Feeling included is an important part of friendship.

Would you feel excluded if you were invited to your friend’s wedding but not invited to the wedding reception?

This woman received an invitation to a friend’s wedding.

She was willing to go even though it would require her to travel.

However, when she found out she wasn’t invited to the reception, that completely changed how she felt about going to the wedding.

Do you think her feelings are valid? Read the full story below.

WIBTA for not going to a friend’s wedding because I didn’t get invited to the reception?

I (27F) got invited to a friend’s (27F) wedding.

I wasn’t expecting an invite.

We only know each other because I went to high school with her childhood friends. We all started hanging out together in high school and throughout university.

We usually see each other once a year, sometimes twice, and we have a pretty active group chat.

This woman was willing to attend the wedding even if it required time, money, and travel.

The wedding would require quite a bit of travel. Either a $700 flight or a 16-hour car ride.

I don’t have much vacation time left, but I was willing to use it and make the wedding part of a longer vacation.

She received an invitation for the ceremony and refreshments only.

The invite that I received only listed information for the ceremony and refreshments afterward.

I assumed that there would be no reception, which would be a little strange but also cheaper.

It was understandable, life is expensive.

She chatted with one of the girls in their group chat.

The other night, I was messaging one of the other girls in the friend group (also 27F) to ask if she was going. I didn’t want to be the only one in our friend group there.

Except for the bride, we all live within an hour of each other, and we would all have to travel to the wedding.

We chatted about how expensive it would be, some different options for travel, and that was it.

This girl told the bride to inform her why she wasn’t invited to the reception.

Today, I got a message from the bride.

She informed me that our mutual friend had mentioned something to her.

She said It might be a good idea to clarify with me that they are keeping the reception very small. Because of this, she only invited the 3 other people in our friend group to the reception, and not me.

She understood the situation, but she still felt upset about being left out.

I do understand that weddings are expensive, and I’m not one of her closest friends, but I’m upset that she singled me out by only inviting me to half the event.

She didn’t feel the need to tell me until someone else mentioned it to her.

She did say that if enough people RSVP’d “no,” she could maybe fit me into the reception, which is nice, but also feels like a pity invite.

She preferred not to have been invited at all.

I am glad to find out now, instead of after spending a lot of money to go to a wedding and then be ditched by my friends for a reception I’m not welcome at.

I honestly would have preferred she not invite me at all instead of labeling me as a “tier 2” friend.

So now, she’s thinking about not attending or sending a gift to the couple.

Before I found out about this, I thought that if I had decided not to go, I would still buy the couple a gift to be nice.

But now, I really don’t want to go, and I definitely don’t want to send a gift.

AITA?

Is she overreacting, or was her friend rude to exclude her from the reception?

Let’s check out the comments of other people on Reddit to this story.

This user says it’s not worth it.

Short and straightforward.

This person advises her to just send a text message.

This person shares their personal thoughts.

Finally, short and simple.

It’s one thing to have a small reception, but it’s another to make someone feel small.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.