generic This Bride Charged Each Guest $75 For Their Dinner Plate At Her Wedding, And People Are Saying It's Actually Becoming A Common Thing
Reddit has stirred up many conversations and controversial happenings — and this topic isn’t any different. There's a Reddit thread called "Choosing Beggars" where users can share stories about people who are being too picky when begging for things.
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And user u/Ldeezy recently had a doozy of a circumstance that left many dumbfounded:
Bride gets RSVPs from wedding guests and only after the fact tells everyone who said they were coming that they need to pay $75 per plate from ChoosingBeggars
The gist is that after you RSVP, the bride politely thanks you but then asks you to pay for your dinner at her wedding — and the dinner isn't cheap, it's $75 PER PLATE.
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After sharing the mind-boggling situation, other Reddit users came forward to share their thoughts.
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The first comment that stopped me in my tracks was by user u/mistycskittles, who said that charging guests at your wedding is becoming common:
"My sister was going to do this. She planned to charge guests $75 per person to attend the reception at her wedding to cover the cost of the venue instead of asking for gifts. The venue changed and she didn't end up charging money.
Apparently, this is a fairly common thing now, but I can't help but think it's incredibly rude. People (family in particular) often feel obligated to attend weddings and gifts aren't really gifts if they are considered obligations. I don't think anyone should be expected to pay to attend a wedding."
As I scrolled more, I began running into several people who also said they had been invited to these types of "pay for your own plate" weddings.
"Yeah, I’ve heard of that. I think the trashiness here is only asking people to pay after they RSVPed. If the invitation had at least been upfront about the price, people who just couldn’t afford it could lie and say they were already busy. But since they already RSVPed yes, there are no other excuses they can use."
"Years ago, I was invited to a bridal shower which had a 'suggested donation of $25 to help defray costs' mentioned IN THE INVITE! Of course, I was expected to bring a gift as well."
"I received a wedding invite through Facebook, which included a link. On their website, if you RSVPed yes, you can pay for your meal through Paypal. If I remember correctly, it was around $100–$110. At least they had a child discount which was half price!"
Some people shared scenarios where the couple simply suggests monetary donation — and most people seemed fine with that.
"When my cousin was having his wedding, they sent out a few little postcards for you to send back. One for the wedding, one for if you want to come to lunch the day after, and one for how long you think you will stay at the reception (they had buses so they wanted a rough estimate of good times) and a little letter that explained they don’t expect gifts but if you feel like making a bank transfer or putting cash in the envelope there will be a box at the reception for it. This was to help them build a deck for their house. No obligation, no need to write your name. Honestly, most of the money went to helping pay for the wedding, but it was nice it wasn’t expected, only suggested to give."
However, others were upset at the thought of anyone demanding any sort of payment for attending their wedding.
"I wouldn't have gone to my own sister's wedding if she pulled that kind of shit. Not even if my mother offered to pay for me. That is so fucking ridiculous that I would've made a statement out of staying the fuck away. I'm getting worked up just thinking about someone having the nerve to do that. If you can't afford to feed the guests at your own wedding, make it a picnic then. Or cut the guest list. Or stop the wedding. You can't afford it."
People even shared their own experiences with demanding brides and how their actions single-handedly ruined their own wedding.
"We had one of these cases where the bride RSVPed with a list of demands (outfit in pastel tones you MUST buy, pay for the hotel, and a minimum value monetary wedding gift — plus one of the very brand name items from her wedding registry). 180 guests were supposedly invited, but the majority were confused after the demands came. The bride then said in a fit of anger how they were expecting the guests to pay for her dream wedding + partly her first house purchase. She was very upset when declines started pouring in because she already ordered the food for the initial RSVP... You can read more about this story here."
Lastly, an anonymous person left this comment that I can't help but feel is a great way to wrap up this article: "I do not understand this. No one forces you to have a huge wedding, and most guests will give gifts. Why not have a wedding you can afford, and then take all the cash you get and use it to offset the cost afterward?"
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