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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

14 year old not invited to stepsister’s wedding

1000 replies

Ombreofmyself · 18/04/2025 15:03

Stepdaughter is getting married. My husband is paying for everything but dress and flowers.

Our six year old and nine year old are in the wedding, but that’s another story. They are half sisters to the bride.

My 14 year old, step sister to the bride isn’t invited.

Made husband clarify with her. Stepdaughter confirmed so I am not going.

Husband is upset but seems completely incapable of thinking rationally and insisting on her coming but then says why can’t she go to her Dad’s. He should insist as he is paying.

OP posts:
Cornishclio · 18/04/2025 16:29

I am not a stepmother but the crux of the matter is your DH and his DD are deliberately excluding one member of the family. Your DD is your DHs stepdaughter and you are stepmother to his DD. Why make an issue over one extra child to avoid hurt. That is just mean. Are there step siblings other than her two other children on the mums side(from a new partner)?

Usernamexyz1 · 18/04/2025 16:29

Ombreofmyself · 18/04/2025 15:17

She simply doesn’t regard her as family.

She is perfectly pleasant but never goes beyond pleasant. On holiday once when my daughter was 11. She came down and tapped her on the head and said Happy Birthday Mate. End of!

Younger ones would get presents not necessarily on the day but nearest day.

How old is the bride? In 20s, mid to late 30s?

Anewuser · 18/04/2025 16:30

That’s a shitty move.

Your husband is paying so it’s not a case of money.

Her step sister isn’t going to be running around and making a noise, so it isn’t that she’ll be disruptive.

I wouldn’t go either. But your husband has to take some responsibility. He agreed to take on your daughter when you married.

SnippySnappy · 18/04/2025 16:32

Has your husband asked her - directly - why she has not invited her step sister?

BigHeadBertha · 18/04/2025 16:33

Unless I got mixed up, one of your later posts said you "don't know" if other children who aren't in the bridal party are invited.

If that's correct, then I think you are being very self-centered in how you're looking at this. You don't care about their overall criteria for who is invited and who's not, or if they actually even ARE slighting your daughter at all or not. You simply want your own way in the middle of your husband's daughter's wedding and only care about that. Well... shouldn't you really be a very MINOR player in that, rather than someone eager to throw down the gauntlet and damage your husband's relationship with his daughter?

It is VERY pertinent to know if other children are invited or not (besides the ones who are actually in the wedding) because if they are not, then you being offended equals you being overly self-absorbed. Your husband's daughter isn't very close to your daughter and bridal couples have a lot to consider, besides only how the criteria they set for the guest list lines up in each relative and close friend's current nuclear family.

If it really needs to be explained, couples have to limit the guest list, due to money and space constraints. When they go by "rules" like "no children- except, of course, the ones who are in the wedding" then people might not like it but it would be unreasonable to not think it's FAIR- because it is. When the couple starts making exceptions is when they get into trouble with many others on the guest list, and understandably so.

So before getting into this any further, I'd stop right there and FIND OUT if other children are being invited or not. If not, then don't cause trouble. Just quietly excuse yourself from the wedding and spend the day doing something fun with your older daughter. Don't cause trouble unless you want trouble.

Also, on reading your take on your husband's position, my feeling was that's only "your take" on it. He may be unable to stand up to anyone or he may not care that much or he may think you're causing unnecessary problems.

And, again, there have been a lot of posts so I could have missed something, but I did not see anything about how your DAUGHTER feels about this, only how YOU feel about it. She's fourteen, she may see it completely differently than you do and not care about it at all or even be glad she doesn't have to bother with going to a boring wedding.

Another possible issue that is very real for the couple to deal with but do not revolve around YOU are the wishes of the bride's mother, who does and should come before you in the wedding of HER daughter.

Yet another one is to remember that you are dealing with a young adult who is inexperienced in planning weddings. As the older and supposedly wiser adult with more life experience, I think it would go a long way for future relations for you to consider being gracious and simply stepping aside on this one instead of making it about you in any way or making trouble when weddings are already so very stressful for a young couple to navigate.

So. Before proceeding with anything else on this, I suggest taking a DEEP BREATH, then stepping back and re-evaluating the overall situation instead of only thinking about yourself and your family and what you want. Good luck.

HunsandRoses · 18/04/2025 16:34

All those posters saying the DH should confront the bride are missing the fact that he's already made it clear he isn't going to. He's still going and is still paying.

He's arranged childcare for the younger siblings so isn't bothered that the 14 year old or the OP attend.

Why are people missing this?

