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Beginner November 2021 Staffordshire

Hen do upset

Secretsquirrel, 2 March, 2021 at 22:27 Posted on Planning 0 2
All my adult life theres been a part of me that has dreaded my hen do and wedding day due to having one of those awkward families where there is a lot of politics that could get in the way and make things difficult. In the last few years since having my 1st born she has managed to bring a lot of the family together which is wonderful but there has still been the seed of doubt in my mind about what my big day would look like. My friends have started to arrange my hen do and we have decided to go away to york to go to the races and have an overnight stay. Before setting up a group chat i checked with my most important friends and family to make sure they were up for it and could make the date and they all gave the thumbs up. Less than a week later and my friends have told me that my cousin has said she probably wont make it because she has 5 children and will struggle with childcare. Off the back of this her mum has said she will no longer make it either. If it was anyone else i wouldnt be so upset but having no siblings my cousin has been like a sister to me and over the years i have bent over backwards to attend things for her. I single handily arranged her hen do and spent a fortune on it and also travelled 5 hours away for her wedding in Scotland for 2 nights. Shes had 5 baby showers and I've been to all of them, but when i had my baby shower she said she could only come for an hour and couldn't eat with us because she had 'accidently' double booked me. I found out the other thing she had arranged was a meal with an auntie she had only recently started speaking to again after 10 years of no contact due to a family fued. A meal with family members who had been awful to her in the past and i was there to console her. So that really stung as well at the time. I really feel like ive been mugged off and this is the final straw and our friendship has probably run its course now. I recently told her that id decided to not have children at my wedding so a part of me wonders if shes annoyed about my decision and that's why she's not making an effort. Am i being unreasonable? I appreciate its difficult with 5 children but its a one off and its not like im just a friend. Ive also given her 6 months notice before the hen do so that she can make plans. What makes it worse is that she hasnt even got in touch with me to tell me she probably wont make it and ive had to hear it from someone else. Id probably understand more if she text to explain it was difficult and that maybe we can do something special just the two of us closer to home?


2 replies

Latest activity by Ben, 7 May, 2021 at 16:06
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    Dedicated October 2022 East London
    Ebony ·
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    Families are weird and we expect a lot more consideration from them than friends so when they let us down it hurts even more. When we bend over backwards for them and they don't even have the decency to treat you the same it cuts pretty deep. It sounds like she's being inconsiderate since she hasn't even bothered telling you directly that she can't attend certain aspects of the wedding. I'd take this as a lesson learnt about who you interact with her, I've been in similar situations with family members and just withdrew from them after telling them why, I just wasn't prepared to spend energy on them that wasn't reciprocated.
    Plan your wedding and hen party the way you want, why change it for someone who doesn't even have the decency to tell you she can't make parts of it.
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    HappyBrownCars12359 ·
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    It sounds like she's consistently difficult and perhaps what's happening with your hen do isn't exclusive behaviour. I am sorry it's upset you though.

    I agree with the above- I had found friends are WAY more easy going about hen dos, travelling for weddings and spending on hotels, time off work etc when family can be much more high maintenance and think there is often more expectation for things to be tailored just for them when you might interact with them the least! We had this with a friends hen do - she was so excited for her aunts and cousins to come, so we planned a day to work round them that was only a 20 minute train journey and £25 a head for the day part of the hen do and they kicked up an ENORMOUS stink about how inconvenient it was - bearing in mind others had travelled 3+ hours for it and were spending more for the whole thing!

    You've done all you can- you've given as much notice as possible, you checked in with key family and friends first and have planned something that will be fun for anybody, so I think all you can do at this stage is accept it, and if it comes up in conversation with her simply say "it is such a pity you can't make it but of course I understand". It might change your friendship going forward but sounds like she perhaps enjoys the drama / attention so I wouldn't give into it!

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