Couple Bizarrely Rank Wedding Guests Into Categories on Invites, Sparking Heated Debate

A couple in the US has sparked an internet debate after sending out a bizarre letter enclosed with their wedding invitations. The letter ranked their wedding guests into three different categories depending on how close they are to the couple.

Guests in group A are invited to RSVP straight away through a wedding website.

Groups B and C are told to wait for any spare seats left by guests from group A who decline the invitation. They will then be offered a place.

New York woman Marie von Aue posted a photo of the unusual notice that came alongside a wedding invite, kickstarting a heated debate online.

Look, we understand that during the pandemic, things are a little different when it comes to planning a wedding. Dealing with the many capacity restrictions venues have in place has got to be tricky to navigate, especially when things can change quickly. Couples might well rank their guests in order of preference when there are such restrictions in place.

But lord almighty, you don’t tell them!

Once the letter hit Twitter, people had a lot of differing views.

This is a no-brainer. Take my name off your list, don’t expect a wedding gift, don’t send me X-mas cards & lose my email address & cell phone #. Don’t call, don’t write, no need to keep in touch. Don’t want to see wedding pics or any future kid pics. I won’t follow you on Insta.

— MΞGAN KΞLLΞY HALL (@MeganKelleyHall) July 23, 2020

I don’t care what anyone else here says, you don’t invite more than the capacity of the venue, and asking singles and parents to forgo their dates/kids is tacky. If you don’t want +1s or kids, you don’t invite anyone that has them. This isn’t rocket science.

— Craig Pilgram (@cppilgram) July 25, 2020

My fav part is “please keep a close eye on our website for availability.” Like you’re that special that someone is checking your site constantly! & If I was group B or C I’d just send this response, “I opt out of this & all future correspondence. Thanks!”

— Anne Easton (@anne_k_easton) July 23, 2020

This just seems like someone trying to pare a big wedding down to a small one where an unpredictable amount of close friends and family might say no. I don’t envy these people and I think the comments here are crappy.

— Justin Varricchione (@Taco_Jones) July 24, 2020

Seems honest and reasonable actually. Very mature

— ChetRedwood (@ChetRedwood) July 26, 2020

I literally don’t see what the problem is. It comes off as pretentious but, really it’s just good planning.

— Justin (@Cheeze_Machine) July 24, 2020

It’s not good planning, it’s terrible hosting. Every wedding has a preference list, and most are quietly grouped like this, but you don’t send it out to guests. Are they supposed to queue outside your house and take a ticket?? “Congratulations, you are our 79th favourite person”

— Kate (@ThisIsKateL) July 25, 2020

It is a trying time for everyone right now, but surely there was a better way of organising this instead of literally ranking your guests and having them wait and see if they made the cut or not? How would you feel if you had excitedly opened a friend’s wedding invitation only to discover you had been placed in Group C? I can’t imagine it would feel very nice.

What do you think?

This was included in an actual wedding invitation. pic.twitter.com/qidA7SO6CJ

— Mary von Aue (@von_owie) July 23, 2020