Weddings can be expensive, and one couple wasn’t about to quietly accept guests bailing at the last minute without notice. After RSVP’ing “yes” to a destination wedding and then not showing up, one guest was shocked to receive a $240 invoice in the mail weeks later.
The bride and groom, Doug Simmons and Dedra McGee of Chicago, had hosted their wedding at the Royalton Negril Resort & Spa in Jamaica. With the cost per guest totaling $120, they decided to charge no-show guests for the seats they confirmed but left empty — and they didn’t keep it private.
Doug originally shared the invoice online, which soon made its way to X (formerly Twitter), where user @thweddat posted it with the caption: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wedding reception invoice before lol.” The bill came with a due date of August 18 and included a note explaining the reasoning behind the charge.
The note read:
“This invoice is being sent to you because you confirmed seat(s) at the wedding reception during the Final Headcount. Because you didn’t call or give us proper notice that you wouldn’t be in attendance, this amount is what you owe us for paying for your seat(s) in advance. You can pay via Zelle or PayPal. Please reach out to us and let us know which method works for you. Thank you!”
Reactions were mixed. Some sympathized, saying they’d lost money too when guests didn’t show up at their weddings. One user commented, “A third of our RSVPs didn’t come. We paid for food that just went to waste.” Others criticized the couple’s move, calling it petty or suggesting it would ruin relationships. One sarcastic post read, “You’re so important to us we invited you… but not enough to keep the relationship if you don’t come. But expect a baby shower invite later — with a gift!”
Doug later acknowledged that it might have been “a little petty,” but emphasized that it wasn’t about money — it was about the lack of courtesy. As a small business owner, he said what truly stung was the silence from the guests who didn’t show up.
“This wasn’t just a local wedding,” he explained. “This was a destination wedding. We asked multiple times if people were coming, and they said ‘Yes’ every time. We had to pay upfront.”
He added, “No one gave us a heads-up. Just silence. That’s all I wanted — a message saying, ‘Hey, we can’t make it.’ I could’ve accepted that. But instead, we paid for people who didn’t show and didn’t say a word.”
Doug said that some RSVP’d guests brought additional plus-ones without telling the couple — four expected guests turned into eight. He took it personally.
The couple didn’t say what they’d do if people refused to pay, but one thing is clear: some friendships may not survive the fallout.