Weddings are not for the faint of heart, often racking up a significant bill. This newlywed couple, however, was not willing to overlook the issue of no-shows.
Keep reading to see how they addressed guests who failed to notify them about their absence.
A newly married couple was upset with guests who RSVP’d “yes” but did not attend their wedding. They decided to address this by sending those guests a $240 bill.
The invoice was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by user thweddat, who wrote, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wedding reception invoice before lol.”
The due date for the bill was August 18, a month after it was sent. The wedding, held at the Royalton Negril Resort & Spa in Jamaica, cost $120 per head.
Initially, some people doubted the invoice’s authenticity, but the bride and groom, Doug Simmons and Dedra McGee from Chicago, confirmed its validity. Doug expressed how the no-shows, despite confirming attendance, made him feel disrespected.
Doug originally posted the bill on Facebook. The invoice stated, “This invoice is being sent to you because you confirmed seat(s) at the wedding reception during the Final Headcount. Because you didn’t call or give us proper notice that you wouldn’t be in attendance, this amount is what you owe us for paying for your seat(s) in advance. You can pay via Zelle or PayPal. Please reach out to us and let us know which method of payment works for you. Thank you!”
This action sparked a debate about its fairness. One person commented, “I wish I’d thought of this. A third of the people who RSVP’d for our wedding didn’t show up. We paid for a LOT of food that went to waste.” Conversely, another person criticized the move, saying, “You are so special to us that we invited you to our wedding. However, we are going to sever that relationship for $240 because you didn’t let us show off to you in person. But we will send an invite to our baby shower at some point, so show up with a gift or face collections.”
One Twitter user humorously suggested they would simply return the invoice.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wedding reception invoice before lol pic.twitter.com/ZAYfGITkxP
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 24, 2021
Doug admitted that they had been “a little petty” but emphasized that he is not someone who would normally bill a guest. As a small business owner in Chicago, Doug clarified that the issue was not about the money but the disrespect they felt when guests did not show up after confirming their attendance. They had worked hard to finance their wedding, which included over 100 attendees.
“We asked four times, ‘Are you available to come, can you make it?’ and they kept saying ‘Yes,’” Doug explained. “We had to pay in advance for Jamaica — this was a destination wedding.”
When they conducted a final headcount, they realized that not everyone who confirmed attendance showed up. Doug expressed his frustration: “No one told me or texted me, ‘Hey, we can’t make it.’ That’s all I was asking. If you tell me you can’t make it, I would be understanding — but to tell me nothing, then let me pay for you and your plus ones? Four people became eight people. I took that personally.”
The couple did not specify what they would do if the payment was not made, but it seems that many of their relationships could be in jeopardy.
