Dear Prudence, Before my boyfriend of three years and I moved in together, I was invited to the wedding of a good friend. The wedding invitation specifically said that since it was an intimate affair (fewer than 50 people), plus-ones could not be included. While I was a little miffed that I couldn’t bring my boyfriend, I let it slide. Now, I’ve just received a save-the-date for another friend’s wedding. I feel that couples should be invited as a unit, especially if they are cohabiting. If the invitation comes, and it does not mention a plus-one, should I make clear why I will not be attending? Or should I ask about bringing a guest?
—Part of a Team
It’s fine to send your regrets if they don’t include your boyfriend or offer you the chance to bring a guest on the invitation, especially if you’re not very close with the couple in question. You’ve been together for years and share a home together—you’re not asking for the chance to bring just anyone; you’re asking to be treated as the committed couple you are. Hopefully this invitation will be addressed to both of you, but if it isn’t, feel free to send them your best wishes, along with your regrets.
Is it wrong to ask if you can bring a guest to a wedding? I’m trying to imagine how that could be considered rude, and I’m coming up with nothing. “Stabitha, I got your invitation and I’m so excited for you. I wanted to check in and make sure that it was all right if I bring Trimothy with me” is a perfectly civil thing to say. There’s nothing controversial about plus-ones or asking to bring a guest, but it sounds like you’re still angry about your boyfriend being left out of previous weddings and are expecting to be slighted again. You’re wasting your time getting anticipatorily miffed.
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The Principle of Least Interest: He who cares least about a relationship, controls it.
First off, I would say that I would probably tend to let everyone bring a plus one. However, wedding budgets being what they sometimes are, that isn't always realistic.
So, how does one pare the guest list. Even if the LW ultimately decides not to attend due to this perceived slight, do you really think she'd have been happy by not making the cut at all? No way. She'd still have written in, it would just have been about how miffed she was at not being invited to a good friend's wedding.
Like it or not, if the guest list must be pared, cutting the plus ones is a place to start. The social convention is that you should be married or at least engaged to make the cut.
Plus, if you have a long time live in SO that isn't also friends with the bride or groom--that says something, too.
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
Maybe it isn't just not inviting the plus one that's the problem.
Maybe two weddings in three years and she is still playing house.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
She seems to be under the delusion that cohabiting means something. It doesn't--well, at least not to anyone else.
-- Edited by huskerbb on Friday 27th of November 2015 01:06:43 PM
um. ok.
I guess I'm still playing house. lol.
Rather, yes. I'm not saying your situation doesn't have importance to YOU--but to everyone else, not so much.
you can choose to live your life however you want to, but when you choose not to signify your status by the socially accepted conventions, you put others in the position of having to "judge" various relationships in situations like this, and if you don't like what they come up with, that's on you and not them.
-- Edited by huskerbb on Friday 27th of November 2015 01:33:31 PM
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
Most normal people don't. I'm not playing at anything. I'm living a real life that I've made for myself. I really don't care how you and husker see it. I'm happy.
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
Most normal people don't. I'm not playing at anything. I'm living a real life that I've made for myself. I really don't care how you and husker see it. I'm happy.
That's fine if you are happy, I'm not even commenting on the quality of the relationship because no outsider can determine that, anyway, which is the issue.
What im saying is if you get invited to a wedding and boyfriend doesn't, as in this letter, you have no grounds to complain unless everyone else brings a plus one and you were the only one excluded.
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
They are going to either invite the friend only or friend plus one. It depends on the size/type of wedding. It has nothing to do with whether people live together or don't.
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
Most normal people don't. I'm not playing at anything. I'm living a real life that I've made for myself. I really don't care how you and husker see it. I'm happy.
That's fine if you are happy, I'm not even commenting on the quality of the relationship because no outsider can determine that, anyway, which is the issue.
What im saying is if you get invited to a wedding and boyfriend doesn't, as in this letter, you have no grounds to complain unless everyone else brings a plus one and you were the only one excluded.
They are going to either invite the friend only or friend plus one. It depends on the size/type of wedding. It has nothing to do with whether people live together or don't.
I agree--but the LW seems to think that her relationship is "special" because they are cohabiting, and my point is that it's not.
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
I don't care if people live together. If they are living together I invite them to a party as a unit. Here's my ONLY issue with living together. I belong to a message board for step mom's. There are TONS of women on that board that are cohabiting with someone and then get angry because they are not given the same rights as a spouse. In MY state g/f's don't have the right to be involved in the child's school, medical decisions, or most other things. As a wife I am able to access SS's school info. I am able to make emergency medical decisions for him providing his parents aren't available. And there are other things that being a wife makes me able to do. For whatever reasons these couple don't get married and then the women get really angry that they don't have rights.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
Most normal people don't. I'm not playing at anything. I'm living a real life that I've made for myself. I really don't care how you and husker see it. I'm happy.
Good for you! I consider a "de facto spouse" a spouse. Most folks up here do.
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
Most normal people don't. I'm not playing at anything. I'm living a real life that I've made for myself. I really don't care how you and husker see it. I'm happy.
Good for you! I consider a "de facto spouse" a spouse. Most folks up here do.
You're an adult, which means...wait for it...you get to make your OWN decisions...
Plus one is a fiance or your married-to-spouse. Does not include live ins or BFs/GFs unless the bride and groom specifically includes them.
Yep. Thats the way it is here. Married couples are ALWAYS invited as a unit. Not so much boyfriends/girlfriends...
