A bride-to-be has shared her frustration after her future mother-in-law made an unexpected comment about her appearance in a wedding dress.

In a recent post shared on the popular Reddit forum “Wedding Drama,” the bride claimed her fiancé’s mother told her to “lose weight,” ahead of the wedding next year.

The woman, who’s been dating her partner for seven years, said that while she’s not “super close” to her fiancé’s family, she’s always felt welcomed and accepted by them. She recalled how she recently went shopping for her wedding dress for the first time and invited her future mother-in-law, who ultimately couldn’t come.

“I felt beautiful in the dresses, took lots of photos, and was excited to share them,” she wrote. “On my way home, [my future mother-in-law] texted asking if I liked anything, so I sent her the pictures.”

“She picked a favorite, saying it looks best on me, but then added, ‘Plus you’ll lose a few pounds so that it looks better,’” the post continued.

The soon-to-be bride noted that she’s never mentioned that she wanted to lose weight, and that she’s “maintaining a healthy lifestyle for health reasons, not for size.”

“Her comment really hurt, especially since she’s always been kind before,” the Reddit user added. “I know older generations often mean well, but having struggled with body image growing up, it felt like she was saying I wasn’t pretty enough as I am.”

She shared that when she confided in her fiancé about the incident, he struggled to understand why the comment had upset her.

“While he’s always supportive and never critical of my body, I think he misunderstood and thought I was upset about needing to lose weight. He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll step up our gym routine and be in great shape by then,’” she said, adding that his remark “upset” her even more, and she asked him for his opinion about her appearance.

“When I asked if he thought I was overweight, he said no, but stayed silent when I asked why we needed to ‘step up’ at all,” she continued.

She clarified that she didn’t want him to confront his mother or “demand an apology” from her. Instead, she needed him to reassure her and say she didn’t “have to lose weight to be beautiful.” However, he instead “unconditionally doubled down.”

In the comments, many people defended the bride. They also urged her to tell her fiancé how the comment about her weight made her feel, and criticized his mother.

“I almost wonder if my future mother-in-law and fiancé just assumed she would want to lose weight because a lot of brides (especially in future mother-in-law’s generation) did, and do, before their weddings. A completely toxic tradition, in my humble opinion. And they should both apologize,” one wrote.

“I’m pretty sure your fiancé has complained to his mum about your weight. She is doing his bidding. And he is pretending to misunderstand,” another person claimed, “I wouldn't let it go if it was me. You need to nip this in the bud or this will be the rest of your life. Not to mention any daughters you have, too.”

“It’s possible that in the pictures, the dresses didn’t show to their best advantage because they weren’t fitted exactly to you, or you may have needed a bra with better support, etc,” a third wrote. If [your fiancé] thinks you need to lose a few pounds and is conveying his message through his mother, that’s a pretty lousy thing to do. You’ll have to ask him why he can’t be honest with you. To be married to someone you can’t trust is hell. Believe me, I speak from experience.

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