No Need To Be A B-Word About The W-Word

I’m at a bridal shower. At the entrance, we were all given a scrunchie with the instructions that if we hear anyone say “wedding”, we take their scrunchie. The person with the most scrunchies at the end will win a prize. The mother of the groom is there with her two teenage daughters. I’ve met them a couple of times, but I don’t know them very well. [Mother] keeps telling everyone who will listen that she has spent A FORTUNE on the wedding.

Mother: “Oh, my gosh, the caterer was $17,000! I couldn’t believe it! I said, ‘[Son], if this is what you want for your wedding—’”

Daughter: *Grinning* “Mom, give me your scrunchie.”

Mother: “What? Why?”

Daughter: “You said the W-word.”

She puts her hand out, but her mother swats her away.

Mother: “Don’t be stupid. I’m not playing right now.”

Daughter: “But Mom—”

Mother: “Go somewhere else. I’m talking.”

The girls leave the table. [Mother] is still talking about how much she has spent, even though everyone around her is uncomfortable. 

Mother: “I just couldn’t believe it! Her dress— Did you see her dress? When I got married, my wedding dress was $800. Hers is over $8,000!”

Man At The Table: “I’ll take your scrunchie, thank you!”

Mother: “That’s just a stupid game. Nobody is actually playing. Even the bride thought it was dumb.”

The bride is standing nearby and turns toward us. She comes over, and removes the scrunchie from [Mother]’s wrist, and gives it to the man.

Bride: “It is a stupid game, but it’s also fun.”

Man At The Table: “Actually, it should go to [Daughter] since [Mother] said the W-word before, too.”

Bride: “Okay!”

She took the scrunchie and gave it to the girl. [Mother] stopped talking and got into her phone. [Daughter] actually won the “stupid game” and got a $100 gift card as a prize.