Jabberwok · 18/04/2025 16:34

Endofyear · 18/04/2025 16:23

Generally, I think it's up to the bride and groom who to invite but in the case of leaving out one child in the family, I think that's mean. It's possible that they're not having any children apart from the wedding party which I suppose makes a difference. But I wouldn't blame you for not going. Your DH is a bit of a wimp too.

The most important word here is child. The girl is 14. What does this tell her. That her step sister doesn't think she's family...well ok. But that her step dad, who's been in her life at least 10 years doesn't consider her family either...that's pretty shitty of him.

He could easily have said "look there's no way you can't invite x . I know she's not your sister and you don't see her as that, but she's my wife's daughter, I see her as my daughter, you simply cannot invite the little ones and not her. It's rude, it will cause me problems, I am paying and can afford one more". End of.

Bluevelvetsofa · 18/04/2025 16:35

The future implications will probably be a severing of relationships in one way or another. There aren’t any winners in this.

TheZippyBlueCat · 18/04/2025 16:35

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Auldy · 18/04/2025 16:37

HunsandRoses · 18/04/2025 16:34

All those posters saying the DH should confront the bride are missing the fact that he's already made it clear he isn't going to. He's still going and is still paying.

He's arranged childcare for the younger siblings so isn't bothered that the 14 year old or the OP attend.

Why are people missing this?

Yip. And if was Op I'd be getting my ducks in a row. Because I really wouldn't want me and my daughter living with someone who thinks so little of us.

EnidSpyton · 18/04/2025 16:39

@Anewuser But the bride didn't agree to 'take on' a stepsister, did she? She had no choice in who her father married and the 'family' she would have to be a part of as a result.

The OP thinks the bride should be forced to invite a teenage girl she has no relationship with to her wedding because she thinks they are sisters and it's mean and cruel to invite two sisters and not the other.

But they're not sisters. They've never lived together as sisters. They haven't grown up together. There is a huge age gap between them. They have no relationship at all. So why would the bride want her at her wedding?

Let's take a minute to think about the bride for a second. She's got two parents who have both remarried and had new families. That must be really hard for her - she's the only child of that marriage, and now her parents both have multiple children with new partners. She must have felt quite pushed out when her parents both essentially started again without her. The OP is solely thinking about herself and her daughter without taking a minute to think about what the childhood of the bride might have been like, and how that might have impacted on her feelings towards her stepsister.

A wedding should be about the bride and groom having who they want there to celebrate with them. If the bride doesn't want her stepsister there, then that is her choice, and the OP needs to respect that. There is probably far more to the decision than the OP realises - as a PP has said, her version of how happy a family unit they've all been is probably quite different from the bride's version of events.

BunnyLake · 18/04/2025 16:39

I wouldn’t be going. Have a nice day with her instead.

mainecooncatonahottinroof · 18/04/2025 16:39

I don't think this is holding a grudge - it's remembering an incident!!! You can hardly block it out of your mind!

Rainbowpug · 18/04/2025 16:40

If your married it's family money ,you get a say on if the money is spent
Can he afford to spend the same on all his children when they each get married

mainecooncatonahottinroof · 18/04/2025 16:41

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

I bet you wouldn't.

I'd be saying, we all go, or nobody goes. She doesn't get to treat the child so badly. It's a real snub, and for what?

outerspacepotato · 18/04/2025 16:42

Your step daughter and eldest were forced into proximity by your marriage. SD does not consider your eldest one of her family members or a friend or close enough to want your eldest at her wedding, so no invite. She's pleasant when they meet and that's all you can ask for.

Why can't she go to her dad's?

CustardySergeant · 18/04/2025 16:42

Is the bride not inviting anyone to whom she is not related by blood? That's very odd. If she is inviting people who are not blood relatives, why is her stepsister deemed unworthy of an invitation? The reason can't be that she is not a blood relative if other people for whom that is true are invited. It makes no sense.

mainecooncatonahottinroof · 18/04/2025 16:43

BigHeadBertha · 18/04/2025 16:33

Unless I got mixed up, one of your later posts said you "don't know" if other children who aren't in the bridal party are invited.

If that's correct, then I think you are being very self-centered in how you're looking at this. You don't care about their overall criteria for who is invited and who's not, or if they actually even ARE slighting your daughter at all or not. You simply want your own way in the middle of your husband's daughter's wedding and only care about that. Well... shouldn't you really be a very MINOR player in that, rather than someone eager to throw down the gauntlet and damage your husband's relationship with his daughter?

It is VERY pertinent to know if other children are invited or not (besides the ones who are actually in the wedding) because if they are not, then you being offended equals you being overly self-absorbed. Your husband's daughter isn't very close to your daughter and bridal couples have a lot to consider, besides only how the criteria they set for the guest list lines up in each relative and close friend's current nuclear family.

