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AIBU?

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For us all to miss family wedding

593 replies

apothecarist · 23/10/2024 07:51

One of DH's siblings is getting married overseas next summer. The wedding is where the sibling's partner grew up and still has family, so understandable why they chose it.

It is quite fiddly to get to and from, however - looks like we'd arrive at the venue after midnight, having got up in the very early hours, and the wedding would then be that day. Wouldn't be the end of the world for just the two of us, but we have a toddler, and have just found out I'm pregnant and due a few weeks before the wedding.

DH decided told his sibling (apologetically) that it unfortunately wouldn't work with toddler and so we wouldn't be coming. Sibling seemed to take it ok at the time but hasn't spoken to us since. DH's parents on the other hand have said we're letting his sibling down by not making it work with toddler, who should definitely come.

We weren't planning on telling anyone about the pregnancy for a little while. I had complications last time and the scrutiny got a bit intense. But in the circumstances would it be better to come clean? And presumably if we do that they would accept us all staying at home and leave it there?

OP posts:
ImustLearn2Cook · 23/10/2024 12:52

I’m really surprised at all the people saying the Dh should go. Most dad’s I know wouldn’t want to leave their newborn baby so soon. Dads love their babies too and want to bond with baby just as much as Mums do.

HollyKnight · 23/10/2024 12:48

purplebeansprouts · 23/10/2024 12:37

I'd let them all get pissed off with you, then when you're ready tell them the due date of your baby. They'll feel like right idiots.

No they won't. Why would they? If anything they'll be more annoyed.

WhitneyBaby · 23/10/2024 12:45

So would you have had to go for a week if you were going?

apothecarist · 23/10/2024 12:45

Thanks again, everyone. Having read through all the replies it is pretty clear that we'll need to navigate it quite carefully even having told them about the baby, as a lot of people would still expect DH to go. That is really helpful to know. He personally is very reluctant to go in the circumstances (toddler trying to get used to new baby here without him, or us being split - also missing his own time with the baby) but I appreciate from the responses we'll need to be delicate in how we approach it.

OP posts:
Christstollen · 23/10/2024 12:44

Having travelled extensively with my own toddler, I recognise none of what you described.

That said, by the sound of it, imprisoned in the wedding location until the next flight back home 😂😂 I have never tried to make things as dramatic and unbearable as I possibly could.

I love travelling with my kids. If you are that high maintenance, emotional and frantic about everything, indeed you probably won't have a good time.

Aligirlbear · 23/10/2024 12:42

I think in the circumstances the family would be more understanding if they knew the reason, At the moment they have received a no from DH using toddler as an excuse. While that would be difficult his family are not seeing that as a show stopper for attending his sibling’s wedding ( rightly or wrongly they are perceiving this as you just not making a bit more effort ) . I suspect they would be more understanding if you told them about our pregnancy, they know you had complications first time around and also you can mention that you wouldn’t get a fit to fly / insurance so soon after the birth. They can’t argue with any of that or feel it’s unreasonable.

You say you weren’t going to announce your pregnancy this early but under the circumstances for family dynamics and harmony I would at least tell your DPIL and DH sibling.

Christstollen · 23/10/2024 12:41

purplebeansprouts · 23/10/2024 12:37

I'd let them all get pissed off with you, then when you're ready tell them the due date of your baby. They'll feel like right idiots.

wow, is that really how family relations work?

As ridiculous and dramatic as some posters might be, I find it quite sad that people - on paper - seem to be in a constant war against everyone, trying to win point and make everybody's life as miserable as possible.

I get that not everyone is close to their siblings, but with the attitude of some MN posters, you can see why.

Same posters who will possibly become MIL (or FIL) one day. You can understand the problem.

WHY would you want your brother to feel like "right idiot" when any normal human being would just say: due to give birth around that time, no travel possible. How hard can it be?

