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Anytime I receive an invitation to someone’s personal birthday, retirement, or graduation extravaganza, and I see that there’s a cover charge or admission fee, I cringe. And no, I don’t mean when the celebrator would like to have dinner at a restaurant and everyone is expected to pay for their own dinner or the birthday girl wants to go bowling, and everyone is expected to pay for their shoe rentals and games. I’m talking about when the person decided to hold a banquet at a catering hall but thinks that it’s a good idea to place the burden of paying for such a lavish event on their guests. You’ve probably received one of those emails or Facebook messages before.
Hey Family,
I’m celebrating my 35th birthday at Such and Such catering hall, and I’d really love for you all to be there. Tickets are $100.00. Contact So and So with your monies at your earliest convenience.
Blessings,
The Birthday Girl
Sigh. I’ve always felt that if I want to have an important and costly celebration, it is up to me—not my guests—to fund such an endeavor. If they choose to show up with a monetary gift that might help me recover some of the money I spent on the event, fine. However, I think that it’s a little inconsiderate to make this a requirement. But that’s just me.
Surprisingly, this trend of charging guests is becoming more popular on the wedding scene. Just check the wedding boards. For a while, I thought that people were mishearing things or flat-out lying when they shared these stories. But recently, I had a friend tell me that one of our acquaintances is actually selling tickets to her wedding. The tickets are $150.00.
Weddings are expensive. As hell. There’s no denying that. But when you need to start making guests pay a cover charge just to witness you and your honey exchange vows, it may be time to rework that budget and/or opt for something small or more affordable. But again, that’s just me.
Would you be offended if someone charged you to attend their wedding? Have you ever or would you ever pay a cover charge to celebrate someone else’s nuptials?
