Is it ever acceptable to bill guests who don’t show up at your wedding?
Weddings are expensive for everyone involved. For the bride and groom, the cost of saying “I do” in front of a hundred of their closest friends and family costs, on an average, $60,000. Bridesmaids spend an average of $1,695 to participate in their friend’s big day while guests often spend thousands to attend destination weddings.
The good ol’ days of getting hitched in the backyard and gifting a toaster are officially a thing of the past.
And now, it turns out that not attending a wedding can be just as costly.
When Jessica Baker was invited to her friend’s nuptials, she had every intention of going along to celebrate, but when her mother was no longer able to babysit her children at the last minute, Baker and her husband were forced to stay home.
The Bakers thought they’d made the right decision. After all, their children weren’t invited and they had no other options for childcare. They could hardly leave their kids at home to attend the wedding, could they?
The bride and groom obviously thought differently, and charged Baker and her husband for failing to show up.
“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,” the bill read.
Speaking to NBC affiliate KARE 11, the Minnesota resident said she was shocked when she received the invoice, which included a service charge, presumably to cover all the service the Bakers received during their night in.
Although she doesn’t intend to pay for the meal, Baker says she doesn’t know what the right response to the request for payment is.
One Facebook comment suggested the Bakers to send the newlyweds Monopoly money in lieu of the $75.90 the couple were hoping for.
Making the situation all the more awkward, the bride and groom are relatives of the Bakers.
Here’s hoping they don’t cancel their Christmas plans. After all, turkeys are expensive.
Do you think guests who don’t show up at weddings should be charged?
Top Comments
I've not attended a friend's wedding because the morning of my 4 mth old son was hospitalised with a respiratory infection. I felt bad about not being there for my friend on her special day, but as I watched my baby struggle to breathe even attached to a ventilator, there was no doubt in my mind that I was exactly where I needed to be. Things happen at the last minute, sometimes people can't attend events, but I think that it is important to put yourself in others shoes. Call, text, communicate- don't just not show up. Thankfully in my case we did just that and was surprised when the bride and groom sent flowers, wedding cake and photos to the hospital the next day. We responded in kind by shouting them dinner and giving them their gift once our son had recovered. We all showed respect, courtesy and grace..... and that's why we're still friends..... and we didn't get a bill! !
As mother of the bride twice, I would never have sent off a bill, that is rude. But the couple who didn't go were just as rude. Not for missing the wedding, we had one person who was sick & missed one wedding, things happen. BUT surely the couple could have sent a text to someone in the family-maybe the parents or bridesmaids, if only so they wouldn't worry about what might have happened to them. It sounds as if they didn't even call the next day or next week. Incredibly rude.
That wedding (unless they had hundreds of guests) was nowhere near $60,000, not if meals were under $40. We paid closer to $128- $140pp reception (which included chapel etc) and total wedding costs for everything including wedding frock etc were well under $20k