I just found out yesterday from my brother that my sister-in-law (his wife) and my toddler niece will not be attending our wedding and I feel really devastated. Our wedding is in two months and we have made so many modifications to make it safer. My sister-in-law is simply terrified of Covid and is too fearful to attend.
We’ve uninvited 100 people, changed venues to be entirely outdoors, have a whole plan for being masked and distanced by household, having a guest list limit of 20 people, and half of the guests will be vaccinated. But it’s still not enough for her to feel safe.
My sister-in-law is my only sibling’s spouse, and my niece is also my goddaughter and my only niece/nephew. We were planning to have her be our flower girl so feel very sad that she will not be able to be in that role. Despite my sister-in-law‘s wishes my brother will still be attending, but I feel very sad that my full immediate family will not all be there. This feels particularly hard because my brother, sister-in-law, and niece are some of the only people we have seen or had in our pod since the start of the pandemic since we live very close to each other.
I feel so hurt by this and don’t know how to get past it so that I’m not thinking about their absence at the wedding. I’m so ready to get married to my fiancée and just want to be able to be present for the joy. Has anyone else had immediate family members refuse to attend their wedding and if so how did you move through it?