Here Comes the Drama with Christa Innis

Money Fights, Fake Promises, and a Forgetful DJ with Cassie Horrell

• Christa Innis • Season 1 • Episode 20

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What do you do when your DJ forgets the first dance and narrates the cake cutting like it’s a football game?

Christa and Cassie are back with some jaw-dropping stories from the wedding trenches! This episode dives into vendor red flags, social media pressure, and one mother-in-law so toxic, the entire wedding had a shocking surprise! From aisle music glitches to guest list drama, it’s a cautionary tale and a comedy of errors.

Plus: how to stand firm when everyone has an opinion, why comparison will kill your joy, and what to do when your wedding no longer feels like your own.

Join me on Patreon and get bonus content every month! 

Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments

  • The DJ Debacle – Cassie shares an awkward, cringey moment where a DJ forgot the first dance... then asked the couple for the song in front of their guests.
  • Narrating the Cake Cutting?! – When a DJ goes full sportscaster, it’s not the vibe—Christa and Cassie relive a moment that made the whole room cringe.
  • MIL Drama That Killed the Wedding – A real listener story: secret recordings, family feuds, and a mom who refused to take responsibility.
  • Ghosted by the Music – Another wedding, another music fail—this time with a mysteriously silent aisle walk that left the bride shaken.
  • Elopement vs. Expectations – When family opinions derail your plans, Christa and Cassie talk about how to take the wheel back.

About Cassie

Cassie Horrell is a seasoned wedding planner and event coordinator known for her ability to handle even the most unpredictable wedding day chaos with humor and grace. With years of experience in the industry, Cassie has seen it all—from heartwarming moments to jaw-dropping disasters—and she’s not afraid to spill the tea. She’s passionate about helping couples navigate the stress of wedding planning, set boundaries with overbearing family members, and create a day that feels authentically theirs. Whether it’s dodging last-minute guest list surprises or dealing with wedding etiquette debates, Cassie brings expertise, real talk, and a whole lot of laughs.

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Your stories make Here Comes the Drama what it is! Share your unforgettable wedding tales, hilarious mishaps, or unbelievable moments with us. Whether it’s a wild confession or a story worth a skit, we can’t wait to hear it.

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A Team Dklutr Production

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Christa Innis: Hey guys. Welcome back to another episode of Here Comes The Drama. We have another great episode for you today, but first, in case you missed it, next week is the official launch of my book. Here comes the drama of Ferris and Sloan story. If you're not on my email list, go ahead and get on there. Now you can get part one.

For free sent right to your inbox, and I cannot wait for you guys to read the book. I'm so excited. But anyways, today's episode, I'm very excited because we have Cassie Harrell back, better known as Wedding Pro Casts. We share some more crazy wedding stories, hot takes, and of course confessions. She has some crazy stories of our own being so deep in the wedding industry.

 so without further ado, let's just jump right into this week's episode. Enjoy.

Hi, Cassie. Welcome back to the show. 

Cassie Horrell: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited. 

Christa Innis: I felt like such an announcer when I said that. Welcome back to the show. I was just saying before I started recording, so many people, like all the time in the comments are like, we need a Cassie and Christa collab. Like they just loved seeing you on the episode.

And so it's always fun to connect and I feel like we had a great time hanging out last time. 

Cassie Horrell: Yes, we did. And I feel like we have similar audiences, so people are like rooting for us to do a collab and I'm like, 

Christa Innis: here we are. Yes, here it is. I know. So I was like, you know what? We gotta have you come back on and like talk some more wedding stuff.

'cause your story last time, still, it was funny, it was one of those where like I always like listen them back through, obviously before they go out and I was still like, cracking up. and I had my husband listen and he was like, dying at the story. He's like, that's not where I thought the story was gonna go.

Cassie Horrell: No, it was a, heartwarming but unexpected grandma. 

Christa Innis: Yes. Oh my gosh. I love it. yeah, for anyone that has not listened to the other episode with Cassie, please go back and listen to that one. That was episode 10. it's a good one for sure. So before we get into it, can you just reintroduce yourself or anyone that didn't hear the last episode or just.

Doesn't know about you yet. Yeah, 

Cassie Horrell: my name's Cassie. Most of the internet knows me as Wedding Pro casts. I've been in the industry for about 12 years now. doing all things wedding. I've worked in probably every capacity of a wedding from venue side to planning to luxury catering, so I got to see a lot behind the scenes and helped couples plan an all.

Different cultures and budget levels, which is amazing. currently I'm the director of events at the History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I own a mobile bar, clink 92, that serves weddings in Ohio and Pennsylvania. And then I also do personal planning, where I have clients all over the world.

Planning their weddings and then I assist them virtually as well with, virtual support, one-on-one consultation. So I live, eat, breathe weddings. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, you are busy. I'm like tired. Just hearing all of that. Gosh. So, and last time we talked too, you were writing some children's books too, like what's the update on that?

Yes. So they have 

Cassie Horrell: been written, they have been illustrated and I'm just figuring out how I want to launch them. I mean, you're in a book launch as well, so the process is fun and you have to navigate like the ups and downs. To me, I just wanna make sure when I bring it forward and I launch it, that it's exactly what I want, so.

I've asked my nieces to illustrate some of the books, so kind of getting those parts in with the other illustrator I work with. It will all come together and I'm hoping June is when these will be out and ready to go. but I'll definitely share more once I know. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh, awesome. I was just telling my husband about that too.

