Kit Roberts
It's fair to say that planning a wedding can be a very stressful experience.
There's the venue, the food, the cake, music, outfits, speeches, and that's before you even start thinking about the awkward family dynamics which might be at play at the event.
So imagine that after all that, ten of your guests just didn't show up to the big day. It's safe to say you'd be more than a little hacked off.
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And for one bride in Australia that's sadly exactly what happened, after spending thousands of dollars on her big day, ten guests didn't show.
But the bride's response to this has set the internet ablaze as she mused with the idea of charging the absentee guests a no show fee on account of their missing the wedding.
People certainly have a lot of opinions on the idea.
The bride took to the She's on the Money podcast to share her dilemma.
She said: “It’s now one week out from the wedding and I have already given the confirmed numbers to the venue and paid the outstanding amount, which was $12,426."
She continued: “Within the last week, ten guests, who had previously RSVP’d, said that they were coming and have now canceled citing that it’s too expensive for them to travel interstate."
The bride also said that she had been left 'scrambling to cover their seats' otherwise she could be left out of pocket for a whopping $1,336.
She asked: “Is it reasonable to request that they cover these costs themselves?”
She also explained that guests were also given 18 months notice when they sent out their save the dates, before the formal invitations were sent out in January 2023.
One text from a guest who cancelled read: “So sorry, I know we RSVP’d yes and the wedding is next week but we just can’t afford to travel interstate at the moment.
“Hope you understand, would love to have been there.”
So what did listeners of the podcast think of this awkward situation?
Well, it turns out that they were actually split almost directly down the middle on whether the bride would be justified in asking for them to pay, with a slight favour to saying the guests should pay.
In fact, it was 51 percent to 49 percent in favour.
One person said: “No one books flights for an interstate wedding the week prior. The guest is 100% at fault here and is not a nice friend for doing this."
Another said: “In this circumstance, the guest/s absolutely would have known and should reimburse the couple.”
But not everyone agreed, with one saying: “If you can’t afford to cover the cost then have a cheaper wedding.”
What do you think?