A wedding is meant to be one of the happiest days of a woman’s life — but it certainly isn’t that way for her closest friends. A new survey has revealed the lengths some brides will go to in order to make sure she shines on her big day.

In a recent poll of 1,000 bridesmaids, 72 percent of those questioned believed they had been lumbered with an unflattering outfit to make the bride look better, with only a third given a choice in what they wore. But most gave as good as they got — more than a fifth of bridesmaids have insisted on altering their outfit before they would participate in the wedding. Even worse, the majority of those questioned admitted having negative thoughts about the nuptials they had attended.

It seems very few bridesmaids get any feelings of envy when watching their friends get hitched, in fact, 43 percent of women had been bridesmaids at a wedding which was a “bit naff.” A further 37 percent said they felt the wedding couple were mismatched and shouldn’t be marrying, with more than half of those questioned admitting they had been bridesmaids at weddings where they were glad they were not marrying the groom.

The survey by online jewellery brand Vashi.com did show that the old impression of bridesmaids on the prowl for a single man still applies these days. A fifth of those asked said they had picked up a new man when they have been a bridesmaid.

Some were wasting their energies on a lost cause though — 6 percent revealed they had secretly fancied the groom, with 3 percent admitting they had even been romantically involved with the man of the hour before he met his bride.

Vashi Dominguez, founder and CEO of Vashi.com, said, “We’ve all looked at wedding photos and thought, ‘What are the bridesmaids wearing?’”

He continued, “In seven out of 10 cases, the bridesmaids are convinced they have been lumbered with a dress to make the bride look prettier.”

    七成伴娘被要求扮丑以衬托新娘

    婚礼应该是女人一生中最快乐的一天 — 但是这绝不是她闺蜜的好日子。一项新调查显示，一些新娘会不择手段确保自己在婚礼上光彩照人。

    在最近一项对1000名伴娘的调查中，72%的受访者认为新娘扔给她们一件有损形象的衣服只为反衬新娘的美艳。其中，仅有三分之一的人表示她们能自行选择穿什么。不过多数伴娘也会以牙还牙，超过五分之一的伴娘坚持更换服装，否则就不参加婚礼。更糟糕的是，大多数受访者承认对她们参加的婚礼有负面评价。

    很少伴娘看到朋友结婚心怀嫉妒。43%的伴娘觉得自己参加的婚礼“有点儿没品位”。还有37%的人觉得新人不般配，根本不该结

    婚。超过半数的受访者承认她们做伴娘时庆幸自己不必嫁给新郎。

    网上珠宝品牌Vashi.com所做的这项调查显示，人们以前总认为婚礼上伴娘会寻觅单身男性，这一点倒是没变。五分之一的受访者表示她们做伴娘的时候找到了新男友。

    一些人把精力浪费在注定失败的事情上 — 6%的受访者表示她们暗恋过新郎，3%的人承认她们在新人相识之前，和新郎曾有一段恋情。

    Vashi.com的创始人兼CEO瓦希·多明戈斯说：“我们都曾看着婚礼照片思忖，‘伴娘怎么穿成这样？’”

    他继续说：“七成伴娘坚信让她们穿不好看的衣服，只为把新娘衬托得更美。”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【以牙还牙】

yǐyá huányá

give as good as get

treat people the same way they treat you

【寻觅异性】

xúnmì yìxìng

on the prowl

zealously pursuing members of the opposite sex