Patricia Grisafi
There are lots of ways to have a wedding on a budget. But should charging guests money for their dinner be one of them?
One Redditor shared a wild story about RSVPing to a wedding only to find out that she was expected to pay for her meal. And when they reached out, confused, to the bride she was met with a response that seems frankly unhinged.
“We received the most beautiful wedding invitation via mail and have responded well before the deadline with our choice of dinner and space for two. Days later, we receive a sweet voice mail of thanks (for responding) followed by A REQUEST FOR $150.00 TO COVER DINNER AT $75.00pp!! OK WHAAAAUUUTTT? Has anyone ever heard of this happening?” asked the OP.
The OP did what seems like a normal and good idea — communicated with the bride about the situation. It did not go very well.
“Who are you to ask about what I’m doing for my wedding?! I don’t understand why all of these folks are declining after my calls to them like we’re supposed to pay for everybody to damn eat,” the bride responded.
The OP continued to voice her concern, saying, “Darling it’s in poor taste to have sent invites, received rsvps, and follow up voice notes to pay for the meal…had the invite been printed with caveats beforehand, your invited guests could decide from there on whether or not they are to attend.”
The bride said, “Well you’ve heard what I’ve said, either pay or don’t come.” And the OP said, see ya!
So, what now? Redditors responded to the post and also shared some of their own experiences with entitled wedding parties.
“We had one of these cases where the bride RSVPed with a list of demands (outfit in pastel tones you MUST buy, pay for the hotel and a minimum value monetary wedding gift plus one of the very brand name items from these wedding lists you can make). 180 guests were supposedly invited, but the majority was confused after the demands came; the bride than said in a fit of anger how they were expecting the guests to pay for her dream wedding + partly first house purchase. She was very upset when declines started pouring in, because she already ordered the food for the initial RSVP,” shared Mesapholis.
“My sister was going to do this. She planned to charge guests $75 per person to attend the reception at her wedding to cover the cost of the venue instead of asking for gifts. The venue changed and she didn’t end up charging money. Apparently this is a fairly common thing now, but I cant help but think its incredibly rude. People (family in particular) often feel obligated to attend weddings and gifts aren’t really gifts if they are considered obligations. I don’t think anyone should be one should be expected to pay to attend a wedding,” said mistycskittles.
“I wouldn’t have gone to my own sisters wedding if she pulled that kind of sh*t. Not even if my mother offered to pay for me. That is so f*cking ridiculous that I would’ve made a statement out of staying the f*ck away. I’m getting worked up just thinking about someone having the nerve to do that. If you can’t afford to feed the guests at your own wedding, make it a picnic then. Or cut the guest list. Or stop the wedding. You can’t afford it,” said Daealis.
Featured Image: Pexels
