October 2012 Weddings

Recently divorced/separated friends & guest list (sorry, kind of long...)

Oh dear. 

So, I have four friends (2 couples) who are going through separations/divorces right now. Both couples were integral in the beginning of my relationship with my FI.  Any suggestions for figuring out invitations?

 For one couple, the guy is the best man. He says he's on good terms with his now ex, and they're both seeing other people now, so we can invite her if we want (and her plus one?). They live in Indiana (we're in NYC -used to live in IN) where the wedding is. His (ex) wife had been off Facebook for years for professional reasons and just got back on a few weeks ago, so I've really only seen her three times since we moved away 2 years ago (2 Christmases and their wedding), and don't really feel up to date on her life at all. And she doesn't even have her last name (which had been her husband's name) listed, so I don't even know if she's changed it back yet or not. I know the obvious answer is to just ask her, but I don't know ANY details of their separation, and don't want to pry.

Now, this couple is the reason my fiance and I are together. When we were just friends, they invited us both over to their house for board game night, and it was the night we all went out for drinks to celebrate her birthday that we first hooked up. 

Should we invite her/ her plus one? (The guy is obviously going to be there since he's the best man. He said he'd be fine either way, but I don't know if he was just saying that because it's what he thought we wanted to hear.)


The other couple are our friends from college. The girl in this couple is the person who introduced us. She and I were really close in college, and my fance had a crush on her at the time (until he met me and saw how I was a much better choice for him!).  She DJed weekly dance parties, and that's how my fiance and I MET. Her (ex) husband was part of our group of friends, and we were all really close in college. I was the MOH in their wedding. They live really far away, and as of last year, are separated - I think. I only get to talk to her occasionally on Gchat, but we're the kind of friends who can pick right back up wherever we left off whenever we do see each other. We've certainly grown apart over the years, but I'd like them to be at the wedding. But I don't know how separated they actually are. Based on Facebook interactions, they seem to at least be friendly, but I know they're not living together. 

So how do I even go about asking about this (if I should invite them both, are they dating other people, would it be weird to see the other there with a date?!?) If it would make either of them uncomfortable for the other to be there with a date, I'll only invite one of them.

I'm trying to be sensitive in that they're all probably not having the best feelings about marriage right now, so I don't want them to feel like I'm flaunting our wedding to them.

Re: Recently divorced/separated friends & guest list (sorry, kind of long...)

  • i really think you need to talk with each person involved- then you will know .... tell them that the other will be  invited and see how they feel... if they are that uncomfortable they will not come and it would have been their choice!  but if they are people that are important to you they should be able to move pass the situation and be there for you on your big day! i mean how many people are you inviting? if its a big wedding they can just stay on opposite sides of the room!
  • You're not flaunting your wedding. Everyone gets married when it's the right time for them and you can't help what's going on in other people's lives. 

    If you feel these ex spouses can be civil with each other then invite them all and their SOs (if applicable) but just don't seat them at the same table as their ex 
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  • I agree, you should be able to invite them all if you want, but I think you should be able to reach out honestly and find out what the situations are. Just be up front and say "I know that we've been out of touch recently and we really need to reconnect, but I would love for you to be at my wedding and I know some things have changed." and take it from there. If you knew each other well, they should understand and appreciate you calling and taking the time to ask!
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  • edited July 2012
    I had the same situation with two of my guests. I asked them both if they'd be okay with the other one being there and both were honestly fine with it. They're still somewhat friends. However, I had some other friends that decided to be immature about it (they decided to stick their noses into other people's lives when the couple split up) and are not coming because they don't like that she's one of my bridesmaids. I'd rather them not come if they can't be civil to the other guests anyway, honestly.
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  • Ugh, so I asked both of the girls (online, which was not the best way in retrospect). Girl in couple 1 (whose ex is the best man) said, "Oh, just send my invite to (BM's) house. He'll give it to me." Okay. I still don't know her current last name. And that's going to be awkward since we're giving them each a plus one.

    I asked the other girl for her address, and she gave it to me. Then I asked her what her plus one situation was these days, and she said "Hmm... that's a good question. I'll try to get (ex) to come, but if not, I'll just bring a guy friend."

    How the heck do I address THAT invitation?!?! "Ms. Friend and Mr. Her Ex....or whoever"

     Good grief.
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