WOMAN ATTENDS FRIEND’S WEDDING IN ROMANIA, RECEIVES A STRANGE TEXT FROM THE BRIDE AFTER SHE’S HOME

 

Weddings are a great social event filled with music, dancing, and delicious food. They act as a means to establish new bonds between two people and their families. It brings together long lost friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Of course, none of it comes for free. The venue, the food, the guests, everything has to be taken care of. As a matter of fact, weddings are only getting more and more expensive.

Seyi, a 22-year-old counselor from London, got to attend one such extravagant wedding in Romania. She brought along a friend as her plus one and they both had a blast. Once the wedding was over, it was time for Seyi to return home. Little did she know, an unpleasant surprise awaits her at home.

A Slow Day

It was a slow Thursday morning at the office. Seyi was on her desk sipping on her fourth cup of coffee of the day. She had been working with this firm for about a year now and the pay was good so she couldn’t complain. But working as a counselor was not the most thrilling job for sure, so she needed her coffee to stay awake, especially on a slow day like this.

The Invitation

Seyi’s fingers were clicking away on her laptop mindlessly when a notification caught her attention. She has received a new email in her inbox. On opening the email she found out it was an invitation to her coworker’s wedding in Romania. “A destination wedding?” she thought, ‘That sounds fancy’.

Perfect Getaway

Seyi was getting excited. She desperately needed a break from work and this was the perfect occasion. Moreover, she got to bring a plus one, and she knew she had to take her best friend to this event. Seyi noticed a link attached to the mail. It took her to a website that was set up for the wedding.

The Website

On the website, there were glimpses of how the wedding was going to be arranged and from the looks of it, this wedding was going to be extravagant. Two days of the itinerary was mentioned there, including a garden party right before the wedding day, a fully catered party will follow after the ceremony along with an open bar.

Hotel Expenses

The website also mentioned the hotel where the guests would be staying. It displayed the gorgeous pictures of the hotel and the bedrooms as well. However, the guests will have to bear the expenses of staying at the hotel. The accommodation was quite expensive and so will be the flight tickets, but Seyi was still thrilled.

Cash Only

The happy couple had also mentioned on the website that they will only be accepting cash gifts. While some people may find this rude, Seyi understood where they came from. She knew how expensive weddings can be especially this one, in particular, was an extremely fancy destination wedding.

Plus One

Seyi was allowed to bring a plus one which was exciting since this trip will be a really fun experience. She decided to ask her best friend to accompany her on the trip. Her best friend didn’t know anyone at the wedding but she was happy to accompany her. The two friends booked their flight tickets, packed their stuff and were ready to go.

Buzzing With Excitement

Once the girls checked in and sat on their flight, the excitement was making their head buzz. They had never been to Romania and now they are going to attend a fun summer wedding and who doesn’t love a wedding? They were looking forward to an amazing time filled with friends, good food and dancing.

Acquainting the BFF

During the flight, Seyi told everything about the bride and the groom to her best friend to get her acquainted with them. She didn’t know anybody at the wedding and this little briefing might help her in case she feels out of place once they reach the venue. Of course, she had Seyi so she won’t be alone but it wouldn’t hurt to get to know the happy couple.

Traveling Through Transylvania

The flight landed in Cluj, a city in the region of Transylvania. It was one of the most beautiful cities Seyi had ever seen. The 15th-century buildings blending in with the trees that touch the flawless blue sky. The girls made a mental note to explore more of the city if they get time after the wedding. But for now, they had somewhere to be. They grabbed their bags from the baggage claim and booked a taxi for the hotel.

Reaching The Hotel

The hotel was situated in a scenic village outside of the city. It also had a beautiful church for the ceremony. They were greeted with a charming personalized gift bag. The girls were delighted with the vibe this place had. Seyi was so happy she got to be a part of her friend’s happy day. After checking into their rooms, the girls decided to go meet the bride.

Meeting The Bride

As expected, the bride was surrounded by a bunch of people, half of whom Seyi didn’t even recognize. They decided to go ahead and congratulate her on her special day. To Seyi’s surprise, the bride didn’t seem that thrilled to see her. She was too tense and busy to even spend a few minutes with her.

Pre-Wedding Nerves

Seyi assumed its the bride’s pre-wedding nerves which is why she is acting strange. She didn’t take it to her heart and went to meet her other friends and co-workers. She didn’t meet up with the bride that evening. It was clear the bride needed to relax on her own before the wedding and Seyi completely understood that.

Exploring The Village

After the little meet and greet, the girls decided to get out and explore the beautiful village their hotel was located in. The sun was shining bright in the sky, summer was on its peak and they were loving it. The girls walked in silence on the village streets drawing in plenty of attention from the locals as they were the only foreigners in the village. But they were enjoying all of it, the weather, the attention, and the scenery.

