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Wedding Guests Billed By Couple For Not Showing Up At Wedding: The Bill Has People Talking

By Regina Avalos
Published on: 22:47 PST, Sep 30, 2015

Are wedding guests being billed for not showing up to a wedding these days? That happened to one couple. The invited guests that RSVP’d and failed to show to one recent wedding received a rude awakening in their mail after the event was held – a bill for the wedding dinner.

According to WBAL News Radio, Jessica Baker and her husband were all ready to attend the wedding ceremony, but the babysitter they had lined up canceled at the last minute. The invitation made it clear that kids were not allowed at the wedding festivities, so Baker and her husband decided to not attend the event at all.

Baker revealed more about the bill and the reasons behind the no-show to the wedding to the media. Baker and her husband had definitely planned to attend the big day, but Baker’s mother was ill.

“We were excited to have a night out and we got a call from my mom saying that my brother’s daughter was sick with hand-foot-and-mouth disease and my mom had been exposed and didn’t want to expose my kids. She needed to be with her and she wouldn’t be able to make it.”

Neither Baker or her husband contacted anyone on the day of the wedding about their plans not to show up. She said that she would “let them know the situation later on.”

On her own wedding day, she had people that did not show up to the wedding, so she was aware that it happened. She made it clear that she never expected people to call or text her to let her know they weren’t coming.

The last thing she expected was to receive a bill for her lack of attendance to the August 29 event. She said she was “just shocked” when she received the bill for $75.90. That amount covered the cost of the couple’s meals for the wedding dinner. She did not pay the bill. Instead, she donated the money to charity and sent back the receipt for that donation.

Baker revealed to the media that she did speak to someone about her non-attendance to the event. The brother of the bride called a few days later. She talked about that conversation.

“He said, ‘We missed you at the wedding,’ and it was at that point that we explained what happened and that we were sorry we couldn’t make it. The bride and the groom are a couple that we’ve not heard from for the 12 years that we’ve been married, so I’m not very close to the bride and groom really at all. The bride’s brother was the person we were closest to. There wasn’t a rift; it’s just extended family.”

Was sending the bill the right thing to do? Sarah Baumann Rogers, editor of Minnesota Bride Magazine, told KARE 11 that sending a bill or otherwise following up about a no-show is not proper. She said it should not be done under any circumstances. Couples should be prepared for overages and no shows by about 10 percent. Things do come up. The saying “life happens” definitely applies here.

People have been reacting to the bill Jessica Baker received since she posted it on Facebook earlier this week. People are posting about the bill on Twitter, and the reaction is mixed.

On the Internet, others have spoken up on the Facebook post about the story on the KARE Facebook page.

One person shared their thoughts on the bill by saying, “As a planner of many events, having no-shows is part of the process. This situation should have been considered long before the wedding ever took place; unfortunately, the (poor) sentiment expressed by the wedding couple after the fact may cost them even more than the dinner did–and may be a troubling indicator of their ability to handle situations in the future.”

Other planners have spoken up about the bill, as well.

Jessica Baker was clearly surprised by the bill. Do you think she handled the situation properly? What would you do if you received a bill from someone after you did not attend an event you RSVP’d to? Would you pay up?

[Photo: Tracey Hunter/Wikimedia Commons]

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