Woman Shocked To Learn Her Friend's Gender Reveal Party Had A $20 Entry Fee!

Woman Shocked To Learn Her Friend’s Gender Reveal Party Had A $20 Entry Fee!

Celebrations can be expensive events. Whether it’s for a child’s birthday or a baby shower there’s a lot of preparation and it can get very expensive very fast. There are decorations to buy, food to purchase, alcohol and sometimes goodie bags for your guests to take home. How much you spend is up to you really. I’ve been to some amazing parties on a budget where you would never have guessed they had done it all under $100.

What happens though when you can’t afford to throw a party but you really, really want to? Is it okay to ask your guests to pay a small amount to help you cover some costs?

Some may say ‘yes, it’s perfectly acceptable’ while others would exclaim ‘HELL NO – I’M NOT PAYING TO ATTEND YOUR PARTY!’

Yes, there are some occasions like a hen’s night or buck’s party where you know there will be a cost for all attendees but you don’t expect to pay to attend a baby shower do you?

This woman certainly didn’t? She was tight on cash and furious to find out her friend not only sprung on her a SECOND celebration to welcome her baby but decided to ask all of the guests to pay an entry fee to the party. The woman explained that she’s a full-time student and works full time, so she’s short on both cash and time.

The friend requested time off work to attend the party and even went and bought some nice gifts for the baby. “I went ahead and told her I would request off work and definitely be there,” she wrote.

So far so good. But then the friend, for some weird ass reason, changes the plans and declares the baby shower is now a gender reveal party and that she’ll be charging an entry fee! “About a week before the baby shower I get a text from her saying this party would actually be a gender reveal party and they were having a separate baby shower three-weeks later that she wanted me to come to as well,” the woman continued. “I was slightly annoyed because I knew I was going to have to request off work again and buy another gift. I told her I would try my best to be there but I couldn’t make any promises.

“Two days before the now ‘gender reveal’ party she texts me in a group message of people and says there’s an entry fee of $20 to the party!” the woman continued. That’s when she got angry. She texted her friend privately and told her that she didn’t have an extra $20 to spend on the gender reveal event.

Her friend said she couldn’t make an exception for the fee and reminded her that she had already told her she’d be there. “I didn’t reply, and didn’t show up,” the woman added. “She texted me a few days later informing me I was disinvited to the future baby shower and how she was appalled I couldn’t even send a message to let her know I wasn’t coming after I said I would be there.”

So the question is, who’s in the right here? Is it the friend who is annoyed for being stood up or the woman for having a $20 cover charge sprung on her?

Commenters on Reddit seemed to side with the woman saying if you can’t afford to hold a party then you shouldn’t have one.

“You can’t afford what you can’t afford,” one person said. “And yeah, an entry fee for that sort of party sounds super insane to me. Who does that?”

“Holy (expletive), some (expletive) people,” another person agreed. “A cover charge for a gender reveal party? How did we get to this point in society?”

“I could afford to pay $20 to go to a party, but I still wouldn’t because that’s tacky as hell,” a third person agreed. “I don’t think you did anything wrong and frankly, this isn’t someone I would want to remain friends with.”

There were a few however that thought the friend shouldn’t have just stood the mum to be up. “I do feel like you left it open ended about coming to the party. You told her no, and she said ‘Right, you promised to be there,'” the person wrote. “You ended the conversation with her clearly expecting you to show up. She potentially bought food or gag gifts based on your attendance so your no-show may have cost her money. You should have been clear with her that you would not be attending.”

“Your friend was beyond rude to invite people and then — after people had said they were coming — spring an entry fee on them,” wrote someone else. “You weren’t rude at all to decline, but you should have told her you weren’t coming.”

“You promised you would be there assuming that it would be like most parties and not charge an entry fee (that’s really weird, btw). That being said, you definitely should have told her that you weren’t planning on attending after she texted saying she wouldn’t make an exception,” another person commented.

For all those wanting a bit of closure on the topic there was an update from the woman explaining how her decision did make her feel guilty. “I always let people walk all over me and I felt extremely guilty considering maybe she had got goodie bags or something for me and I didn’t technically tell her I wasn’t attending,” she wrote. “I found out today through a mutual friend that only 11 people showed up out of 30 + she invited. I feel so much better knowing I’m NTA (Not the asshole).”

NTA indeed!

Images: Pixabay