Just off the bat here let’s be clear, weddings are expensive as all hell. Anyone who’s ever listened to a friend rattle off all those figures knows that the temptation to elope must be great, using all that dosh to enjoy a three-month holiday free from pesky eyes.

Now the idea of forking out that money and watching a chair sit empty (the food will get eaten, there’s always that one person at the table) must be infuriating, but would you actually go as far as to bill the no-show?

One unnamed couple did, a relative in Minnesota receiving a bill for $75.90 (made up of two $30 “Herb Crusted Walleye” entrées plus a “Service & Tax Charge”) after she and her husband failed to make the big day. Here’s ABC:

“I just was shocked,” Jessica Baker said of receiving the bill, which included a note that, “This cost reflects the amount paid by the bride and groom for meals that were RSVPed for, reimbursement and explanation for no show, card, call or text would be appreciated.”

“We were excited to have a night out and we got a call from my mom saying that my brother’s daughter was sick with hand-foot-and-mouth disease and my mom had been exposed and didn’t want to expose my kids,” Baker recalled. “She needed to be with her and she wouldn’t be able to make it”…

“We had discussed if we should contact anyone and decided against it because, coincidentally enough, we’d had people RSVP and no-show to our wedding and I knew when I got married I didn’t want to be bothered with phone calls on the day of my wedding,” Baker said. “I just assumed, I guess, that we’d let them know the situation later on.”

It turns out the married couple have not been in contact with the Bakers for 12 years, which goes to show how ridiculous these extended invites to weddings have become.

Sure I want to eat your free food and smash that bar tab (and be a part of your special day blah blah), but if we’re not mates then do us both a favour and let that invite get lost in the post.

[source:abc]