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Nathalie
Beginner May 2022

We had to replan a wedding in a week and things went south with my mom

Nathalie, on March 31, 2022 at 2:03 AM Posted in Family and Relationships 0 22

Hi,
I need to share what has been the worst experience for me these last two weeks and ask opinions about what happened. First I need to add a bit of context.
Our wedding date is May 21st 2022 (in a month and a half).
My mom volunteers at a place that can accommodate many people. While it’s not labeled a wedding venue, weddings happen there. When we decided to get married, it was so obvious for everyone we’d do it there that we didn’t even question it. My mom promptly suggested a caterer that knows the venue and a DJ that is a friend of her and does all the parties at the venue (actually leaves his stuff there). We figured it was easy and since she recommends them why not ? We also asked since the beginning if they’d be able and willing to do the things we want and do them the way we want, and she assured us they would. We have now understood the hard way easy wasn’t always good.
The first thing was when my mom said since we were doing it at their venue we would have to invite people from the committee, especially since they wouldn’t make us pay (we never asked for such a favor). I was annoyed. She is friend with them, and I didn’t want to cause drama by refusing (I know it would have gone wrong) but made it as clear as I could that I wasn’t very happy about it.
I then immediately sent an example of what I wanted as food to the caterer and she said it’s fine for her, maybe she’ll add a few things of her own. I was like “sure let’s discuss it when you are available”. Then covid happened and we postponed the wedding from May 2021 to May 2022.
In the meantime we bought a house and wanted to hire a team of workers to make a few changes. My mom suggested the team that works at the venue (the husband of the head of the venue owns a work company). We needed things to be done fast (from the quote to then the works themselves) to pay as little as possible extra to the bank. My mom assured me they would understand that and make it happen, and since I had sent a few emails fo other worker companies that never got back to me we said okay. The team that was supposed to come do the works at our place was lead by the guy that was supposed to be our DJ (DJ is his side hustle). He treated us quite poorly, saying he would come do the works in September and then just not giving any news, and everytime I tried to contact him to ask when they would be coming he would be like “we are still working at that other place” but without giving a timeline. We were waiting and waiting, not making plans bc we didn’t know when they’d be coming. My mom would tell me “they said to me in three weeks” but ofc it didn’t happen. So much so that in November I sent a text a bit more assertive just bc we didn’t the works to be done before January if we didn’t want to pay extra interests to the bank. He answered something like “we’ll probably start in December calm down it’s not the end of the world” it drove me nuts !
In the end my mom did intervene in our favor (I thanked her many times) and it’s the other team that came mid November, but the bottom line is my FH and I started to worry that the DJ was unreliable. We were already not so happy when we realized he doesn’t speak French (our mother tongue) but only polish (the venue is held by a polish association, my mom is polish). So we contacted a few DJs and found one we liked that was available for our date. I mentioned it to my mom and she lost it, saying we cannot do that to her, how will people look at her at the venue if we do that, etc etc.
I caved in. Ofc I did. I didn’t want to bring issues for her, especially since she intervened for the workers. But I said that I very much hope he will be more reliable. I sent a message asking if he remembered our wedding, and when would be discuss that. He answered he did and “closer to the date”. I am getting married May 21 and still didn’t hear anything from him.
Then we went to see the venue once again to assess some stuff 2 weeks ago and realized there is a ton of “stuff” that is under the roof where we wanted to do the cocktail hour. My mom said maybe it will be put away by our wedding day, maybe not. (?!!!!!) Also we wanted to put our guest book under a smaller roof just next to it but that roof fell and sits on the floor. Again, they don’t know if it’ll be fixed. My mom laughs saying it looks like a pyramid and isn’t it funny ha-ha (no, it’s not…)
At that point some of our guests said they wouldn’t be able to make it, and my mom had added quite a few of her friends related to the venue. In the end, the biggest table at our wedding was going to be them.
I felt a bit defeated, like it was becoming more and more a party for my mom’s venue than my wedding. She also was always bringing up how they would like this or that and how many times I mentioned I wasn’t planning it for them to like didn’t change a thing.