'cause I was like, that is such a cool, book idea too. 'cause I feel like when we were asking our nieces and nephews to be in the wedding, like there were some stuff out there, but I love the idea of a book and that's such a cute way, especially encouraging them to read and like, I feel like there's just, it's a good memento too.

Cassie Horrell: Yes, and I think it's the mom in me I have a three-year-old, so he's always reading books and to me, I'm like, I definitely wanna write a children's book. It's always been on my bucket list, so why not combine something I'm passionate with? I. 

the children's book, and it's special because one of my nieces that's drawing for the book was my flower girl.

Christa Innis: Oh. So 

Cassie Horrell: I'm like, it kind of is like a full circle moment since it's about asking your flower girl ring barrier, your little people to be in your wedding. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. I love that. Oh my gosh. She's gonna like remember that forever that she was an artist in a book. Like how cool is that? Yeah, I love that. Let's get into the beginning of crazy stories and hot takes. I know you, we talked about, you shared a really heartwarming and surprising story last time. So what story do you have for us today? 

Cassie Horrell: I'm going to share a story. I. About one of the most cringe worthy moments I've seen at a wedding and it deals with a dj.

Christa Innis: Oh God. 

Cassie Horrell: So it's kind of a long-winded story, but I'll try to get through it quickly. 

Christa Innis: I'm gonna dive right in. So this was probably, I don't know, three or four years into my career. I've always been like an over communicator when it comes to working with vendors, especially when you work on the venue side.

Cassie Horrell: So before the wedding day, I had reached out to this DJ one month out and then seven days out, and the DJ was so communicative, like a surprise. Sometimes vendors are so busy they don't get back to you, but this vendor was great. No red flags. He's responding to my emails, he's asking great questions. So the day of the wedding comes, shows up on time Green flags all over. I'm like, this day's gonna be great. This dj, I'd never worked with him before. However. He's been great so far, so I had no worries at all. once he was settled, I go over and I always like to go through one more time the timeline, because sometimes couples and their last week make a slight change that they may not have relayed to me like, oh, we're actually gonna do the motherson dance before the father-daughter dance, and mm-hmm.

And so they may have told their DJ that, but maybe they didn't tell me that. 

Christa Innis: So. I go over to the DJ and I'm like, Hey, Mr. Dj, this is my timeline. I just wanna make sure that yours looks exactly the same and there hasn't been any changes. He's like, 100% we're on the same page. I'm like, this is great.

Cassie Horrell: I then go over all the key songs. So I'm going over the Processional music, the Recessional songs, and then their key songs for like first dance, mother, son, father, daughter, and we have everything to say. it's matching up. He has it on his computer, we're good to go. Ceremony happens, great.

Cocktail hour happens. Fabulous. And then it's time for the reception. And my couple had chose to have the wedding party come out as a group and then they were gonna be announced and then move right into their first dance. Mm-hmm. So that transition, you know, not that it's super quick, but it happens and then moves right into the first dance.

DJ checks in with them. We start the introduction process. Wedding party comes out, they get announced, and they move onto the dance floor for their first dance. So everybody's like up cheering, looking at them, and they're walking to the middle of the floor, like ready to transition, and the music fades out and then nothing goes on.

It's just like dead silent. Oh no. And I'm like across the room. So if the DJ booth is directly across from me and the dance floor is in the center, so I'm like looking at the DJ and I'm like, Hey, first dance wording it to him and he's looking at me just staring at me like with his hands. I'm like, what?

And I was like, then first dance. first dance. We're doing the first dance. 

Christa Innis: and he sees me, so I didn't wanna cut across straight across the dance floor. So I start like walking around the tables on the backside and He goes the opposite direction. Like so now? Yes. Yes. And it's like now been like 20 seconds, 30 seconds of awkward silence and like people are laughing and the couple's just kind of standing there instead of me just going over and being like, Hey, we're doing the first dance.

Like we went over the order. You had this song. 

He walks out onto the dance floor directly to the couple, this is in front of all of their guests. And he goes, it's first dance. Right? And they both were like, yeah. And then he's like. What's the song? And they say the song. I don't remember what it was, but it was like a Michael Buble song.

Yeah. 

Cassie Horrell: And then like goes back nonchalant like nothing happened and goes, okay, everybody we're gonna move into the first dance and then puts the song on. And I was like that. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. I'm like, you prepare, you prompt them, you make sure everything's good. And then for the DJ then to like.

I don't know what happened. He had like a blip in his brain and just, yeah, forgot what he was doing, but it was so cringe-worthy. And then later in the day when they're doing the cake cutting, he did one of my least favorite things in the whole entire world when a DJ is like super talkative. 

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm.

On the 

Cassie Horrell: microphone. And he started narrating the cake cutting. He was like, okay, everybody, they have the cake cutting set. Alright, they're slicing the cake, now they're pulling the cake out. Are they gonna slam the cake in each other's faces? And like everyone was just like, this is terrible. so yeah, it was two cringeworthy moments from the same dj.

Immediately after that wedding, I put him on like the do not book list and I did send him an email being like, Hey, do you wanna talk about what happened? and he literally was just like, yeah, I just like forgot the timeline I don't know. It was just so cringe-worthy and like, have it, I felt bad for the couple.

Christa Innis: Yeah. Didn't he have it like right in front of him? 

Cassie Horrell: He had it, I saw it on his piece of paper. He had a copy of my paper. We went over it and he still didn't do it. And I'm like, I felt bad for the couple, just like they were kind of robbed of that. Blissful moment when you like walk in and everybody's cheering and then you go right into your first dance.

