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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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AIMBU - to still not be bothered to talk to 1/2 my family after wedding?

121 replies

Rosenip · 19/08/2013 16:21

Just over a year ago I got married to my wonderful DP. After a 7 year relationship he proposed and we set a date for nearly 18 months in the future, my parents offered to help us out with paying for our wedding so we thought this was a reasonable timescale to commence the planning and the saving.

So began the countdown to the day - I couldn't wait, wished all the time away and loved planning and preparing. I asked 2 of my female cousins to be part of my bridal party (along with DPs family members and my sis). Her dad - a vicar, my uncle is to marry us.

Neither of the two cousins (aged 23 and 21) could make a trip from Bath to London that summer to meet me and the other bridesmaids and to get involved in the general merriment - commence the start of my wrath. They were too busy/poor (1 a student planning her summer trip to Canada, 1 working part time because she's not the kind to enjoy working full time - they are both very sweet, kindly, homely types).

A couple of months later the elder cousin brings her new bf to London to attend a party and wants to meet up for lunch. They announce their engagement to me then and there - both 23, Christians, no sex before marriage types and had been together about a month. They go on to say they are planning their wedding 4 months before mine. I feel miffed. I am not asked to be a bridesmaid, I feel more miffed. I also know that her parents- who are having to pay for all of their wedding, are really feeling the pressure financially because of the demanding timescale. Her mum doesn't work and her dad is the vicar I mentioned before. I don't understand why the cousin didn't feel bad about this?

The she starts to usurp the ideas I had discussed with my BM I wanted for my wedding, marquee, homemade bunting etc. This is now what she is having. Some of our family members live abroad and probably won't make it to both weddings, hers comes first. I am told the shared ideas are a coincidence.

Her wedding comes along, neither I, nor my immediate family are asked to be in any photos, her grandparents on the other side are openly rude to us because they know we are upset with the timing and other aspects of the wedding (justified or not) and then at about 3pm, all of their close family,including cousins on the other side go off to a restaurant dinner to close the day. We were not invited.

Our day comes along, the evening before, the younger of the cousins says she can't come over at 8am to have her hair done, she will just do it herself, she is tired from travelling from Bath the day before (she has ME). She is no good at hair, never does it or wears makeup. I explain I have paid for their hair to be done and I would really like her to come. She agrees to come, but a bit later on. I open a gift from my bridesmaids, a lovely necklace. It is signed from all the others, not the 2 cousins, they didn't want to contribute.

1 year later, I don't feel the need to go and visit them/their parents regularly as I used to, I still feel midly miffed enough to think about it sometimes.

Apparently they never understod why I might be miffed, the wedding had to take place quickly, they are christians (so I am btw but perhaps not so strict in every sense.... Wink) because 'they just wanted to BE together'. Their whole side of the family are very religious people, generally enjoying singing round the piano and baking cakes, so looking in from outside I imagine plenty of people feel they are too nice for me to be miffed at.

So, there you have it, AIBU to still feel miffed, will it ever go away, or AIBU about the whole thing?! Let me have it.... Grin

OP posts:
MrsKoala · 19/08/2013 17:51

It is a nice thing Rose, as long as you don't expect people to spend money they don't have. Your OP seems to dismiss saving for a trip to Canada or the fact your Cousin works part time. It sounds as tho you expected them to sacrifice money from their trip or up their hours to earn enough money to be part of your wedding. That doesn't sound very nice - sorry.

Whether your mum said it or you, your feelings got back to them and the grandparents. It doesn't really matter who said it does it. If you are annoyed with anyone about that it should be your mum.

It's normal that you should have paid for the dresses btw. And goody bags are a nice thing to do.

You should let it go now i think. Accept it's in the past and move on.

MoaningMingeWhingesAgain · 19/08/2013 17:51

The thing is, your wedding was clearly very important to you.

To you .

It's just not that fascinating important to anyone else. It's a bit silly to waste your energy stewing over it still.

So you were sulking because your cousin, one of your bridesmaids, got married before you and didn't ask you to be a bridesmaid for her. And her wedding wasn't totally different to yours.

I think you should just put it all to one side and get on with your life.

