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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not invite my parents' siblings to my child's wedding

331 replies

userzerozerozero · 21/10/2024 07:41

I need to sanity check my thinking. My son is getting married, large wedding, no budget constraints fortunately. Long back story but I am NC with my own sibling and my parents have not been supportive of me over this however I still have a relationship with them and see them regularly. Our relationship is not positive and my MH around them is terrible. I come from a background where family is everything and there is a lot of pressure to do the right thing in terms of inviting wider family to significant events though I have broken rules around this many times in the past.

My mother's brother and family have been very supportive of me through the ups and downs of my decision around breaking ties with my sibling and have offered support and advice when needed while still remaining close with my parents. They are lovely to my son but they are not close with them IFYSWIM.

Now my son is getting married and we've decided as a family not to invite my uncle and aunt mostly at the request of my son and his partner as they want more friends and a younger vibe. Deep down I'm wondering whether I've gone along with this to punish my parents in a way. My uncle will be deeply disappointed but they won't make a fuss. AIBU to just go along with it knowing my parents will be upset and potentially my uncle as well?

OP posts:
Fugliest · 23/10/2024 09:06

userzerozerozero · 23/10/2024 08:31

An update....I've spoken with my son and future DIL and explained that I feel uncomfortable and sad not to invite my uncle and aunt but still respected their ultimate wishes. They didn't agree straight off but have come to understand that it's important to me. They're on the list!! Thank you all for your comments, I appreciated all the viewpoints but ultimately feel great about the outcome.

Thats great news. I hope you all have a wonderful time.

MiraculousLadybug · 23/10/2024 09:08

userzerozerozero · 23/10/2024 08:31

An update....I've spoken with my son and future DIL and explained that I feel uncomfortable and sad not to invite my uncle and aunt but still respected their ultimate wishes. They didn't agree straight off but have come to understand that it's important to me. They're on the list!! Thank you all for your comments, I appreciated all the viewpoints but ultimately feel great about the outcome.

Great result OP! Glad it could be straightened out.

lemming40 · 23/10/2024 09:09

As others have said, it's not your wedding so it's not your decision.

Ihatelittlefriendsusan · 23/10/2024 09:10

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 08:08

It's not unfair at all. I would agree if the OP wanted to dictate things like the wedding dress, the colour scheme or the menu, but if you are paying for it all and you haven't imposed any kind of budget restriction then you're perfectly within your rights to say you want some older family members invited. Especially when you're talking about two people. My FIL wanted to invite 40 of his friends to our wedding and offered to pay for them. We said no because we didn't know most of these people and it would really have altered the balance of our wedding, and let him choose three couples to invite. That was not including older family members, who we would not have dreamed of excluding. Such a mean and short sighted thing to do.

But she has already chosen friends. Why did she not include her aunt and uncle then??

And by your own statement if FIL was paying you should have let him have all 40 people right?

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 09:15

Ihatelittlefriendsusan · 23/10/2024 09:10

But she has already chosen friends. Why did she not include her aunt and uncle then??

And by your own statement if FIL was paying you should have let him have all 40 people right?

Well no, because that would have meant that a quarter of our guests were people I didn't know and my husband barely knows. It would have been disproportionate. This is one uncle and aunt, who are family members. And it sounds like the groom already doesn't have much family attending.

senua · 23/10/2024 09:21

userzerozerozero · 23/10/2024 08:31

An update....I've spoken with my son and future DIL and explained that I feel uncomfortable and sad not to invite my uncle and aunt but still respected their ultimate wishes. They didn't agree straight off but have come to understand that it's important to me. They're on the list!! Thank you all for your comments, I appreciated all the viewpoints but ultimately feel great about the outcome.

Well done, good outcome.
Weddings are, after all, about love, mutual-support and family.Smile

ellyeth · 23/10/2024 09:30

Surely having a "young vibe" around can happen any time. For a wedding, I think setting that as a priority is just rude and unkind.