It was interrupted by him shuffling out on the dance floor, asking them, I don't know. It was so strange. I never worked with that DJ again. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. And weird, 

Cassie Horrell: you're outta 10, you 

Christa Innis: when you're trying to like walk over by him, you're trying to make it like smooth and he's just like, yep, I'm gonna go the other way.

Cassie Horrell: I was baffled. it was just one of those moments that I'll remember. For my whole life, like I'm so weary sometimes the DJs because of that one experience, even though I know there's amazing professional DJs out there, but like every time I get this like sinking feeling like, gosh, I hope they know what they're doing.

Christa Innis: Probably. 'cause Yeah, you never saw that coming. Like, everything looks no. Well that point. And so then all of a sudden you're like, are they gonna surprise me with a random, 

Cassie Horrell: right. Like, I could understand if there were red flags. Like he wasn't communicating, he wasn't answering emails, but like. Nothing.

It was just that moment and I'm like. That was so strange and also just kind of sad. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. I'm like, 

Cassie Horrell: I wish I could rewind time, but I can't. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. Oh my gosh. heard a story not that long ago and I can't remember if it was the DJ or what, but they forgot to turn the music on while she was walking down the aisle and she said she was already very, like, uncomfortable with all eyes on her.

So imagine just like a silent room then. Wait. 

Cassie Horrell: Do you? I could give you a second story on, 

Christa Innis: yes. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, so this story also deals with music not going on the aisle. I will never forget this. This was like pretty recent, not pretty recent, but like I. Within the last five years. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. 

Cassie Horrell: We had this happen where we just had, we call them ghosts.

Like sometimes in old buildings, like things happen and you're just like, what? We had the song playing, like the team was playing the music. I was queuing the couple, I heard the song start. So I said to the bride, okay, go ahead and walk down the aisle. I walked around the backside so that I could like come in the other way to see the ceremony, and by the time I had walked around, the music had stopped.

I was like, where's the music? So I go over to the dj, I was like, Hey, what's going on? And he's like, everything just went black. the system just went down. You couldn't access, they had provided a Spotify list, you couldn't access the page. Like what they had provided was just black. And the bride they had, luckily this was like a covid.

Celebration. So they'd been married for two years and they did already have like a wedding. So this was like a wedding with their family and friends. She literally was at the end of the aisle and she's like, F it, everybody clap for me. And she walked on the aisle and everybody was like cheering for her.

But it was another one of those moments that you're like, there was no stopping it, like the music was on and then the equipment just like. 

Christa Innis: Went off, there's nothing they could have done. Oh my, no. 

Cassie Horrell: And luckily that bride specifically was just the most chill, fun, and like she was laughing and smiling, so it was okay.

But yeah, I would've freaked out. I think. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. It's funny, I was talking to someone how, like, I remember my makeup artist saying to me in the morning, my wedding. she's like, you're so relaxed for a bride. And I was kinda like, well, at this point, like everyone's here, whatever happens, happens, you know, it's no big deal.

Cassie Horrell: But thinking about. Music not starting while walking down the aisle, or like a big moment. I feel like I would be in my head, I think I would on the outside be fine. I wouldn't do anything like crazy, but I would be like, oh my God. they do everything. Like, I don't know, and there's a lot of emotion tied to songs.

So like if you picked a special song. To play and then it's not playing like that can tweak the way that you're feeling in that moment. So I totally feel that. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. Or playing like a different version of a song. 'cause like we were trying to be so specific with different songs, 

We did a rock version of a very like. Classic love song and we did the avenge sevenfold version for like when grandparents were walking down and it just to be like a little different and it was awesome. But I'm like, if it was the different version, like I feel like that would've completely like changed how it would've been.

but yeah, I, to be specific, oh my gosh. Cringey. Cringey. I know. Let's go into some wedding hot takes. yes. So this is just getting your opinion on some hot takes people have that they submit to me.Is it okay to ask for money instead of gifts or does it come off as greedy? I. 

Cassie Horrell: So I think there is a more tasteful way to ask for a monetary gift.

I think it is definitely tacky if you're saying like, cash only, we only want cash. I have seen people do that. I have heard stories where you're like, Ooh, and people are gonna gift kind of whatever they'd like. So. I think there's a tasteful way to ask it if you are looking for monetary gifts. however, I do kind of agree it is a little greedy and a little tacky to be like forcing that because a gift for a wedding is not mandatory.

And then to like be demanding a certain type of gift, I also think is. It's not my style, I wouldn't recommend. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, I agree. I feel like, I've been to some weddings and actually the ones that I think asked this were like over covid. So they weren't doing showers or anything and so like instead of that, like they did an announcement and they were like, oh, just send cash if you wanna send a gift.

' cause they weren't doing like any kind of in person thing. So I got that. But. for me, I'm never gonna bring a wrapped gift to a wedding. That's just not me neither. It's not my style. No. Even our own wedding, I think only a few people actually did that. But yeah, to me, I would never just be like, only gimme the cash.

Like, yeah. It feels 

Cassie Horrell: weird. Well, and I feel like there's just so many creative ways now, like. If there's the honeymoon fund, or you could buy somebody an experience or you could build out those experiences for your honeymoon, which literally it does just send you cash, but it will be like, help us pay for a wine dinner.

