There's a time and a place for complete, brutal honesty, and weddings probably aren't the best occasions to dredge up past indiscretions.
However, as many a best man's speech can attest, old skeletons can come out of the closet at such times, regardless of whether the newlyweds are happy about it or not.
One sibling has apparently taken this tradition to the next level of awkwardness, actually going as far as to bring up their brother's affair as a 'joke' during a speech they'd been asked to give before the assembled wedding party.
The sibling - whose gender is unknown - claims their brother was so infuriated by their outburst that they actually booted them out of the wedding reception.
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Taking to Reddit, the sibling explained: "When I was in elementary (primary) school, I was the type of kid who got 'disrupts class often' on their report card so I never focused much on school.
"My district had this system where they would pair high schoolers with younger kids to help them with school etc. and my mum made me do that after I kept getting in trouble.
"So my tutor was a freshman ('Abby') and she would come to our house after school to help me with my homework or something (I barely remember)".
Their brother John* was the same age as Abby, and so it was that the pair ended up chatting, getting on, and eventually dating. Abby only tutored the poster for about a month but, as she was over at their house a lot, they would also talk plenty and became close.
Ten years on, John and Abby were married with a child of their own. But sadly, this didn't end in a happily ever after, with the pair divorcing five years later after John met somebody new.
The poster - who goes by the username u/throwra2433 - wrote: "It sucked because I liked John and Abby together a lot but whatever. Then he tells me he had an affair with his new girlfriend.
"Also sucks and I told him he shouldn't have hurt Abby like that but whatever. I also asked Abby how she was doing and she wasn't doing well but she told me she didn't want that to be the reason I have a bad relationship with my brother".
To make matters worse, two months before the wedding, Abby contacted the unnamed sibling to inform them that John's new wife-to-be had been "harassing her nonstop".
They recalled: "She showed me the texts and his girlfriend was saying some pretty disturbing things about how she's so much better than Abby, taunting Abby for having to share custody of her kid now, etc. Just making fun of her and bullying her.
"I told my brother about this and he said he would 'ask his girlfriend about it'. A month later I ask him if he ever brought it up and he said he did but saw 'nothing wrong' with the texts which p****d me off (I confirmed that he saw the same texts I saw)".
Abby later apologised for involving the concerned sibling in the dispute and encouraged them to still attend the wedding, where their brother had already asked them to make a speech.
The poster continued: "The speech went well until I made a joke. The gist of the joke was me turning to his new wife and telling her that if she's learned anything from this she should know that my brother 'will never let his wife stop him from finding the love of his life'".
At this point, their brother and his new wife were "really mad", kicking them out shortly after the speech. Ever since their furious brother has been calling and texting them nonstop to yell at them, and they've begun to wonder whether they might have taken things a bit too far.
One fellow Reddit user wrote: "If I was attending that wedding I would have laughed my a** off! Sometimes being an a**hole is appropriate. Not all heroes wear capes.
Another joked: "Yeah it was a really great joke and all, but he didn’t think this through. He's shot himself in the foot though. He’s set a high bar and now has to find a way to top that before his brother’s next wedding".
Do you have an awkward wedding story to share? We pay for stories. Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
