Weddings can be a fraught time, especially for brides. They have a lot on their plates, including their soon-to-be in-laws. One woman took to Reddit to ask for advice after her future mother-in-law made a truly odd guest list request.
The woman, who used the name Kelly, and her fiancé, Josh, wanted a small wedding. But they did ask their families if there was anyone they needed to invite. Kelly definitely wasn't prepared for the response she got.
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Kelly explained that her fiancé was a bit spoiled as a kid, but it wasn't really his fault.
"A bit of background, Josh has a much older brother," Kelly explained. "While my future MIL was pregnant three times in between them, all of them resulted in late miscarriages and stillbirths. As a result, MIL put all of her motherly love and attention on Josh."
She added that Josh "never tried a fruit or vegetable before I met him because his parents never made him when he was young, and he had grown up assuming they were gross."
She explained that while they were putting together their wedding guest list, they "consulted our families about which, and how many, relatives we should invite." That's where things get bizarre.
"Future MIL asked that we ‘invite’ Josh’s dead brother and sisters. When we asked what she meant, she wanted us to put up a framed photo of the dead babies in the pews at the wedding ceremony, and then save them seats at our reception."
After sharing that she was "horrified" by the request, she added that Josh agreed that the request isn't one he wanted to keep. He did suggest however that they "put up all three photos in one seat."
Kelly then shared that "Josh’s parents are paying for 75 percent of our wedding, and this is the only request she’s had," which certainly changes how she approaches things.
People were quick to come to Kelly's defense, saying that the wedding should simply focus on her and Josh.
"I can’t even imagine going to someone’s wedding and there being photographs of dead babies in the pews. I can’t imagine how traumatic that could be for some people who have experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth," one person commented.
"Tell MIL the photos may be triggering to people who recently had miscarriages, and you don’t want your wedding to be a source of grief for the guests," another person commented.
A few other people offered great suggestions, sharing how they had incorporated dead relatives into their weddings.
"My husband’s grandmother died shortly before our wedding, so we added an ‘in memory of’ line to our wedding program to acknowledge her," one person offered.
Hopefully they are able to come to some sort of compromise that doesn't make anyone uncomfortable.
