A little over a decade ago, this woman from the UK met a friend online from Belgium, and ever since then, they have remained super close.
Her friend also recently announced that they were engaged and would be getting married in March of next year. So, she was beyond excited to attend and began coordinating her travel plans for the event.
She also began working on narrowing down the perfect wedding gift for her friend. Apparently, she saw a custom art piece constructed from the bride and groom’s birthstones online and thought that it would be absolutely perfect for commemorating the wedding.
She had not ordered the gift yet, though, and it was seemingly a good thing– because out of nowhere, her friend reached out to reveal what she was expecting as a wedding gift.
Her friend did not ask for a home decor item or kitchen appliance, as most fiancés do, though. Instead, her friend actually just wanted money– and did not beat around the bush about it.
“I was told I had to bring a minimum of two hundred and fifty euros cash as my wedding gift to them, and I was shocked by this,” she explained.
“That’s a lot of money– especially considering that I have to fly out and get a hotel.”
When she brought up these concerns to her friend, though, her friend did not care. In fact, her friend claimed that two hundred and fifty euros were actually just the “bare minimum” every guest was expected to bring.
Plus, whatever guest did not gift that amount of money would not even be allowed into the wedding!
Alexandr – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
And honestly, she could not believe her ears when her friend said that. So, she decided to confront her friend and tell her how rude she sounded.
“I told her it was not really appropriate to make such demands of her guests and said that I was not comfortable with this,” she recalled.
Despite that, though, her friend just kept brushing her off and claiming that expecting a set amount of money was a normal and customary practice in Belgium– since, apparently, all of the gift money goes toward helping the newlyweds purchase a house.
To be frank, she totally understands that goal and admitted she would be happy to throw in some money to help her friend buy a home. But still, the way her friend demanded the money and set an explicit price point honestly made the entire thing feel pretty fishy.
Plus, it’s not like her friend was having a small wedding where only a limited number of guests would be contributing toward the house fund, either. Instead, there will actually be ninety-seven people in attendance.
So, she decided to do a bit of research on this “Belgium custom” to see if her friend was really telling the truth or trying to pull a fast one on the wedding guests.
“It seems like a cash grab to me,” she revealed, “I have not been able to see any hint of this being a tradition from my online searches.”
And after realizing that, she told her friend her true feelings about the wedding gift expectation. Rather than being understanding, though, her friend actually just had a total meltdown.
Her friend claimed that if she was not comfortable paying that money, it would be unfair to all of the other guests who were paying. So, her friend claimed that she just should not go to the wedding unless she planned on bringing the cash.
On top of that, her friend then began bragging about how her father promised three thousand euros as his gift. Why her friend thought that would help the situation, I have no clue.
Anyway, all of this led her to just thank her friend for the wedding invite and inform her friend that she would no longer be attending the event.
But unfortunately, that was far from the end of the drama– because afterward, her friend actually went online and began badmouthing her for all sorts of reasons. She has been accused of disrespecting her friend’s customs, questioning her friend’s wedding, and just being rude.
“My friend has even been crying to other friends about how I am trying to spite her day,” she vented.
So now, she has been left feeling totally confused. She is not sure if her friend’s wedding gift request was totally ridiculous or if she was out of line for questioning it in the first place.
Have you ever been to a wedding where the couple dictated exactly how much money your gift had to be? Do you think she had a right to feel wary of her friend’s gift expectation or not? If you were in her shoes, would you also back out or pay the money and attend?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe
She Says Her Spirit Guide Saved Her Life After She Almost Fell Out Of A Window
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.