AITA for leaving my son’s wedding after he denied his stepmom a mother-son dance?

A Reddit user shares the story of how he left his son Jordan’s wedding after discovering that Jordan denied his stepmom, Natalie, a mother-son dance. Instead, Jordan chose to dance with his aunt, who had been like a mother to him after his biological mother passed away. The father explains how this upset both him and Natalie, leading to their departure from the wedding. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for leaving my son’s wedding after he denied his stepmom a mother-son dance?’

My son “Jordan” is 27. His stepmom “Natalie” came into his life when he was 16. His mom had passed away when he was 13. Jordan never really considered Natalie as his his mom. He refused to let her get close and shut down every attempt to have a close relationship. He even moved in with his aunt months after Natalie and I got married.

As years went by, they started reconciling and seeing each other more often. He invited us to his wedding which took place days ago. We got there and the atmesphere was great, Until later when I found out that Jordan had denied Natalie a mother-son dance and instead chose his aunt to dance with him. Natalie told me this minutes later and I couldn’t help feel irritated and quite upset.

I decided to get up and leave and we both left. I got calls from my family after they saw me leave. And Jordan called later and I told him why I did it. He got mad and said it was his wedding and that his aunt is basically a mother to him and said that Natalie shouldn’t expect “special treatment”.

I said it’s not special treatmrnt but a tradition. Besides that he hurt her feelings for no reason other than for the sake of being malicious. He got offended and accused me of ruining his day and causing a scene. Now the family sided with him and said I shouldn’t have left nomatter what.

Check out how the community responded:

Biera1 −  YTA. Your wife has never been his mother and he has every right to not have a mother/son dance with her. I strongly suspect this isn’t the first time you’ve chosen your wife over your son and is probably why he moved in with his aunt. If you want any kind of relationship with your son going forward, I very much recommend both you and your wife apologise for throwing a tantrum at his wedding.

Key-Bit1208 −  YTA. She was NEVER a mother figure to your son…in fact, he showed you EXACTLY how he felt about her when he MOVED OUT once you moved her into his home. He was kind enough to invite you and your wife to his wedding…but your wife had ZERO right to demand to be treated, in ANY capacity, as the mother of the groom.

She is not a replacement mother to him and your attempts to force that issue will cost you your son, if he hasn’t already reached that point with your terrible behavior at his wedding. Thankfully, he had his aunt, who genuinely loves and cares for him and was willing to support him when you decided that your new wife was more important to you than your son.

Top-Musician-4475 −  Wow. YTA. Way to make your son’s wedding all about you and your wife. You already said that he never considered her his mom, so why in the hell did you expect him to invite her to do something that is traditionally for mothers and sons? For all intents and purposes, his aunt is a hell of a lot more of a mother to him than your wife. You are s**fish, e**itled people. Disgusting, and you should be ashamed.

[Reddit User] −  YTA. I find it so hard to believe you’re so surprised. This woman hasn’t been mom to him. It’s his wedding too. It’s not tradition to dance with your stepmother.

neosituation_unknown −  Extremely huge YTA. A 16 year old is not going to form a new mother relationship. He oughtnto be respectful and civil to your wife but that is the end of his obligation. You are a complete ass for walking out of his wedding

No_Common7843 −  YTA – It’s called the mother-son dance not the father’s wife-son dance

buttercupgrump −  YTA. You made your son’s wedding about your wife. Congrats on destroying your relationship with your son for *tradition*.

Diligent-Activity-70 −  She didn’t raise him for the majority of his childhood – his mother was there for that. It’s reasonable that even if he likes her, he does not see her as his mother because he remembers and misses his mother. The fact that you remarried does not make your new wife his mother and if he didn’t want to dance with her, he didn’t have to. YTA

Apprehensive_Ad_5246 −  YTA. Natalie is just your wife. She is not your son’s mother. It’s not a “tradition” for your son to dance with someone whom he does not consider his mother. Don’t force your personal decisions on someone, especially when it is his wedding day. Also, don’t count on seeing any future grandkids very often, if this is your attitude. You made it clear you value your latest wife more than your son.

LovelyRita999 −  16 is *WAY* too old to expect a kid to treat a new step-mom like a second mother lol, yeah yta

Do you think the father was justified in leaving the wedding, or should he have stayed despite his disappointment? Was Jordan wrong to exclude his stepmom from the mother-son dance, or did he have the right to honor the relationship that meant more to him? Share your thoughts below!