Sending invite back after RSVP no...
We verbally accepted and immediately booked a hotel because the wedding was 3 hours away in an area we'd never visited before.
Part of the reason we said yes so quickly was because she was constantly posting about how nobody wanted to come to her wedding and how she had no friends or family support. We felt genuinely bad for her.
As time went on, things started getting a bit odd.
I couldn't attend her bachelorette party because I already had a trip booked. She had around 6 people attending, but then made public posts asking complete strangers to come because, in her words, "6 people for a hen party is kinda pants." ... wonder what her 6 friends would say about that.
Worth mentioning she also had a separate European hen trip planned with her bridesmaids. This is obviously not someone without support, but someone with unrealistic expectations.
The official wedding invite then arrived.
- No vegetarian meal option.
- Guests asked to wear a specific colour palette because, as she stated on the invite, she wanted the photos to look good.
- Ceremony and reception at separate remote venues with no parking.
Fair enough, we'll get a taxi.
Except then we were told the landowner didn't want lots of cars on site, so guests will need to use an organised coach instead.
The coach cost about $30 per person. For a journey of roughly 10 minutes. Guests are to fund this themselves. So we will pay $60 as I am going with my husband. It will not cost anywhere near that if we have the option to sort our own transport; carpooling, taxi... For clarity, this is not in the US, just using $ for ease. $60 can fully top up our car!
The invitation itself was incredibly elaborate: multiple pages, ribbons, floral embellishments, tracked delivery, the whole lot. This would have cost essily $10+ each to make. If money was tight enough that guests were expected to cover the transport between venues, surely that's where some savings could have been made? Send digital invites!
In the end we RSVP'd no.
The bride has now asked whether she could have the invitation back because she didn't have the time, energy, or money to make another one for the replacement guest.
I've seen a lot of wedding related requests over the years, but being asked to return my invitation so it could be reissued wasn't one I expected. 🫣
I have now seen a post from her on a local FB group asking strangers to come to her wedding giving sob stories about how she has been let down. It is all very cringey.