When the wedding RSVP said “Ladies — please wear white,” guests were baffled. Everyone knows white is for the bride. But when I called David, the groom, the truth spilled out: his fiancée’s mother, Dorothy, planned to wear her own wedding gown to upstage the bride. She’d hijacked other events before — this time, Emily had a plan.

Instead of fighting it, Emily turned the tables. She secretly asked all the women to wear white — gowns, veils, gloves, the works. The goal? Make her mom blend in instead of stand out. Soon, word spread, and every woman in the guest list was digging out old dresses like it was prom night for the divorced and fabulous.

Dorothy arrived in a rhinestone-studded bridal gown with a cathedral-length train, head high — until she saw the sea of white. Her jaw dropped. Her outrage was met with polite coughs and smug smiles. And just as tension peaked, Emily entered in a stunning red-and-gold gown, glowing like a phoenix rising above the drama.

Dorothy didn’t speak the rest of the day. She sat through the ceremony in silence, her “grand moment” completely flattened. When it ended, she left before dessert. But the rest of us? We danced, we laughed, we celebrated Emily — a bride who played chess while her mother tried checkers.