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:39

LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway · 23/10/2024 12:04

Of course having a toddler is an 'excuse.' In fact, it's a damn good reason. Like hell would I be dragging my toddler abroad, getting up at stupid o'clock like 5.00am, and not getting there till midnight. What, a 17 hour trip just for someone's dumb wedding that they chose to have abroad? LOL fuck that!

I wouldn't go with my toddler. Even if I wasn't heavily pregnant at the time ... As previous posters have said, you're free to have your wedding anywhere you like. Have it on the moon if you like, but just expect a lot of people to refuse to attend - or say they will attend, then bail out when they realise what a ballache it's going to be.

Because it's really unreasonable to expect people to spend loads of time travelling many miles, (because of YOUR choice to have your wedding abroad,) spending loads of money (and it will cost many ££££££!) And then there's the logistics if you've got small children!

Anyone that has a wedding abroad and then gets all sniffy and huffy, and butthurt and salty, because some people won't come is an absolute selfish idiot and they don't deserve anybody to turn up. Why do people have to get married abroad?! If the sibling's partner is 'from overseas' but is living here in the UK, then they should have a wedding over here. They chose to come and live here. Why should everybody haul ass across to another country/another continent to attend the wedding?

.

Edited

All of this.

Can you imagine it? Waking your toddler before dawn to go to the airport, on your own with all the stuff both you and the toddler will need for the wedding and however many days you have to spend in this location. Toddler probably having a meltdown due to the disruption to their routine, not being able to take naps on their usual schedule etc. Then the next day you wake up in a strange place, possibly in a different time zone, possibly with unusual food your toddler decides not to eat. You go to the wedding, which probably clashes with when your toddler needs to nap. If your toddler has a meltdown during the ceremony due to all the above factors you have to take them out and miss it because you have no adult there with you to tag team. Rinse and repeat all day long. By the evening meal, your toddler: (a) has fallen asleep in a corner somewhere, (b) is having a meltdown due to exhaustion and too much excitement, or (c) has already been taken back to the hotel room, by you, which means you're missing the evening part as well and might as well have not bothered coming.

Then you wait however many days you're imprisoned in the wedding location until the next flight back home, do the whole journey in reverse, and return to your wife who has been all alone with the newborn.

It's absolutely bonkers that people are even suggesting this. I thought Mumsnet was a site for people who know a thing or two about having toddlers.

purplebeansprouts · 23/10/2024 12:37

I'd let them all get pissed off with you, then when you're ready tell them the due date of your baby. They'll feel like right idiots.

HoppingPavlova · 23/10/2024 12:35

@FancyBiscuitsLevel To be fair its not a destination wedding - it’s where the brides family is from and their family live

But it is. As I said previously, we’ve had a fair few youngsters where I now work get married in the past two years, I think a few delayed with the Covid debacle maybe? They were all in this position, and they all had a wedding in each country for the people in that country. They didn’t expect one side to haul ass across the world to the other country. One was half a year later as they wanted a spring/summer wedding in each country which are half a globe apart. Another recently ‘got married’ here and confessed they actually got married a year prior in the other country with the other family. They had the photos from that as a slideshow at their wedding here. I don’t think people bother getting the marriages recognised in the other country if that makes sense so it’s a legal wedding in each country, that’s what it sounds like anyway the way they all seem to do it? Some have another full wedding, others have a slimmed down celebration/party rather than full shebang. So, it’s a choice as to how it’s done and who you choose to inconvenience.

LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway · 23/10/2024 12:34

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:32

They can do what they like, except dictate how other people spend their time and money!

Exactly! Like I have said SEVERAL TIMES - get married on the bloody moon if you want, but don't piss and moan - or get all huffy and sniffy and stop talking to people, when many people refuse to attend. (THIS is what the OP's sibling is doing. They've been blanking them, for saying they can't come! How fucking childish and pathetic!)

She has already got a toddler, so even without being pregnant on top, it's a big ask. I wouldn't be going!

!

