A woman has been defended for getting engaged only a few days after her brother’s wedding.
In a post shared to the popular “Am I The A**hole?” Reddit forum, a recently engaged woman explained that her brother had a “very small destination” wedding ceremony with less than 15 people there. Following the occasion, the woman took a special trip with her partner, where they popped the question.
“My now fiancé and I extended our trip after everyone went home and spent a couple of days exploring the Grand Canyon, a couple hours north of the wedding, where he proposed,” she added.
However, she explained that when she told her brother and now sister-in-law about the engagement, they accused her of “competing” with them. The woman then apologized to the couple individually.
“I realized that [my brother] was advocating for my SIL and that she felt hurt (although I’m truly failing to understand why). I also texted her a separate apology and explained that it was not our intent to encroach and just wanted to share the news with family and that it’s my belief that there’s room for happiness for everyone,” she wrote.
According to the Reddit user, her sister-in-law didn’t respond to her text. However, her brother did respond and he was still unhappy.
“My brother doubled down and said the timing and location were hurtful and that we shouldn’t have planned around the wedding,” she concluded.
The post has quickly gone viral, with more than 10,000 upvotes. In the comments, multiple people came to the newly engaged couple’s defense, saying they didn’t take attention away from someone else’s wedding day.
“While doing this at his wedding/reception would be wrong, your brother does NOT own the month or even the week AFTER the wedding! Your timing was fine,” one wrote.
“Your brother needs to calm down. The bride gets a day, her one wedding day. She does not get a location, a week, or anything else. She gets her wedding. That is all. You did not encroach,” another added.
Others agreed that the woman and her fiancé got engaged at an appropriate time, while they also criticized her brother for his behavior.
“You didn’t do it at the wedding or during any after ceremony festivities. You extended your trip and it happened after when everyone had left. Your SIL and brother had their day. Life does not pause for everyone else after their SINGLE DAY! That’s the craziest reason to be pissed at someone,” one person commented.
“And I can see you’re trying valiantly to understand, but I’m not sure your brother or his wife will be able to give you a good reason for their reaction. Because their reaction is WILD!” another added. “The fact that you and your fiancé got engaged a few days after their wedding before you flew home….is a totally different thing. Also, the level of hostility in that message from your brother is nasty and definitely not normal. I’m so sorry that he treats you like that.”