Now about the caterer. I sent her a message when we postponed, and then a few others saying we wanted to change a few things to the menu, could we please meet or talk over the phone etc. Answer was always later, it’s too early. I pushed for us to meet on 26th March. So last Tuesday, I sent her the new version of the menu but ofc we could discuss it it’s a basis for the meeting so she knows in which direction we’re going (there were a few changes but it was not completely different).
I got a text at 22h30 saying she cannot honor our demands and so we should find ourselves another person to cook. I got a text 5 minutes later from my mom forwarding basically the same message, and stating “look what you’ve done. What you want isn’t possible, find yourself another cook !”
I almost begged the woman to still meet with me on Saturday to discuss things and find a common ground. I said I cannot find another cook less than two months before the wedding, I referred to the fact that she knew what we wanted since two years ago, and also that well I have been trying to talk or meet with her for months literally to avoid this kind of situation. She agreed to meet but “without making promises”
The next day I received more texts from my mom saying my menu was scandalizing (it really wasn’t, especially for the price she was asking), that she was giving up, that I should have found myself a castle (she wasn’t saying that nicely). I was already devastated by the situation and even more by her reaction.
So we looked for another cook but we also looked into postponing and got an answer from a venue (coincidence : a small and cute castle) to come and meet them on Sunday.
On Saturday we went to meet the caterer. I won’t get into details but it wasn’t great. She offered a menu that had nothing to do with either our original or second version and refused every suggestion we made. We had also lost all trust after the message (what if she sends the same the day before our wedding ?!). In the meanwhile I had received a few messages from my mom that I found very pushy about whether we found an agreement. I didn’t answer, it just felt above my strength as in my head we had just decided to postpone the wedding.
We went to see the other venue and jokingly asked if they didn’t have our date still available. The guy first said no, but then asked about our guests number - which is quite low. He checked and announced it’s our lucky day bc the stables were taken as they could accommodate a large number of guests, but the castle itself and the terrasse were free for our numbers. It felt like a miracle. We were saving our wedding. Best news ? The price per person for the menu (a menu that works for us) was cheaper than what crazy woman wanted. We would have to pay for the venue itself but all in all it doesn’t amount to much more than we were planning to spend !
My FH called my mom to break the news. I knew she’d be able to make me feel bad about our decision and that she wouldn’t react in a “so happy you found a solution” kind of way. I called my dad coz I didn’t want him to be in the dark. He gave me my mom over the phone so I explained what happened with the caterer. She answered “well she has another version so yeah, and I am not taking sides”. (I am your daughter and you’re saying you don’t trust my word …). Turns out the caterer said she agreed on all we wanted and that I didn’t like anything she offered but my fiancé did. He literally told her he doesn’t see how he could possibly serve that to his guests.
I then broke the news to her that since we were not doing the wedding at the venue, her best friend (the head of the old venue) could come with her husband but the others were only invited for the cocktail hour. She completely lost it. Brought my dad into it, who sent a message to my FH. My fiancé called trying to explain calmly that there wasn’t a reason to invite them, since his parents also don’t get to invite their colleagues and that we even cut into the family members to keep only the people close to us and have an intimate wedding. That didn’t work, it turned into a fight and my fiancé who had seen me in such a bad state in the last few days kind of raised his voice. I said he had been right to do so.
She also said by text to me that all I wanted was to show off to my friends and have a better wedding than a friend of mine, and that I wanted it to be as luxurious as possible and maybe she wouldn’t even fit in. I find it so mean. Also if I wanted to show off, I am not sure having to explain the situation to my friends and changing venue less than 2 months before my wedding would be the best way to do it, but never mind that.
My dad insists on paying for the food even after I mentioned a few times we are paying ourselves. I said I don’t want money, I want their SUPPORT and that’s the thing I was lacking during this last week which was SO awful.
My mom said a few times things won’t be the same now, she has seen another version of me, it opened her eyes. I have got to agree and think “right back at you” but I honestly don’t see what I did that was so bad ?
We are one month and a half before, we need to reorganize our whole wedding. It’s difficult to handle. On the other hand we’re so happy that we got to keep our date and solve this. We’ve also already settled many things (find a florist, contact DJs, change the church for the ceremony, contact many people who had made arrangements, etc etc). And all of it is tinted by the drama with my parents.
Am I in the wrong ?

