Full House’s Jodie Sweetin Says Her First Drink Was at Candace Cameron Bure’s Wedding
Jodie Sweetin, known to millions as the bubbly middle child Stephanie Tanner on Full House, has always been open about the complicated journey that unfolded behind the scenes of her early fame. In recent years she has spoken candidly about her struggles with addiction, her path to sobriety, and the moments that shaped her relationship with alcohol. One moment in particular — her very first drink — continues to capture public attention because of where it happened: at the wedding of her Full House co-star, Candace Cameron Bure.
Sweetin has said that she was around fourteen years old when she attended Cameron Bure’s wedding in the mid-1990s. Still a young teenager, she was navigating the transition between child stardom and adolescent insecurity. The wedding was glamorous, lively, and crowded with adults celebrating a major milestone. Sweetin has described feeling slightly out of place, caught between the adult world of Hollywood coworkers and her own still-forming identity.
Somewhere during the celebration, she found access to alcohol — a detail she has said wasn’t the result of anyone intentionally giving her a drink, but simply the nature of a large, busy wedding where glasses were left on tables and champagne flowed freely. What began as curiosity soon turned into something more significant. Sweetin has reflected that her first sip of alcohol gave her a sudden sense of ease, comfort, and confidence that she had struggled to find in her daily life. She later recognized that feeling as the spark that would lead to deeper struggles with addiction.
That night became an early turning point. Although no one at the wedding had any idea what was happening, Sweetin has said she felt a powerful emotional shift. At an age when she was grappling with self-esteem, public scrutiny, and the pressure of growing up on television, alcohol seemed to offer a temporary escape. But it was also the beginning of a difficult path — one she would spend years trying to understand and eventually overcome.
In the years that followed, Sweetin’s struggles with substance use became more serious. She has shared openly in interviews and in her memoir that her teenage experimentation developed into a long battle with alcohol and drugs. Her honesty has been widely praised, especially because it provides insight into the often unseen challenges faced by child actors who grow up in environments filled with adult expectations and not always enough emotional support.
Despite the painful memories connected to that first drink, Sweetin’s reflection on the experience is not one of blame but of understanding. She has never suggested that Candace Cameron Bure or anyone else was responsible for what happened. Instead, she speaks about the moment as part of a larger personal story — one shaped by fame, adolescence, and the vulnerabilities that come with both. Today, Sweetin is an advocate for sobriety and mental health, using her past not as a source of shame but as a way to help others.
