Bride slammed for sending bridesmaid $500 invoice: 'Disgusting'

A bridesmaid has asked for advice after she was slapped with a $500 charge for leaving a wedding early, instead of cleaning up.

Jane, 21, explained her side of the story on the popular internet forum Reddit after the bride treated her like a ‘workhorse’ and ‘cheap labour’.

While the bride Vanessa hadn’t mentioned any setting up or cleaning tasks to her bridesmaids, the groom and Vanessa’s mother immediately ordered the bridesmaids to set up the night before.

Not only did Jane have to set up 250 chairs, but she also found herself hauling heavy furniture down flights of stairs with no help from the groom or groomsmen.

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“Because I was the tallest and strongest person in the group, it was mostly on me to haul the larger pieces around, and the mother and mother-in-law of the bride largely stood around talking about details with her.

“I asked repeatedly if the groom and groomsmen could be called to help, but was told that we ‘didn’t want to bother them’ and that ‘they’re out unwinding before the big day.’,” she wrote.

The set-up took a toll on her, and she mentioned that she finally finished her tasks in two hours. “I had splinters, blisters, and was covered in sweat, but everything was set up.”

To make things worse, Jane discovered during the wedding that the reason she was forced to set up was due to the couple trying to avoid setup and takedown fees. After finding out that the bride and groom planned to leave Jane and the other bridal party to clean up, she was already a bit worried. To make matters worse, she was called a ‘workhorse’ by the groom’s mother.

“Towards the end of the party almost everyone had left and I realised that two of the groomsmen were so drunk that they were going to be useless, and it would again be on the bridesmaids to clean up and put all the furniture back up the stairs,” she continued.

“I went to tell the bride goodbye. Judging from her slightly panicked expression and, ‘Oh…you’re leaving? You’re leaving now?’ questions, I realised that she definitely expected me to move the furniture back, but didn’t want to say anything while surrounded by people.”

The bridesmaid left the wedding, and received a multitude of texts from the other bridesmaids and Vanessa’s mother even left her an angry voicemail about ‘bailing on her duties as a bridesmaid’.

To make things worse, Vanessa sent Jane a long message the next day demanding to be reimbursed for the $500 cleaning fee.

People on Reddit were quick to reassure the young woman she was definitely not at fault, and many slammed the bride for her entitled behaviour.

“If the wedding party is going to be doing this kind of work, you should have been ASKED in advance. You can’t demand your wedding party to do heavy labour like that because you want to be a cheapskate. You can ask, but you can’t just expect and demand,” one outraged user wrote.

“I’m f**king livid after reading this. You are not a workhorse. What a disgusting comment to make. I’m glad you left, you didn’t sign up for that. Vanessa sucks and doesn’t deserve you,” another added.

“It’s not ‘your fault’ they had to pay that fee. You did not agree to be a workhorse nor make that arrangement. None of it has to do with you, actually” another said.

In the comments, Jane mentions that Vanessa’s mother and mother-in-law have sent her multiple messages telling her to pay the $500 fee. She says that Vanessa is no longer her friend and she has blocked all of them.

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