This wedding guest gave the couple $300 but then asked for $270 back after the wedding

This wedding guest gave the couple $300 but then asked for $270 back after the wedding

Getting married leads to a myriad of feelings from the couple arranging their big day. They feel happy that they are about to celebrate the fact that they are going to spend the rest of their lives together, excited that they will be surrounded by their nearest and dearest, stressed that they need to plan this big event, worried that people will not have fun or that something will not go according to plan, and others are concerned that some of their guests will feel as though giving a wedding gift is too much out of their budget. All of the above can happen, some of it surely will, but in this case, we are focusing on the topic of wedding gifts and the story this bride detailed is all about a situation where she was gifted a sum of money for her wedding from a guest, only to have that very guest request part of the funds back a few months post-wedding. We have to admit that that is a little unorthodox, to say the least.

Wedding day

About five years ago, Janelle married the love of her life at a wedding that they planned and enjoyed more than they ever expected. As most couples do, after the wedding day itself they decided to get into the gifts that they received as a newlywed couple.


In the case of Janelle and her husband, all they wanted was to share their special day with their loved ones – the gifts were a bonus and not at all the reason for their wedding events. It is heartbreaking to think that there is an ulterior motive by some couples to get more gifts out of their guests.

Trending gifts


Other traditions in terms of gifting were common back in the day as times were different. It used to be the case that couples did not live together until they were married. Wedding gifts used to be items for the home as it was thought that each person was coming into a shared home without anything – that is not true today.


These days, not only do couples live together before marriage, but the gifting concept has changed. Couples now want funds for a honeymoon or a lump sum from their wedding to help them start their lives together on the right financial foot.


Uncle’s present


When Janelle and her husband got to her uncle’s gift of $300, she was very surprised at the amount of money in the card he gifted them. She knew her uncle made good money in his line of work but she did not expect that much from him.

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After the initial surprise wore off, she was very grateful to her uncle as that was the point of the gifts. They decided that they would thank him by sending him a little gift, rather than just sending a thank you card.

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Awkward Moment


However, Janelle would soon learn that her uncle did not mean to gift her and her new husband that much money and that he was going to ask for it back too.

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Awkward Moment

It was three months later that Janelle would get a nervous call from her uncle. He told her that he had made a mistake on the check and that he meant to gift her $30 and not $300.
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Taking it back


Janelle was offended, to say the least as there is no way that could be true considering her uncle both wrote out the number and the wording for three hundred dollars (the whole point of a check).

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Rather than giving him $270 back and keeping $30, she returned the entire $300, horrified that this even took place. She wanted none of it.

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Anger


Janelle was very confused as to why her uncle waited three whole months to ask for the money back, three weeks would have made sense but not three months.

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She thought she may have done something to anger or offend her uncle but even so, these are the types of uncomfortable situations that can create rifts in families that end up ruining relationships. This was a good enough reason for Janelle to not speak to her uncle again.
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Family drama


Janelle and her new husband were not the only ones to be shocked and saddened by her uncle’s request. Janelle’s mother-in-law was even more surprised and upset as this was her brother who was doing all of this.

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Why would someone gift a couple such a nice gift, only to take it back months later? Who does such a thing? It made no sense to anyone and from the beginning, Janelle and her husband would have been more than happy with a much smaller gift anyway.
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Time to return


Something had to have been going on, this was not something this family was known for doing. Janelle and her family were so upset with the uncle that they did not want to keep any of his money and sent all $300 of it back to him.

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Time to return

This situation had created a tense and awkward situation between the whole family. The uncle’s presence at the wedding was enough but now, for whatever reason, he had caused this drama and it was the last thing that the newlyweds wanted to deal with.
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Furious couple


The worst part of it all was that this uncle and his wife were very wealthy and did not need the money by any means. Perhaps they were having money troubles and didn’t want anyone to know. Either way, nothing about the situation made sense.

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They did not understand how someone could do such a rude thing – give someone a gift and then take it back after such a period of time.
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Other cuts


Janelle’s issue with the uncle is without a doubt one the rudest situations but there are others too. One bridesmaid said that at a wedding she was in, the bride was doing things on the cheaper end and even went as far as deciding to cut food for the guests and just having the ceremony and drinks.

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The reception at the wedding would be drinks only, which as we all know is not at all how it’s done.
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Negative effect


As soon as the bridesmaid learned that her friend was not planning on serving food yet still serving drinks, she knew it was going to be an issue. People drinking and not eating does not yield a positive for anyone.

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The bridesmaid toyed around with the idea of ordering pizzas for people if this were to happen, but she really wanted to tell her friend that there has to be food but was scared to.
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Engagement party woes


Another bride threw herself an engagement party only to be incredibly upset by those who attended and threatened to uninvite them to her wedding. She had asked that in lieu of gifts they bring cash.

