Weddings can bring families together, but they also bring plenty of unexpected challenges, especially when it comes to boundaries and money.

So, what would you do if relatives showed up to a carefully planned pre-wedding dinner with uninvited guests, leaving you to cover a much higher bill? Would you politely pay for everyone? Or would you ask them to pay for themselves?

In today’s story, one groom-to-be faces this very decision and opts for the latter. Here’s how it all played out.

AITAH for asking my fiancée relatives to pay for themselves after they brought uninvited guests to our pre-wedding dinner?

I (30M) am engaged to my fiancée (29F), and we’re getting married this fall. Last weekend, we hosted a small pre-wedding dinner. Just a chill evening for our immediate families to meet, talk, and celebrate a bit before the real wedding chaos begins.

We reserved a table at a mid-range restaurant we both like (good food, not crazy expensive). We confirmed 14 guests: our parents, siblings, plus two friends from the wedding party. Everything was set. I even called ahead to double-check the headcount.

We show up and her family brings four extra people: her cousin and his wife (who were “visiting anyway”), her sister’s boyfriend, and (weirdly?) his teenage daughter. They said it was last-minute and “hope that’s okay.”

When the bill arrived, it was more than he had planned for.

The staff were gracious, though somewhat surprised. They had to push another table over and reshuffle the whole seating plan. We ended up waiting around 15 minutes, apologizing to the servers.

Not a disaster, but definitely awkward.

Dinner itself was fine. Everyone had a good time. We had mains, some shared appetizers, and a few bottles of wine, nothing too wild. But when the check came, it was a bit over $850. We’d expected around $650 based on the confirmed guests and menu.

So, I quietly asked the server to split the extras’ meals from the rest. I paid for the 14 we planned for. The extra ~$200 from the uninvited guests? I felt that wasn’t really on us, lol.

Most of them were fine with it, but there’s always that one person.

Everyone paid without fuss, but her cousin seemed confused. Her sister didn’t say anything at the time, but later, my fiancée told me she felt embarrassed and that I made her family feel unwelcome.

She said I “could have just let it go for one night” and brought it up later. I said I didn’t want to pretend everything was fine while people ignored basic plans we made together. She said it felt like I turned a family dinner into a “power move” over money.

Now things are somewhat weird between us.

AITA?

Eek! That’s a very awkward situation for everyone!

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit think it should’ve been handled.

This person thinks that his fiancée already knew about the extra guests.

Here’s someone else who thinks she probably knew.

Here’s someone who thinks he handled it well.

Even if it’s just a pre-wedding dinner, according to this person, it’s still their wedding and their guest list.

It only takes a few minutes to call someone and let them know you’ll be bringing extra guests.

Her family sounds a bit rude.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.