Bride Sends Dad Wedding Invite With Plus One — He Invites His Multiple Girlfriends

Jun 12, 2021

Planning a wedding can be stressful, especially when deciding who to invite. Not only do you have to consider how many people you can afford to feed, but complicated family dynamics can also get involved. This is why most people stick to allowing a plus one on their wedding invitations. This is what one bride tried to do until her father responded saying he plans to bring all three of his girlfriends.

This story comes from Reddit, where the bride explains the situation in her own words. She shares that her father, grandfather and uncles are all polyamorous and have been married to or in relationships with multiple women at a time. This is something that is not openly accepted by the bride and groom’s other family members.  

The bride explained that after her grandfather passed away her grandmother confessed that she had been trapped in a polyamorous relationship against her wishes. The bride’s mother also stated that she divorced the bride’s father because of her unwillingness to be in a polyamorous marriage. 

The father of the bride insists that he should be allowed to bring extra guests because his ex-wife is bringing her current husband as well as the bride’s half-siblings. The bride tried to explain to him that she does not want her father’s girlfriends to be at her wedding because she has never met them and doesn’t want to have any type of relationship with them. She posted the story to Reddit in June 2021 to get other people’s opinions on if she was right to deny her father’s girlfriends invitations. 

In her Reddit post, the bride explained that she only recently began having a relationship with her father after he and her mother were divorced. “I ended up going no contact with my dad for several years until he reached out to me in 2019 because he was diagnosed with lung cancer. We have since redeveloped a relationship but I'm clear I have no interest in meeting his 3 ‘girlfriends,’” the bride wrote.

The bride was shocked when her father announced he would be bringing all three of his girlfriends to the wedding. She continued in her post, “I calmly reminded him that he was only allowed a single plus 1 and I wasn't going to pay for 4 extra women I'd never met to drink and eat at my wedding. He said he thought the plus 1 was a joke because he knew my mum was bringing her husband as well as her 6 year old and newborn so he assumed he got 3 guests too.”

Reddit users respond to the story sharing their own opinions on whether the bride was in the right. One person commented, "Has nothing to do with lifestyle. It’s your wedding and you can invite or not invite anyone you want." This is ultimately what the bride decided to do in the end. 

Another commenter stated that they are polyamorous and they still agreed with the bride, writing, "It's one thing if you were on good terms with your father's partners to not invite them or force him to choose but it sounds like you have no relationship with these people and expecting invitations for every single person your family happens to date that is polyamorous is absolutely ridiculous!"

What is your opinion on the bride’s decision? What would you have done in this situation? Let us know what you think and be sure to send this story on to your friends and family.