A French woman took to Reddit to seek opinions on whether she was wrong for disinviting her aunt from her after-wedding celebrations, despite the aunt having travelled across the globe to be there.
A French bride, who was marrying her South African husband, faced a difficult situation involving her aunt during her wedding weekend. The couple had diligently planned a small, private wedding at a secluded savanna reserve in South Africa, inviting just 30 guests, including 13 who traveled from France.
They wanted to ensure that only their nearest and dearest attended the wedding and the pool party the day after. The bride and groom rented a lodge to accommodate some of their guests for the weekend. The lodge could house 10 people.
In a gesture of goodwill, the bride invited an aunt she hadn’t spoken to in eight years, hoping to reconcile past issues. This decision was made even though the wedding’s intimate setting didn’t include plus-ones. The bride informed her aunt that she was invited, but her husband and child were not, as the couple didn’t know them. However, there were many family members at the wedding with whom the aunt would feel comfortable.
The aunt’s insistence on bringing her family led to a year-long campaign from both the aunt and the bride’s mother, which the bride resisted, highlighting the personal and intimate nature of the ceremony. Regardless of this, the bride’s aunt acted on her own when the wedding day arrived.
The bride’s aunt booked tickets not only for herself but also for her family, arguing that because other guests had RSVP’d with declines, there was room for her husband and child. The bride was stunned but offered a compromise, allowing the aunt’s family to attend the pool party the day after the wedding, but not the ceremony itself.
On the wedding day, the aunt was present at the ceremony but vanished briefly when the bride and groom went to take photos in the savanna. When she returned for the wedding dinner, the aunt brought her family to the venue, leading to a confrontation. The bride, unsure how to respond initially, greeted her aunt’s family politely.
The episode at the wedding dinner, where the bride’s mother and grandmother suggested that the extra chairs and food could accommodate the uninvited guests, put the bride in a tight spot. The bride’s sister supported her and told the aunt and her family that there were no more chairs as some were broken.