Why my mother-in-law wore a wedding dress on my big day

 It was a photo which drew a collective gasp of horror on Twitter - one mother of the groom committed the ultimate sin and turned up to her son's big day in an actual wedding dress.

Not just a white dress, a wedding dress.

Following Amy Pennza's story , it seemed as if the Worst Mother-In-Law In The World contest (for which, let's face it, the competition is pretty stiff) had been won outright.

As with the best stories, however, all was not what it seemed.

Amy, a romance author from Ohio, shared an image of her wedding in response to Jimmy Fallon's call for wedding fails. She wrote: "My mother-in-law wore a wedding dress to my wedding. So, yeah, top that one, Twitter."

The reaction was pretty much as you'd expect. "I'm ready to throw hands What was she thinking?! Her hair is even in an updo! I need the FULL story," wrote one person.

Now a mum-of-four, then Amy pointed out there was more to the story. It wasn't just your run-of-the-mill wicked mother-in-law tale. In fact, it was heartbreaking.

"She grew up in extreme poverty," she added. "As a child, she used to sneak into the kitchen and eat match heads. That's a pica craving, and kids do it when they're malnourished. When you grow up with nothing, it stays with you."

"Forever, I think. No matter how much money you earn, there’s always that little fear in the back of your mind that someone might take it all away."

As for the dress, Amy reveals: "However, she's a bargain hunter to the bone. Her money-saving strategies are legend - and often hilarious.

"So when she spotted the dress at an incredible bargain, she couldn't turn it down. If you ask her now, she says she feels terrible about it."

While her mother-in-law’s choice of outfit took her by surprise, it did give her a pretty funny memory. "No one who attended has ever forgotten it. And, you have to admit, weddings can be forgettable," she adds.

"When I told her about this (photo) getting a lot of attention and said I worried it might hurt her feelings, she waved it off. 'Whatever makes me famous'."

In the space of a few tweets, the mother-in-law had gone from being the arch villain of the piece, to being everyone's her.

As one comment perfectly put it: "Came here for a possibly wild story and instead learned how hard your MIL had it growing up and how kind hearted of a person she is."