If it really needs to be explained, couples have to limit the guest list, due to money and space constraints. When they go by "rules" like "no children- except, of course, the ones who are in the wedding" then people might not like it but it would be unreasonable to not think it's FAIR- because it is. When the couple starts making exceptions is when they get into trouble with many others on the guest list, and understandably so.

So before getting into this any further, I'd stop right there and FIND OUT if other children are being invited or not. If not, then don't cause trouble. Just quietly excuse yourself from the wedding and spend the day doing something fun with your older daughter. Don't cause trouble unless you want trouble.

Also, on reading your take on your husband's position, my feeling was that's only "your take" on it. He may be unable to stand up to anyone or he may not care that much or he may think you're causing unnecessary problems.

And, again, there have been a lot of posts so I could have missed something, but I did not see anything about how your DAUGHTER feels about this, only how YOU feel about it. She's fourteen, she may see it completely differently than you do and not care about it at all or even be glad she doesn't have to bother with going to a boring wedding.

Another possible issue that is very real for the couple to deal with but do not revolve around YOU are the wishes of the bride's mother, who does and should come before you in the wedding of HER daughter.

Yet another one is to remember that you are dealing with a young adult who is inexperienced in planning weddings. As the older and supposedly wiser adult with more life experience, I think it would go a long way for future relations for you to consider being gracious and simply stepping aside on this one instead of making it about you in any way or making trouble when weddings are already so very stressful for a young couple to navigate.

So. Before proceeding with anything else on this, I suggest taking a DEEP BREATH, then stepping back and re-evaluating the overall situation instead of only thinking about yourself and your family and what you want. Good luck.

Edited

Bullshit. He's bloody paying for it all!!!

Of course the OP's DD is being slighted. It's a disgusting way to treat a child!

Bigfatsunandclouds · 18/04/2025 16:43

I wouldn't let my other children attend either to be honest. It's either, we are all invited or not. This is as awful of your SDD.

mainecooncatonahottinroof · 18/04/2025 16:46

outerspacepotato · 18/04/2025 16:42

Your step daughter and eldest were forced into proximity by your marriage. SD does not consider your eldest one of her family members or a friend or close enough to want your eldest at her wedding, so no invite. She's pleasant when they meet and that's all you can ask for.

Why can't she go to her dad's?

Why should she have to? The OP, her DH and children are a family unit. It's brutal and cruel to leave one out. The 14 year old is essentially being raised as the bride's father's DD. It's a hateful thing to do.

Let your DH go if he wants @Ombreofmyself but you and your children should all give it a miss. She's already putting conditions on your younger children.

LEWWW · 18/04/2025 16:46

I certainly wouldn’t be letting my other children go and leave one out, how bloody horrible, especially when your family money has paid for it. Honestly what is wrong with people…

Snoopdoggydog123 · 18/04/2025 16:47

mainecooncatonahottinroof · 18/04/2025 16:46

Why should she have to? The OP, her DH and children are a family unit. It's brutal and cruel to leave one out. The 14 year old is essentially being raised as the bride's father's DD. It's a hateful thing to do.

Let your DH go if he wants @Ombreofmyself but you and your children should all give it a miss. She's already putting conditions on your younger children.

Because it's a bitch thing to do.
It literally costs her nothing.

She's doing it to publicly declare she's a bitch.

Maray1967 · 18/04/2025 16:47

I was invited to the wedding of the sister of the family I was an au pair for - the mum’s much younger sister. This was the legal wedding - they had a big church wedding weeks later after I’d left. The only guests at the first wedding were immediate family - parents, siblings, siblings’ spouses and nieces and nephews - and me! Because I was part of the her sister’s family, the bride said. I didn’t expect to be invited - but there is no way a step child should be excluded from a sibling’s wedding.

Jasmin71 · 18/04/2025 16:47

Well!

You WILL NOT be babysitting for this eldest selfish daughter of your DH's if she decides to have her own children in the future.

Don't go to the wedding, go and take your 14 year old on an amazing trip away for the weekend. And, drop your DH right in the shit with childcare for your youngest for at least 2 nights.

Whataninterestinglookingpotato · 18/04/2025 16:48

It seems incredibly odd for her not to invite her step sister if they get on and their shared siblings are part of the wedding party. Very odd indeed. Almost purposely unkind. I wouldn’t go either OP and I think just out of spite I wouldn’t let the younger children go either. I’m usually not one to think that step family should always be treated the same. I’d actually be ok with her buying her step sister a less expensive gift for birthday or Christmas, or even no gift at all if money is a bit tight, but this just feels unkind.

is she generally a nasty person?

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