Don't you just hate them?! The nerve! Taking your great idea and running to everyone they know, claiming the idea is theirs, and by the time you find out about it, everyone has heard them tell the tale of how they came up with the idea. They're all but crowned with a tiara. Red carpets roll out for them. They stole your thunder.

It's awful when this kind of thing happens at work. And it happens all the time. It just happened here on Planning in Peace, with another wedding industry blogger pretty much lifting the March 16th entry, but doing so in such a sly manner that there's not a whole lot I can do about it (other than comfort myself with 'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.') So what can you do about the creatively-bankrupt, morally-void, integrity-free people who steal your wedding ideas and claim them as their own?

It takes two simple movements: shake your head from side to side in the international sign for 'I pity you.'

Your family and friends know the idea was yours first, and they know exactly where you got your inspiration. If Cousin Stella is running around acting superior about the blini station at her brunch wedding [an idea she got from you,] you have two choices. One steals your peace [fighting her on it] and one returns your peace [ignoring her.]

But how can I ignore her when we have a lot of the same guests, who are all going to think *I* copied *her?*

In my experience, it might seem gratifying to approach her and demand that she choose a diffferent station, but that rarely works. Diabolical people love seeing you lose your cool. Same-Idea-Stella might put on that faux empathy face and assure you that she'll change her plan...and then there's that blini station at her wedding. You spend her whole wedding -- which she planned for a month before yours even though you were engaged first -- fuming. Which is precisely what that hollow shell of a cousin wanted.

Now here's a better idea. Deprive her of the satisfaction. Resist the urge to zing her in front of others with 'I'm so glad you liked my idea for the blini station.' That just makes YOU look petty. Just ignore it for now, and make plans to dial up your own blini station to level 9.9. While Stella has a few basic blini and mid-shelf caviar, you tell your caterer that you have an Emulator. They've heard this a million times and (pardon the very weak pun here) they relish the opportunity to raise the Blini Bar to a new level. Yours is going to render hers unforgettable.

Are we being petty here? Maybe just a little. But when you consider the different tactic you could take, working with a caterer to design a new and improved presentation of the blini bar is actually quite fun, and you get cheered by 1. The knowledge that you have the power to have a new and improved blini bar that everyone will love, and 2. you didn't sink down into a fight with Soulless Stella. No one wants drama -- except her -- so you just gracefull dance around her call for competition by ignoring her Copycat move and taking your blini in a different direction. Stella Sweetheart just did you a big favor. Tweaked plans often turn out far better than what you originally planned. Thanks, S!

And if Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery, you can sleep well at night knowing that people wouldn't imitate you if you weren't excelling it, if your ideas weren't brilliant and inspired. You're in that top 1% of brilliant brides planning amazing, creative things for your big day. Those who feel inferior are of course going to try to tap into your awesomeness.

Share your stories here -- even ones you've heard -- about the worst copycat offenders in wedding world.