Is proposing at a wedding acceptable? Best man does exactly that - and more

The first rule of being a wedding guest? Never upstage the bride and groom.

The internet has flown into a fury after reading one woman’s completely appalling account of her big day. Basically, her husband’s best friend “John” proposed to his girlfriend during their ceremony, then announced she was pregnant, then proceeded to hijack the wedding and make it all about them.

Writing to Slate‘s ‘Dear Prudence’ advice column, the anonymous bride asked whether the incident was worth ending their friendship over. “I am so shocked and angry that I keep asking myself if this is real life,” she wrote.

Slate reader Ashley Eaton was so shocked by John’s behaviour, she shared the story on Twitter and – needless to say – it quickly went viral.

The bride begins by explaining how her and husband had been saving for their wedding day for years.

“My husband and I started dating, got pregnant, had a child, moved in together, bought a house and got a dog in that order,” she wrote. “Our friends and family have asked us for years why we weren’t married yet. We always pushed it off to build better lives. We’ve done really well for ourselves and finally reached a point where we could afford a huge blowout wedding to celebrate our lives with everyone we know and love. My husband’s best friend, ‘John,’ was the best man/officiant.

“The setting was beautiful, everyone seemed happy, our families were overjoyed. My mum may have used the phrase ‘hallelujah’ a few dozen times. The entire atmosphere felt moving. So moving in fact that John stopped mid-ceremony to propose to his longtime girlfriend, ‘Jane’, and reveal her pregnancy.”

“I couldn’t even hear the vows my husband wrote or the rest of the ceremony over the noise of Jane’s happy sobs, her very surprised family who were also guests, and people seated nearby congratulating her,” the bride continued.

“Even the videographer cut to her frequently during the ceremony, and you can’t hear anything over the chatter. When John gave his toast, he apologised for being caught up in the moment, and then proceeded to talk about he and Jane’s future with nary a mention of us. During the reception John and Jane became the primary focus of our guests. John even went out of his way to ask the band for a special dance for just him and Jane on the dance floor.

“I’ve never been an attention hog, and I wouldn’t even have minded if he’d proposed after the ceremony, but weeks later I am still seething. I am so shocked and angry that I keep asking myself if this is real life. My husband hasn’t spoken to John since the wedding, and our mutual friends think what he did was rude but that my husband should just get over it. My husband has joked that he’ll resume his friendship when John and Jane give him a £31,000 ($40,000) check for “their half of the wedding.”

Hundreds of Twitter users have jumped to the bride and groom’s defence, with some even suggesting some very elaborate revenge plots for John and Jane’s upcoming wedding.

Maybe this is why Pippa Middleton enforced a controversial ‘no ring, no bring’ policy at her wedding this year…?

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