Whether you hate the wedding-industrial complex, are a bride planning a wedding and want to feel better about your own demands, or just need something to read, we’re doing a new series where we share the craziest, most out-of-touch wedding story we found on the internet that week. Submit your own crazy wedding stories to [email protected] with the subject line Crazy Wedding Story, and we just might feature yours. And make sure to follow @BetchesBrides on Instagram and subscribe to our podcast, Betches Brides.
Brides can get kind of spooky as the big day gets closer. Like, if their flowers aren’t perfect, or their hair doesn’t look just like the Pinterest pic, or their bridesmaids don’t pay for a bachelorette rager… beware. It’s kind of like The Purge, but with more flowers and personalized gifts. In our case and with this story, we’ve got one out-of-control couple who is literally ready to charge their guests an additional fee if they don’t stay where Mr. and Mrs. Demandypants say. I’m skipping through the introductions here because I don’t want to give too much of the story away.
The Invite
Basically, the invitation in question, uploaded to the Reddit Trashy page, lays it all out for ya. The below was printed ON a couple’s wedding invitation.
So, okay, this sounds pretty rude when you look at it. Like, it’s one thing to have a hotel block somewhere, but to charge guests a fee if they don’t want to stay at the bride and groom’s probably expensive pick? That’s way harsh. Not to mention, how are they going to enforce that fee? An invoice? Small claims court? If you are charged the fee, can you factor that out of your gifts? The whole thing just feels tacky.
HOWEVER, if you just looked at this invitation and took it in a vacuum, you’d be missing on a key bit of background. According to one of the commenters, “Just so everyone is aware: Hotel Xcaret is an all-inclusive resort in the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. Resorts require you to pay for a day pass to use the facilities of the resort if you’re not staying there. That’s what the fee for the wedding is – it’s not something the bride and groom are charging to be dicks. They have no choice as per hotel rules.”
Right, okay, I hear that. However, I’m going to assume a few things here: First, the bride and groom are having a destination wedding. Second, a destination wedding is kind of already a dick move, considering that guests are expected to bring a gift, stay for multiple nights at an expensive resort or hotel, and either fly or drive a long way for what is, essentially, a four-hour party. Third, I can say all of this because I had a destination wedding. Don’t @ me.
Is It A Dick Move?
Based on exclusively the phrasing, which is literally printed in the wedding invitation, yes, the bride and groom are being dicks. HOWEVER, if they’re required to have a minimum number of people stay at this resort in order to qualify for their wedding, ceremony, reception, or whatever, it makes sense why they’d be so harsh in their wording. So, really, they are only being assholes because the resort is the bigger asshole and forcing the bride and groom’s hand. That sucks for everyone involved.
Regardless, though, this seems like something you’d want to communicate to your guests in person/via text/on your wedding website, and not printed in big bold letters on your actual invitation. Like, don’t you want to save one of those for posterity? Do you want the constant reminder of your insane wording that pissed every single one of your guests off?
On top of that, are the bride and groom pocketing that extra $120 “fee” for staying elsewhere to make up their losses? Or is that being collected by the hotel? Seems just insanely weird overall. Additionally, how dare you charge me to attend your wedding? I’m already bringing you that f*cking marble platter from your Crate & Barrel registry AND a $50 Restoration Hardware gift card (which we all know is a joke, since you can’t get a single thing at Restoration Hardware for $50). I would deny that Venmo request real quick, I’ll say that much.
Lastly, I spy grammatical errors, which makes this whole thing even funnier. It sucks that the resort is putting the bride and groom in this less-than-ideal situation, but there were probably classier ways to go about this. And at the very least, you should spell check your invitations.
Images: Mockaroon, Unsplash; Reddit; Giphy (2)
