SINGAPORE — An argument between two women that went viral online threw up two key questions: Should a bride respect her bridesmaids' wishes or should a bridesmaid sacrifice comfort for her friend's big day?

A TikTok video capturing a falling-out between a bride-to-be and one of her bridesmaids over the latter's bridesmaid dress has taken social media by storm recently, with online users firmly declaring their allegiances for "Team Bride" or "Team Bridesmaid".

In the video, posted by United Kingdom-based social platform Ultimate on Christmas Eve, a woman is seen sitting in a car and calling somebody on her phone.

The woman, identified as the bridesmaid "Sam", exchanges pleasantries with her friend and bride "Lisa" before going into her grievances about the dress, which she appears to have just received.

"I'm just a bit concerned," Sam explains. "Because, obviously, we had a talk about what we were gonna be wearing.

"And I did sort of say to you that I wasn't massively comfortable with the neckline? And you've still ordered them."

Lisa then acknowledges her feedback, but continues slowly: "You know, all the dresses have to look the same. That's the whole point of the bridesmaids' dresses."

Sam then goes on to emphasise that she does not understand the decision since she had made suggestions to Lisa — for instance, having the same dress with the same colour and length but different necklines.

"Yeah, and I appreciated your suggestions," Lisa responds. "But ultimately... I don't mean to be rude, but it's up to me."

The conversation then gets progressively heated, with Sam pointing out that Lisa had asked her to pay for a dress that she repeatedly said she would not be comfortable wearing and Lisa responding that wearing the dress would be "supporting her" at her wedding.

Sam gets visibly agitated as Lisa speaks and the two interrupt each other, before Sam says: "I would argue, though, that I'm supporting you by being there. And being your bridesmaid.

"And that, like, I've sucked up everything else you've requested, but the dress — like I've told you, I'm not comfortable."

Lisa, evidently not pleased with this remark, repeats: "Wow. Wow. You're supporting me by simply being there. By honouring me with your presence at my wedding."

The argument hits a peak when Sam tells Lisa: "It's not a case of just not liking it, I'm not comfortable. And yet here you are, again, just treading on everything that I've expressed to you because you never listen."

"It— It's my wedding, at the end of the day," Lisa argues, prompting another outburst from Sam, who retorts: "Yeah, isn't it your wedding? It's all you talk about."

The two then proceed to shout at each other over the phone before Sam concludes that she needs to reconsider being Lisa's bridesmaid and ends the call.

Though the source of the video is not known, its first repost appears to be from TikTok user "sayitlolita_" on Oct 9 with one million views. A second repost by user "bluedudetattoo" popped up on Oct 11 with 1.2 million views.

The recent viral video from Ultimate, which blew up the discussion, had 13.9 million views on TikTok as of Wednesday afternoon. It was reposted to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, garnering 16.9 million views.

Responses on TikTok and X have mostly been split between the two sides of the argument.

One top comment on TikTok went: "I'm with the bride 100 per cent. It's HER day."

Another agreed: "I've been a bridesmaid 13 times... I wear whatever hideous thing they want me to. It's about them. Not me."

Team Bride supporters also felt that it was Sam's attitude that bothered them, with one TikTok user commenting: "Fair enough not liking the dress, but as soon as she started saying everything else like 'It's all you talk about', I would literally never speak to her again."

However, others argued that "you can enjoy your wedding day and still respect your bridesmaids' boundaries".

One TikTok user wrote: "First of all, if my friend tells me she isn't COMFORTABLE in a dress that she's paying for, I will 1,000 per cent hear her out.

"Some brides lose all sense of being a decent friend when it comes to their wedding."

A fellow bride commented: "I've already had my wedding and I'm also Team Bridesmaid. They're your friends, not dolls to play dress-up."

Furthermore, since Sam was paying for her bridesmaid dress, they should have "come to an agreement on the style" rather than Lisa making the final choice, they said.

As one online user put it: "Bride pays = Bride's ultimate choice. Bridesmaid pays = compromise and collaboration!"

Some felt that they needed more details before throwing in their votes, such as whether Sam felt uncomfortable for religious, modesty or personal reasons or simply did not like the style of the neckline.

They also noted that the argument seemed to go "way deeper than the dress" and the two "(did) not sound like friends".

One X user declared: "I'm not on any team. They both need to grow up.

"The bride shouldn't have agreed to make changes if she wasn't going to do it and (the) bridesmaid recording the conversation then posting it is just tacky."

Regardless of who they supported, most viewers were simply curious about the dress in question.

With the video having gone viral, the keywords "Lisa and Sam bridesmaids' dress" and "Lisa and Sam bridesmaid dress reveal" have been trending on TikTok, with many clamouring to see it.

One X user wrote: "I'm hoping the algorithm will lead me back to a dress reveal because I gotta see what's crazy about it." 

In a stitch video on TikTok, posted on Wednesday, user "raepaige" bemoans this lack of information, saying: "I've been looking everywhere. Everywhere. For the original video. I've been looking everywhere for the dress. For context. For details."

While she expresses that she is firmly Team Bride, she is nonetheless curious about the dress and the wedding.

"I need an update so freaking bad, though," she pleads. "Did the wedding happen? Did they make up? Did she wear the dress? Did they compromise? What's going on?

"One of you guys out there, you must know what the dress looks like. Tell me, tell me, please! Just tell me what kind of neckline it was.

"Plunge, off the shoulder? A-line? Strapless? Like, come on."

Though the video seems to have first surfaced in October, there has not been any closure for those following the drama as no further details appear to have been revealed on social media.