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SIL invited only husband to wedding

162 replies

NiftyFawn · 01/03/2026 20:38

Am I being crazy , entitled or rude ? My husband's sister has recently invited only my husband to her destination wedding . We have had no falling out or anything like that . Feel very hurt , it feels disrespectful to me and my husband . MIL fully supports this which makes it worse . Am I wrong for feeling like this ? DH fully agrees , interested in others thoughts

OP posts:
Bellyblueboy · 01/03/2026 22:31

SalmonOnFinnCrisp · 01/03/2026 21:53

My DHs brother and sil have done this
It's a remote venue in a different continent that's childfree. It's a 100 person wedding...

They invited me but not our 2 and 4 yo (thus knowing i wouldnt be able to come)
Then they went on and on with Dailymail sad faces that I wouldnt come...

Just batshit....also so offensive to my children (& their goddaughter!!!)

I have said NOTHING.
My dh dealt with it
I have given them zero to push back on and said nothing.

I've just dropped the rope.

It's absolved me from having to bother with them at all in the future.

I don’t think this is the same thing.

its not offensive to your children that they weren’t invited to a child free wedding. It’s reasonable that you, and I am sure quite a few others, couldn’t travel to the wedding. But you seem to be blowing this hugely out of proportion.

sundayvibeswig22 · 01/03/2026 22:38

on the surface it’s weird and rude imo, unless it’s a tiny wedding with like 2 guests from each side of the family or only blood relatives from each side. If it was fair I’d be ok with it but if other spouses of siblings were invited I wouldn’t be happy.

figsandstars · 02/03/2026 18:28

Of course you’re not being crazy. I don’t care who is or isn’t invited and how tiny the wedding is. If this were me, neither myself or my husband would be attending. There’s no world in which any of this is reasonable, especially for a destination wedding, but any wedding really. You are FAMILY, like married to her brother.

Billybagpuss · 02/03/2026 18:30

Is he planning on going?

Foreverautumnagain · 02/03/2026 18:55

Work out the cost of your DH going alone and spend that time having a romantic break together. Send them a photo of you congratulating them from a hot tub with a bottle of bubbly 😁💕

EWAB · 03/03/2026 17:39

My brother did this and didn’t invite our spouses (not destination).

He told my sister that if he invited people we were close to there wouldn’t be room for people they were close to.

All this because they wanted to sit around one table. Loads of champagne and staff ratio small. Sumptuous food. They wanted to spend the money they had and not spread it too thinly by inviting loads of people.

Broke my heart.

Agree with people we need more info re: numbers etc.

MrsMoastyToasty · 03/03/2026 17:54

I have a slightly different take on destination weddings.

If the bride and groom are effectively eloping , why should they expect anyone to trail after them?

Bellyblueboy · 07/03/2026 20:20

EWAB · 03/03/2026 17:39

My brother did this and didn’t invite our spouses (not destination).

He told my sister that if he invited people we were close to there wouldn’t be room for people they were close to.

All this because they wanted to sit around one table. Loads of champagne and staff ratio small. Sumptuous food. They wanted to spend the money they had and not spread it too thinly by inviting loads of people.

Broke my heart.

Agree with people we need more info re: numbers etc.

Edited

Did it break your heart because you thought your brother had a close with your husband?

How did your husband feel - was he close to your brother and was he hurt? What’s is their relationship like now?

MeganM3 · 07/03/2026 20:24

How many people are attending? If it’s more than just immediate family members then perhaps she isn’t keen on you for some reason.

Jasmin71 · 07/03/2026 21:46

Destination weddings are bloody selfish anyway. Save the money and go on a lovely short break. Tell him to tell them that.

EWAB · 08/03/2026 21:30

@Bellyblueboy

Sorry I have just seen you asked me a question.

I had a myriad of feelings.

It was my brother’s second wedding and wanted to tie up loose ends but nevertheless I could not believe that he didn’t see my partner as a member of his family.

I thought he was rude, arrogant and entitled putting style above substance. Really old fashioned I know, but no sense of etiquette.

I can’t believe how upset I was and I remain upset. A real visceral feeling.

I remember walking up the stairs and seeing bottles and bottles of chilled champagne. There was actually staff standing behind chairs like he was the king entertaining foreign dignitaries. I sat there thinking he’d put this before making his family happy.

Now to be honest my partner didn’t give two fucks and was probably relieved and he and both my boys groan if this subject comes up.

Brother number 2’s wife didn’t seem to care either but my sister was beyond enraged and my BiL ‘forgot’ his keys and wandered in to be given champagne by bride’s dad. I don’t think my brother has ever forgiven him. Bride’s brother’s wife was literally outside with her children for the duration. After about three hours she tried to get in but was stopped by staff but her wiry nine year old boy shot through to get his dad.

In our case the bride and groom had some of their cousins and friends there, some of whom were in couples. And giant hydrangeas!

What I have asked the OP is, does she know who actually is invited because that would inform my opinion.

I am genuinely embarrassed but I could rant for hours. Years later my partner’s brother did not quite do this but didn’t reveal he was getting married so I went on holiday.

Pinkissmart · 08/03/2026 21:52

People are getting more and more selfish with weddings now. It’s not ok

Bellyblueboy · 09/03/2026 07:36

Pinkissmart · 08/03/2026 21:52

People are getting more and more selfish with weddings now. It’s not ok

But it is okay! You might not agree with it and you might do your wedding differently- but it’s just a social event.