Rubydoo80 · 19/08/2013 17:52

I would also be hugely miffed about all of it apart from them having the same kind of wedding ideas as you. Home made bunting etc is what's in at the moment.

quesadilla · 19/08/2013 17:58

These threads make me feel grateful that I got married in a registry office thousands of miles from home with no family there.

Life is too short for worrying about stuff like this. Really.

Pachacuti · 19/08/2013 17:58

You're clearly not a bitch, or you wouldn't care. But you do sound like you were a bit of a bridezilla (although it sounds as though some of that was down to your mother being a motherofthebridezilla). The difference is that you can choose to let go of your bridezilla tendencies.

Did you phrase the invitation as "would you like to come up to London some time so you can meet [the bridesmaids you don't know] and we can all have a nice weekend together?" or as "can you come up on [specific dates]?" When your cousin and her fiance came up to London was she bringing him to attend a party (for one of her friends) or was he bringing her to attend a party (for one of his friends)? How did they get up on that occasion (public transport or did one of them drive)?

picnicbasketcase · 19/08/2013 17:58

I really don't think you sound like a bitchzilla. But I stand by my other post - I do think you need to forget it and move on. As long as your wedding was a success and you're happy now, it simply doesn't matter who had homemade bunting.

Optimist1 · 19/08/2013 17:59

It's over a year ago since you were married, and even longer since your cousin's wedding. OK, so the cousins weren't as close to you as you had hoped, but it's not the end of the world.

Let your feelings of resentment/disappointment/hurt go, and look forward to welcoming your baby into the world.

Alisvolatpropiis · 19/08/2013 18:02

Right so it's not really about the weddings at all - it's more you thought you were all very close and you feel they have behaved in a way which suggests they don't value you as you valued them. You are upset about it.

I totally get that. Not sure what you can do about it really, but I understand why you've felt like you've had a bit of a slap in the face, not being invited to the wedding etc.

cakebar · 19/08/2013 18:04

Well, I think they were being mean not to invite your family to the 3pm wedding meal. It basically means that you thought more of them then they think of you. The fact that the snub was so close to your own wedding where you asked them to be bridesmaids just means that they don't care if you know that. It sounds like they think they are better than you. Did you live with your dp before marriage? They sound like the types that would judge about that. The fact that they couldn't travel to you once over a whole summer also shows they didn't care about being your bridesmaid. I would distance yourself tbh.

Getting upset about the ideas stealing, the closeness to your wedding, how their wedding was funded, them contributing to your gift is just silly. I think they were odd to have no photos of 'brides side of the family' and none of everyone all together - assume that is what you mean when you say they didn't have you in photos?

Rosenip · 19/08/2013 18:09

The pre-wedding get together was the first option, when is everyone free, it would be lovely for you to all meet each other and we can have a lovely weekend etc

Elder cousin and bf came up for the birthday party of a cousin on her otherside of the family, came by public transport.

But otherwise have got the message about what people think. Self-confidence slightly dented, thought I was behaving reasonably/thoughtfully for the most part.

I don't sit around everyday being cross about how things turned out, it actually came up in conversation yesterday which is what made me think of it all.

I was 26 when I got married.

OP posts:
breatheslowly · 19/08/2013 18:12

How many BM did she have?

MistressDeeCee · 19/08/2013 18:13

Mrs Koala - the OP's cousin could still have 'no', if not interested. & I cant see anywhere at all in the OP that there were unreasonable demands made such as expecting multiple meetings/visits to London, etc

Ive been a bridesmaid twice. I didnt begrudge travelling once to meet the others/go for fittings. That doesnt amount to a big 'duty' to me..there are other places/events I have to go to at times that may be inconvenient, I will say no if my time is that precious.

What surprises me is often when weddings are mentioned its all talk about having to spend £££s on another's day. Each to their own but it sounds meanspirited. We spend money on lots of things, if we want to do them that is. I do not believe the majority of brides ask that people spend hundreds to be part of their special day either; if that were the case I certainly wouldnt be attending weddings.

I do feel the vitriol brides get (unless of course bride is really extreme!!) amounts to passive aggressiveness at times...ok its your special day but we're going to make sure we show you we dont feel its THAT special. You're not the bride so of course you arent going to feel as she does. But if I have a friend or relative & begrudge 1 dress fitting/meetup as part of her wedding preparation that would say a lot about my character, wouldnt it? I couldnt care less if she feels like a fairy princess - why should I? Thats up to her; but I will play my part & not dissect everything she does. If her character bothers me or I dont want to be her bridesmaid I will say no. That gives her time to find someone else.

