Bride slammed for 'selfish' act that leaves 40 guests out of pocket

A bride has found herself well and truly out of favour with internet users today, after a bold decision to cancel her pre-booked destination wedding and spend the money on a house instead caused an uproar.

With coronavirus sweeping the globe many a bride and groom are concerned about their weddings going ahead, but one woman’s choice to cancel a wedding booked in for March 2021, and use the money to fund a house deposit rather than an alternative local ceremony was met with serious distaste.

The UK woman shared her situation to popular parenting site Mumsnet, where she explained a combination of fear around COVID-19’s impact on international travel, and a desire to use the money toward a house deposit instead had lead her to consider calling off the whole thing.

The ‘dilemma’ shared online

“We are due to get married abroad in March next year,” she wrote in the contentious post. “So far we have only paid the deposit for the venue, remaining balance not due until January.”

“However, our 40 guests have paid for their package holidays to attend, some have only paid deposits and some have paid full balances,” she continued.

“The only reason I want to cancel is because I don't think it's going to happen. With COVID-19, the possibility of a second wave and social distancing etc I just do not realistically see how it will go ahead.”

She went on to explain that her and her future husband had enough saved for either a wedding or a home, and an ideal property had recently caught their eye.

“A house has come up that we love, it's in the perfect location and is just everything we want,” she wrote.

“We can't get the house and not cancel/postpone the wedding as we wouldn't have enough left in savings to cover both if the wedding was to go ahead. We would ideally want to postpone the wedding, but god knows the long term impact this will have on travel especially for a large group of us.”

“We don't want to be impacted by social distancing either. I'd rather cancel and just see how the next few years pan out?”

Online users unimpressed with bride’s decision

The convoluted dilemma was met with very little sympathy by online users who, despite the woman’s insistence it was fear of a coronavirus cancellation and not just the house motivating her, remained unconvinced that the decision was anything but selfishly motivated.

“You can't leave 40 guests out of pocket because, if you're honest, as comes across from your [original post], you've changed your mind and would really rather use the money on a house,” was one reaction. “UK wedding that nobody has paid anything for, fine, do what you like. But if 40 people have booked and paid then it's already gone too far and you'll need to go through with it really.”

“I would be really annoyed if I was invited to a wedding and booked and paid for it, for it to then be cancelled,” another person responded.

Others argued the woman should repay guests left out of pocket if she went ahead with the decision.

“I think you need to offer to repay those who have paid and can't get their money back,” one suggested.

“You will have to expect to pay for the people who have already booked,” another agreed.

“It would be immoral to cancel and leave them in the lurch,” was a third’s quite dramatic summation.

Others simply couldn’t believe the post was made by a real bride, so bamboozled by the ‘selfish’ reasoning.

“Is this a reverse?” one wondered. “Nobody can be this self-absorbed.”

Others warned that the bride may not have as many guests to consider the second time around if she went ahead with the idea.

“If guests have paid it would be really sh**ty to cancel now,” another wrote. “Obviously if next year there's a big second (or third) wave you will no choice but to cancel "just in case” is selfish and if I were your friends, I wouldn't be going to the new venue wedding.”

“If you don't [go ahead], don't be surprised if you are totally ostracised by friends and probably family too,” another warned. “Not just those who lose out, but those who support them.”

It’s not the first time a bride’s decisions around her big day have been criticised online.

One bride sparked serious debate after her dog allergy clashed with a blind friend’s ability to attend her big day.

Another found herself copping heated criticism online after a ‘stupid’ idea to use puppies as wedding decorations was made public.

Yet another found herself with few fans after she demanded a bridesmaid lose weight to fit a dress, rather than adjusting the dress to fit her friend.

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