A wedding guest was left horrified after a bride and groom asked for money instead of gifts.
The British Mumsnet user revealed she had only been invited to the evening’s celebrations but had still been sent a ‘tacky’ poem asking for cash, claiming guests attending the whole day hadn’t been sent the same request.
Venting her frustration on the website, the mother said she couldn’t afford to give any money and asked for advice on what she should do.
While many users shared her outrage at the demand, others suggested giving a small cash donation or simply not attending the wedding.
A wedding guest was left horrified after a bride and groom asked for money. Stock image
The woman explained that it made her feel uncomfortable and asked others for advice
Starting the thread, she wrote: ‘We have been invited to a wedding. Evening invite only. The invitation included a tacky poem asking for cash gifts. (Guests invited to the whole day didn’t get a begging letter poem hmm).
‘The bottom line is, we can’t really afford to give cash. Generally I’d put my feelings about this type of request aside and give what was asked for but I think the very small amount we can afford to give will look mean,’ she continued.
‘My alternatives are to give a cheap but nice gift, or donate to the charity that I know is close to the family’s heart. I don’t want to give a wrapped present if we will be the only ones who do so, not sure how they will feel about a donation to charity,’ the mother concluded, asking: “What would you do?”.’
Alternate suggestions: Others gave other ideas for what the woman could take instead
Users were divided over whether she should listen to the bride and groom’s request – or do what makes her happy.
One posted: ‘The fact that they “requested cash” is irrelevant. They don’t get to do that, unless you ask what they want; it’s a gift, so it’s at the giver’s discretion.’
‘Evening invite = nice card only, or reasonably decent bottle of wine if I’m feeling generous. How can people demand cash from guests who they don’t consider important enough to attend the main event? Bloody cheek,’ one user posted.
Another suggested giving a reasonable cash donation, writing: ‘Can you afford £20 That’s what we got off a few of our evening guests and I wasn’t offended at all. A couple of them only gave a card.’
Some suggested giving even just a small amount as that’s what they most wanted
But the mother explained she was strapped for cash and couldn’t stretch to that amount.
And another advised them to miss the do completely, writing: ‘I don’t give gifts for an evening do. You’re just there to make up numbers after all. A card will do. If they’re drama types I would avoid it completely.’
Suggesting they bring a small gift, they advised: ‘I think a little token gift is fine though, we had things like photo frames and key rings from some of our evening guests.’
Mumsnet users told her to simply take a ‘nice card’ if she was only attending the evening do