What would you do if someone charged you £900 to attend (and help finance) their wedding? Well, one Canadian bride-to-be did just that, and then broke down on social media after her guests, unsurprisingly, refused to pay — and her relationship imploded. This bizarre story, which has many wondering whether it can possibly be real, has gone viral and is pushing the boundaries of what we previously thought an outrageous wedding request could be.
Whether it’s because of oppressive student loans, the high-priced housing market, or a general lack of an economic foundation, getting married just isn’t a top priority for millennials. But, for those tying the knot regardless, many have to finance their big event in some way. According to a recent survey, a third of couples getting married in the next year plan to borrow money to cover their wedding-related bills and 61 percent plan to put the big day on their credit card. But instead of accumulating debt, our bride — named Susan — had a different plan.
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After being told by a local psychic to opt for a more expensive wedding, Susan and her (now ex) groom decided to go big for their special day. "We thought why the hell not?" Susan wrote on her since-deleted Facebook post that was screen-shot and shared widely across the Internet. "Our dream wedding amounted to $60,000 Canadian (£36k) — all included with flights to Aruba. All we asked was for a little help from our friends and family to make it happen."
Susan went on to outline how much she and her groom-to-be had sacrificed in order to plan the “once in a lifetime” party. Since the pair had only saved $15,000 (£9k), they felt they had no choice but to crowdfund $1,500 (£900) per guest, an amount that Susan felt was “not a lot.” After all, as Susan explained: “How could we have our wedding that we dreamed of without proper funding?”
After the first invitations were sent out, the couple received just eight RSVPs and checks. Susan re-sent invites but the outlandish request for $1,500 per head quickly disgruntled her guests. Pretty soon, even the maid of honour, who had previously promised to pay a whopping $5,000 (£3k) to fund the event, dropped out. This is when things got ugly.
After Susan’s groom suggested the couple forget about Aruba and hold the wedding in Vegas, Susan was floored. “I laughed in his face, but he was dead serious. He wanted those cheap, raggedy, filthy wh*re like Vegas weddings,” Susan wrote. “Am I supposed to like the idea of getting married in the heart of shady gamblers, alcoholics and the get rich fast fallacy?" Ironically, Susan’s entire plan seemed to match up perfectly with the dream of getting rich.
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With the hope of living as a “Kardashian for a day” destroyed, the wedding was called off and Susan and the groom went their separate ways. In the aftermath, a woman claiming to be Susan’s cousin has come out to share her thoughts on the debacle. In an update to her FB post in a 'wedding shaming' group, the cousin admitted that Susan has "entitlement issues" but that her recent behaviour was not entirely normal. "I believe deep down she's very insecure about her status and how she stacks up to others,” she explained, adding that Susan had previously complained to her about her lack of financial access to Kardashian-esque frivolities, like designer clothes, lip fillers, and implants.
From her cousin’s vantage point, Susan has likely fallen prey to illusions of luxury and happiness on social media. "She has always been very consumed with social media and can't seem to stay off her phone,” the cousin wrote. “These aren't necessarily red flags to me, but maybe a sign social media was getting to her head a bit.”
Ultimately, the cousin does not believe Susan will actually leave her son to go backpacking in South America, as the original rant suggested. But she is glad Susan now has an opportunity to re-evaluate her life: "I really hope for healing and recovery because she wasn't raised to be like this.”
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