The bridesmaid who bottled it

One Kiwi bridesmaid hung on to her place in the wedding party by a thread after the mother-of-the-bride bore the brunt of a drunken incident days before the wedding.

The London-based maid was one of six bridesmaids at a wedding in Auckland and was staying with the bride and her parents.

A few days before the wedding, a boozy lunch turned into a night on the tiles and at about midnight, the maid finally fell into a taxi.

Her memory is very hazy, but she thinks she got into an argument with the taxi driver.

"He didn't like what I was saying so took me to the Auckland Central police station." The police couldn't get much sense out of her, says the maid, and the only thing she had on her was an Eftpos card and a business card of the mother-of-the bride. So the mother-of-the-bride was woken by a call from officers.

The bride's family never quite forgave her.

"It was one of the most cringey, humiliating things I've done. From then on I was known as 'the arrested bridesmaid'. I think my reputation with those people will never be restored. But I was so good on the wedding day."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY