Wedding Recap and Withdrawal

Advice on in-law problems

My wedding was this past Saturday - beautiful weather, great people with us...everything was perfect except for one giant thing - my husband's family.  They showed up on Friday with an uninvited guest (someone that my husband told them was specifically NOT invited and was not to step foot into our wedding).  When I approached his mother about this, she refused to talk about it.  My mother & MOH then went to explain to this guest (in the nicest way possible) that she was flat-out not invited and that this was our wishes and they needed to respect it.  His entire family then refused to come to the rehearsal dinner.  When they showed up morning of the wedding, none of the girls (mother included) would talk to me or even look at me.  The only person from his family who congratulated us at all was his brother.  The whole family (with the exception of those in the wedding party) refused to sit at their reserved table up front, and ALL of them left immediately after our first dance without saying good-bye.  To me, these things are unforgiveable, but at the same time, I don't want my husband to feel like he must choose between me and his family (though he's made it clear to me that he's incredibly hurt, embarassed and outraged at how they all acted).  Am I overreacting by feeling that this is all unforgiveable?  And if so, how on earth can I begin to move past this??  
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Re: Advice on in-law problems

  • Who is this person that was specifically not invited and why? Did it have something to do with you? I don't see how it's him having to choose between them and you otherwise.

    We need more information.
  • MrsEllMrsEll member
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  • What PP said. Why was this person not welcome?
  • The person was specifically not invited because my husband & I are not on good terms with her after a very bad family feud that happened in the past year - the person is NOT a family member...just a friend of the SILs.  My husband told his mother & one sister that we do not like her and she is not family so there is no need for her to be there whatsoever.
    The part that upsets us the most is not even the person coming - it's that his family specifically ignored our wishes and brought her despite what we had told them weeks ago.  She had never received an invitation so the person had no reason to even think it would be okay for her to come.
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  • awww....this is really sad.  Not sure why family would insist on bringing someone they know you didnt want there, but personally I probably would have just let it go and ignored her rather then have the drama that followed. 

    I think your hubby (since its his family) needs to have a sit down with his family and talk about what happened and try to get past it.  Life is too short stuff like this.
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  • my mom gave me some advise on my future in laws that ive been taking and its working

    ignore them, stay out of it and let them hang themselves :)

    ive literally been sitting back with a bag of popcorn and watching my fiances family just hang themselves . my fiance is slowely not wanting anything to do with them.

    your husbands family seems like those kind of people for them to do that and now to ignore you .. yea if you just ignore it and always act polite ... trust me... it will all unfold
  • I have a pair of people (family friends) who are absolutely not welcome to step foot into our wedding as well. BUT - I wouldn't flip out or ask them to leave if they showed up. They said some pretty awful things about how my daughter came to be about (her biological father abandoned her when she was 6 months old) and made some harsh assumptions and blatant insults about my personal life - but if they did show up to the wedding uninvited thanks to my relatives who are still close to them, I wouldn't flip about it. I'd be determined to not let their presence bother me as I'd be too busy to acknowledge them regardless ;) 

    I don't think you're overreacting for feeling upset about it - but please don't let it drag you down. Forgive, forget, and move on. It's better to just brush off the feelings than carry that dead weight on your back. Especially 3 days into your life with your new husband! :) You should be feather-light and fancy-free! :) 

    You have a new family now, let your husbands family deal with their own mess. Focus on yourselves and if they really love you guys they'll come around... eventually.
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  • I agree that what they did was incredibly rude and completely unacceptable.  To me it's more about the disrespect they showed you & your husband and the thought behind it more than anything, like you said.

    At this point, I wouldn't really do anything specific per se.  PPs advice to ignore them and focus on yourselves is good advice.  I'd let your H know your feelings on his family at the moment (if he doesn't already know) and let them make the next move.  You don't necessarily have to ask him to choose between you and his family - like PP also said, if they continue to do stuff like this and treat you like this he'll eventually not want to deal with them anymore.  I have a feeling that they did all these things to piss you off for not inviting said guest, and they probably expect you to react as such.  Not saying anything to them and letting it go is probably the best thing to do, they are probably hoping that they pissed you off, so don't give them the satisfaction.

    It's sad, but sometimes things don't work out with families long term.  My father has not spoken to his side of the family in almost 20 years.  They simply are not a part of our lives anymore.  Like our marriage counselor told us, you can't change how people are going to act or treat you - they only thing you can change is the way you deal with them.

    Good luck, and don't let his family ruin your guys' newlywed days =]
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  • I would be upset and it may take me a while to get over it but eventually I would forgive them. I don't know what your in-laws problem but I hope your husband and his family can resolve this issue.

