How Many of You Have Paid for Your Meal at a Wedding?

My GF and I are expected to pay $80-$100 each for our meals at an upcoming wedding, the bride says it's an "unspoken tradition"

I've been to a few weddings and never heard of such nonsense. I asked my uncle and he said that that was ridiculous but the bride’s family insists that it’s a tradition and that's how it’s supposed to go. I've never paid to go to a wedding reception and I'm definitely not about to start.

Just more or less trying to prove a point to my girlfriend that the "unspoken tradition" is total bullshit. Thanks guys! We're just gonna get a gift and leave it at that. If we have to pay for a meal, I'm sure there's a McDonald's nearby.

ProbablyNotWorking wrote:

Hell no. You feed me, I give you a bread maker. That's the tradition.

Jgmerek wrote:

I am actually a caterer. I have catered weddings for almost 20 years, literally hundreds if not thousands of weddings. I have never heard of this being done even once.

Id_rather_boating wrote:

I used to film weddings for a living. I have been to several hundred events. If they can’t afford dinner for everyone they have a late evening wedding with finger foods at the reception. Then they have a cash bar as well. Don’t pay for your dinner at 80-100 per plate. If they did want to charge for dinner and didn’t want to make a profit they would do something more affordable like ask you to bring a casserole, desert or salad. People are more than happy to pitch in to make the day special but not if you ask like that. Come on! Slap some sense into them.

Goo_Back wrote:

We had an appetizer finger food kind of thing at our wedding. Everyone loved it. We had Poutine, Onion Rings, Mini Slider Burgers and Mini Grilled Cheese. Went over outstanding. We also had a Sundae Bar.

Positronus wrote:

I am Russian and if you don't bring cash to a wedding they break your legs... and then take your cash.

Neebat wrote:

Cash in lieu of gifts is a completely, 100% reasonable request. Cash for the wedding, PLUS gifts, is fucking extortion, and should be cited when you RSVP that you won't be attending, for cause.

Purecheetodust wrote:

That’s called we planned a wedding but ran out of money. They are passing the bill along to their guests. I wouldn’t even show up for the wedding if one of my friends pulled that shit.

Betona wrote:

Seriously, why do people think they need to spend so much? The most romantic, sweetest wedding I've ever attended had a couple platters of finger sandwiches and some punch and that was it. The couple just didn't have any money, nor did their parents and yet it was a wonderful evening event where maybe 40 bucks worth of candlelight made it magical.