A man’s parents take a strange turn with “something borrowed” when they suggest that their son’s fiancée wear the dress of his father’s late first wife on their wedding day.

The groom described the situation in a Reddit post shared in the “Am I The A**hole” subreddit, explaining that his father’s first wife – who he named Mia – died over 30 years ago but always played a big role in his family during his childhood.

“It’s a very long and complicated situation, but to sum it up, my mom comes second in his heart because he has always said that Mia is the love of his life and he has always made that clear,” he explained in detail in the post.

In memory of Mia, his father still wears his first wife’s wedding ring on one hand, and his mother has also decided to keep her memory alive by baking a cake on her birthday and letting his father be alone with Mia on his anniversary.

“There are many photos of Mia in the house, there are even photos of her in her room because my father never wanted to change them, etc.,” he explained.

A man’s parents want to take a strange direction with “something borrowed” when they suggest that their son’s fiancée wear the dress of his father’s deceased first wife on her wedding day (symbolic image).

The groom explained the situation in a post on Reddit shared in the “Am I The A**hole” subreddit, explaining that his father’s first wife – who he named Mia – died over 30 years ago but always played a big role in his family during his childhood.

“As crazy as it may sound, this is completely normal for couples of this type and they see it as something normal and beautiful, even if it is not,” he added.

Confusingly, the man said he was raised almost as if he had “two mothers,” and although he and his siblings don’t think that’s fair to their mother, she seems to be OK with it.

“My mother always says that he gives her the space she deserves and that she feels just as loved as his first wife,” he wrote.

“My siblings and I see it differently because our mother deserves better. But if she is happy, we don’t want to destroy her happiness and that’s why we never talk about it.”

The groom added that it was not a “healthy childhood,” but he had undergone therapy to “deal with all the problems that arose as a result.”

“Now here’s the problem: I’m going to marry my fiancée. Her mother never married and therefore can’t inherit a wedding dress. So my friend excitedly told me that she would think it would be sweet if I asked my mother if she could use her dress,” he said.

“My mom has mentioned this in the past and I don’t have any sisters, so I thought it would be a nice idea,” he added.

He spoke to his mother, who was excited that her future daughter-in-law would wear her dress.

Reddit users agreed with the man, saying it made no sense for his fiancée to wear the dress of a woman she had no connection to.

“My mother had spoken several times about wanting to have a daughter who would wear her dress, and she was very excited when my fiancée asked her to wear it. She even tried it on. That was the end of the conversation,” he said.

Now, almost a month after the conversation, his mother has suggested that his fiancée wear Mia’s wedding dress instead in memory of her – but she said no.

“(My fiancée) feels a connection to my mother and not to Mia, she doesn’t even know Mia,” he objected.

“My father wanted me to put up the typical decorations in memory of the deceased, but I told him I wasn’t going to do that. So now my mother wants my fiancée to wear Mia’s dress in her memory and for her to be there too because she was someone very special,” he recalls.

“Again, I never met her, I don’t know who she was,” he stressed, adding that Mia was a complete stranger to both of them.

“My fiancée wants my mother’s dress, she wants to give her a special place at the wedding because my mother sees her as a daughter and her as a second mother and wants to experience a special moment,” he added.

The man said he had to turn his mother down, adding that it seemed “dark and strange” to him to insist.

“I grew up with Mia’s memory and sometimes I don’t even know if I’m exaggerating or not,” he admitted.

“In my family dynamic, it would be normal to ask my fiancée to wear Mia’s dress, but I don’t know what someone who was raised normally would do and if I’m a bad person for not wanting to have done it,” he asked Reddit users.

Users echoed the man’s sentiments, saying it made no sense for his fiancée to wear the dress of a woman she had no connection to.

“I have no idea. Why would your fiancée want to wear the dress of a woman neither you nor she have any connection to? No offense to your parents, but it’s a strange and creepy request, and that your father wants you to have some sort of memorial service for his late wife at your wedding is odd,” one argued.

“I don’t know. The OP’s mother seemed excited to share her own dress with her future daughter-in-law. And then suddenly the young woman wants her to wear her predecessor’s dress instead?” asked another.

They continued, “It sounds to me like Dad would rather honor his deceased wife than his very much alive current wife. I don’t know if it’s martyrdom or resignation on the part of the OP’s mother. She will forever be remembered second.”

“His very much alive current wife, the actual MOTHER of the groom and the mother of the bride! SHE is the one that should be honored, not the ghost of a person who has no relationship whatsoever to ANY of them!” raged another.

“The OP’s father is disgusting for dumping his grief and dysfunction on the entire family. He needs help and the OP’s mother needs to stop supporting this utter nonsense. It’s been long enough. He should have never remarried if he couldn’t put his living wife and family first. The father is a huge asshole. The OP is NTA,” they stated.