Bride faces backlash from neighbourhood after leaving note warning campers away from forest wedding
‘This would make me want to camp. And I hate camping,’ one person wrote of bride’s ‘passive-aggressive’ note
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Your support makes all the difference.A bride has found herself embroiled in controversy after a note she left in a camping area warning others away from her wedding angered others intent on using the outdoor space.
Earlier this month, a photo of the unidentified bride-to-be’s note was circulated on Reddit, where the OP [original poster], who goes by the username @wet_leaves, described her as a “bridezilla”.
“Bridezilla calls passive aggressive dibs on a public use area in my neighbourhood where we all walk, atv, and camp. No permit, no contact info, no restrooms or trash facilities, and definitely not enough woods for a 50-plus person blowout,” the caption read, along with a photo of the note.
The note, which was attached to a tree in the Alaska camping area, read: “Friday and Saturday, June 18th and 19th, we will be hosting our wedding ceremony and reception. Please do not camp here! We have an entire guest list arriving for the weekend to celebrate so if you decide to anyway we will set up around you and do it anyway.
“Make sure you have a gift and a dish for the BBQ. PS this will be a loud music and late-night type of weekend so if you’re here expect that there will be 50-plus of us. Thank you for understanding.”
The passive-aggressive demand, which was posted in the Reddit subreddit Wedding Shaming, prompted a range of angry responses, with many dismayed by the woman’s entitlement.
“This would make me want to camp. And I hate camping,” one person commented, while another said: “I suddenly have a very strong desire to host an obnoxious musical festival right in this very spot.”
Others encouraged the poster to report the woman to local authorities or park rangers, with the OP noting in response: “They have been reported to multiple agencies but we’re in a remote enough area that nobody cares.”
However, according to an update posted by the Reddit user, those living in the neighbourhood decided to take matters into their own hands by creating their own signs in response.
One of the laminated notes, glued on top of the original and shared by the Reddit user, read: “Hey congrats on your upcoming wedding but your plan to host a ton of people and play ‘loud music’ for two days is NOT going to work for the residents of this area.
“Also where do you plan to park all these cars? AND where will you be going to the bathroom and cleaning up after yourselves? WE ALL suggest you relocate asap somewhere else where you won’t be causing a nuisance for our neighbourhood folks, and if not, don’t be surprised to have the troopers pay a visit because they WILL be summoned and cars WILL be towed at your expense.”
Another note posted in response to the bride warned the party of another event that would interfere with the wedding, with the paper informing them that “there’s a teenage boy campout and family photoshoot this weekend,” before encouraging the wedding party to “go away”.
The backlash over the note eventually prompted a response from the bride, according to the OP, who shared a screenshot of a Facebook status reportedly written by the woman.
In the post, she wrote: “I am the woman who’s having the wedding. I in no way wanted to offend the community. My sign was in an effort to detour punk kids trying to party. I can assure the community that we will not be a disturbance and that we will not leave a mess.
The woman then described herself and her guests as “forever Alaskans” and “avid campers,” before revealing that she “never in a million years thought the community would uproar”.
According to the bride, she chose the area because it is “a beautiful public area we adore,” adding that she also planned to contact local troopers in the morning to make sure they are aware of the event.
The bride-to-be also assured those angered by her note that she and her wedding party would leave the area “better than they found it,” before including her contact info for any of those still concerned.
In the Facebook post, the woman then reiterated that she had only posted the note in the area because she was “afraid of drug addicts and party animals”.
“I apologise to anyone insulted and provoked. I’ve learned my lesson and I’m extremely grateful this community cares about their surroundings enough to be concerned,” she continued. “I’m so sorry for all the confusion, we just want to enjoy our peaceful ceremony with our family.”
Despite the apology, many believed that the bride was still wrong for her handling of the situation, with one person commenting: “The absolute sense of entitlement to a public space... Outrageous. I’d set up camp right there for that alone.”
According to the OP, prior to the day of the wedding, they drove by and saw some tents, before ultimately concluding that the entire situation was “blown out of proportion” and that the issue was the bride’s “tone-deaf” note.
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