No ATM

The only concern so far on this trip was that there were no ATMs anywhere. They were running out of money and they needed to withdraw cash. They had to save cash to get back to the airport too. It was starting to look like they will have to send their wedding gift after returning home.

Garden Party

The night before the ceremony there was a stunning garden party hosted by the couple. The gathering was buzzing with excited chatter and laughter. The children were running around between the tables, their parents too busy catching up on all the gossip. The food, the drinks, the aroma, everything was exquisite. This trip was shaping up to be a good decision for the two.

Calling It A Night

After a long night of drinking and dancing, Seyi and her friend reached their hotel room in an utterly exhausted condition. They didn’t know how they are going to wake up tomorrow and get ready for the wedding but for now, they were happy to call it a night and get some sleep.

Wedding Day

The next morning, the girls woke up in a far better mood than they assumed. The excitement for the wedding was far more substantial than the influence of a hangover. Seyi went to check up on the bride but she couldn’t catch her before the ceremony. Somewhat disappointed, she returned to the room to get ready for the event.

The Venue

It was the perfect weather for the wedding, warm but not too hot, the sun would occasionally peek from behind the clouds. As anticipated, the church was beautiful. It was decorated with flowers, candles and string lights. A sweet melody of classical music was in the air, while everyone waited for the ceremony to begin.

The Ceremony

The music for the ceremony began as everyone looked up to the bride walking down the aisle. She looked like an angel. Her golden hair was tucked back in a bun with pearls around it. Her gown brushed the floor as she walked towards her husband to be. It was a beautiful ceremony, and coincidentally, Seyi caught the bouquet!

Dance Party

After the ceremony, everyone hit the dance floor. Seyi and her friends let their hair down and were having an amazing time. They even taught some dance moves to the guests. She could not remember the last time she laughed this much. She is always so caught up in work, she realized she needs to relax and go on vacation more often.

Shift In Atmosphere

By the end of the night, Seyi noticed the bride’s side of the family handing out envelopes to the guests. Seyi recalled the instructions on the website asking guests to only give money to the couple. But this seemed kind of pushy to her. Pushing envelopes in their guests’ hands to get them filled with cash, seemed impolite on the host’s part.

Out Of Cash

Seyi and her friend exchange uncomfortable glances, they were both thinking the same thing. They couldn’t find an ATM and now they didn’t have enough cash for the gift, which is why they were planning on sending out the gift after the wedding. But now, with this change of event, they both will have to give cash at this moment.

Shuffling For Bills

As one of the people handing out envelopes reached Seyi and her friend, the girls found themselves shuffling around in their purses for bills they could put in. They couldn’t collect much because they had to save up money to reach the airport, but apart from that, they put everything else in the envelope.

Another Gift Bag

Seyi felt awkward since she was planning on sending her a gift once she reaches home but they couldn’t turn them away with an empty envelope. The total money came to about 25 Euros. The duo was given another gift bag, which seemed like a strange transaction but they didn’t think too much about it.

Saying Goodbye

After a bizarre but nevertheless fun night, it was time to leave. They had a 4:00 am flight back to London on the same night. The girls only had a few hours before their flight so they decided to take a quick nap, which resulted in them sleeping through their alarms and ultimately reaching the airport in just about enough time to catch their flight.

Back To Work

Unfortunately, Seyi had to go back to work the very same day their flight landed in London. She had managed to sleep a little on the flight but truth be told, she was exhausted. But for her, the vacation was worth it and she made amazing memories with her best friend. She decided to power through the day. As usual, she began with a strong cup of coffee, the first of many to follow.

The Surprise

Seyi sat down at her desk, and like any other person who comes back to work after a few days, she checked her email first. She was busy going through her inbox when she heard her phone go off. To her surprise, it was a text from her newly married friend. Seyi assumed it might be a text asking if she reached home okay.

Thank You Note

Seyi had another thought that it might be a “thank you for coming” kind of thing. However, it was too soon for thank you notes as well. The wedding was last night and traditionally she should be off preparing for her honeymoon right now instead of sending out thank you texts. Usually, the newlyweds are too busy for that kind of thing and don’t start taking care of such formalities until later.

The Message

Seyi took a long sip of her coffee and began reading the text, “Hi Seyi, how are you doing? Did you enjoy our wedding and the time spent in Cluj? Did your friend enjoy it too?” Seyi thought to herself, that it was sweet of her to ensure everyone had a great time at the wedding.

Pitiful Contribution

Seyi almost choked on her coffee by what was written in the next line. She wrote, “You seemed to enjoy plenty but it was not reflected in the contribution you made to our wedding cost.” The bride continued to tell her how 20 dollars from Seyi and 5 dollars from her friend did not cover the cost of food, drinks, and gift bags.