I actually do think that if the parents are paying for the wedding it would be considerate and polite to allow them to have some say as to who is invited. But I am surprised that the parents have also prioritised their friends over supportive members of the family, who are more likely to be hurt by being excluded. I suspect that supportive relationship will never be the same again.

BESTAUNTB · 23/10/2024 09:42

userzerozerozero · 23/10/2024 08:31

An update....I've spoken with my son and future DIL and explained that I feel uncomfortable and sad not to invite my uncle and aunt but still respected their ultimate wishes. They didn't agree straight off but have come to understand that it's important to me. They're on the list!! Thank you all for your comments, I appreciated all the viewpoints but ultimately feel great about the outcome.

Brilliant outcome!

Treesandsheepeverywhere · 23/10/2024 09:48

Flossflower · 23/10/2024 08:51

You don’t control your children when you pay for them.

No one is talking about controlling the wedding or the paying parent having all their friends and colleagues coming.

It's a wedding, a time for family to come together.

We invited an aunt and uncle from my DH's side who had not seen each other for over a decade.

The lost communication went on as time passed by as each side were waiting for the other to make the first move.

You wouldn't have known they'd been apart for so long at the wedding, like old friends where you just pick up from where you left off.

There's since been family gatherings since and it's a joy to see.

No wonder people are so quick to go NC.

Well done @userzerozerozero , enjoy the wedding.

Tourmalines · 23/10/2024 09:57

Good, thats how it should have been .

ellyeth · 23/10/2024 10:04

That's good news.

Forwhatitsworth18 · 23/10/2024 10:15

Great news. It's always great to see an issue resolved. Have a wonderful wedding 😁

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 23/10/2024 10:29

userzerozerozero · 23/10/2024 08:31

An update....I've spoken with my son and future DIL and explained that I feel uncomfortable and sad not to invite my uncle and aunt but still respected their ultimate wishes. They didn't agree straight off but have come to understand that it's important to me. They're on the list!! Thank you all for your comments, I appreciated all the viewpoints but ultimately feel great about the outcome.

Well done OP!

Scorps1511 · 23/10/2024 10:37

Great news about them being on the list!

Miffylou · 23/10/2024 11:00

This reply has been deleted

We've deleted this post as it seemed to have been posted here accidentally and probably should have a new thread of its own.

Are you sure you posted this on the right thread?

petmad · 23/10/2024 11:16

Its not you're decision not you're wedding the bride and groom invite who they want so support you're sons decision if the family get pissy about it tough

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 23/10/2024 12:00

I do see your point, @petmad - if it's not your wedding, you don't get a say - but when I got married, I wanted my parents and dh's parents to have some friends there, partly so they would have someone to talk to, and partly because I knew they had been invited to friends' children's weddings. We said they could invite up to 10 people each.

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:42

Jimmyville · 21/10/2024 08:03

Er, no, you invite them. They’ve been important people in your family life.

Can’t believe you think it is ok to bin them for being an ‘older vibe’ - how fucking rude is that.

Totally

How spiteful your "DS" and his wife to be sound.

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:44

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

RitaIncognita · 23/10/2024 12:45

So glad they are being invited, OP.

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:47

AffableApple · 21/10/2024 08:30

Oh gods...

Ikr

Ridiculous.

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:48

Ah,,, seen updates

Nice one, and I hope everyone enjoys the Day.

PuddlesPityParty · 23/10/2024 12:48

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:42

Totally

How spiteful your "DS" and his wife to be sound.

Again. A gross assumption.

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:50

PuddlesPityParty · 23/10/2024 12:48

Again. A gross assumption.

In your opinion, not mine..

Humans differ in opinions

PuddlesPityParty · 23/10/2024 12:50

Trinity65 · 23/10/2024 12:50

In your opinion, not mine..

Humans differ in opinions

No - an assumption is an assumption.