When late-night talk host Jimmy Fallon asked viewers to share their best wedding fails, the Internet did not disappoint. Hundreds of people weighed in on Twitter with their own wedding day traumas, & some were pretty cringe-worthy.
But one anecdote in particular took the (wedding) cake in terms of most awkward wedding fail. And not only did it undoubtedly win the “best wedding fail” category, but probably won the Internet, too- for the goldmine of comedic responses to the original tweet.
A woman’s tweet about her own “wedding fail” story went viral on Twitter after she revealed her mother-in-law’s head-scratching choice of dress to wear to her son’s wedding.
Twitter user Amy Pennza (@AmyPennza) responded to Jimmy Fallon’s request for wedding fail anecdotes by explaining that her soon-to-be mother-in-law opted to wear a white dress to their wedding. Not just any white dress, either- a white wedding dress.
The tweet also included a picture of the epic fail, which quickly went viral as it sparked a hilarious trail of hysteria on Twitter.
My mother-in-law wore a wedding dress to my wedding. So, yeah, top that one, Twitter. #weddingfail @jimmyfallon pic.twitter.com/IjqvnXT6Ps
— Amy Pennza (@AmyPennza) June 19, 2019
Um, can we say AWKWARD???!!! It’s probably a move straight from the “mother-in-law from hell” playbook:
“Establish dominance by wearing wedding dress to wedding. Be sure to stand next to her, engaging in direct eye contact with future daughter-in-law while doing so. Bonus points if the camera crew gets the shot so it will never be forgotten.”
As any civilized person knows, wearing white to a wedding -unless, of course, you’re the bride- is a big fashion don’t. It’s an unspoken rule that doing so is tantamount to stealing the bride’s thunder on her special day (and likely ruining your son’s chances of having a happy marriage by traumatizing his bride on her wedding day…).
So while Amy’s picture clearly illustrated the aggressive fashion affront, her audience was abruptly left hanging, and they wanted to know: what.happened.next??
What followed is what Twitter is best known for: a crazy-train of comments that are truly comedy gold. If you’re not accustomed to Twitter, think of it like the bar gang from the classic TV show Cheers, only with more hilarity & dysfunction.
Simply put, Twitter NEEDED the ‘deets from Amy- what happened next, girl??
Some users politely asked that she share more info:
Hi Amy, hope you’re having a great day. We’re all interested in hearing the story on how to this came to be, if you and your husband are still married and if not, how long was the marriage and did you cuss her ass out. We’re patiently waiting, thanks. pic.twitter.com/DbHgSsBaR4
— Audrey Brooks (@Mickey1Fan) June 19, 2019
Others were more blunt about it:
Listen, I’m camping on this tweet. I want to hear everything. pic.twitter.com/dOkK9YzXr5
— Nollz?? (@Nollz2025) June 19, 2019
It was really hard to wait for more details… and wait… and wait…
Everyone sitting in these mentions waiting for the rest of the story pic.twitter.com/4uzHKRI46Z
— Lesego Semenya (@LesDaChef) June 19, 2019
A few commenters offered heartfelt support to Amy while they waited:
Dear Amy, we are currently figuring out carpooling in order to ride over to your house so we can get the full story in person. We shall bring wine and snacks. Thanks.
— Sili – My Mamihood (@SiliRecio) June 19, 2019
But most were just baffled by her mother-in-law’s atrocious decision. Why, Amy, why??
is she for real??? pic.twitter.com/MngMrcJm7o
— rebecca mix revision void (@rebeccarmix) June 19, 2019
One follower was coming for the monster MIL… once she knew who was who in the pic:
She better be the brunette because if the MIL showed up in a strapless gown with a bustle… pic.twitter.com/ZLTgRk9vXF
— Versh (@Vershered) June 19, 2019
Even the tangents were hilarious.
Some followers tried to comprehend the reasoning behind the dress choice; this guy’s take is pretty insightful:
It’s like wearing the jersey of your favorite team to a game, only your favorite team is weddings
— Ryan Kelly (@ryankelly) June 19, 2019
While others imagined how Amy possibly handled it:
— Haley O’Shaughnessy (@HaleyOSomething) June 19, 2019
Or pondered if perhaps she let her loyal bridal crew handle it for her:
My personal favorite response to this wedding insanity?
— Trishh Makes ? Podcasts & Props (@trishhmakes) June 19, 2019
Obviously Twitter kept itself busy while waiting for an update from Amy, but everyone was still hoping that Amy would return to fill in the blanks on this dress disaster. And Amy did indeed return to share the story in full detail, in a thread of tweets
(Spoiler Alert: She did marry him.)
Amy’s explanation was worth the wait; she explained that she hadn’t thought to ask her mother-in-law what she was wearing to the wedding, & was genuinely… shocked… to see her in the white wedding dress:
She walks in. I see it. pic.twitter.com/avuU12yjuq
— Amy Pennza (@AmyPennza) June 20, 2019
She explained in several tweets how awkward it was, & how her bridal party had been hoping that with the busyness of the day, Amy wouldn’t have noticed (fat chance!). There were no confrontations at the wedding, thankfully. Readers were left to assume her mother-in-law is just a horrible monster, until Amy explains her true motivation for wearing the dress.
Here’s the thing: My mother-in-law is extremely frugal. And I don’t mean she just enjoys a good bargain. To understand her, you have to know where she comes from.
— Amy Pennza (@AmyPennza) June 20, 2019
We’re still not loving this wedding dress-wearing witch… until Amy tugs at our heartstrings by sharing her mother-in-law’s extreme childhood poverty & near-starvation.
She describes her MIL’s frugality as a lifelong habit of stretching her resources.
Amy provided numerous examples of her MIL’s frugality.
You can check them out on her Twitter thread, but suffice to say, the whole “wearing a white dress to her son’s wedding” seems in keeping with her lifestyle rather than an intentional dig. It was on sale at a tremendous bargain- she couldn’t pass it up, people!
Yeah, the dress decision was hellishly awkward. I’m still with you on that, but Amy reports that her MIL felt terrible when she realized how inappropriate it was. And despite what we may think, Amy’s MIL isn’t a monster. In fact, she’s pretty damn awesome to Amy & her family:
Dammit, Amy! You’re giving me all the feels for this woman! Amy informed her MIL that she wanted to share the story but checked with her first:
I said I was worried it would hurt her feelings. She waved it off. “Whatever makes me famous.”
While the dress decision definitely wins #bestweddingfail, the Twitter thread wins the Internet. We had fun while checking for Amy’s updates, & when they finally came, they were well worth the wait. Her explanation was:
The closure that we all needed. pic.twitter.com/2Qo6Ezyxa2
— Jennifer ??? (@macgirl3121) June 20, 2019