Help us pay for this excursion. that is a more tasteful way than to just be like, if you wanna give us a gift, give us cash. Like, I get it. People nowadays live together, they already have a lot of the things that you would gift. Mm-hmm. you don't have to force cash onto people and just let them gift what they feel comfortable with.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And if it doesn't work out, you can return it and get the cash for it. Great. Put something else out. Don't make a big Yeah. Stink about it. Yeah. I had some people like comment one time about, I was talking about the honeymoon, how it's like you can gift for like a honeymoon, you know? Whatever that program is.

And, they were like, I'm not funding someone's honeymoon. And I was like, well, if you're giving a gift at a wedding, you don't know how they're gonna use that money. Right. Whether they use it from bed sheets or a drink at the bar, you're not gonna know. So if you just wanna like, give a gift, you have to know that that's their choice.

How they wanna spend it. 

Cassie Horrell: Exactly. Yeah. 

Christa Innis: okay. Should couples have to invite all their family members, even the ones they barely talk to? 

Cassie Horrell: No. Straight up. No, 

Christa Innis: we agree there. Yeah. I feel like that's such an odd thing, but it happens all the time. 

Cassie Horrell: a ton of people feel the pressure from like parents mainly.

I feel like to invite the second invite the third cousin, oh, I went to their daughter's wedding. So we have to extend an invite and I feel like if it doesn't fit in the budget or it's not a priority for those people to be there, there's no reason you should be inviting them. 

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. 

Cassie Horrell: Specifically if you've never met them before. Like a lot of people are like, I don't wanna introduce myself to someone for the very first time on my wedding day. Yeah. why would I waste my time doing that? Not that I don't wanna meet those people, but I don't know. The wedding day is about you and your partner and the love together.

So a lot of people want people they know and support them and know them as a couple to celebrate their day with them. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I don't get the, like I have to invite. My great aunt's second cousin once removed and you're like, what's their name? And you're like, I why? Yeah, just so they like get dressed up for a few hours and hang out with like someone they barely know.

I don't know. 

Cassie Horrell: Also, weddings are so expensive of like to add five to eight random people that even if they're related. Onto the guest list could be like thousands of dollars. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. 

Cassie Horrell: Like I don't know if people think about that. I don't know. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, I don't think so. Not a fan. Well, I think too, like that generation, like weddings have changed so much since then.

Yes. I remember some people commenting saying like, oh yeah, we just got married in our parents or the church basement and like it was free and we had just had sheet cake. And that's all well and good. And some people still do that and I think that's great, but just realize that every wedding is different and their budgets are different and.

Timelines. All that stuff. 

Cassie Horrell: Agreed. 

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. Okay. Let's jump into this week's story submission. So as always, feel free to stop me or I'll kind of make pause. We can just react to this story. Let's see what happens. Okay. Me, 24 female and my fiance, 24 male, were set to get married in late summer.

We've been engaged for a couple of years and planning our wedding ever since. I've always dreamed of eloping in another country, and my parents generously offered to cover the elopement since it would be cheaper than a full wedding here in the us. 

Cassie Horrell: That's 

nice. 

Very nice. Thank you. We made the decision to go that route and shared it with my  Fiancé's family.

We told them they could attend if they covered their own travel or we'd live stream the ceremony. His parents immediately pushed back. His mom refused to fly due to fear and not wanting to pay for a plane ticket. His dad didn't wanna skip a vacation with his parents. Because spending money on our wedding would cut into his travel funds.

Oh Lord. 

Christa Innis: Okay. Well, here we learn about priorities. yep, we got tired of the back and forth and went back to my family. They kindly agreed to help us fund a stateside wedding instead. So there's somebody changing their plans. And also 

Cassie Horrell: these parents, this set of parents seem super friendly and supportive.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And they're just like, whatever you want. Got that for you.  oh, here we go. On the conviction that my Fiancé  that my fiance's parents would cover the honeymoon. Oh, that's like unheard of to a destination where we would originally elope. See, that's where I'm kinda like, oh, now you're putting expectations on the other parents when, I don't think it's a parent's duty to pay for a honeymoon at all. So that's kind of weird to me. it says his parents agreed. 

Cassie Horrell: Wow. 

Christa Innis: Okay. Okay. 

something tells me they're not gonna actually agree. 

I was gonna say, it doesn't seem right because they didn't wanna pay to attend the ceremony, but they'll pay for their honeymoon, which I'm like, it probably would equate to the same.

Yeah. And then they're not even going to the honeymoon, so they're paying for a vacation for someone else. As opposed to if they paid for the elopement, they would be there with them. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. 

Christa Innis: So something's not 

Cassie Horrell: adding up. Something is not right. 

Christa Innis: My family put down a deposit on the venue. A year later, I asked my fiance if the honeymoon had been booked.

He said, no. Again, maybe it's, and you might agree with me, 'cause you're a planner too. The planner type A me would never put that in the hands of someone else. 

Cassie Horrell: I'm no looking at myself. Right. I would do the same thing. I'd be like, I'm booking the place, I'm picking the flights. I'm not leaving it up to someone else.

No, 

Christa Innis: no. So many of these, I'm like, oh my gosh, you trusted that person for that long. Oh my gosh. I'd be like. Freaking out. he said no. A month later after that, he told me it was okay. Fast forward to this April, I found out that my fiance had paid for most of the honeymoon himself, at least 80% of it through monthly payments.

Cassie Horrell: Oh, he's covering for his parents. That's kind of like, I think it's sweet on his part, but also like, what the heck with the parents that said they would pay for it. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, it's like this whole thing's kinda weird to me because it's like he felt, he couldn't tell you that he was paying for it until April.

