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Wedding Etiquette Forum

awkward situation (long, sorry)

P&E, tell me what to do. I talked to one of my bridesmaids last night and I was sort of put in an awkward position. I'm not sure if I gave her the right advice, and I figure you all will set me straight. So said bm (who is my brother's gf) tells me she has no money and is being asked to contribute to a shower. She is shy and although she knows most of the other girls, isn't comfortable telling them that she's broke. I got the distinct impression that she wanted me to tell them to not ask her for money. Now, I have been in exactly her situation before, so I just told her what I did, which is let the MOH, or someone else in the WP, know that I was broke and could contribute a set dollar amount or contribute in another way (cooking, decorating, etc.) I also let her know that she didn't have to contribute and that no one would be offended if she just said "hey, I can't do it." Should I have offered to tell the other bridesmaids that she couldn't help and so not to ask her? This seems like it would be rude and also presumptious, even though I know they're planning a shower. But I also don't want her to be uncomfortable. Cliffs Notes: BM has no cash and I'm pretty sure she wants me to tell the shower-planners so they don't ask her to contribute. I sort of declined, but made sure she knew that she didn't have to chip in.

Re: awkward situation (long, sorry)

  • I think you handled it just fine.  You don't need to involve yourself in it.
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  • She should go to the MOH and tell her (email her, whatever) directly. I would have thought that host would have asked everyone first how much they could afford to contribute, but it's too late for that. She doesn't have to send an email to everyone announcing she's broke, and I think her office to help with cooking or decorating is more than enough. I think it's a huge misconception that because one person in the WP wants to throw a shower, the rest of the WP should contribute. Let the host handle it and others will offer if they want to. I think stay out of it as much as possible and let her handle her business :) You made the right call, IMO!
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  • Ditto Night.  I think you did a great job of handling it!
  • I would tell her that I think it's best if she speak to them directly about this, but that if she's really uncomfortable, I would offer to do it for her. And then I'd say to my MOH that "BM is really embarrassed about this and afraid to say anythig to you so I offered to mention this" and I'd make sure to be really gracious to MOH and thank her for all of the work and say you don't mind a scaled-back shower. Ideally she speaks to them herself though.
  • I think you should speak with the MOH about the situation. You said this woman is shy and not comfortable speaking with the others -- since she's your friend and it's your wedding, I would want to do what I could to make sure she's not put in an awkward situation. The only reason this group of people is together to begin with is because of you -- you're the one with the relationship with all of them so I think as a good friend, it's up to you to ensure everyone is comfortable.
  • thanks guys. I was really second-guessing myself about it, because it makes me feel awkward that they're having a shower at all in the first place. I know it's going to be pretty low key, so I don't think it will be an issue at all if she can't give them money to contribute. I definitely do not want to be involved.  ac, if it comes up again, I like your wording. I was having visions of having to go to my cousin (MOH) and how I would possibly tell her that without it being weird/intrusive/embarrassing for everyone involved.
  • Hey winowedding! I was just thinking I hadn't seen you around much other than on FB.I could see gently facilitating contacts in your wedding party if it seems like your BM continues to be uncomfortable, although I think you handled it well. I've got three highly different personalities among the women in my BP, and I think I'm going to have to help them out a little bit with communicating, especially between my sister and the other two.
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  • I think you handled the situation well.The only other thing that I could suggest is to perhaps off-hand suggest to your MOH (or whoever is organising this event) that she get an idea of what everyone is able to contribute before she tells them all that they need to contribute $x.  If she sends it out in a mass email or brings it up in a group setting, it wouldn't be like she was singling your BM out.
  • hey sarah! boo to the yankees! :( I sent out an email with all of everyone's contact info in it, to "introduce" the people who don't know each other well, and so they've been communicating that way. My bro's gf is closest to one of the other cousin-bridesmaid, so I think they will talk privately and it will work itself out (I hope!) hey, said shower is in DE in January. Will you be around? Deer Park GTG! ;)
  • I'd probably tell the MOH.  When I was MOH for my friend, I would have appreciated the bride telling me this, esp. if the BM was uncomfortable doing so.
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  • Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town all January...A Delaware GTG might be fun though. We can sit around and evade our taxes.
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