I seem to have hit a nerve when I spoke up against the dreaded Dollar Dance. Making your guests pay for the privilege of dancing with you has never set well with me. I understand that everyone has an opinion about this practice, but for the most part, I think that guests are getting tired of shelling out money every time a couple sends them an invitation. Put yourself in your guests' shoes for a change.
You send me an invitation. I am thrilled to be invited and mark accept on the RSVP and mail it back (Yes--we are supposed to mail back RSVP's!)
I noticed that you didn't include my children on the invitation envelope, so I will need to get a babysitter for the weekend since you are 500 miles away from where we live. I also will need to put my dog in the kennel since I won't be home to feed and let him out.
The invitation says dress code, so I will go buy a new dress. I love to shop so this is fun--right? I need to also buy you a wedding gift. What kind of guest shows up at a wedding without a gift. I see from your web site that you are registered at Bed Bath and Beyond. I hope I can find my 20% coupon that I got in Sunday's paper because the towel set that you want costs more than my entire bathroom!
I will have to do some traveling and with the price of gas, we won't be taking the SUV. I will have to take a cooler of food or find a place to eat along the way since we will be traveling quite a ways and we may get hungry. I guess I could look into flying, but then I would have to carry on your gift because I can't afford to ship it. I will need to pack light because it costs now to check extra luggage and we will have to pay the babysitter for an extra two hours now that we have to be at the airport earlier than necessary.
The hotel rooms that you have blocked off is a little out of our budget, but since we haven't seen the family in quite a while and the after party in the hotel is always a lot of fun we will go ahead and reserve a room for two nights. I wonder if they give a AAA discount?
I get to your wedding and everything is so lovely! The family is glad to see us, although they don't have much time to stop and chat. You are busy getting married and I know that you don't have time to talk to us personally because you are sitting up on the risers at your head table talking to your friends that you see every day, but you sure do look like you are having a good time. Don't worry about us--we are doing great with the rubbery chicken and green beans. (I wonder if there are any sandwiches left in the cooler?)
Watching you dance is fun, but by the time we have paid for the drinks at the cash bar and the dollar dance (because we really wanted to say hello to you and let you know that we were here for your special day), we are broke and ready to go home.
Mailing off the RSVP??? Maybe we should attend the company picnic instead. At least it might help toward that raise we will need when your sister gets married in two years.
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