Imagine planning your wedding and sending out the invitations only to have your mother criticize you for not inviting your estranged brother.

Would you cave and invite him, or would you stand your ground?

This woman is preparing for her destination wedding to her fiancé in the United States.

She didn’t want to invite her estranged brother, but her mother kept pushing her to change her mind.

Now, she’s faced with pressure and doesn’t know what to do.

Read the full story below for all the details.

AITA for not inviting my estranged brother to my wedding?

My brother (26M) and I (31F) have been estranged for years.

He has always been arrogant, self-absorbed, and unapologetic about past behavior.

Growing up, our mother (62F) constantly played favorites.

He was the golden child, and he thrived in that role.

This woman made peace with not having a good relationship with her brother.

The last time we spoke, we had a major argument.

He has never shown any remorse, and I’ve made peace with not having a relationship with him.

I (31F) am a foreign MD working in the US and getting married to my American fiancé (33M) in early 2026.

My family lives in my home country, and so we are finalizing our guest list as it will be a destination wedding.

Her mother insisted that her brother be invited to her wedding.

My mother found out that my brother did not know I was already getting married, so she insisted on letting him come along.

She told me to invite him to the wedding. I’m not sure if this was his or purely her idea.

She even asked me to provide an invitation letter to help his chances of getting a tourist visa.

I respectfully told her no.

She doubts that her brother would even be given a visa, considering he’s just a student.

Aside from our personal history, the reality is he’s still a student with very few “ties to home.”

I doubt he would even qualify for a visa on his own.

My parents, who already have valid visas and have visited me before, offered to be his guarantor. They argued that my “invitation letter” would help him out.

Personally, I don’t want him to have access to me, and I refuse to let him benefit from me.

My mom argued that he could stay at a separate hotel and that she just wanted the whole family together.

Her mother kept pressing for her brother’s presence at the wedding.

I explained that I don’t feel comfortable with him being at my wedding.

I also said that I don’t want to deal with that stress on what should be a special day.

I told her that by insisting on his presence, she was only reinforcing my feelings that she prioritizes his feelings over mine.

She kept pressing, saying that relatives would talk badly if my brother wasn’t invited.

So she finally told her mom that if she continued to push it, she would get uninvited, too.

I finally told her that if she insisted, then she could also consider herself uninvited.

That led to a blow-up where she accused me of being ungrateful.

We, Asians, are big on indebtedness to family. Lol.

She even reminded me that she and my father helped pay for my exams, which are expensive as an international medical graduate.

She said the least I could do was grant her “this one wish.”

Now, she’s wondering if she’s in the wrong for not inviting her brother

I, then, exasperatedly told her that I would think about it.

AITA for refusing to invite my brother?

Is there a reasonable compromise here, or should I stand my ground?

Is she right to exclude her brother, or should she invite him?

Let’s find out what others have to say about this on Reddit.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

This person makes some valid points.

Here’s an honest opinion from this person.

Keep your own mental peace, says this user.

Finally, short and simple.

A wedding should be about joy and celebration, not reopening old wounds.

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.