So I don't know when this started. And then the parents lied about wanting to help cover it. But I also think it's kind of interesting to have the parents pay the honeymoon. oh, that his parents were upset, they were expected to pay at all. Then why didn't they communicate that?

Cassie Horrell: They could have just said, no, we're not doing that, and then they would've eloped without them. 

Christa Innis: Exactly. So they're causing all these issues, like they're changing their elopement to have a stateside wedding. And then they're like, oh, well you pay for the honeymoon. Yeah, we will jk. We're not going 

Cassie Horrell: psych. 

Christa Innis: I pressed my fiance for the truth and he finally called his mom.

She told him word for word, we're not doing this. You need to keep paying and keep lying to her about it. So they wanted it to look like they were paying for it. 

Cassie Horrell: Oh, I do feel bad for the groom in this situation. 'cause I'm like, he's probably trying to salvage the relationship between his partner and his parents.

But his parents just, they could have just communicated that they were uncomfortable paying and then it would've been fine. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. 

don't know. I'm like so confused by this too. 'cause I feel like, and we don't know like their relationship or the relationship between the parents, but like. I'm thinking about my own parents and my own in-laws.

if my parents had to do this, they would never be like, well, only if their parent, his parents do this. Like, they would never say that either. 

Cassie Horrell: No. 

Christa Innis:  I feel like there's a weird communication between all parties involved here. 

Cassie Horrell: Yes. 

Christa Innis: But yeah, I really feel for the fiance, 'cause you can tell he's kind of put in the middle of the mom being like, just pay for it and lie to her about it.

Like, what 

Cassie Horrell: don't, that's ludicrous. 

Christa Innis: She says, I was devastated. I told him we should cancel the local wedding and just elope like we originally planned because this clearly wasn't about us anymore. He told his parents and they freaked out, not because we were canceling, but because my parents would still be there paying their own way, mind you, and they wouldn't be included now.

Cassie Horrell: Oh, so this was about like a money comparison with the other set of parents? 

Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's like. if they just agreed to the original elopement plan and just paid their way to go, it'd be way less than paying for any of this, and they'd be a part of it. I feel like this facade, whatever the group's parents have, they used the stateside wedding as an excuse to look like they were participating, but in actuality, they were just kinda like.

Get away Scotch free. 

Christa Innis: Yes. And have the sun cover for them to make them look. Mm-hmm. they were paying for it. That is crazy. And I wonder like if they were gonna help with anything else for the stateside wedding, if they're just gonna be like, oh, the honeymoon, we're just gonna take care of that and take care of it, quote unquote.

Yeah, 

Cassie Horrell: but not really. 

Christa Innis: But not really. So then they agreed to cover the wedding. Again, except not the food or the flights, just the hotel. Fine. We said let's just get through it. About 40 days out, my parents reached out to my fiance, not about money, just logistics and decor to see what his family wanted to contribute to.

Oh, for the actual wedding. Okay. His parents hadn't participated at all during the two years of planning. Why am I not surprised? 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. Surprise, surprise. 

Christa Innis: They seem very like into just like not being a part of things. Even when we invited them to help pick out my dress or with the decor, did not want a part of it.

My fiance sent an upbeat message to his dad asking what they wanted to help with. His dad lost it. Said they weren't contributing a thing and accused my family of starting a pissing contest. 

Cassie Horrell: Oh Lord, 

Christa Innis: here we go. They just don't wanna look like they're not doing enough. But now it's a competition. they just would've gone with the original plan.

It never would've been like this. No. My fiance went to their house to talk in person because half of the remaining payments were due. The next day. While there, his mom screamed at him to get out never come back. He called me angry and heartbroken and said, maybe we should just cancel a wedding.

This is really sad. 

Cassie Horrell: I know this is making me sad for the couple. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, I just don't get why the parents wouldn't just be like, oh, we, don't have the funds. Or we would just rather not Right. just leave it at that. Unless there's something that we're not just playing devil's advocate, like unless there's something we're not hearing.

Like if there was a lot of pressure and they just felt like, are they kept, I feel the same 

Cassie Horrell: thing. It would've been easier for them to just communicate clearly early on. Yeah. And then. The other parents and the couple to then plan accordingly then to say, yeah, we're gonna participate, and then last minute be like, actually we're not.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And, and then getting mad and now it's just awkward. I feel like they're just making more of like a buffer between everybody. Yeah. it says my parents who had already spent money on the venue were so understanding They offered without being asked to pay for an elopement again, but if they already paid for the venue, so now they're just going back and forth if they want a venue or elopement. 

Cassie Horrell: Right. 

Christa Innis: Okay. My mom was incredibly kind to, my fiance apologized to him and told him they weren't mad, just worried about us.

They said they'd support us however they could. My fiance tried to talk to his parents. They refused and said, this isn't you. This is her. And you need to get over it. This was the last straw and he cut contact. 

Cassie Horrell: Yikes. 

Christa Innis: I feel like there's a lot of like hurt on both sides and we're not, there's something missing.

Like Yeah, I mean I guess things can explode like out of this, but I don't know. I feel like there's some detail about the parents that are like his parents that were like. Why are they so angry? 

