Hosting a good party involves a lot of big and small decisions, down to the details such as how much people are going to consume and where to place things. If you’re planning a party with someone, the chances of a disagreement happening are pretty high.

That’s what happened to one couple preparing for a large Memorial Day potluck. With dozens of guests expected to attend, they stocked up on mixers for cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, including plenty of Diet Coke.

The problem is that some of their supply isn’t actually Diet Coke… Thanks to a grocery substitution, they ended up with a case of Aldi’s store-brand version. Should they serve that?

One of them thinks that would be borderline offensive, while the other one thinks it’s no big deal. It literally became an argument despite the fact that they rarely argue as a couple.

Read the full story and the comments below.

WIBTA for serving off-brand Diet Coke at a party?

My girlfriend [32F] and I [33M] are hosting a Memorial Day potluck tomorrow. We’re expecting probably 40-60 people.

It’s BYOB but we’re providing mixers. Between non-drinkers and people making mixed drinks, we expect to go through a lot of soda.

A while back, we wound up with a 12-pack of Aldi-brand Diet Coke from an Instacart order when they were out of normal Diet Coke.

We also have a couple of 2-liter bottles and some normal cans of on-brand Diet Coke.

For context, my girlfriend is a Diet Coke fiend and drinks at least two cans daily (it’s her main source of caffeine).

As a result, our house is well-stocked with Diet Coke. I’m not a big soda drinker so I almost never have any, especially not at home.

But they’re on the fence about what to serve to the guests.

She is adamant that we should not serve the off-brand stuff to guests, as it’s tacky and inconsiderate, some people are REALLY passionate about Diet Coke, and when hosting an event, we want our guests to have the best.

I agree with not wanting to serve something subpar to our guests, but given that she hasn’t even tried the Aldi brand, I don’t think it makes sense to assume that it’s inferior (or even different enough to tell). I haven’t tried it either.

Given that I barely drink soda, she thinks we should just throw it out, but I think that would be wasteful.

They really want to make sure they serve the best.

After some back-and-forth, she seems open to the idea of putting out the brand-name Diet Coke first and then putting out the off-brand if we run out.

I think it makes more sense to put both out from the start so that people who care about brand name can have it and those who don’t care can have the off-brand.

They disagree, though.

She still thinks that would be cheap and would look bad.

I think she’s being a bit of a snob and that she should give our friends some credit, most of them are down-to-earth and not especially judgmental.

We’ve been together for over eight years. I can count on one hand the number of arguments we’ve had in that time.

This is far and away the stupidest.

WIBTA?

I think he’s right.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a woman who was in love with her dream house – and then spring came and her neighbor’s trees caused her to question the purchase.

What did Reddit think?

Same.

A reader shares their thoughts.

Someone suggests how to approach it.

Yup!

Another reader chimes in.

Something to consider.

This is, of course, more about hospitality and expectations. It’s valid to want to make sure people feel well-treated and respected. And some people indeed are more demanding and judgemental, but it’s to each their own when it comes to caring about that or not.

The girlfriend believes that when you’re hosting guests, especially a large group, you should display your best. She worries that offering a generic alternative alongside the real thing could look bad. From her perspective, she’s just making sure guests will feel well served and cared for.

The boyfriend comes from a different angle and different principles. He sees a perfectly good product that has already been purchased and doesn’t agree that it should go to waste. He also believes most guests simply won’t care.

As I said, I think he’s right.

If your friends cared this much about a brand of soda, then they don’t sound so charming to me.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose friends say he’s privileged for wanting to eat at nicer restaurants.