MrsKoala · 19/08/2013 18:16

Well done OP :)

For the record i am still bewildered/upset at how people behaved about/at my weddings. It is hard to let it go if you feel hurt, whether that was the intention or not.

When is your baby due?

Pachacuti · 19/08/2013 18:17

I suspect your mother did more than "mention something" to her brother if your side of the family got de-mealed over it and the extended family were giving you the evils, TBH. I'd be interested to hear the other side of this story as I suspect there's something there you don't know about.

Rosenip · 19/08/2013 18:18

She had 3, sister, friend and cousin.

Thought I had picked the girls who would want to be part of the excitement in the run up to the wedding, perhaps it would have been better if she had said no.

OP posts:
Alibabaandthe40nappies · 19/08/2013 18:20

Being asked to be a BM is a nice thing, but I've never understood why there needs to be a whole load of stuff that goes on beforehand. That is the bit that makes you sound the most unreasonable.

Rosenip · 19/08/2013 18:22

Really? Is that genuinly the most accepted view? That your nearest girl firends really wouldn't want to be any more involved than just turning up on the day?

OP posts:
MrsKoala · 19/08/2013 18:22

I disagree Mistress. It has nothing to do with character if you simply don't have the money, or have allocated it to something else then you can't. And £££s is a lot of money to people especially young part time workers.

I may really like someone but if their wedding costs me a lot of money (often even if i can afford it) i just don't think it's worth it.

I think the vitriol on here is mainly justified when brides expectations are too high. It has nothing to do with wanting to knock people down a peg or two it is just very confusing to those of us who cannot understand these demands. I have had 4 wedding invitations in the past 2 years and of those 3 have been wrapped up in utter weird/rude behaviour. It does seem to be a trend emerging and i think people on MN just try to inject a bit of reason to it all.

OhDearNigel · 19/08/2013 18:23

I have managed lots of weddings this year. Every single one was shabby crappy chic. I suspect she thought of bunting because it is in every bridal magazine

Rosenip · 19/08/2013 18:23

Baby due 30th November - can't wait. Probably shouldn't expect my closest friends to be at all interested in this either I guess Smile.

OP posts:
Pachacuti · 19/08/2013 18:28

Were your cousins really your nearest girl friends, Rosenip?

YouStayClassySanDiego · 19/08/2013 18:30

Now you're sounding like you're feeling sorry for yourself, buck up kid Wink.

Look forward to the birth and stop worrying about this, move on and enjoy your life.

MrsKoala · 19/08/2013 18:31

OP - i don't know about accepted view, but IME no, they aren't 'girly' women and the idea of talking about my own wedding for more than 5 mins makes me want to stick pins in my leg so fuck knows how they would feel.

1 of (3) of my BMs came to help me choose my dress - her choice, i didn't even 'invite' them just told them where i would be and at what time. I took them out altogether to buy their dresses and gave them each a budget of £250 for dress and accessories, stipulated the colour (any shade) and let them choose what they wanted. We then went out for a boozy lunch (which i paid for to thank them for giving up their time to shop) and we didn't discuss the wedding at all. I've been a BM twice and that was similar both times. (atho once i had to attend a dress fitting in another town and my train fare was paid by the bride).

Perhaps age comes into it - maybe the older you are the less of a 'big thing' being a BM is.

MrsKoala · 19/08/2013 18:34

Awww i am envious OP i wish i had a squidgy baby on the way. (and sadly no, no one was that bothered when i had DS last year either - However, i am surrounded by selfish arses!).

Floggingmolly · 19/08/2013 18:34

Your expectations were way too high, op. Agreeing to being bridesmaid doesn't mean signing up to a whole summer of being part of the excitement in the run up to the wedding.
How exactly should they have demonstrated their excitement, do you think, bearing in mind it was always going to be considerably less than yours?
When you add the fact that she actually got married herself before your extravaganza, can you not see that all her reserves of excitement were justifiably used up by her own wedding??