What is a Rat Bride? The New TikTok Trend Explained

Wondering what a rat bride is? You're not alone! TikTok has been awash lately with nearlyweds posting videos discussing their rat bride tendencies - as well as asking 'what is a rat bride?'

You might think it sounds like an insult, but it's actually not! A rat bride is a bride who feels uncomfortable with the attention planning a wedding brings.

What is a Rat Bride?

According to Urban Dictionary, you're a rat bride if you identify with the following definition: "A bride whom whenever her wedding comes up in conversation, she avoids it or has a negative reaction due to being self conscious, anxious or over analysing."

This is the polar opposite to those that bask in the glow of planning a wedding, and love to bring up their wedding plans, engagement story or even honeymoon at any opportunity. You can of course also have a rat groom and a rat nearlywed - this rodent inspired tendency isn't just the reserve of brides to be. 

How Do You Know if You're a Rat Bride?

You have rat bride energy if you identify with any of the following:

• You avoid bringing your wedding up in conversation
• You cringed at the thought of telling people you were engaged
• You try to change the subject if people ask you about your wedding plans
• You're not loving the idea of having all the attention on you on the big day
• You're kind of surprised to be getting married - it's not a childhood dream for you
• You don't want a hen party - especially not a typical hen party
• You're not bothered by all the bells and whistles - in fact, eloping sounds pretty tempting...except then you'd have to tell everyone you'd eloped

With close to 200 videos under the hashtag #ratbride on TikTok alone, and some of those racking up thousands of likes and comments, it's clear to see there are a lot of nearlyweds in their rat girl era right now...

If you're feeling anxious about your wedding, you're not alone. Here are our best tips for dealing with wedding anxiety.