22 Comments

Latest activity by Nathalie, on April 5, 2022 at 12:57 AM
  • W
    VIP September 2020
    Willow ·
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    That was a lot to take in.


    You can't invite guests to just the cocktail hour then kick them out. It's all or nothing with invites.
    I'm not sure if you've already sent out formal invites, but you shouldn't be rescinding invitations already sent.
    I don't know why you were put off that your DJ doesn't speak French. Did he claim he could? Are there are lot of French speakers in your area?
    A lot of vendors will have no reason to meet with you until closer to the wedding. But if you're unhappy with a vendor or venue, it's your prerogative to switch.
    Your mother got way too emeshed in the planning and guest list. You laid poor boundaries. She probably had to pull some strings to get you that venue for free and was trying to return favors. She seems very entangled with the people associated with the venue. That being said, she sounds immature and dramatic and even toxic.

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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Hi, thank you for you comments !
    I actually come from Belgium, in Europe, so the majority of our guests are French-speaking. In Belgium it is very common to invite people only for the ceremony and the cocktail (mostly people you have regular contact with but are not close to). I should have mentioned that. For instance my colleagues are invited for the cocktail only.

    I think you are right that it’s my fault that I let it slide so much until it got too much. And I agree that she probably had to ask to get that venue but the thing is I never asked to get it for free. I would have happily paid for it and not have the extra guests. The option just wasn’t presented to me and then I didn’t want to say « no » because I didn’t want to cause drama. Unfortunately it ended wrong…
    Yes she is, to the point it feels they matter more than I do.
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  • Taylor
    VIP October 2022
    Taylor ·
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    I’m so sorry you had to deal with all that! I don’t think it’s wrong for people to be invited to cocktail and not the ceremony (I’ve actually seen a lot of people do this). I’m not sure about taking back invitations but since it’s people you personally are not very close with I don’t think it should be a problem. Your mom seems very focused on her image with her friends etc. but that’s not really your problem. If anybody does have a problem you can call and explain to them that you had to change venues last minute and it would be a lot easier to have a smaller party for the ceremony (even if that’s not totally true). Also I understand your relationship with your mom and somebody that doesn’t have that kind of relationship might not understand what that’s like but trust me I do. It’s a lot easier to just say yes then get into it with her or cause problems. Although sometimes it does come back to bite us in the ass. My fiancé and I kept our families out of all of the wedding planning and didn’t tell anybody anything until it had already been booked. Any of our vendors and our venue we booked first and then shared with our families later. Not saying they would’ve made anything difficult but it’s just better to be safe than sorry. Hopefully your mom will chill a bit by the time the wedding comes around but she’s just gonna have to deal with it.


    Also applause for your fiancé for sticking up for you to your parents👏🏼 I know for a significant other that could be difficult and stressful
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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Awww thank you so much ♥️ It means a lot ! Yes it’s so much easier to cave in … I guess I learned the hard way that I need to stand up for myself sooner rather than regret it later !


    We definitely should have done it all the same way you did !! We did that for the photographer and the cake and we’ve had 0 issues with them ! Altho my mom wasn’t super happy since she wanted to stick us with a photographer as well 🙈

    Yes I personally informed them that due to the relocation we were reorganizing our wedding and that we would be more than happy to have them for the cocktail but that the rest of the festivities we wanted to keep intimate with people we are the closest to. I might be wrong but I feel like while it’s not the nicest message to receive they can understand that ? We are having a 50 people wedding, about 70 at the cocktail. It would be different if we had a 150 party where we invite people that are from a larger circle…
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  • Taylor
    VIP October 2022
    Taylor ·
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    I think what you’re doing is totally fine! And if those people have a problem with not being invited to the ceremony then they don’t come! And it sounds like these are people that you wouldn’t mind if they didn’t come anyway lol.


