Parents Pull Daughter From Wedding Rehearsal After Bride Excludes Her From Rehearsal Dinner

The five-year-old flower girl who sparked a wedding debate.

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• June 10, 2024

Traveling for a wedding can be a real adventure—especially when the venue is hundreds of miles away. Our narrator (Original Poster) found himself in that precise situation this past weekend. 

OP’s wife, a proud member of the bridal party, and his adorable daughter, the pint-sized flower girl, were both gearing up for a friend's big day. However, there was a slight hiccup.

You see, the wedding venue was quite a distance away—ten hours away, to be exact. Luckily, The bride-to-be dropped a bombshell: the flower girl wasn’t invited to the rehearsal dinner.

However, she wanted the little one to attend the rehearsal so she could practice her all-important walk down the aisle.

Now, OP, ever the sensible parent, saw an issue. Though his wife’s family lives about an hour’s drive from the venue, he didn’t see how this arrangement could work.

There was only an hour gap between the rehearsal and the dinner, and the bride expected them to find a babysitter or make other arrangements within that time. It seemed like a logistical nightmare. 

The options? Miss part of the dinner, endure a two-hour round trip or come up with an alternate arrangement on the fly. The hassle didn’t seem worth it, so OP told the bride their daughter couldn’t attend the rehearsal. 

His wife backed him up, and so, it was settled: their daughter would grace the wedding but skip the rehearsal dinner. Of course, the bride wasn’t too happy about this.

Was OP’s decision justified, or should he have bent over backward to meet the bride’s request?

The story in detail

Here's the background of story;

The bride-to-be excluded OP's daughter from the rehearsal dinner but still wants her at the rehearsal so that she knows where to go/walk during the ceremony

OP declined to bring his daughter to the rehearsal, especially due to the stress involved. Since she wasn't important enough to be included in the dinner, then no need to attend the rehearsal at all

Check out some interesting comments we've gathered from the Reddit community;

"Any child who is in the wedding party should be an exception to the no child rule"

"Why should OP's in-laws drive for two hours just to pick up their grandchild who is only meant to be a cute accessory at the wedding"

"She doesn't need to be at rehearsal with the rest of the wedding party for that."

"That's a lot of back and forth for a kid"

"Bride needs an etiquette lesson."

"You mentioned her being unpleasant to your wife."

"I am so sick of brides making all these unrealistic demands"

"It seems like the bride wants to use your daughter for appearances and hassle you all in the meantime."

"She's completely using your child as a prop"

Redditors pledged full support for OP in his decision. There's always one clear winner in the battle of wedding logistics versus parental sanity.

Perhaps assuring the bride that they’d watch their child like a hawk and make sure she doesn’t disrupt the dinner might ease her concerns. If that doesn’t work, the community was all for OP sticking to his decision.

Do you agree with this verdict? Let us know in the comments.

Jesse