Friends of the bride were asked to pay $200 as entrance fee to attend wedding — it went as expected

Weddings are supposed to be events when the joy is shared with loved ones, not this one though.

PUBLISHED MAY 4, 2025

Representational image of a bride with guests on her wedding (Cover image source: Getty Images | Klaus Vedfelt)

Getting invited to a wedding by a loved one or friends is supposed to fill a person with joy and warmth, but having to pay to attend is bound to evoke mixed emotions. As outrageous as it sounds, a group of friends was stunned when they were actually asked to pay $200 to attend a wedding. They even narrated their experience on social media, and Reddit users joined in to slam the hosts.

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A Reddit post in r/weddingshaming mentioned an unbelievable fiasco that a group of friends had to go through leading up to the wedding of their former friend. The person who uploaded the post had mentioned that his partner wanted him to post it, and he obliged. The lengthy post explained everything that went down before and after the wedding shower. The person stated by saying that she got together with some friends to throw a wedding shower for their friend who got engaged. All of them had recently graduated, and some were yet to land a job. So the wedding shower wasn’t going to be anything fancy, and it was also their first time attending such an event, so they asked the couple in a group chat what kind of gift they would prefer.

Screenshot showing the Reddit post. (Image credit: Chip Chick)

According to the post, the couple said that cash gifts would be appreciated, but they’d be okay with anything. So, the group of friends decided to pitch in and get some gifts for the wedding shower. Overall, everyone paid around $15 for a card, jewelry, an edible arrangement, wine, and flowers as their gifts, according to a Chip Chick report.

Some of them, including the person who wanted the story posted on Reddit, said that they were willing to pay $100 as one of the gifts at the wedding. However, the couple did not appreciate the gifts much as they weren’t fancy enough, and said to their friends that everyone who wanted to attend the wedding had to pay $200, and that drinks would be sold separately. This came as a shock to everyone, and they decided to confront the friend.

Screenshots showing a couple of comments under the post. (Image credit: Reddit) — Screenshots showing a couple of comments under the post. (Image source: Reddit)

“Nowhere on the wedding invite did it mention this. The invite itself said, ‘If you like, cash gifts are appreciated.’ After some deliberation, we decided we would not be paying this and sent a collective message that the $200 fee feels offensive, especially as we are also planning for and paying for the bachelorette, and the dress code is very specific and black tie, so buying an outfit for that would also add up,” the post read.

Screenshot showing a comment under the post on Reddit. (Image credit: Reddit) — Screenshot showing a comment under the post on Reddit. (Image source: Reddit)

Ultimately, the couple left the group chat and blocked everyone, so none of them reportedly attended the wedding. “I also think there were better ways to handle it if they thought we were stingy about the wedding shower, rather than charging us a passive-aggressive fee,” the post added.