Cassie Horrell: I feel like their behavior's probably always been like this and maybe the groom's used to it and the bride and the other parents are singing it for the first time.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And so 

Cassie Horrell: it's like abrupt to us, but probably not if you actually know them. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, no, that's true. Yeah. 'cause I feel like it comes to especially like planning events or a big thing, like a wedding. Personalities come out. Right. And so like if her family is more like organized with planning or maybe they have a little more finances to be able to help with it, then they might just get very like insecure or feel bad and then it causes this other like, I dunno, deep rooted like anger or, you know, some other emotions to come up.

Yeah. a month has passed since we canceled the wedding. His mom still won't admit to anything. We have a full recording of her telling him to lie to me. His dad admitted everything but said she's sad about losing her son. This is so sad. 

Cassie Horrell: She caused it though. Like Yeah, I just mean like it's the mother of the group.

Christa Innis: It's sad. It's like a sad story. I feel like, that he is like losing his parents, you know? It's like to go through that. 

Cassie Horrell: I don't know. Yeah. Especially when you're wedding planning. there's already a lot of emotions and it's stressful. And then to have that happen on top is like the icing on the cake.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And it's like she can't just open her eyes up a bit to see like, okay, they caused this if they wanted to actually be there for her son and future wife, they can do that. Like, it's just some communication. But I feel like some of that, I dunno, some personalities like. Once they feel like they've been wronged, they can't see outside of it.

And then it's just like, that's it. I'm like, 

Cassie Horrell: narcissist. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. I mean, seriously. And then I feel like the husband, you know, it's like he, probably is in the middle now because he's like, he's so mad she doesn't wanna talk to him. And then, he wants, still wants to talk to his son, but it's like 

That's a big deal. the dad said, my fiance should just let it go, but this is a pattern. She does something pretends it never happens and expects everyone to go along with it. So there we go. Yeah. So this is probably, you said not the first time they've probably done this, their whole relationship, but the wedding was the icing on the cake for her.

I bet. Yep. My fiance finally said, enough is enough. The only time he is heard from her since was when she demanded to come and get a few boxes and threatened to drop off personal documents, including his birth certificate and social security card on our doorstep when we weren't home. 

Cassie Horrell: What, she's going to the extremes here.

Christa Innis: He's like, you're no longer my son. I'm cutting contact completely. Like, what? But people are this crazy. That's 

Cassie Horrell: why like, this story happened to someone and I'm like, I just can't imagine. 

Christa Innis:  and think of it down the line if someone's like, oh, why don't, isn't your son talk to you?

It's like, oh, he got married. It's like, what? Yeah. It's like a exciting and joyous time and you, couldn't communicate something and so you decided to just be like bitter and cross your arms and be like, well, guess I don't have a son anymore. Like, 

Cassie Horrell: that's wild. 

Christa Innis: What? That is insane. She was gonna drop off his birth certificate.

Three days later, she was on vacation and then called him like nothing had happened. Hey, how's it going 

Cassie Horrell: d Lulu? 

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. How's wedding planning? How can I help? Like what, 

Cassie Horrell: Hmm. Something's not right there. 

Christa Innis: That would drive me insane. I some of these stories. I'm just like, how do people like. Have relationships with someone like that because you probably are constantly thinking you're going crazy.

You're like, wait, did I imagine that last, conversation with that person. Like, am I going crazy? says, it's bizarre. It's painful. We spent two years planning this wedding only to cancel it six weeks before the date. Six weeks, no, eight. Yikes. So that means they probably paid a majority.

Had all them. Oh yeah. Would they have all the invitations and stuff out by that point? 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, they would've sent invitations out. They would've had people RSVPing. usually the six week mark is like, RSVPs are due. So like imagine all the people that like were making arrangements to come to the wedding.

I don't know how big it was gonna be, but like still, 

Christa Innis: yeah, they probably 

Cassie Horrell: had room blocks. They probably had all their vendors booked. Like, I don't know. That's devastating, To have to cancel when it, I understand canceling a wedding, if the two people decide we're not getting married. Right.

But to cancel a wedding because someone is being overdramatic overbearing and like a narcissist. I think that's devastating and that's sad 

Christa Innis: Yeah. 

Cassie Horrell: That couple had to do that. 

Christa Innis: Right. the last part ends with, we'll be eloping in Italy. Yay. Parents are not invited. So feel like if anything, this is a lesson to those listening that just go with your gut of what you want for your wedding.

Because how much, yes, you probably hear it all the time and have to say to people all the time is like block out all the extra noise. Because I feel like so many times when brides and grooms like everyone else wants, they regret their wedding more because they don't do what actually is like meaningful to them.

Cassie Horrell: I always like to explain it to my couples. like you're driving a car and you have a destination where you want to go, and when you start letting every other person give their opinions, it's like you jump into the passenger seat and someone else is driving and they're doing their own thing. So you might end up like on the opposite side of the country because of what other people want.

So I do think you, you do have to be selfish a little bit when you're wedding planning because 

Christa Innis: it is 

Cassie Horrell: your day. You need to like keep your priorities in mind and go with your gut feeling of like what you want in reason, of course, 

Christa Innis: right. But 

Cassie Horrell: making sure other people don't sway you so drastically. Like they went from an elopement to a stateside wedding to canceling then back to exactly what they planned, 

Christa Innis: but 

Cassie Horrell: had to.

Wait so long for that moment. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. 

Cassie Horrell: Because of the mother of the group. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. So many hurdles in the meantime. I love that analogy of driving because that's so true. It's like if you are constantly and people pull you different directions, you're gonna make all these pit stops that you didn't 

Need to make in the case of this couple, they just drove all the way around the country. 