I know lots of people who had small weddings with only their parents there. That is okay!

not everyone wants or can afford 100 plus people.

teaandtoastwouldbenice · 09/03/2026 07:39

That’s horrible - unless it’s their parents and siblings attending only. (Which is weird anyway if everyone is grown and has own families)

user1492757084 · 11/03/2026 05:42

It would be fine if there were only ten guests in total.
Otherwise, very rude.

Your husband could take you along and you both have a delightful holiday, with him sneaking away for a few hours to witness the extra small wedding.

It could be an attractive option for you both regardless of the size of the wedding. Is the destination gorgeous?

Quitelikeit · 11/03/2026 05:46

More details needed

Tigger18 · 11/03/2026 05:49

I have a SIL who likes to do shit like this to remind me at every opportunity I'm not family. She's actually managed to make sure I've been excluded from all family photos since our first child was born 8 years ago, she's very masterful really. There's no way my DH would agree to spend any time with her without me there as backup so he'd decline the invite.

I just took a massive step back from his family after MIL, who was always so lovely to me, completely moved onto team SIL. It's been brilliant not getting involved with them tbh. She's shown you what she thinks of you so I wouldn't make any effort with her moving forward. 💐

DaisyChain505 · 11/03/2026 05:50

You haven’t made it clear who your DH agrees with. You or your MIL and SIL?

HoppingPavlova · 11/03/2026 06:33

Some people see it as rude, and others don’t. There is no universal rule for this, although some think so, but that’s only in their heads. So, it’s not wrong of her. If your DH believes you must go everywhere together then he has the option if declining.

Personally, I’d be thrilled. DH and I have been married decades and have only attended 3 weddings together in all the time, and only 1 family wedding among those 3. It was always more sensible for us to rsvp for 1 of us only, with the other looking after the kids. So, whoever’s family it was would go, or whoever was better friends/initial friends would go and the other person happily stayed home. Some of our kids had some issues which meant we would have been on edge taking them to weddings where they were invited, so easier/less stressful to not take them. So, the few we have been to together have been close friends second marriages once the kids had grown up😁.

However, close joint friends aside, we don’t accompany each other to weddings where the other isn’t really good friends with the people getting married. If we do get a plus one in those situations, we just rsvp for the one of us and the other is more than happy to sit home, watch Netflix, have a nice takeaway and a bottle of wine, very happy the other is having a nice day/night out.

Harvestmoons · 11/03/2026 07:36

This is crazy, what country and how long for.

I hope your DH declines, I wouldn't even engage in conversation about the reason as this should be obvious.
Does DH have other siblings ? Mil might be on board so she can have a holiday with just her children which I personally think is rude when they are grown adults and married.

ZenNudist · 11/03/2026 07:38

ErickBroch · 01/03/2026 20:52

YANBU. DH will have to ask her what’s up.

This

rookiemere · 11/03/2026 08:35

HoppingPavlova · 11/03/2026 06:33

Some people see it as rude, and others don’t. There is no universal rule for this, although some think so, but that’s only in their heads. So, it’s not wrong of her. If your DH believes you must go everywhere together then he has the option if declining.

Personally, I’d be thrilled. DH and I have been married decades and have only attended 3 weddings together in all the time, and only 1 family wedding among those 3. It was always more sensible for us to rsvp for 1 of us only, with the other looking after the kids. So, whoever’s family it was would go, or whoever was better friends/initial friends would go and the other person happily stayed home. Some of our kids had some issues which meant we would have been on edge taking them to weddings where they were invited, so easier/less stressful to not take them. So, the few we have been to together have been close friends second marriages once the kids had grown up😁.

However, close joint friends aside, we don’t accompany each other to weddings where the other isn’t really good friends with the people getting married. If we do get a plus one in those situations, we just rsvp for the one of us and the other is more than happy to sit home, watch Netflix, have a nice takeaway and a bottle of wine, very happy the other is having a nice day/night out.

According to Debretts it is rude not to invite spouses or long term partners as the two people are considered to be one social unit.
Generally I am on the fence on posts like these as it usually involves step DCs or partners not spouses. But yes it’s pretty egregious not to invite your siblings spouse, particularly if you’re generally friendly with them.

FacingtheSun · 11/03/2026 08:41

Bellyblueboy · 09/03/2026 07:36

But it is okay! You might not agree with it and you might do your wedding differently- but it’s just a social event.

I know lots of people who had small weddings with only their parents there. That is okay!

not everyone wants or can afford 100 plus people.

Yes, I couldn’t get excited about it if people just want siblings and parents.

The same posters complaining about ‘disrespect’ would be complaining even more loudly about the selfishness of being expected to trek to the Bahamas’ for a destination wedding.

rookiemere · 11/03/2026 08:53

It’s rude not to invite spouses to a wedding, it’s also rude to have a destination wedding if you get upset that people decline your invitation on grounds of cost.

We compromised on a few things in the end to ensure that everyone who we thought would want to celebrate our wedding could attend as having those that were important to us around us was what mattered.

I know some people aren’t bothered about going to weddings and that’s fine and a personal choice.

Pinkissmart · 11/03/2026 21:35

Bellyblueboy · 09/03/2026 07:36

But it is okay! You might not agree with it and you might do your wedding differently- but it’s just a social event.

I know lots of people who had small weddings with only their parents there. That is okay!

not everyone wants or can afford 100 plus people.

Of course people can have a wedding with only their parents. But at what other ‘social event’ would you and your partner invite close friends and family, but not their partners? It’s like they don’t want their guests to have fun

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