A wedding can be expensive, even if the newlyweds are somewhat well-off. In some instances, couples even go into debt to have their dream wedding. Still, even if money is the number one stressor for newlyweds, family members can be a source of anxiety just the same. In fact, according to a survey by LendingTree, 32% of newlyweds say that family caused them the most headaches.
For this couple, it was the stepmom who turned out to be the source of stress. However, the biggest shock actually came after the wedding. The groom found out that the stepmother racked up a secret $6,400 bill she expected the newlyweds to cover. When they confronted her, she suddenly dipped and blocked them on all platforms.
A groom got a surprise $6,400 bill after his wedding and was shocked to find out it was left by his stepmom
sorindari / Magnific (not the actual photo)
When she refused to pay it, he started wondering if cutting her out of his life would be too drastic
magnific / Magnific (not the actual photo)
yanalya / Magnific (not the actual photo)
Commenters urged him to go no-contact and not pay the bill — let the evil stepmother deal with it
In Asian cultures, it’s not unusual to have close to 1,000 guests at your wedding
Many commenters were surprised by some of the details of OP’s wedding. For example, the number of guests left a lot of readers stumped. And while it does sound a tad bit excessive to our Western sensibilities, 1137 people at a wedding is not a shocking number in Asian cultures.
British Asian weddings, for example, usually have a minimum of 300 guests. While for some Westerners, that might sound like more people than they have even known throughout their lives, in the East, and especially in South Asian cultures, that’s not unusual.
Arum Javed, an events manager at the Birmingham-based event company Monsoon Venue Group, told the BBC that average South Asian weddings are 300-400 guests, and that number can sometimes climb up to 1,500.
Who are the people attending and planning such packed weddings? In Asian cultures, it’s customary to invite extended family members, and when we say “extended,” we mean extending very, very far away!
UK-based wedding planning and stylist duo Radhika and Shindy write that it’s customary to invite every cousin, and that’s usually how the numbers climb so high. “With Asian families, not only do you have your large immediate family with uncles, aunties and cousins – you also have your parents’ cousins’ families and their children. The list quite literally goes on!”
At the same time, they note that times are changing, and more and more couples are choosing to decrease the number of wedding guests. “Only invite the elders from the extended family for the wedding and the extended cousins for the reception,” is the advice they give to couples who want a different, low-key ceremony.
Anastase Maragos / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Wealthy people are more likely to be less empathetic and ethical
It’s hard to imagine why a woman who, according to OP, earns more than $330k a year would be so unwilling to cover her expenses at her stepson’s wedding. Such a yearly salary puts her in the top 5% in the U.S., yet she seems to be stringent when it comes to money.
Some research suggests that the richer you are, the less empathetic you become. In 2012, a group of researchers foundthat there might be a direct correlation between how wealthy someone is and how ethical they are. They didn’t dare to draw the conclusion that being rich equals being unethical, but later research somewhat confirms their findings.
A Finnish study compared drivers of different socioeconomic standing and how empathetic they are. They found that owners of luxury cars tend to be more disagreeable, less empathetic, and more stubborn.
Ultimately, this is a chicken-and-egg question: are these types of people less empathetic and ethical because they’re financially well-off, or did they become rich because they have these traits?
Research suggests that dark triad personalities (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) are the ones in management and executive positions across all careers. There are certain kinds of personality traits one needs to be successful and rich, and not everyone is cut out for that.
That’s not to say that the stepmom in this story is a dark triad personality. She may just be an ambitious, successful woman with a selfish streak who failed to communicate with her stepson properly. But again, that type of entitlement has to come from somewhere.
jcomp / Magnific (not the actual photo)
Three days later, the stepmom ghosted her stepson, leaving him with no other option than to pay the bill himself
chanakonlaorob / Magnific (not the actual photo)
wayhomestudio (not the actual photo)
Commenters felt sorry for the guy, as a 22-year-long relationship had just gone down the drain
BORU