Fun Costs Money

Seyi could not believe her eyes. Her ‘friend’ was bashing her for giving her less money than she expected by sending her a full text listing out the details of all the fun she had and how much it cost. And instead of enjoying her wedding night, she had spent it counting money from each envelope? This seemed like the most unfortunate way of spending your first night as a married couple.

Insignificant Gift

The message continued talking about the contribution made by other guests and how insignificant Seyi’s contribution was compared with others. Most of the guests gave around 100 Euros, and she expected the minimum contribution on anyone’s part to be 75 Euros because that was the cost per head as per their wedding plan.

Passive Aggressive

“If this was not clear from the beginning, my apologies for not explaining it better.” Seyi continued reading, completely astounded. The message ended with her bank details and the demand of 125 Euros was made to cover the cost of Seyi and her friend. She had neatly deducted the 25 Euros already received.

Forwarding The Message

The first thing Seyi did after she finished reading the text was to send it to her best friend who accompanied her on the trip. It was only minutes later when Seyi received a call from her. Her travel partner was equally insulted by the message. Especially because both of them had already planned on sending out a gift to the couple once they reach home.

Mistreating Guests

They could not believe they spent all that money to attend this wedding only to be treated like they skipped out on a restaurant check. Seyi was so understanding about the whole situation already because she knows weddings are expensive. But then they hand out envelopes to people at the wedding and now this text? How could they humiliate their guests like this?

Pre-planned Message

Seyi’s friend noticed, that the text was quite long and well written, which was a bit suspicious since they were reading it the morning after the wedding night, less than 12 hours later. This could only mean that this message was written well in advance to send out to all those people whose ‘contribution’ to the wedding did not seem enough to the bride.

The Gift Bag

The girls noticed one more thing; the gift bags. The gift bags they received at the time of giving those cash envelopes, were marked. And that is how she could tell who has given which envelope and hence she knew exactly how much each of her guests has contributed.

No Chance

Seyi recalled how she was planning on sending out a nice gift to the couple once she reaches home, well there goes that plan down the drain! There is no way she is sending out anything to this ungrateful person and she is not transferring 125 Euros to her bank account.

Uptight People

The girls feel sorry for the new couple. They are so obsessed with money that they did not fully enjoy their special day either. Their mind was occupied with these thoughts throughout the event, which would explain why the bride was so tense. But if the wedding was tight on the pocket, they should have kept everything lowkey.

Tweeting The Experience

Seyi decided to teach this person a lesson and went on her twitter to share this story with everyone. The response she got was insane. People found the bride’s request to be rude and awkward. “Is this rudeness worth 125 euros?” one user replied. People also pointed out how destination weddings are not easy on the guests, they have to pay enough to just attend it.

Bad Hosts

People mentioned how a person should not organize a lavish event if they can’t afford it. They should not pressure their guests to fill their pockets with cash. However, there were a few people who were on the bride’s side. They wrote, “Obviously her asking for money is lame/unprecedented but 5 Euros for a wedding gift is insulting.”

Contribution

Another person tweeted saying Seyi should send her friend a list of expenses she endured to attend the wedding and call that her ‘contribution’ to the wedding. But as far as money-minded people go, no amount in this world will be able to satisfy them ever.

Different Take

Seyi’s best friend, who experienced everything with her, has a different take on this situation. She jokes about it by saying that because they spent a significant amount to attend the wedding, they now have shares in the marriage and the couple should give both of them a solid return on this investment.

Forgiveness Is Divine

A twitter user asked Seyi if she forgave her friend for this, and she responded with, “Safe to say I am no longer friends with the debt collector. And I still want my €25 back.” The experience of being treated like a customer instead of a guest or even a friend spoiled the relationship she shared with the bride.

Bitter Tears

Another user shared the story of his sister, who was going to be the maid of honor at her good friend’s wedding. She had to spend most of her savings to buy a proper attire for the big day. After the wedding, her friend told her how disappointed she is because she had not received a wedding gift from her. The maid of honor burst into tears! Safe to say she never spoke to the bridezilla again.

Bridezilla

Most of us have had our share of experiences with one or more bridezillas. Their stories are endless, from the brides who wanted her bridesmaids to cover their tattoos to the one wanting them to be of the exact same height. Weddings bring out the worst in them. And the tragedy is that they only succeed in ruining their special day.

Lesson To Be Learned

According to Seyi, the debt collecting couple is still together and had their first child earlier this year. She doesn’t know if they managed to collect all the money for their wedding, nor does she care. Weddings are stressful as it is, so people should relax and enjoy instead of complicating things further by making unnecessary demands from their guests.