loved my husband and I couldn\u2019t wait to marry him \u2014 but the problem was that I hated being the center of attention. \u201cHey, Jade,\u201d I said when she answered. \u201cI just wanted to say congratulations again! And that I cannot wait to see you at the end of the aisle.\u201dJade chuckled.\n
\u201cThank you so much!\u201d she gushed, breaking away to talk to someone in the background. \u201cListen, Evie,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile you\u2019re here, I have one thing to ask you.\u201d \u201cAnything!\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s apparently written in the bridesmaid constitution that I have to do everything you ask. Without question.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m glad you think that,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause this is really important to me.\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d I asked her, wanting her to just spit it out. \u201cPlease don\u2019t bring James to the wedding. Please,\u201d she pleaded.Why wouldn\u2019t my husband be at the wedding? My entire family was going to be there. \u201cWhat? Why?\u201d I exclaimed, spilling my coffee. \u201cUm, Evie,\u201d she stammered. \u201cOh wait! I need to run.\u201d With that, Jade cut the call. I didn\u2019t understand any of it. Why would my husband not be invited to the wedding? Especially because Jade had been the one who introduced us in the first place. And she had played a pivotal role in our wedding.My mind was racing. I didn\u2019t understand where Jade was coming from.\n
All I knew was that my chest had gotten heavy, and I was starting to feel anxious. Because I was alone at home, I decided to take a bubble bath and calm my nerves. We did have a pre-wedding event later that day \u2014 all the bridesmaids were getting together to have our nails done, with Jade deciding on the colors and patterns.I had been looking forward to it all week because it meant some time-out for myself, and also \u2014 I enjoyed just chatting with the girls. But after our phone call, I didn\u2019t know whether to go.Had something happened between James and Jade? My husband would never do that to me, especially with my best friend. I decided to pluck up the courage and drove to the nail salon to meet the other bridesmaids. Everyone was sitting around, sipping on mimosas.\n
Jade wasn\u2019t there. \u201cWhere\u2019s Jade?\u201d I asked Whitney, her cousin, as I sat down. \u201cNo clue,\u201d she said, putting her phone away. \u201cAnd how are you holding up, Evie?\u201d What does that mean? I thought to myself.\u201dI\u2019m fine, why?\u201d I replied. \u201cWell, I heard that James had been uninvited to the wedding,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know if you would still be a part of the party when you heard.\u201d\u201dWhat?\u201d I exploded. \u201cWhy? What did James do?\u201d Whitney turned toward me, her eyes wide. \u201cYou didn\u2019t know?\u201d \u201cJade called me this morning and told me not to bring him, but I didn\u2019t know what it was about. I was hoping to see her here and clarify it.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll tell you what I know,\u201d she said.Apparently, Jade had been disparaging my husband behind our backs, claiming that he was unsuitable for me. And that she didn\u2019t want him there to ruin her perfect day. \u201cShe said that James drinks a lot, too,\u201d Whitney said.\n
\u201cDoes he have a problem? Because Jade said that she didn\u2019t want him to make a scene and embarrass everyone.\u201d I was floored. I couldn\u2019t believe what I had just heard. It made absolutely no sense to me. Jade was the one who had been a tipsy mess at the dinner, demanding that my husband go and sort out her cravings. \u201cI\u2019m here!\u201d Jade said, walking through the door of the nail salon.I confronted her, demanding the truth amid the hurtful rumors that were clearly going around. Jade denied it all and claimed that everything was a misunderstanding, but the damage was done. Despite her assurances, the trust between us had fractured. That evening at home, James and I ate pizza on the couch and I told him everything that had happened. \u201cI don\u2019t get it, love,\u201d he said. \u201cJade has issues.\u201dI couldn\u2019t disagree. \u201cDid anything happen?\u201d I asked James, hoping that my husband would be open and honest with me.\u201dDuring the s\u2019more incident, she said that she wished that her relationship with Matthew was more like ours. That\u2019s it. I think she was embarrassed when she realized what she had said. That\u2019s about it.\u201d All of this just because of a drunken thought? I was absolutely puzzled. In the end, I went to Jade\u2019s wedding by myself \u2014 it was a decision that weighed heavily on me. But James had encouraged me to do it.\n
\u201cI know you\u2019re hurt,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you should go. At least go for the years of friendship that you guys shared. It\u2019s important, Evie.\u201d I wore one of my own dresses, discarding the role of bridesmaid. Jade knew exactly what she had done. She should be grateful that I was at her wedding at all.\u201dBesides, your entire family is invited,\u201d James said. \u201cGo and gossip about people\u2019s outfits with your gran.\u201d It was a beautiful ceremony, and although our friendship was on a steady decline, I was glad that Jade had found her person. Even if she wanted him to be a bit more like my husband. Reflecting on the situation, I\u2019m left trying to understand the dynamics of friendship and the pain of feeling betrayed by someone you thought knew you better than anyone else. After the wedding, James picked me up and we went for ice cream and waffles.\u201dAre you glad you went?\u201d he asked me.\u201dI\u2019m glad it\u2019s over,\u201d I said. Even now, I\u2019m not sure if I was referring to the wedding or our friendship.What would you have done?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My Best Friend Asked Me Not to Bring My Husband to Her Wedding \u2013 Soon I Discovered the Reason, Which Broke Me When Evie\u2019s best friend\u2019s wedding rolls around, she wants nothing more than to be a part of Jade\u2019s big day. But as the wedding dawns, rumors about Evie\u2019s husband, James, begin to fly\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":79087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/16-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendstitch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}