SatinHeart · 23/10/2024 12:33

OP is there anyone in your family that can come and stay with you? I think you should explore all the options to get your DH to the wedding (with or without toddler) as it is his sibling.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:32

This reply has been deleted

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They can do what they like, except dictate how other people spend their time and money!

LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway · 23/10/2024 12:31

FarmGirl78 · 23/10/2024 12:25

With a new born that might not have even arrived if she goes over her due date? Give over!

Yeah this. ^ Some ludicrous bloody posts on this thread.

@apothecarist You need to tell your sibling and their partner that you are pregnant and will have a toddler and newborn by the time the wedding fate is here. (And that you are not going.) Your DH isn't going either. Like fuck is he going to leave you alone with a toddler and a newborn.

.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:31

Christstollen · 23/10/2024 12:23

I would love to know why you are so angry about the wedding of some complete stranger you read about on the internet.

Did your ex dump you for someone from "overseas" or something? 😂Or are you just bitter you couldn't afford a nice wedding?

That's a lot of drama and anger about something that has nothing to do with you 😂

I am married to someone from "overseas" and got married "overseas" (although nowhere anywhere near as complicated to get to) and you'd better believe that when some people declined the invitation I accepted that with a good grace.

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:29

Fluufer · 23/10/2024 12:20

Most men wouldn't even be on paternity leave by that point.

Yeah and in the weeks after my husband went back to work I was climbing the walls by 6pm and counting down the minutes until he got home and could take the baby off me for a few minutes.

kiraric · 23/10/2024 12:28

FarmGirl78 · 23/10/2024 12:25

With a new born that might not have even arrived if she goes over her due date? Give over!

Why do people keep saying this?

She is due a few weeks before the wedding and having a scheduled c section.

Unless she is using some weird definition of a few, there is absolutely no way the baby won't have arrived 3-6 weeks ahead of the wedding.

FarmGirl78 · 23/10/2024 12:25

Simonjt · 23/10/2024 07:54

Why can’t your husband go on his own, or take the toddler while you stay at home?

With a new born that might not have even arrived if she goes over her due date? Give over!

Christstollen · 23/10/2024 12:25

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Christstollen · 23/10/2024 12:23

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:15

I bet you had a five day fancy dress destination wedding in Maui and expected all your relatives to save for two years to afford it.

Edited

I would love to know why you are so angry about the wedding of some complete stranger you read about on the internet.

Did your ex dump you for someone from "overseas" or something? 😂Or are you just bitter you couldn't afford a nice wedding?

That's a lot of drama and anger about something that has nothing to do with you 😂

LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway · 23/10/2024 12:22

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:15

I bet you had a five day fancy dress destination wedding in Maui and expected all your relatives to save for two years to afford it.

Edited

😂

LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway · 23/10/2024 12:22

saraclara · 23/10/2024 12:19

It's not bridezilla to have your wedding in your own country. And presumably the groom was part of the decision.

It's going to be a long way for a wedding for one set of family, wherever they have it. And absolutely none of your highlighted rant is the case. The entire question in the OP revolves around the fact that the couple don't know that OP is pregnant.

It IS bloody well bridezilla to piss and moan when because people won't attend though! Which is what I have been saying.

But you know that don't you? Wink

Wellingtonspie · 23/10/2024 12:22

Fluufer · 23/10/2024 12:20

Most men wouldn't even be on paternity leave by that point.

Still be home for some rest and help come after working hours. Be able to say go and grab an hour or two I’ve got this. Go get a shower.

Rather than bye I’m off for a week good luck.

vegandspice · 23/10/2024 12:21

Tell them you are pregnant and husband will go with toddler. Enjoy the peace and quiet !

Fluufer · 23/10/2024 12:20

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 12:11

Because the OP will need help managing a newborn and a toddler in the immediate aftermath of her C-section?

This isn't what paternity leave is for.

Most men wouldn't even be on paternity leave by that point.