Wedding like ‘Groundhog Day’
Dear Amy: Should we relinquish control of our wedding if we aren’t paying for it?
My husband and I got married last month. It was a small, intimate wedding with just our close friends and family. It was a one-of-a-kind wedding that was very unique to us. We loved it.
My mother-in-law, though, wasn’t quite so thrilled. It wasn’t traditional enough. It wasn’t big enough. And it didn’t have every single extended friend and family member in attendance. Now, she’s booked us another venue and is paying for a second wedding in their hometown. Since this is several states away and we aren’t going to be able to visit before the ceremony, they are planning it without us.
Originally, we were OK with this. We know that weddings aren’t just about us and want to be able to include friends and family who couldn’t make it to our ceremony.
Things are spiraling out of control. They’ve stopped including us in the decisions and are nitpicking any requests we do make. They’ve invited more than 100 people. There are bridesmaids and groomsmen. There’s another aisle to walk down and an officiant. There’s a band and a photo booth. There are invitations and color schemes and decorations that are not our style.
We’ve tried to tell them that we want final say on everything. Just give us options or, at the very least, a heads-up on anything that they’re going to buy. But is that selfish? We just had the wedding of our dreams. Should we let the family have the wedding of theirs? — Confused Bride
Dear Confused: You are already married. I repeat. You are already married.
If your in-laws want to throw a big fancy reception for you, that’s great. Band, flowers, photo booth, the whole schmear, but you are already married.
You should not agree to participate in this repeat ceremony. Why? Because you don’t want to. You should thank them for their generosity and let them throw whatever party they want to throw, but put your foot down about what you will and will not do in a dog-andpony wedding show and/ or religious ceremony for their benefit.