    Yeah we’ve totally kept stuff to ourselves. It’s honestly better that way not even in the sense of having problems caused but also just being given negative opinions or too many opinions and it makes it hard to decide what WE want to do. And trust me I get standing up for yourself is hard! Standing up for myself has given me many problems with family but it’s all worth it to not have the extra stress! And I’m still not very good at it
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  • Jacks
    Rockstar November 2054
    Jacks ·
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    Yeah, that's wrong. You can't just tell people to leave. Sounds like you're trying to have an event that's out of your budget.

    Sorry realized didn't add my advice, I'd cancel what you have and plan what you can afford to do.

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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    I understand I might be wrong, but your comment about the budget is not okay. I assure you we are well within our budget and the 6 extra guests wouldn’t put a hole in it. As I also said, what we were quoted at the new venue is lower than what we first expected to pay. Finally, I mentioned my dad even insisted on paying and we are refusing that help. Money is not the issue here. The issue is we were imposed guests for reason that no longer exist, and as we are replanning on our own terms we do not feel obligated to have them anymore. We want a wedding with people close to us, and we do not feel comfortable around those people that were not our choice of guests in the first place.
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  • Jacks
    Rockstar November 2054
    Jacks ·
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    OK so money aside, how do you imagine this conversation going with the people that have to leave?

    If I read correctly 20 people will have to leave.

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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Actually the thing is that it is quite common in Belgium (Europe) and France to invite people only for the cocktail. It’s called the « vin d’honneur » (honor wine) and is expected for people in your larger circle (people you work with but are not close to, cousins you see once a year,…). Those guests are informed beforehand that they will be staying only from 15h30 to 17h30 for a drink and appetizers… usually these people gather in small groups and they go to a restaurant after. For instance my colleagues talked with each other to go eat together. It’s really not a « weird » thing around here (but I get it may sound like it !). The venue let’s them know when they’re serving the last drink before the beginning of the meal, that the cocktail is touching upon its end. So it’s not really a conversation to have …


    So I informed those 6 people (those who were imposed on us) that due to the change of location we are reorganizing our wedding a bit and that we’d be more than welcome to have them at the cocktail, but that we wanted the rest of the festivities to remain intimate with people that are close to us… which is literally the truth…
    I do understand it’s not ideal and believe me it’s not the nicest thing to write and send, I didn’t enjoy it. The thing is if I had to pick 6 extra people to stay the whole day, it wouldn’t even be them. It also felt very unfair to my FH’s parents that they don’t get their guests but my mom gets those guests who we have no link to, while there is absolutely no reason for them to be there anymore.
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  • Natalie
    Super November 2020
    Natalie ·
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    While the place your mom volunteers at holds weddings, it seems that they don’t hold the type of wedding you envisioned. While your requests may not have been extreme, they were likely too much for the original venue. Because your mom works there with all their vendors, it obviously put her in a very awkward position, especially since her colleagues were constantly messaging her, and she likely was embarrassed that you had seemed like a “difficult” bride. Typically, anytime a parent helps out financially (even in getting your venue for free), there are strings attached, and the extra guests were the strings in this case. Going forward, I’d suggest having a talk with your mom, explaining that you had to change venues because the wedding wasn’t aligning with your vision and was becoming too much of a blend of work and personal life for her. Invite the original guest list (even your mom’s coworkers) to avoid the faux paus of retracting invitations. While only inviting to cocktail hour is poor etiquette in the US, if it is truly a “thing” in Belgium go for it.
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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    I think you’re probably right in your analysis of the situation, thank you for putting it into perspective. I was just so hurt that instead of sticking with me when the caterer dumped us by text at 10PM 2 months before the wedding while things were agreed on two years ago, she made me feel bad for it ! It’s difficult to see things clearly after something like that.


