Have you ever gotten a wedding invitation from someone you've never heard of?

Oh my! Well maybe they are serving a good lunch?

You don’t know either the bride or the groom? I used to get invites from brides I didn’t know, from friends who had moved away and met someone, but I at least knew the groom.

Haha, I read that as “have you ever gotten a proposal from someone you’ve never heard of?”

Oh, dear. It’s not that it arrived at your mailbox, but that it didn’t at someone else’s. It does seem odd, though.

Well, it’s specifically addressed to us. Mr and Mrs Us.

Ask an older relative. You may find out this is one of the grand children of one of your grandparents siblings. They are having some huge-ass wedding where they are inviting every relative that their granny can remember—and she has a really good memory.

I know all my cousins and most of my parents’ cousins, but there is a point where it branches out past what I know, but my grandma keeps ina touch with all these people and can tell you all of the descendants of all of her siblings all the way down to the newborn babies who are 4 or 5 generations away from her.

But why would you want a complete stranger at your wedding??

Because they are having a ridiculously huge wedding and they have some old relative who is saying, don’t forget my aunt Dottie’s great grand niece twice removed. I seriously don’t know why you’d invite a stranger to a wedding. This is my guess. It’s some distant relative who has decided to invite every freaking person a really old family member can remember hearing about.

Edited to add: Just so you know, If I had a huge wedding with a gigantic guest list, my grandmother would have totally done this.

Nope, never happened to me.

Sounds like an interesting adventure if you have time.

But then we have to get presents and stuff. I’d rather spend that money on my own family!

Hahaha…well, obviously whomever these mysterious, possible relatives are they are certainly reaching out far and wide to collect potential gift bearers for their wedding. lol
This is one of my biggest pet peeves, when people I hardly know invite me to weddings. Yeah, the presence of my gift is all that’s wanted. Bah humbug!

Nope. Never. I don’t even get invitations from relatives I know well!

Plan for a cash gift and if you don’t know them, enjoy a good outing and keep the cash. Nobody knows the diff :D

Nope.

I agree with the suggestion of asking another relative. Or, you can google the names and their close relations might also come up. Scary shit! I think it is reunion.com and a few other sites that pop up on google and show my mom and dad’s names and my sister, etc.

I was just talking to someone about this. They said they are probably distant relatives who know it’s highly unlikely that you’ll show and are banking on this. Speaking of “banking” they are probably hoping that you’re the type who feels obligated to send a cash gift if you can’t show up.

TACKY.

Get them a half dozen place mats as a gift. If you live nearby, go to the reception to scarf some eats!

When I got married, as a bit of politeness, my mother sent invites to my dad’s elderly cousins in Great Britain. My mom was a bit pissed when they called her a week ahead to say they’d be arriving the morning before to be in time for the rehearsal dinner! My dad was pissed he had to pay for their stay in a hotel.

There must be contact info for the RSVP. Send them a note asking “Who the bloody blazes are you?”

This has happened to my wife numerous times.

See, my mother-in-law (little old Italian lady) has been to many weddings of aunts and uncles and cousins (of which there are dozens) over the decades – and for every occasion, she has given $200 to $500 as a wedding gift.

Now fast-forward to the past ten years or so, and all the children and grandchildren of these people are getting married – and their Nonna says, “You gotta invite the daughter (my wife). Her mama came to our wedding many years ago and gave-a sucha nice-a gift or it’s a sin. We’re piezans Jesu Crist-a-Mia.”

Next thing ya know, we’re getting cordially invited to the wedding of Rocco and Gina Scaramuzzatini or some such who my wife thinks is some cousin on her mother’s side. People we’ve never met.

@cprevite Do you go to the wedding? I would if it were local.

@JLeslie: Yes, most of them. I love weddings, so I’ll take any excuse to go.

When I got married the first time, my mother and grandmother both wanted to invite people they knew, but that I’d never met. I put my foot down and said no way. If a child of someone you know has a different last name than the parent(s), that could be the case here, too.