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When her friends arrived at the engagement shower they did not bring what the bride asked and she went completely off the wall.
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To Receive


The bride turned to Reddit to vent and have others online give her their ear and comforting thoughts. It seems that the bride has personal issues that she pushed onto her guests, and so when they didn’t comply with her requests, this heavily aggravated her.

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To Receive

But when it comes to receiving a gift, a person is usually grateful for whatever they receive and won’t ask for something specific, after all, for some people, offering money can be embarrassing for them.
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Cash


The bride went as far as telling her invitees that she and her future husband were in debt and wanted monetary gifts so as to get out of their financial troubles. Her engagement party friends brought gifts instead of presents despite her ask.

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The 30 guests were treated to a furious look from the bride who was sure these gifts were going to help her. Her guests did not want to help her out in this way, though.
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Early end


The bride went so far as to open her gifts while everyone was there and said that by the time she opened the 9th gfit and saw that it was not money, she decided to give up and go to sleep.

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The party ended early. What is worse is that the bride woke up the next day and reached out to all 30 of her guests to try and see why they did not listen to her.
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Perspective


The bride texted her guests and was ignored by most. Some other guests responded to the bride with how rude she was being at demanding one form of gift over another.

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The bride wrote on Reddit that those who were rude to her she wanted to uninvite from her wedding altogether, and those who brought her gifts to know that she planned on selling them and getting the cash that she had originally intended.
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Zero sympathy


The users on Reddit did not find the bride’s story saddening but rather were telling the bride that they thought that she felt entitled and needed to be more realistic.

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She should not have to ask for people to bail her out of financial troubles and should be adult enough to handle her own issues without involving friends and family.
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Paying debt


One person wrote that if she is adult enough to marry then she is adult enough to handle her own money. Everyone knows how expensive weddings are, it is a day to share with friends and family but one that will almost certainly leave you with some debt after.

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Paying debt

This is a decision that couples make and mostly decide the debt is worth it for their special day. For the bride, however, she didn’t see it as a debt she should cover by herself.
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A mother’s worry


Another user wrote on the website Mumsnet that she did not know what to do about a wedding of a family member that was to be a destination wedding and therefore take up the cost of a family vacation for the year.

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Additionally, the bride and groom were requesting the gifts be of a certain caliber and that caliber was high. She did not know what to do about this situation. Having to travel overseas for a wedding was already very expensive.
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Being there is enough


The worried mom was asking what people thought as the couple marrying were upset at her for finding cheaper places to stay at the destination. The reason they were upset was that if the whole family was placed in the same resort then they would get special perks for bringing so many people at once.

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The selfish reasoning here was a little hard for the mom to handle. It should be enough that she wants to attend the event.
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The world agreed


By world, we mean those website users. The other readers of the website thought this mom should not give a gift and should even reprimand the family by going with her own to another destination and forget all about the wedding since the couple clearly did not think about anyone other than themselves.

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If the fact that she did not think she should give a gift was unacceptable to the bride and groom then perhaps she really should not go.
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Janelle’s woes


Refocusing on Janelle, there was a variety of answers she got online after posting on Reddit herself. Some told her she should be grateful to get anything as gifts at a wedding are optional despite being labeled a must. However, there were those who did say that what Janelle’s uncle did was unacceptable.

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They did not know what was worse, asking for the money back or the fact that he asked for a specific amount back.
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In bad taste


Janelle ended up giving the entire gift back and decided that it was not worth thinking only of this incident as a marker for her wedding.

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Her wedding day was beautiful and emotional and she wanted to think of that and only that. Her uncle was not going to get that kind of power.
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Money and family don’t mix


It is still mind-boggling that the uncle asked for his money back three whole months after the wedding, why so long after? When her parents asked him about it, he told them that it was none of his business.

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Money and family don’t mix

He claimed that since the money was his in the first place, that he has every right to ask for it back. After that, they decided to stare clear from the situation. It certainly sent a ripple through the family.
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Asking a lot


Some brides tend to lose their sense of reality when planning their wedding. There was one bride who was preparing such an over the top destination wedding that she asked her guests to shell out over $1,500 to attend.

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That kind of money is not something most people just have lying around, especially if it is more than one person. Gifts are best left as bonuses and not mandatory, especially with a specific number amount.
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Possible reasons


There could be endless possible reasons why the uncle asked Janelle for the money back three months after the fact. While it is without a doubt unacceptable that he did so and was it was fair for everyone to get upset, one could only imagine what the reasoning was.

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Perhaps he and his wife ran into financial issues that no one knew about, or something happened between the family, unfortunately for Jaelle, she was on the receiving end.
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What is right


There is a wedding etiquette out there whether you know it or not. Some of the main ones are what you can and cannot wear to a wedding, mostly a woman cannot wear a white dress to a wedding if she is not the bride.

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Another little rule is that you cannot bring a plus one if you did not RSVP or at the very least told the bride or groom that you are bringing a plus one.
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