Wedding Etiquette Forum

XP: WWYD?

I'm not quite sure where to post this, so I'll be XPing this to the Chit Chat board, since I know that board sees a decent amount of traffic as well. I am going to a work meeting here in about half an hour, so I'll be back to answer any questions for clarification later. This is NOT a post and run.

This is my first post here, and I promise this is not MUD.  I wish it was.  I will try to keep this as brief as I can, and have stuck cliff notes at the bottom cause I'm sure this is a TL;DR post.

Background: I am 25, going to be 26 in December.  I am marrying a man who is 38, and has two children from a previous marriage.  We found out after we got engaged that I am also pregnant, due in May.  We are getting married at the end of November (the 30th).

When we got engaged, I asked my sister (23) to be my maid of honor.  She is away at college, 4 hours from home, and I am aware that as a senior, she's super busy.  She doesn't have time for parties and helping and all the extra wedding stuff.  I was perfectly happy to have her put on a nice black dress (that she already owns) and stand up with me in the church.  She agreed, and I was happy.  We didn't talk in the two weeks between when I asked her to be my maid of honor, and when I called her to tell her I'd found out I was pregnant.  I called her to tell her I was pregnant, she expressed displeasure, we ended the phone call...and that's basically the last time we've spoken.

She went on to ignore all phone calls, texts, emails, and Facebook attempts at contact for the next month 1/2.  For the record, all but 1 or 2 were about school and her and whether or not she needed transport/housing for the holiday.  Once I asked her if she wanted to stay with me the night before the wedding, and once I asked her if she thought she was bringing anyone.  I never brought up the baby again.  She ignored all forms of communication.

I finally emailed her last week to ask if she was still going to be my maid of honor, since my pastor wanted to review the program with me and I wanted to put her name in it.  She emailed me back to indicate that she no longer was willing to stand up for me at my wedding, nor attend my wedding reception, but that she would attend the ceremony.  She gave no reason, other than that she was "now uncomfortable" attending these things and didn't want to "ruin your day."  She has not spoken to me since.

I am very upset, very hurt.  I do not know what I have done.  My FI and his children have been nothing but nice, kind, and polite to her the twice she has met them.  She won't talk to me or my mother to tell us what, exactly, her objections are and if they are due to my FI or my actions.  I am not sure I want to speak to her, let alone see her at this point.

It basically has come down to this: do I turn my head the opposite way while she attends the ceremony and possibly stays for photos and then leaves the church/reception hall and let that be as it is?  Or do I say "thanks, but you've hurt me so much i'd rather you didn't attend at all" -- which is, frankly, how I feel.  I don't know whether or not I'll regret it in a few years, though.  My family and FI will support me in whatever I decide to do.

Cliff notes: My sister has stopped speaking to me, and has decided to drop out of my wedding as maid of honor.  She wants to attend the ceremony, possibly stay for pictures, and then leave.  She has given no explanation for this.  And I am so hurt I'm considering asking her not to attend at all.  What would you do?

Re: XP: WWYD?

  • Is she super religious? Does she somehow feel like you being pregnant is upsetting??!

    I am sorry you are going through this. Good Luck
  • That's shitty. I would offer her the invite to attend. Even though you are hurt and she's being pissy, I feel like 30 years from now you may regret not having her there. 

    She's miffed about something, and being immature by not addressing the issue or responding to any of your messages, but hopefully whatever it is, in a few months or years she'll get over it and everything will be good again. 
  • I agree that she's out of line. Like PP said, the only thing I can see is that she is morally against the pre-marital pregnancy (for lack of better words). In any case, I don't think that uninviting her will help anything. Invite her and let the ball be in her court. If she leaves, she leaves but in the end you will have done nothing wrong. 

    I'm sorry you're going through this. Congratulations on your marriage and pregnancy!
  • I agree that it sounds like your sister is upset about the pregnancy, but I don't know why -- does she feel like you lied to her and actually knew you were pregnant before you asked her to be your MOH? Is she super-religious and thinks you're having an illegitimate child? 