Cassie Horrell: They got on a plane and flew around. 

Christa Innis: Yes. They finally kicked her out of the car. cause it sounds like from the beginning they knew what they wanted to do. So if you are a couple that wants to elope, elope, if you're a couple that wants a small wedding, have a small wedding.

If you want a big wedding, have a big wedding, just block out the noise and just you and your partner are the main people that matter. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, and I do think it's really important, like weddings are, they do include family. There is a lot of family dynamics in play and I think if you are taking into consideration, especially heavy consideration parents wants, then like that conversation needs to happen.

Very early on. Yeah. So that everybody's on the same page and everybody is aware and this, it kind of seemed like they made a decision with one set of the parents. They informed the other set of the parents and like that's where it kind of went awry. 

Christa Innis: Mm-hmm. And 

Cassie Horrell: so maybe if they would've had the conversation super early, not that I think it's okay with the mother of the groom did, but if both sets of parents were in the original conversation, they probably could have saved themselves some drama.

Christa Innis: Yeah. And I feel like there's some people too, like this mom seems like she might've just been the victim no matter what. But yeah, I agree. I feel like there's some people where you have to like tiptoe in and be like, Hey, make 'em feel like it was their idea or something.

And then other people, it's like they have to know first. Like, I read one story that was like. Because the bride told her parents first, and I think the bride's mom was talking to the groom's mom. She got so offended that they already planned this whole wedding without her. And they're like, no, they just booked the venue.

That's it. So like some people feel like something's been taken from them and it's like, oh my gosh. Like so a whole wedding to plan. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. Pump the brakes. Everybody can be included. Yes. 

Christa Innis: We'll be okay. It's fine. Oh my gosh. The number of times I hear of like, just like the drama at weddings, just like tearing families apart.

Cassie Horrell: But I always like to remind people too, and you might have your own perspective on this, but I feel like if a wedding is what pulled people apart, there was already something like either something stewing or. Some red flags were already kind of showing. I agree.

I feel like if it comes to a head because of the wedding, then there's some sort of underlying situation that you've probably dealt with before 

Christa Innis: and it 

Cassie Horrell: just was brushed under the rug. It's just the wedding brings the biggest emotions in so many people, and I don't know why, but it is sometimes make or break for some relationships.

Christa Innis: And 

Cassie Horrell: you just have to like move forward and realize like you're seeing their true colors for a reason and for the good or the bad. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. 

Cassie Horrell: Sometimes like it brings people closer. Sometimes it's the opposite and people are like, I don't wanna be friends with them anymore. I don't wanna talk to them again. you see the extreme on both sides during the wedding planning process.

Not always, but sometimes. 

Christa Innis: But sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Don't be fearful of your listening and you're like, oh no. Like if there's already some kind of red flags or people that can't support, I don't know how to word it. People that can't allow others to shine or like can't like allow 

Cassie Horrell: the, they can't silently support, like they have to have some sort of opinion.

Christa Innis: Yeah, those are the people. It's hard 

Cassie Horrell: for them. 

Christa Innis: They're gonna fault her during that time. Yes. That's what you hear. Like when the bridesmaid does something or says something in her speech or cause that's the friend that's been secretly like little, maybe a little jealous or just can't have the spotlight on somebody else.

Cassie Horrell: but, and also one uppers, those are the other people that like, have 

Christa Innis: a 

Cassie Horrell: very difficult time during the wedding planning process because it becomes like a comparing game. Like, oh, my daughter got married or. They got engaged. Oh, you have to get engaged. And it becomes like a competition where I'm like, why does it have to be a competition?

Like you guys could both get married, you could do it at your own pace, you could have different types of weddings. but you do see that a lot as well. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. Life is so much better when you're not comparing yourself to every person for every little thing. 'cause you'll never win in a conversation with everybody around you.

You'll just never win. Like, ' cause someone's always gonna have, the better this, the better that. And it's like. You just have to stick true to you, and that's when you'll be happiest. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. And I mean that is like, I think it's a blessing and a curse, social media for weddings. Mm-hmm. 

Christa Innis: Because 

Cassie Horrell: I mean, on TikTok, you're seeing so much, you're seeing these beautiful weddings.

Same thing with Pinterest. You know, you see all these things. You're like, I have to have a wedding like that. When in actuality the weddings that are like highlighted and shown are 300,000 plus dollar weddings. And I'm like, that's not an average wedding. So just like in general life, it's the same thing with weddings.

People just like, they want what they see and they just crave that. And then at the end of the day, like their wedding doesn't look like that or they can't include A, B, or C and it causes issues. Yeah. Just do what you want within your budget and I think people will have fun. 

Christa Innis: Yeah, and I think one thing too with like planning weddings is like.

If you're more excited about sharing your wedding photos on social media than the actual day, then that's a sign that we're doing things for maybe the wrong reason. I don't know. Maybe that's a hot take. 

Cassie Horrell: You are right. And there is people that do that. Like they spend their all their money so they can have these Instagramable moments or they can create the TikTok.

But I'm like, on my wedding day, all I remember is like having. So much fun with my husband and like our friends and being on the dance floor. Like I don't ever remember once being like, oh, I have to make sure that like I get this to post. Like, I don't know. I feel like if that's how your day is, then like, 

Christa Innis: yeah.

I saw, this is years ago, someone I know from like a long time ago. On her wedding day, she posted one picture of herself and said, can't wait to see my friends. 

Cassie Horrell: Oh Lord. 

