AITA for not inviting my sister to my wedding because of her constant pranks?

A bride-to-be shared her decision to exclude her younger sister from her wedding due to her history of elaborate pranks and refusal to promise she’d behave. The sister’s response to being uninvited caused family tension, with their parents accusing the bride of being unreasonable. Read the full story below to judge if her decision was justified.

‘  AITA for not inviting my sister to my wedding because of her constant pranks? ‘

My (28F) sister (26F) has always been the prankster of the family. Growing up, her pranks were mostly harmless, though sometimes annoying. As we got older, her pranks have become more elaborate and public. She once dumped a bucket of water on me at a family BBQ and posted it online.

It was embarrassing, but I laughed it off. Now, I’m getting married in a few months, and the thought of what she might do at my wedding terrifies me. I’ve talked to her about it, asking her to keep things mellow, but her response was, “You’ll just have to wait and see!” This didn’t reassure me at all.

I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I decided not to invite her. When I told her, she exploded and called me a bridezilla. My parents are upset and say I’m tearing the family apart. I feel bad, but I want my wedding day to be about me and my partner, not about what prank my sister might pull. AITA?

Here’s the input from the Reddit crowd:

Much-Jackfruit2599 −  NTA. Declare it a child-free wedding and explain that’s why she isn’t invited. 

gringaellie −  NTA “mom, dad – SISTER is tearing the family apart by threatening to ruin my wedding with a prank. I’ve told her that I don’t enjoy her pranks, that I feel humiliated and embarrassed by them and she won’t even promise not to pull a prank on my wedding day.

Why would I want to risk feeling humiliated and embarrassed on my wedding day? Why does sister not love me enough to ensure I have the perfect day? Why don’t you two love me enough to stand up for me against sister? Do I really mean nothing to you two and sister other than the b**t of her jokes? Is that all I am to you?”

endor-pancakes −  NTA — you made it quite clear you don’t want to wait and see. However, will not inviting her be enough? She sounds crazy enough to try and prank-crash the wedding. If this was me, I’d take care to communicate my absolute intention to involve the police if she does any trespassing or tampering.

Coming from you, she might see this announcement as a challenge, so if you have any third party channels (parents, partners, other siblings) you can trust to deliver this message, it might be more effective.

[Reddit User] −  Your sister is a child and a bully. And SHE is the one creating problems in the family, not you for defending yourself.. NTA

Square-Minimum-6042 −  She will ruin the day one way or another. Either she’ll do one of her silly pranks or you’ll be on edge all day waiting for her to do so. She has a bad habit she should have outgrown long ago. Now come consequences!

cgrobin1 −  She could have assured you she wouldn’t make a scene. She refused, now you cant trust her. Tell your parents to put the blame on immature sister, and not the person who doesn’t want her wedding ruined, You are not tearing the family apart.

They are being the drama queens, by expecting you tolerate her bad behavior and then trying to guilt you about it. What happens after the wedding is up to them and her. If you were to allow her at the wedding at their insistence, and she pulled ANYTHING. it would cause a rift in family, that could never be fixed. And you would never forgive any of them. NTA

lychigo −  After the wedding, tell her “I pranked ya, you were always invited to the wedding!” That said. If you choose to allow her to come, treat her like any other family would treat a bad drunk and have two people stationed to watch her at all times and keep her from you. And keep her phone off. The only reason these nutjobs do pranks anymore is because they want some ridiculous form of online clout.

And or ask your parents “What will you do if she dumps her wine on my dress, or pours water over me as I’m walking down the aisle. I’m trying to ensure that my wedding doesn’t become her joke because she’s not adult enough to attend.”

Lucky-Effective-1564 −  NTA. Your sister is a very silly woman. Her pranks have upset you in the past, why would you think she would behave well on your wedding day. Being uninvited is the result of her past actions.

Have bouncers at your wedding to make sure she can’t just show up. Edit – added: As for the “You’ll just have to wait and see!” comment – why should you have to deal with this childish attitude during your wedding.

TophuPaint −  NTA, Your sister should be able to refrain from pranking you on a day as important and high stress as your weddding. Granted, “keep things mellow” is such a vague statment, when you could have been firm up fromt and communicate she’s not invited if she can’t refrain from pranking you.

Reddit_Butterfly −  In cases like this, families always talk about “compromise” which is their code word for “you need to give in completely and do everything my way”.
One possible compromise here is that you invite her, and pay for a babysitter (ex-army would be good) to keep tabs on her all day. (Better still if they are handcuffed together so she can’t escape haha).

The sister, with her babysitter, needs to sit in the back row at the church and the furthest table at the reception. She would be banned from making any public announcements and not be allowed within 3 metres of the bride at any time. The babysitter’s pay should include a bonus if the wedding concludes without the sister acting out.

Another option is to insist that she can only attend the wedding by signing a legal document stating that she will responsible to pay a fine of $20,000 (or the full cost of the wedding) if she commits a prank. She must agree legally not to misbehave in any way

Even if she then did play a prank, you’d be ahead by getting the house deposit. You also need to make it clear that you would pursue any legal avenues possible (through a civil court if necessary) for any kind of a**ault, destruction of property, public nuisance etc.

Was the bride justified in prioritizing her peace of mind, or did she overreact by not inviting her sister? How would you handle a prankster in such an important event? Share your thoughts and advice below!