  • For them to get up & leave after the first dance - well that is just wrong!!!  Why would they do that to their son???  They missed out on a good party & hopefully are  kicking themselves in the ass for acting so childish.  It's easy for others to tell you to forgive & forget and I don't know how I would be able to do that myself...  Is it the right thing to do, yes - but easy - not at all.  This is his family & his issue to deal with, so he needs to step up to the plate and discuss what happened asap.  Nobody will ever get past it w/o holding a grudge if this matter is not dealt with right away.  You can't replay your day - they missed out & made the two of you feel crappy over 1 friggin uninvited guest.  Not for nothing, but why didn't the Maitre D remove this person from your party - were they unaware of what was going on?  

    I have an inlaw that is not invited & I am worried that she will find out and show up for some odd reason.  None of my family members get along with her & don't speak w/ her at all.  But with the world wide web, there are ways of finding things out if you want to...  My Maitre D is aware that I have this one person that could show up & they said to just give them a nod & the person will be escorted out.  I doubt she will come, but you never know. 
  • Thanks everyone; I really am trying to just move past it.  But I don't think that the hurt will ever go away because this was essentially the straw that broke the camel's back for us.  
    At one point in our relationship, another family member created fake emails & attempted to convince me that my now-husband was cheating on me.  Later that same family member stole my wallet (unfortunately there's no actual proof so police could not be involved).  All of his family still refuses to acknowledge that any of this happened; they all have since stopped talking to said family member but it was a really hard time for us because we (husband & I) felt so betrayed.
    I sincerely hope that someday his family can see our point of view about the wedding and how hurt we are...and hopefully they will apologize.  But I honestly don't see it happening, and that's the hard part.  Do we just move on as if they hadn't done anything, or steer clear until they wise up to what they did?  If we do that latter, it may be a very long time - or may never happen for that matter!
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  • I think your best bet is to live your life with your new husband the best you can. You can't change these people and it doesn't seem like they have any respect for you or your relationship.  From now on though, I would have your H deal with them.  They probably won't listen to anything you have to say and you're just going to get more upset.  I would definitely limit interaction though if possible. Like PPs have said, your H will wise up and not want much to do with them.
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  • I feel so bad for you, that is horrible of them. And you have to move past it but that doesnt mean you should feel like you did the wrong thing. It was your wedding day and they should have respected your wishes. I know with me i am engaged and I am worried about the same things happening with a few family members, but our wedding is 2 yrs out and we are already making it clear what our wishes are so if they have a problem with it they need to get over it.

    That is very poor of his mother to have acted the way she did and she should have stood up with you and your wishes. If she cant respect you know then how is she going to respect you in your future. Having a plan with your husband is always good tho. Decisions have to be made together and you two will be the ones there for eachother.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-recap-withdrawal_advice-on-in-law-problems?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:12Discussion:ac40853d-7297-429b-a9c7-45acde22e646Post:3f68fcda-4451-475b-9b41-b82485a7ac6d">Re: Advice on in-law problems</a>:
    [QUOTE]a <a href="http://www....this" rel="nofollow">www....this</a> is really sad.  Not sure why family would insist on bringing someone they know you didnt want there, but personally I probably would have just let it go and ignored her rather then have the drama that followed.  I think your hubby (since its his family) needs to have a sit down with his family and talk about what happened and try to get past it.  Life is too short stuff like this.
    Posted by ladydaisy[/QUOTE]

    I agree!!!! He will need to be the one to sit them down and tell them what they did was wrong and something he is not happy with seeing them do. They will have to realize they were wrong and work from there.
  • Honestly, some people are just rude like that.  My ex MIL (from my first marriage) was a royal pain in the a**.  She thought she knew it all and she was always right about everything and nobody else knew what they were talking about.  I divorced my first husband because he wouldn't stand up to her and put her in her place whenever she started stuff with me.  It's up to your husband to talk to them and make things very clear for them.  You guys come up with a decision as to whether you want these people in your life or not.  If not, he delivers the news and cuts all contact with them and protects you from any of their bs.  If you do want a relationship, you and your husband will come up with some rules and he will deliver the news to his family.  If they can't play by the rules, there will be consequences (whatever you guys decide).  You will have to be strong and accept that they may decide to not have a relationship with you guys anymore, but honestly, with friends like that who needs enemies?  I cut a lot of people out of my life for treating me and/or my husband/our relationship in a way that was unacceptable to me and I have survived.  I may sound harsh but I don't put up with crap from anyone, not even family.  I haven't talked to my mother in years because of her attitude towards my husband. 
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-recap-withdrawal_advice-on-in-law-problems?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:12Discussion:ac40853d-7297-429b-a9c7-45acde22e646Post:0cb2a7ab-c976-423d-8305-aa0c3d2ee4bc">Re: Advice on in-law problems</a>:
    [QUOTE]I think your best bet is to live your life with your new husband the best you can. You can't change these people and it doesn't seem like they have any respect for you or your relationship.  From now on though, I would have your H deal with them.  They probably won't listen to anything you have to say and you're just going to get more upset.  I would definitely limit interaction though if possible. Like PPs have said, your H will wise up and not want much to do with them.
    Posted by kiki1978[/QUOTE]

    I think you said it perfectly!
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