    How long have you and your FI been together? Does she think that you're rushing into things? Does she have issues with the age gap?

    I'm grasping at straws here; I have no idea what could be the problem. Those are things that spring to mind, and I'm not saying that any of them are valid. I'm just offering them as possibilities. 
    Anniversary

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    I'm gonna go with 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'
  • Wow. I'm sorry she's reacting like that. I'd be really hurt.
    I do think you should let her come to the wedding. I know it's not easy, but be the bigger person. You may regret not having her there years from now.
  • blabla89blabla89 member
    Ninth Anniversary 2500 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited November 2013
    I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope you still have a lovely and joyful wedding day.

    Can you talk to anyone in your family about this? From your post it sounds like your sister is the only one freaking out. Maybe a family member would be the best person to help you figure it out?

    ETA: Congratulations on your sweet little baby!
    Wedding Countdown Ticker



  • I'd be the bigger person and keep her invited. She's the one with a problem and has to deal.
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  • Thanks....sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, work meeting took 2 hours when it was supposed to take one.

    My sister is not super religious...in fact, I'm surprised that since she is choosing not to stand for me or attend the reception that she is still willing to come to the ceremony at all, since it will be in a church.  No one in my family is supremely religious -- I attend the occasional Sunday and am an official member of my church, and I'm the strictest there is.

    No one in my family is super happy I concieved before we were officially married, but the rest of my family is standing behind me.  They've been nothing but supportive, even if there first words were "...really?" instead of "yay!"  My sister is not speaking to my mother or anyone on her side of the family; she is speaking to my father, but his relationship with me is rocky at best.  I think even if I were to ask him what was going on, he wouldn't tell me.  Frankly, at this point, I'm 25, almost 26 and she is 23, we should be old enough and adult enough to talk to each other about whatever the issue is.

    I will keep my mouth shut about her attending the ceremony.  You're right, I'll probably regret asking her to stay away in a few years when this is all (hopefully) blown over.  Am I within my rights to not include her in photos?  If I'm treating her as just a guest, I wouldn't ask her to stay for professional photos; no other guest will be asked to stick around (they'll all head directly to the reception).

    Thanks again for your suggestions/advice/congrats.  I needed people not involved to see this clearly!
  • I would ask her to stay for the family photos.  Even if she isn't your MOH she is still your sister.
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  • She's still your sister; are you having no family photos at all? I should think she'd be in that one at least.

    So do the family photos, then have the photographer announce that everyone not in the WP can leave. Then your sister can leave, but 30 years from now, you still have a photo of the two of you from your wedding.
    Anniversary

    image
    I'm gonna go with 'not my circus, not my monkeys.'
  • I'm sorry to hear that! It sounds like there may be other things going on with her than the matter of you being pregnant... Congratulations BTW! She may not be ready to sit down and talk but either way, this is her problem. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to fix things, but relationships are a two way street and it sounds like the ball is in her court at this point. I would still invite her to the wedding and have her in the photos since she is your sister, and if you want to work things out with her, excluding her from these things may drive an even bigger wedge. I really hope that the rest of your wedding planning goes smoothly! Focus on the positive and the people who are supportive of you, and the rest will hopefully work itself out somehow or another.
  • Include her in any family photos, but not wedding party photos. 
  • I don't understand. If she's not religious why does she care if you got pregnant slightly before the actual ceremony? Also why is she not talking to your mother, its not her fault you got pregnant.

    There must be something more to it, I would ask your Dad.
  • I would invite her and put your feelings aside for the time she is there. You may never know why she is reacting this way, but it likely has more to do with HER life than it does yours.

    As someone who has lost two babies to early miscarriages, any time I hear someone I know is pregnant, I am hurt, jealous, and I grieve again. This pain is multiplied if the pregnancy was unplanned. I am not saying this happened to your sister, but one never really does know. Whatever the trues issue(s) may be, you should respect the level at which she feels comfortable participating.

    Please ask her to stay for family pictures; again, she may decline, but you will know that you made the right choice in asking.

    Congratulations-May is a great month, but as a May Baby, I might be biased...

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
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