I have a friend who I went to college with and she is getting married in July. She lives in Australia wih her husband whos a pilot so they travel a lot but their wedding is back in NJ. I was never really close with her but we always talked here and there. Now we mostly stay in touch through facebook.
Yesterday she posted a comment on facebook about her wedding and I commented "Oh I am so excited for you guys, make sure you take lots of pictures because I was to see!" Later on she proceeded to send me a private message saying "Hey just throwing it out there you guys are more than welcome to come to our wedding, the more the merrier and it's a good excuse to come back to NJ."
I feel like that a pity invite. If you really wanted me there you would have invited me. DH thinks we should go but I dont really want to go because I feel like she didnt want me there in the first place otherwise we would have gotten an invite. Her invites went out a month ago. She knows where I live and its not like she could have forgotten about us so I dont know what to do. Would you go? Or make a small excuse as to why you cant make it?
Re: Pity Invite...NBR
Well I would look at a few things first. Like how far from NJ do you live now. Sometimes it seems like a gift grab to invite people from out of town that you think wouldn't have been able to come anyway.
It's possible that her initial invites were limited by the size of the venue she booked and then she may have not have gotten as many "yeses" as she anticipated. I know it's tricky planning a wedding, especially when you have a large family and there are a certain number of people you're obligated to invite.
I wouldn't call the invite a "pity invite". I would think maybe she extended the invitation because she has more space than she orginally thought, and would genuinely like to have you there. If you want to go (i.e, there will be other friends there you'd like to catch up with, you think the evening will be enjoyable), go. If you don't want to go, make an excuse and don't go. It's as simple as that.
I agree with Lindsey- that's TOTALLY insulting and rude. I deny any Facebook invites. Its tacky and rude but ESPECIALLY for weddings and baby showers- its totally gift grabby!
I wouldn't go. I would just respond that we had previous plans that weekend or something.
"sorry, we cant make it. hope your day is blissful"
That was exactly the case with one particular friend of mine. We were close in high school but after graduation we fell out of touch. Many of the co-workers I invited couldn't make it so we extended the guest list. "Pity" really didn't enter into it. Nostalgia perhaps but not pity. I'm glad she came but if all she got out of it was that I felt sorry for her she didn't need to show up.
I've been a last minute invite to weddings before (again...because of so many people unexpectedly declining). I'm just happy for the chance to go and celebrate. I love weddings!
I don't blame you. You said you guys aren't even that close, so unless you're one of those people who just loooooooves weddings, imo it seems pointless to go. It's not like being a wedding guest is cheap! I'm not sure if I'd be offended if I was in your situation, or felt like she was taking pity on me, but I agree that the invite could have been handled in a much better fashion.