Friends fume over wedding ‘snub’... the the invitation arrives in post 5 YEARS late
WHEN one of her dearest friends failed to show up for her wedding, bride Donna Sidebotham was left feeling decidedly snubbed.
She tactfully decided not to raise the issue with friend Chris Kimber but, not surprisingly, their relationship cooled markedly.
Now, though, the riddle of Chris’s no-show has finally been solved – after the invitation landed on his doorstep five years late.
Donna, 36, had posted her invitations in July 2012 – giving guests plenty of warning of the service in April the next year.
She said: ‘I had put my address on the back of each, assuming they would come back to me if there were any problems with delivery.
‘After a few weeks, I had received no response from Chris so sadly assumed he couldn’t make it.’
Apart from Chris’s unexpected absence, Donna’s marriage to Brian on Monkey Island in the River Thames at Berkshire in southeast England was a huge success, with 50 other guests attending.
Donna said: ‘I didn’t see Chris much after that. But then last week, out of the blue, he sent me a text saying, “Oh my God – your wedding invite arrived.” ’
Accountant Chris, 31, had been baffled when he didn’t receive an invi- tation before the big day. But he explained: ‘I didn’t think it was the done thing to ring someone up and ask where my invitation was.’
Donna, from Berkshire, said: ‘I can’t believe that it took five years for Royal Mail to deliver a letter.’
It has emerged that Mrs Sidebotham originally sent the invitation to the wrong address, 10 doors down from Mr Kimber’s London home.
It was unclear what happened after that, but on Thursday of last week, the letter finally found its way to its rightful recipient.
Mr Kimber added: ‘When I got the invitation through the door, I just
thought it was really funny. You don’t expect it to turn up five years late.’ A Royal Mail spokesman said: ‘Royal Mail has investigated this matter fully and it is likely that the letter has been put back into the postal system by someone, rather than it being lost in the post. 'Once an item is in the postal system, then it will be delivered to the address on the envelope. We will also be directly contacting the customer about this matter.’