Mumsnet Talk

Rude, rude, rude. You expect them to travel and attend a wedding feeling like spinster Sal on a day that is all about love and commitment. You are obviously not able to afford the wedding you want the way you want. I've done it once, been invited to a friends wedding without dh and it was shit and awkward. We'd been married longer than this couple had been together. Old school friend marrying a guy we went to school with. I felt like an idiot, 6 months pregnant sitting with my other three friends and explaining to people I hadn't seen in years, oh yes I'm married now, no he's not here.

Rude.

It actually sent a pretty clear signal to my other friends and I. Like we were invited through obligation.

YABU

You should have made your guest list before choosing your venue.

You also say you wouldn't invite some partners and not others, but are only talking about these few friends, which presumably means all your other guests' partners are invited? If so, your friends will be once they realise.

The friend that done it to us explained that it was because of the venue etc which I was fine about but it still rankles. Other people were there with partners, it was a bloody ceilidh too so who the hell were we meant to dance with? I hated the whole thing to be honest.

Your wedding is a party.

What will make it fun?

Hint: not just pleasing yourself and expecting your guests to be props in your play about you.

I think its a bit rude tbh, especially if theyd be travelling for the wedding

The hotel and travel and clothes and your present will come to more than £100 per couple - probably closer to £200 ( especially if the hotel is charging £40 per head.

So the least you can do is fling £40 for their partner's dinner.

if my partner wasnt invited and i had to travel, I just wouldnt go. Weddings are boring enough as it is if you dont know many people and you cant just go home when you want.
As the person above said. The guests are not just props in a play for you

Lol at the assumption that once you are in a relationship you are no longer an individual and have to go to everything together!

I know how expensive weddings are. But I think not asking partners says, as someone says upthread, that you are only inviting someone as an old friend rather than being interested in their current life and partners.

Also a wedding is all about the importance of you and your DP being together, so it seems funny to me to ask your friends to come along without their important people - their partners. (Would you be offended if they got married after this and didn't invite your new DH as they didn't really know him?)

If you really can't afford it though, then I would just write/phone and explain that you can't afford too many people there and you've asked them to come without partners. Some people on this thread wouldn't be offended at all, so your friends may not be either.

Op isn't suggesting the friends go alone though she is suggesting inviting four old friend who know each other.

"she is suggesting inviting four old friend who know each other."

So she is asking them to rewind their lives to the way they were when she knew them best.

So more prop than guest.

Hmm.... It wouldn't bother me too much if you explained why. It is a bit rude though. How about being totally honest, maybe they'll pay for the other meal? I would.

Who made that assumption ledkr?

Invite fewer people if you're doing one of these weddings where people have to travel over a whole weekend and spend £££.

I think that's fine Ledkr - if the OP wouldn't expect her DH to be invited to these women's weddings in future because she could hang out with her old friends and they see it that way too, then it sounds like everyone would be happy.

Yanbu. I think its a perfectly ok thing to do. I don't see why at your wedding you should have to have people there you aren't close to. Id find that weird personally.

There was a recent thread about this though and there were some who felt that their partner not being invited was an "insult to their relationship/meant the bride and groom didn't care about their relationship/felt that a wedding of two people is actually a time of celebration of all relationships everywhere and so all couples must be invited"

So, for the legal aspects of a marriage, yo could go to a registry office with a couple of witnesses and achieve that aim. You're not doing that, so it seems that on top of the legal aspects, you want to make vows in front of your community and celebrate your relationship with those that matter to you.

It seems to me that you should have a venue that it big enough for all the people that matter in that case. If you aren't committed to this place, I would think again.

If that's not possible, you'll have to be upfront and tell them that their partners simply aren't as important to you as other people. And as and when they get married you will have to be prepared to go without your DH.

If you can find the money then invite the partners. You are going to know these girls for years, they may marry these guys and have children and grandchildren and although you may not see them lots that shared history counts for a lot.

I left some partners out at my wedding breakfast and as the years go by i deeply regret it. I wish i had stuffed the flowers or the expensive shoes instead.

Wouldn't bother me. Four uni friends,, weekend away, no men? Quite nice.

You can see by some of the comments though - its possible they might not see it that way!

They may all know each other but it was a long time ago and OP did say they rarely meet up these days because of circumstances. So once together it will be different to when they were all living together. I wouldn't like to be stuck a long way from home at a wedding when all the people I knew were 3 friends I lived with years ago, I would want my DH there. And its nothing to do with not being able to function as an individual without him or any nonsense like that but I enjoy his company so would want him there, especially for the slow dances!

SO YABU, seems mean to quibble about £160.

Oh, have read op after ny coffee and yabvu if you actually know the partners! Talk about driving.g a wedge in the friendship

The assumption * mrs richards* I feel comes from posts like

So she is asking them to rewind their lives to the way they were when she knew them best.

When I got married I didn't erase who I was. The person I was before is the person I am now I'm just married. I don't see that I am incapable of going anywhere without him because that in some way would be going back to my old self, because I sn stil that person!

It's just my opinion though, bit too early to be disagreeing

"I don't see why at your wedding you should have to have people there you aren't close to."

Ah, the wedding as performance rather than enjoyable social occasion strikes again.

I couldn't agree more, AThing - but it seems to be an obscure viewpoint to some...

Absolutely athing....think some brides and grooms forget that once everyone has watched them get married it can be a very long day if you are not enjoying yourself.