Outlaw Inlaws

This stems from my entries on weddings and in-laws...I began to write about my friend Shelley's wedding and her in-laws but it is way to complicated and detailed for one blog...here's a start of it.

-Shelley’s parents were happy to help out financially with the wedding as the couple was just starting out. Scott’s parents would help out to a degree however there were strings attached: they wanted receipts for purchases, would only pay for certain items, insisted on inviting 75 of their personal guests (at a cost of $20/plate) and wanted pretty much everything done their way. Also, they offered to pay for the liquor and told Scott & Shelley that the couple could keep the money from the toonie bar but at the end of the night the parents pocketed the money.

Budget Breakdown
Shelley’s Parents: $20,000
The Couple: $7,000
Scott’s Parents: $1,000*
*Did not include cost of alcohol or toonie profits as these are unknown.

Now I am not saying that parents HAVE to pay for their kids’ weddings or that they are required to pay as much as the other set HOWEVER I think if you don’t pay you don’t get a say.

-Shelley had 4 bridesmaids in her wedding plus a maid of honor, one of which was Scott’s sister. However Shelley did not ask both of Scott’s sister’s to be in the party, nor did she ask his niece and nephew to be in the wedding party (I think 10 bridesmaids & groomsmen are enough don’t you). Well this was the end of the world for Scott’s family. The sister not directly included, Michelle, called/emailed her parents to complain who then threw a big fit about it. Um, hello isn’t it the couples choice who they pick? Shelley and Scott asked the kids to do the guest book table so it’s not as if she didn’t give them something.

Sounds good. You can add that Michelle said that being guest book attendants weren't good enough for her kids, and if they weren't the ring bearer and flower girl, that they weren't coming to the wedding.

-At the wedding, during the “Welcome to the Family” speech, Scott’s dad talked for about 45 minutes (my best guess). It was 90% about himself (the dad) and how he had such a challenging life and how he’d like to thank his MLA…blah blah blah. And then 10% Scott - there was one story about the night Scott was born (the night it was revealed who shot J.R.) and one story about Scott borrowing his dad’s vehicle and getting an eyebrow ring (I’m still not sure of the relevance of that last story). There was exactly zero about welcoming Shelley to the family (I don’t think they even said her name) and there was zero about thanking Shelley’s family for putting on the wedding. This is especially heinous when you consider that shortly before Shelley’s parents went up and said a lovely (and concise) thanks to his family (not deserved) and a beautiful welcome to Scott.

-Remember how Scott’s parents paid for the liquor? An announcement was made that every table got a bottle of wine and we were to go up and get it. A guy at our table went and misinterpreted the announcement as one bottle of red and one bottle of white. Apparently we were suppose to choose as Scott’s mom came to our table (a table of strangers to her) and told us we were allowed one and to choose which one we wanted. She then proceeded to take the bottle to the table RIGHT beside us, sit on a male’s lap (no it wasn’t her husband, it was a half drunk guy in his 20s) and pass the bottle around the table where each person drank directly from the bottle. Oh and yeah they already had their one bottle of wine. Classy & nice, eh?