Bride Says Her Future MIL Complained About Being Left Out — Then Asked to Wear Champagne Instead of the Family Color

A bride says she spent months trying to include her future mother-in-law in wedding plans because the woman had repeatedly complained about being left out of another family wedding. But after all that effort, her future MIL suddenly asked to ignore the family color plan and wear champagne instead.

The bride explained in a Reddit post that she and her fiancé were getting married in February. His brother had gotten married the previous August, and throughout the year, her future mother-in-law kept thanking her for including her in plans and keeping her in mind for wedding details.

The future MIL had complained that her other daughter-in-law had not told her anything, had not shown her the wedding dress, and had not even communicated what color the family was supposed to wear.

Because of that, the bride tried to be extra thoughtful.

She talked openly with her future MIL about wedding plans. She invited her to come dress shopping out of town. The future MIL came along, saw the dress, and cried happy tears when the bride found it.

But something about the future MIL’s version of the earlier wedding started to feel off.

About a month after her son’s wedding, when the bride invited her future MIL dress shopping, the woman asked her not to mention it to the other daughter-in-law. The reason, according to the bride, was that the other daughter-in-law had invited the future MIL to go dress shopping in Mexico, which was possible because they live in border cities. The future MIL had said no and supposedly stayed home to babysit the other woman’s son instead.

That made the bride wonder if her future MIL had been twisting the story a little — complaining about being excluded when she had actually declined an invitation.

Still, the bride kept trying to include her.

The couple had established months earlier that their wedding colors would be olive green for the groomsmen and bridesmaids and burnt orange for family. The bride said she had discussed this with her future MIL for months, shown her Pinterest boards, and heard her express positive opinions about the look.

The plan was not for every guest to wear certain colors. The wedding party was small, only five people total, and there were seven family members being coordinated. According to the bride, this was normal in their circles because families often wear a certain color to stand out from the general guests.

At one point, the bride FaceTimed her soon-to-be niece to ask her to be a junior bridesmaid. During that call, the future sister-in-law asked what color the girl should wear. The bride explained that the wedding party, including the niece, would wear green, while family would wear orange.

In the background, the bride thought she heard her future MIL ask if she could wear a different color.

But she was not sure if she heard correctly, and because the call was really about asking the niece to be in the wedding, she did not answer. She heard someone say “nevermind,” so she let it go.

Then the future MIL brought it up again.

This time, she told the bride she wanted to wear champagne.

That was the moment the bride started spiraling a little. She did not know how to react, partly because champagne can be close to white or bridal depending on the shade, and partly because the entire situation felt contradictory.

The future MIL had complained so much about being left out of the other wedding’s color and planning details. Now, after being included in this wedding’s details for months, she suddenly wanted to do something different.

The bride said she felt strange and wanted to “crash out.” She started wondering what other stories her future MIL had twisted and whether the woman had presented herself as the victim in the earlier wedding when the truth was more complicated.

In an edit, the bride clarified that what bothered her most was the “switch up.” She admitted that the confusion made her want to dig in harder and insist on the burnt orange, even though she knew that impulse was not exactly kind. Her fiancé had helped choose the colors too, and to them, having family in burnt orange had seemed like a no-brainer.

But commenters did not all see it the same way.

Many agreed that champagne could be too close to white and that the bride was reasonable to be wary of that specific color. But a lot of people also criticized the idea of making family members wear burnt orange if they were not actually in the wedding party.

That response seemed to surprise the bride. She eventually replied to one comment with something close to, “Well, good thing I asked for advice.”

So the conflict became two things at once. The future MIL may have been inconsistent, and champagne may not have been the best choice. But the bride also had to face the fact that some people saw the family color requirement itself as too controlling.

By the end, the issue was not really about whether burnt orange was pretty. It was about expectations. The bride thought she was giving her future MIL the inclusion she had claimed to want. The future MIL seemed to want inclusion, but only on her own terms. And Reddit reminded the bride that sometimes a wedding color plan looks a lot better on a Pinterest board than it does when real people have to buy and wear the clothes.

Commenters were split, but many landed on the same middle ground: champagne was questionable, but burnt orange was not winning many fans either.

Several commenters said the bride was reasonable to veto champagne if it looked too close to white, cream, or bridal. They said she should ask to see the exact dress and have her fiancé handle his mother if the color felt inappropriate.

But a lot of commenters said telling family members what color to wear, especially if they were not in the wedding party, felt controlling. Many joked about burnt orange being a difficult color and said they would not want to buy a dress in that shade.

Others said champagne, beige, or similar tones have historically been common for mothers of the bride or groom, though commenters disagreed sharply on whether that still feels appropriate today.

Some people thought the future MIL was being inconsistent because she had complained about being excluded from the other wedding’s details, then resisted the details she was included in here.

The strongest practical advice was to separate the two issues: say no to anything too close to white, but consider giving family a color range instead of forcing everyone into one exact shade.