By this point, most of us are aware that weddings can be pretty damn expensive. (Especially if your 2015 wedding season was even half as busy as ours.)
Even the simplest receptions can suddenly set you back thousands of dollars.
So, understandably, it’s pretty annoying when wedding guests bail at the last minute. What’s not so understandable is when the bride and groom subsequently send absent guests a bill for their dinner – because, yes, this actually happened.
Jessica Baker had planned on attending a wedding in Minnesota when her mom was suddenly unavailable to babysit her kids, who were not invited to the wedding (the invitation specifically said no children). If she was going to attend the wedding, she would have to bring the kids, and she was unable to get ahold of the bride to communicate this with her.
So she and her date just stayed in rather than show up with kids in tow.
Turns out that was a $75.90 mistake.
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It isn’t clear as to whether she contacted the bride and groom to inform them of her absence, but it’s likely she didn’t, considering the babysitter situation was a last-minute emergency. And in this case, sure we can understand if the bride was annoyed.
But still.
Either the couple lacks tact or is naïve to the public shaming prowess of the Internet, because they decided to send Baker an invoice in the mail for the cost of her uneaten meal at her empty seat. Oh – and that of her date, too.
The invoice read as follows:
“This cost reflects the amount paid by the bride and groom for meals that were RSVP’d for, reimbursement and explanation for no show, card, call or text would be appreciated.”
It’s one thing to demand an explanation for the no-show, but the rest is more than a little questionable. The thing is, you shouldn’t invite guests to your wedding expecting them to owe you something for the “precious” invite.
Not surprisingly, after Baker posted the photo to Facebook, it didn’t take long before it went viral.
The lesson to be learned is two-fold. If you’re a guest and something comes up last-minute, at least have the decency to let your hosts (in this case, the bride and groom) know ASAP. If you’re on the other side and planning an event, always allow a buffer to account for overage or underage.
Finally, consider the actual reason you want the guests there in the first place…and if you ever want to be friends with them again.
You can check out the local news coverage here:
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