Here as well.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I don't view living together, outside of marriage, as anything more.
If you are committed enough to live together, get married.
If you dont get married, don't get all offended when others see it as playing at being married.
Most normal people don't. I'm not playing at anything. I'm living a real life that I've made for myself. I really don't care how you and husker see it. I'm happy.
Good for you! I consider a "de facto spouse" a spouse. Most folks up here do.
You're an adult, which means...wait for it...you get to make your OWN decisions...
flan
Yes you do. And others get to make a decision as to whether they want to invite your live in or not. Its just not always done here.
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America guarantees equal opportunity, not equal outcome...
Plus one is a fiance or your married-to-spouse. Does not include live ins or BFs/GFs unless the bride and groom specifically includes them.
Yep. Thats the way it is here. Married couples are ALWAYS invited as a unit. Not so much boyfriends/girlfriends...
Where I live, the envelope for a married couple would be addressed Mr. and Mrs. John Smith... not Mr. John Smith and Guest.
-- Edited by msrock on Friday 27th of November 2015 03:51:58 PM
Exactly.
Because they are a cohesive unit.
They are "one".
But a single person living with another or even a long term relationship is not the same as a married couple.
So. There is no real reason to include that other single person in anything.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
Where I live if you are married it would Mr. and Mrs. So and So. If you are not legally married it would be Mr. John Smith and Guest. Or Miss Susie Smith and Guest.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Thats exactly what i was trying to say. Married couples are always invited as a unit. You would never invite one spouse and not the other. Not true with live ins...
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America guarantees equal opportunity, not equal outcome...
However, I will say if someone is living with someone they usually also get invited. It's just that they don't address the invite as married if they aren't.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Unless you are married, they may be dating or living together.
But they are not "one".
They are two people playing house.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
Thats exactly what i was trying to say. Married couples are always invited as a unit. You would never invite one spouse and not the other. Not true with live ins...
I get that. You agreed with IKWTDS who said the plus one is a fiancé or spouse. I had never heard of a spouse being a plus one before. That's what confused me.
Thats exactly what i was trying to say. Married couples are always invited as a unit. You would never invite one spouse and not the other. Not true with live ins...
I get that. You agreed with IKWTDS who said the plus one is a fiancé or spouse. I had never heard of a spouse being a plus one before. That's what confused me.
I meant that it would be rude of a couple to invite someone and not include the spouse, conversely, rude of a single person to assume their "plus one" should be included.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
How does taking your husband's name take away your identity?
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
How does taking your husband's name take away your identity?
Simple. If my name is Mary Johnson, and I become Mrs. John Smith, Mary Johnson disappears.
Why doesn't the guy who marries Mary Johnson become Mr. Mary Johnson?
That's ridiculous.
She doesn't disappear.
More insecurity.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
And, until you actually get married, you are not. So you don't get the benefits of being married.
Which includes invitations that don't have to be clarified or manipulated to include those playing at being married.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
And, until you actually get married, you are not. So you don't get the benefits of being married.
Which includes invitations that don't have to be clarified or manipulated to include those playing at being married.
I get invitations to everything. I'm that fun! lol! I don't know where you live but man you sound repressed. Nobody lives like that here.
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
And, until you actually get married, you are not. So you don't get the benefits of being married.
Which includes invitations that don't have to be clarified or manipulated to include those playing at being married.
I get invitations to everything. I'm that fun! lol! I don't know where you live but man you sound repressed. Nobody lives like that here.
It's not where she lives, it's what she chooses to believe.
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
And, until you actually get married, you are not. So you don't get the benefits of being married.
Which includes invitations that don't have to be clarified or manipulated to include those playing at being married.
I get invitations to everything. I'm that fun! lol! I don't know where you live but man you sound repressed. Nobody lives like that here.
It's cute how you skirt around the point.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
And, until you actually get married, you are not. So you don't get the benefits of being married.
Which includes invitations that don't have to be clarified or manipulated to include those playing at being married.
I get invitations to everything. I'm that fun! lol! I don't know where you live but man you sound repressed. Nobody lives like that here.
It's not where she lives, it's what she chooses to believe.
flan
Well the people I know.... and I know a lot of wonderful people by the way, fantastic, caring, beautiful people.. tremendous people (that one's for Trump ). They don't share those views. Me and my SO are respected and loved. Both sides of the family, all of our friends, coworkers embrace us. Never been excluded from anything because we're not married, playing house. It's sad... this kind of weird judgement that I never knew existed. lol! That's their loss, not mine. If I ever come across one of these people in real life.... ugh... here's my response. Bye!
This is one of my favorite quotes ever regarding togetherness... and marriage. It kind of defies the idea of "one". I will always be my own person and I can share who I am with my special person and we will thrive. Trust me. I don't need a marriage to do that, and when I do marry nothing will change but my last name.
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
And, until you actually get married, you are not. So you don't get the benefits of being married.
Which includes invitations that don't have to be clarified or manipulated to include those playing at being married.
I get invitations to everything. I'm that fun! lol! I don't know where you live but man you sound repressed. Nobody lives like that here.
It's cute how you skirt around the point.
Your point is not my point. I have my own and I've addressed that.
However, I will say if someone is living with someone they usually also get invited. It's just that they don't address the invite as married if they aren't.
Why? Just because of where they decide to live?
Why invite someone who is living with another person and not someone who is dating and not?
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.