    I think you’re right about strings being attached. We would have rather paid and not have them but were not given that option. It is our responsibility that we didn’t decide from the start not to go through with this plan tho. With perspective I see that.
    We will be inviting them for the cocktail, which is “a thing” here ahah - again I understand it sounds weird, just like things I read sometimes about US weddings sound weird to me. It’s interesting to see how different things can be while other things are just the same !
    I am still so sad and under the impression that I will forever remember feeling that I couldn’t count on my mom’s support when it came to my wedding day
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  • D
    Just Said Yes September 2023
    Danielle ·
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    Your not wrong. You trusted them down to the last few months. Everything worked out. Your mom will forget about it maybe even apologize later on. Your lucky to have an involved mom, it is hard to find sometimes when it comes to wedding planning.
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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Thank you for your kind words. I hope you are right ♥️ I know I am lucky she tried to be involved even if it wasn’t the way I hoped it would be (by for instance asking how I feel and how I would want things). I know some have it worse of course.
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  • Candace
    Super March 2022
    Candace ·
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    That was alot to read but I kept going because I felt invested LOL. Actually, I probably would have handled everything the same as you did. Wedding planning brings out big feelings. You assumed from the beginning (as I would) that mom would allow you to plan your wedding the way you wanted. Turns out her connection to the venue and the people became a conflict of interest. I'm glad you ended up finding a venue and vendors that work for you. This close to the wedding, maybe meeting these changes to the guest list wouldn't be worth the hassle. Let your mom have these people as full guests. After all that you've been through, it's just not a battle worth fighting. Now you can really focus on the details of your big day and enjoy yourself.
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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Ahaha I am sorry I guess I needed to let it all out ! 🙈. Thank you it really helps to hear that ♥️ Indeed that is what I expected … maybe I should have known better, but I really did not suspect it would end this way ! I need to let it go and focus on making the big day happen and enjoy the process this last month. After all I cannot change what happened
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  • Paige
    VIP October 2022
    Paige ·
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    It sounds like what's done is done, so I'd echo Candace and say just try to move forward. Focus on the fact that you have a great new venue (which sounds like it would be really pretty!), a caterer that can accommodate you, and are free to do what you want now that you're not relying on someone else. Hopefully now that your mom doesn't feel like she's being pulled in different directions between the people she volunteers with and you, she'll come around as well. Wedding planning tends to bring out a lot of personalities and opinions, but hopefully at the end you'll have a great day marrying the person you love!

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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Thank you all for your words. They helped me gain perspective and the support is always nice to witness ♥️
    Some update. My dad called me to talk today. He then mentioned how what happened with the caterer is not my mom’s fault. I told him I know that and that I don’t blame her for it, that my issue is with the way she reacted and the messages she sent me. My dad said he can imagine, but assured me he doesn’t know what was said. Not even five minutes later I got a notification that my mom deleted a message from our convo. I checked and she deleted the one where she texted I only want to show off to my friends and have a better wedding than X. I assume she was scared my dad would see it. The only thing I can see is that she apparently knows she was out of line but instead of apologizing to me she wants to hide the evidence….
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  • Steph
    Dedicated May 2022
    Steph ·
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    I’m sorry you have to go through this… but also WHAT?! I may be the wrong person to give my input on this because I believe that it is completely selfish of your mother of all people to make this entire thing about HER and HER PEOPLE. Then to top it off, gaslight you into feeling bad about it.
    Based on everything you have said I think you are a way better daughter than I would be in this situation. There is an unspoken rule that states if your parents are paying for it then they do have a say so in what happens, but definitely not all of it. The fact that you have managed to do this independently should be something that they are proud of, and it sounds like she is now bitter about it. The nasty comments about being in competition is just wrong as well. Overall, I hope your day is perfect and I encourage you to not invite all of her people and just have the day that YOU want without worrying about accommodating everyone else’s wants.
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  • Nathalie
    Beginner May 2022
    Nathalie ·
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    Thank you for your support and advice ♥️♥️ That’s what I am going to do ! I will not get this day back, so I want it to be about what my fiancé and I want. If there’s one time where we deserve to be selfish, this is it ! I am tired of trying to please my mom at the expense of what I truly feel is good for me.
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  • Fiona
    Super May 2024
    Fiona ·
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    I don't think you were in the wrong here and I think your mum has made some errors in the way she has behaved. it sounds like you did everything you could to make it easier for her and to follow everything she recommended for you. But it all fell apart so you tired to fix it with your mother still carrying on about it all. I hope that all your new plans come to fruition and you have a great wedding and I hope your mother stops with all her hassling of you and the not nice text messages.

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