Bride Told She's Being Unreasonable After Asking Guests To Pay $10 Entry Fee And Bring Their Own Chairs For Her Wedding
By attempting to have a more budget-friendly wedding, she ended up inconveniencing her guests.
Gorodenkoff | Shutterstock The peak months of wedding season are now upon us, bringing a whirlwind of celebration and moments for loved ones to come together. On the other hand, weddings can be a source of stress for both couples and wedding guests alike — which is the case for one bride's upcoming ceremony.
Posting to the subreddit "r/AITA," a 23-year-old bride-to-be claimed that she's receiving pushback from some of her guests over the details of her wedding, including an entry fee that's required if they want to attend.
She was accused of being unreasonable after asking guests to pay a $10 entry fee and bring their own chairs to her wedding.
In her Reddit post, she explained that she's getting married in less than a month and decided to have a small ceremony with only 20 guests. For the wedding venue, she and her fiancé agreed that they wanted to have it up in a canyon in their local area, but there's a fee to access the canyon and have events there.
"We're having our guests pay the $10 to enter the canyon. We put this canyon fee on our invitations," she admitted. However, after sending out the invitations, she received a bit of a reaction from some of her guests, including her sister, who immediately called her after receiving her invitation in the mail.
Her sister was pretty upset about being asked to pay an entry fee for a wedding, and on top of that, she would also have to bring her own camping chair since there was no pre-arranged seating at the location. She attempted to compromise with her sister, pointing out that there were plenty of other canyons in their area that didn't require a fee.
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"Me and my fiancé already have our hearts set on this specific canyon and view," the bride-to-be insisted. "As the argument went on she started to nitpick our whole wedding plan," which included the couple having guests bring their own camping chairs, not having a real reception just a small dinner for those who attended, and posting their registry all over social media but only having 20 guests.
She attempted to point out that both she and her fiancé agreed that going into their wedding, they didn't want to have to spend thousands on a ceremony, and their best compromise was having it be outdoors, hence their canyon idea.
They also just wanted it to be a ceremony with their close friends and family members and figured that the best way to combine both of their desires was to opt for a more budget-friendly, intimate wedding in a location they both loved.
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Many American couples have resigned themselves to the fact that they won't be able to afford a wedding.
Unfortunately, this bride-to-be isn't alone in trying to avoid the expensive and lavish fees that are so often associated with weddings. According to a survey by the Thriving Center of Psychology, three-quarters, or 75%, of Gen Z and millennial couples said it’s too expensive to get married in the current economy.
The average cost of a wedding reached $30,000 in 2022, per an annual study by The Knot. Similarly, in a 2024 nationwide survey of 1,205 Americans who got married in the past year with a wedding ceremony and reception, conducted by U.S News through PureSpectrum, over half of the newlyweds (56%) took on debt to pay for their wedding, tapping credit cards (39%), bank loans (18%), family loans (18%) or a combination of them.
Nearly a third (31%) regret how much they spent on their wedding, including 37% of those who had large weddings but just 19% of those who had small weddings. More than half (54%) regret how much they spent on certain services, most commonly the wedding venue (21%) and the food (19%).
Weddings come at a steep cost, but there are ways to have budget-friendly ceremonies and still create a memorable and meaningful experience. However, whichever way a couple wants to go, it's important to prioritize the comfort of their guests.
Paying an entry fee and requiring everyone to carry their own chairs up the canyon isn't particularly appealing and can dampen the mood of people who were initially excited to come out and celebrate such a momentous and special occasion.
At the end of the day, weddings are about the couple, but they're also about the comfort and happiness of the guests as well. You can't expect to have a good time and an equally amazing celebration if all of the people who've come out are miserable and feel inconvenienced. While the gripes from her wedding guests might seem too much, she should try and consider it and come to a happy medium, whether that means paying the entry fee so that the guests don't have to or organizing a way to already have chairs in the canyon before people arrive.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.