Why did you decline?

I've declined when I was invited as a guest of my parents, for someone I personally do not know.

I declined my 19 year old cousin's dry wedding.

They divorced a couple years later.

We declined several over the years. Most were people one of us worked with, but we did not know very well. In one case, it was a matter of traveling( in the winter) to the west coast. It was a manager DH talked to but never met. We sent gifts to all of them.

One wedding that we did attend and wish we had not was in the 70's. It was held IN the Snake river in Montana. Everyone stood in the water in a circle around the bride, groom and the minister. They were "water children" or something like that. We knew it was casual dress, but we did not know we would be standing in the water for 15 minutes. In June. With the June bugs flying around. (or whatever those huge things are called.) Oh well, it was an experience. And the scenery was beautiful!

Oh so many reasons..... once because it was a cousin who i dont like and there was a meshuggah concert that night which i wasnt going to miss for someone i didnt like...another was it was out of state, 2 because i was on tour and one more because i just couldnt be bothered. now if it was my best friends getting married i wouldnt decline

I've really only declined if I couldn't make it: Out of State/hard to get to, already have plans for the weekend. If they are plans that can be moved, I would do it. The one I declined last year was actually because I got invited to two weddings on the same day. It was really hard because one was DH's close friend and DH was in the wedding. But the other was my cousin and our family is close so I went to my cousin's and DH went to his friends. They were 5 hours apart otherwise I would have tried to go to both.

We received an invite from a family member of FH's who he never talks to (it had been YEARS) and I had never met or talked to. We thought it was kind of odd. Thoughtful, but odd.

I've only declined when I was already far away, traveling, or had obligations I really couldn't get out of (major conference for work, etc). But thankfully I've only been invited to weddings of family and close friends. My fiance has gone to several co-workers' weddings where they just invited everyone they could think of. It was....awkward, to say the least.

I've declined 2: The first was a co-workers'. We never hung outside of work well, because he was a complete nut job. Like scary angry nut job. The second, because the groom explained to me that his fiance was giving him a hall pass before the wedding and I could be the lucky lady if I chose. Umm. Eww. No thank you to both invitations. Enjoy your day.

I've declined for super long, religious ceremonies. If it is family or a very close friend, I would sit through that, but otherwise, I just don't want to

If I don't speak to you on the regular basis I will decline. I don't want to go to a wedding of a person I haven't seen or spoke to in 5 years.

I declined one last year bc no children allowed and I didn't have a sitter

I declined for legitimate reasons, but once I received a wedding invitation with my name spelt incorrectly and that killed all desire to go. I ended up having a class the day anyway, but it left a sour taste in my mouth. The bride is a close friend, so I was shocked at the over sight.

The only one I've declined was a few days before my due date, and a DW and I wasn't allowed to travel, so wasn't capable of attending. I wanted to decline an out of town PPD with cash bar and shitty hosts but my husband wouldn't let us because we'd see other friends there and his family all lived where it was so we'd see them too. It was, as predicted, a shitshow.

@AlmostaMrs I skipped a bridal shower for that very reason. It was addressed to Incorrect First Name w/FH's last name. Then when HE got the wedding invitation it was addressed to FH and guest.

ETA: It also caused an argument with myself and FH because he mentioned to someone that I didn't go because they spelled my name wrong. No, it was the WRONG name(s) First AND last!

I declined one, a friend out-of-state, because it was on the same date as a family wedding. I did not decline the one that we had to pay for our own dinner, although I would have if it hadn't been my FH's best friend's wedding.

@cat- that is repulsive. I would have declined too.

Ew.

I declined a wedding when it was obvious I was B-listed and it was out of state. I received the invitation after the reply-by date.

Other than that, I typically decline weddings that are significant travel unless it's for a close friend. I just declined one this week that's in March in DC area - she's a friend and I technically COULD afford it, we just don't want to spend that kind of money travelling. Same thing with a wedding where I was invited and even asked to be a reader a few years ago - I technically could have made it, but at that point in my life I had very little discretionary income and I didn't want to spend it travelling to Phoenix where the wedding was.

Because I don't want to go.

That's usually the reason and I don't feel any sort of bad about it.

I have declined when the wedding is super far away and we'd have to get a hotel for multiple nights. If you're not my sibling, that's just not in my budget.

I've also declined if my SO isn't invited with me, or if it's some rando family member that I don't really know.

I have only ever declined one wedding invite in my life (I don't get many). It was from someone I knew as a kid and still have on my FB friend's list but do not consider myself close to. I was not taking time off work and buying a plane ticket to attend, but I probably would not have gone even if it was local.