Weddings abroad are very popular, but it is no secret that attending such weddings can cost a fortune for the wedding guests.

This was the case with wedding guest Farah*, who had booked flights and accommodation to another US state for the wedding of her husband’s niece.

The bride-to-be Jennifer* announced her engagement about 14 months before the planned wedding.

“Guests were advised to make all reservations early as local hotels would fill up quickly. So we reserved our hotel room and bought plane tickets,” said Farah.

Seven months before the big day, she and her husband received a “Save the Date” card stressing the importance of booking everything as early as possible, which they had already done.

But just four weeks before they were due to fly out to watch Jennifer and her fiancé get married, everything went wrong.

Farah said: “The bride’s father mentioned in passing that Jennifer had gotten married the previous weekend, but in a new venue and with very few guests.

“Up to this point, we have not been informed of any new developments or changes to the original plans! No map, no email, NOTHING!”

Since the bride and groom had not mentioned that their wedding plans had completely changed, it was too late for Farah to cancel her reservations or flights.

This caused considerable financial problems for her and her husband.

Farah, now a disgruntled former wedding guest, said: “I understand that life goes on and plans sometimes change… But I do NOT understand why we were not told of the change of plans before the actual new wedding!”

“I think it would have been better to inform us and the other disinvited people by mass email than no communication at all.”

She described the whole affair as “a breach of etiquette, reckless and in bad taste.”

Farah revealed that the reason for postponing the wedding was because it took place shortly before Covid and the engaged couple were trying to avoid restrictions on the number of people in the ceremony.

They scaled down the wedding, moved the date forward and also changed the location.

“I completely understand why they changed everything,” said the former guest. “My problem is that they didn’t bother to inform us and we only found out about it ‘by chance’ from my brother-in-law.”

“I think her behavior is more than rude.”

The post received a lot of attention on Reddit and users were quick to express understanding for Farah’s frustration.

“This is absurd. They should compensate their guests. I can’t imagine doing something so incredibly rude and selfish,” wrote one.

Another user said: “That was incredibly inconsiderate! Wow. It’s OK that the wedding had to happen sooner; life goes on and people are understanding.”

“But telling people more than once that this was the destination/date and to promote the booking of airline tickets and accommodation, and not immediately“For example, on the day it was decided that this particular wedding would not take place, it was a dereliction of duty to immediately send out a mass email, one or more social media posts, and call or text people about it.”

For one thing, they were particularly against weddings abroad. “This is awful and should remind everyone never, ever, to say yes to a wedding abroad,” they wrote.

Many urged the couple not to send a gift, which Farah said she did not do, while others suggested that the bride and groom should reimburse the uninvited guests for the money they lost on flights and hotels.

If you’re attending a wedding abroad this year, be sure to get travel insurance – just to be on the safe side.

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