A Reddit user who was embarrassed for bringing his entire family to his niece’s wedding has been vindicated after an etiquette expert stepped in to defend him.
In the now-deleted Reddit post, the man explained that he had received the invitation, which was addressed to his “family” – assuming this included himself, his wife and their five children, all of whom were between the ages of 17 and nine are.
“There was no mention of a child-free marriage or warning of a minimum age,” he noted, adding that his brother also bought his two children as the invitation was also extended to his family.
The man, who posted the issue on Reddit’s ‘Am I The A**hole’, explained that his niece Ayla was older than his children but had always had close contact with them.
A Reddit user who was embarrassed for bringing his entire family to his niece’s wedding has been vindicated after an etiquette expert defended him (stock image)
“Ayla’s wedding was for family and close friends only,” he added. ‘With a total of 50-60 people without table markings.’
After the ceremony – which he said was “amazing” – the man’s sister, also the bride’s mother, approached him and asked if his entire family was actually there.
“I confirmed it, she didn’t say anything else and I didn’t think about anything else,” he said.
However, the next day the man received a text from his sister, saying that he had been ‘inconvenient’ to bring extra people to her daughter’s wedding and that people had almost missed seats.
“(She said) I should have asked the bride and groom if I could bring all my children,” he wrote.
“I said that because of the invitation, Ayla only invited ‘OP’s family’ as guests and I thought all five of my children were there,” he explained.
“I wouldn’t mind if it was just me and my wife going, but there was no restriction or warning in the invitation,” the man noted.
However, his sister protested, saying that since his family is so large, he should have contacted the bride and groom first.
“I messaged my niece to clarify, but she confirmed that it was a scheduling error on her part, but that she ended up liking everyone there,” even though she had imagined that only the older cousins would would do. to go.
While many users said he could have contacted the bride and groom to ask if his children could come, they don’t think he was wrong.
Although many users said he could have contacted the bride and groom to ask if his children could come, they don’t think he was wrong
“NTA, there. The bride is not mad, and the bride said she was the one who made a mistake, and she was happy to see your kids there,” one user commented. ‘There’s no problem here. Your sister is angry on behalf of someone who has no problem with it.”
‘NTA. It is the responsibility of the couple getting married to communicate clearly about their invitations,” wrote another. “In this case, what they wrote communicated that all children were invited. If she didn’t really mean that, that’s on her because she’s bad at answering invitations.”
‘Invitations should always be clear and not leave things up to the guest to guess. Only the woman? Say +1. Only the eldest cousins? Please specify by name,” another added.
As Reddit users debated the man’s interpretation of the invitation, etiquette expert Elaine Swann said Fox News digital that she doesn’t think the man did anything wrong.
Instead, the California-based lifestyle and etiquette expert said the real mistake was how the bride’s mother behaved and the lack of clarity in the invitation.
“When you say ‘to the person and the family’ you mean their household – so that’s mother, father and child,” she pointed out.
The expert went on to explain that a wedding invitation for just the couple should be addressed “Mr. and ma’am
“This family is bringing their five children, there’s nothing wrong with that considering the way they were invited,” Swann said.