Christa Innis: And I was like, what about your partner? Bad sign. And they got divorced, like, 

Cassie Horrell: there we go. Exactly. 

Christa Innis: I'm not saying that to judge, but I'm just like, think about like how you view your wedding day and it's like, what are you most excited for?

Like, yes, of course you wanna see your friends and celebrate. I don't mean that in a bad way, but aren't you excited for like. Marrying your person and having your first dance and it was just like, if you're just more excited about showing off and like posting it to social media and getting the likes, then that's not exactly the.

I dunno. 

Cassie Horrell: Not the vibes. 

Christa Innis: Not the vibes. okay. Let's go into the next segment, which is weekly confessions. These are confessions that people send me on Instagram and we'll just react to 'em. We don't get as much detail here, so we kinda have to read between the lines a little bit.

Okay. This first one says, my mother-in-law treats my son differently because he's an IVF baby. What? What? That's one terrible two. Like what? His 

Cassie Horrell: own mom, you said it said mother-in-law, right? Yeah. My mother-in-law, 

Christa Innis: my mother-in-law treats my son differently. Oh, 

Cassie Horrell: her a grandson. I thought it was like her husband.

Oh, was not understanding that at first, 

Christa Innis: like her treats her son differently. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah, she treats her grandson differently. Her 

Christa Innis: grandson, because he's IVF. 

Cassie Horrell: I'm sorry. People are crazy. 

Christa Innis: no matter like how you have that baby, it's your baby. And they should love that baby. Just the same. 

Cassie Horrell: Yeah. Even if it was like a foster baby or an adoption baby, like they're your baby.

They're part of your family. Like everybody should be the same. Same with step kids. I cannot stand when people treat other children differently. They're children. 

Christa Innis: Yes. I just don't get that. I've heard of this happening before. someone I just talked to said like, I think it was like an in-law I'll keep it very anonymous, but her in-law,

has a grandson, but it's a step grandson. So the way they treat that son as opposed to the other one is so different and it's like, but you're still grandma to that. Yeah. Need to still be grandma. Like It's just I don't get that. 

Cassie Horrell: I did a story on one of those and I was like baffled at the things I was reading.

'cause I'm like, they're just kids. They're just babies. they're your family. You gotta love on 'em and that's it. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. They did nothing. Like if you have. Angst towards, you know, a parent or an ex or something. It's like the kid did nothing to deserve that. 

Cassie Horrell: No. 

Christa Innis: okay. Next one is, we hired security to keep certain uninvited people away from our wedding.

Have you Okay. Get a lot of weddings. 

Cassie Horrell: So where I work, we have security. They don't do like security, what you would imagine, they're not like checking a guest list. Yes, I have seen security at a wedding. Not all my weddings have actual security like that, but I think if you have a situation where you are no contact or there is a relationship where you think someone might arise and it's going to cause issues 

Christa Innis: mm-hmm.

Cassie Horrell: Then save yourself the stress of thinking of them arriving and get security. it's not as common as people think, but it does happen. 

Christa Innis: Wow. That's so interesting. Yeah. I've, had a lot of stories submitted to me where I shouldn't say a lot. Like you said, probably like 10%, 5%.

Yeah. like really a small percentage. but where they're like, we had to call security or we had to have security on standby because so and so might show up. I think most of the time there's just there as precaution. I'm sure they don't have to do anything, but occasionally. I'm sure there's something.

Cassie Horrell: We had one where we had like pictures. We all had pictures of what the person looked like. A they didn't show up, but we were prepared. Oh. If they were to show up like we were gonna call the cops. So, 

Christa Innis: whoa. You're like on guard just waiting. Yeah, we were 

Cassie Horrell: ready. 

Christa Innis: Oh my gosh. this last one says, me and the hubby almost eloped because of not wanting to be on display.

'cause we are shy. 

Cassie Horrell: Fair enough. I think for some people, like if you don't wanna be the center of attention, then a wedding day, like a standard American celebration might not be the right fit for you. And I feel like in that case, an elopement makes complete sense. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. That can be very daunting of like all the eyes on you.

If music doesn't play, that could be very, very double the 

Cassie Horrell: stress. 

Christa Innis: Yeah. But it sounds like they didn't got married so. Hey, good for you. Do what makes sense for you. Hopefully it wasn't through bullying of other people. Well, thank you so much for coming back on. That was so fun chatting and hanging out again.

 for anyone listening, can you tell 'em again where they can find you and then anything exciting that you're working on? 

Cassie Horrell: you can find me at Wedding Pro Cast on all socials, so TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. YouTube, I'm working on a really cool YouTube series, which is Wedding Whisper. There's been like short clips of it on my TikTok and Instagram.

 but those will be like longer episodes of me interviewing real wedding vendors, particularly in the Pittsburgh area. Just getting like hot takes and their best tips and tricks about. Kind of their category of vendor category at a wedding. So that's a big project I've been working on. I'm on a couple of podcasts coming up, which are all kind of wedding based, which will be fun.

 and I was just on the Tamron Hall Show, which was a really cool experience. So you can see that. I think it's on Disney Plus or Hulu now, but it Oh, 

Christa Innis: awesome. Was 

Cassie Horrell: released early April. So yeah. And then my books will be coming out and you can kind of find me online every day. 

Christa Innis: Yay. Awesome. Well, sounds good.

Well, thank you again for coming on. That was a lot of fun. 

Cassie Horrell: Thank you for having me.

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Christa Innis

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