The average cost of a wedding is outrageous. You’re looking at spending at least $20,000 for that “dream wedding,” which a lot of people seem to chase (even more than actually being married to someone they love).
In pursuit of that once-in-a-lifetime wedding experience , brides and grooms oftentimes have to find creative ways to make the money for their big days. Which, apparently, might include shamelessly asking other people for money.
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Recently, a Mumsnet user opened up about having to pay to attend a wedding.
Yeah, that’s definitely a new one…
Early in October, a user who goes by Cookiemonstersnana, took to the forum to post about the baffling wedding invitation she’d received.
“Is this the new thing re parties and weddings?” the post reads.
“Last week we received a wedding invitation for the end of January. On the invite it’s asking us to pay for our food. £100 each.” At the time of writing, £100 is approximately $113 USD.
“It’s worded as though they are doing us a favour as it’s only £200.”
“Plus asking us for money for their honeymoon,” the post continues.
“Then in the post this morning is an invite to a significant birthday for one of DH’s
friends and this says there won’t be a buffet but there will be a van outside where
we can BUY a pizza.”
“Both of these events is where we purchase our own drinks.”
In other words, not only was OP and their partner invited to a wedding where they’d have to pay, but the same couple invited them to a birthday party where they’d have to pay. Yeesh.
Other commenters were just as confused as OP.
One user wrote, “£100 sounds like a lot, especially when the guests aren’t the ones choosing the menu. I suppose at least they’re making it clear on the invite rather than springing it on guests at the last minute.”
For others, the clear choice was to turn the invitation down.
A user commented, “Simply decline. Buying drinks at a bar is the norm where I live, however that’s after being given a drink on arrival, canapés, drink when cutting the cake, 2+ glasses of wine with the 4 course meal, drink for the toasts, tea/coffee tablet/truffles then evening buffet, tea/coffee and cake!
“The last wedding we attended had a sweetie bar too!”
Others pointed out how it’s pretty selfish for the couple to ask attendees to pay on top of giving a cash gift.
“The wedding thing is a piss take,” a commenter wrote. “If you can’t afford that many people then don’t invite them. To ask people to pay £100 a head PLUS a gift of cash is bonkers and I’d hate to enable the entitled couple.”
It really sounds like the problem is the expectations people set for their weddings.
With rising inflation leading to higher costs for pretty much everything, it seems like spending tens of thousands of dollars for a single wedding should be a lot harder to justify. Instead, the couple in this story is trying to use their guests to mitigate wedding costs.
Which honestly doesn’t seem right.
In response to a lot of commenters telling them they shouldn’t attend the wedding, OP replied, “don’t worry we have turned down the wedding.” Though, they still seem on the fence about the birthday party.
At the very least, though, that one seems a lot less like a money grab.
One commenter, who echoed a lot of what people were saying, wrote, “For a birthday it’s fair enough. People often invite others to join them for a birthday meal at their own expense and it’s a non issue.”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
