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A
Savvy May 2018

Divorced Parent Issue

A, on March 14, 2018 at 11:51 AM

Posted in Etiquette and Advice 103

When I first became engaged I offered each of my parents (who are divorced) a plus one if they wanted it. Both individually and then as a unit informed me that they did not need/want a plus one. I thought this was mature of them and a better idea than my plus one offer. Fast forward almost a year...

When I first became engaged I offered each of my parents (who are divorced) a plus one if they wanted it. Both individually and then as a unit informed me that they did not need/want a plus one. I thought this was mature of them and a better idea than my plus one offer.

Fast forward almost a year later (and about 2 months from the wedding) and my Dad casually says, "By the way, my girlfriend is coming to the wedding." I was so taken aback that I foolishly said "OK" before thinking things through. Then I felt I had to give my mom a heads-up, which I did and she was very upset. She and my Dad had made an agreement to make the wedding day about me and my fiancé and not about themselves and their dates, so she felt he had gone back on his word, but my Mom still refused the plus one I offered to her again. I told her that I honestly didn't know what to do and felt awkward about the whole thing (I should have nipped it in the bud, you know). Plus, when I reminded my Dad of his agreement with my Mom he claims no memory of the agreement.

At our wedding there's going to be a "parents table" with the grandparents and both sets of parents. My Mom is adamant that my Dad's girlfriend not be seated with them because his girlfriend is obviously not a parent. Now I like my Dad's girlfriend but at this point it seems overly tense and difficult if she comes. My fiancé, his parents, and my Mom all vote NO GIRLFRIEND, and I'm afraid I agree. But I'm not sure what the right thing is here.

My fiancé and I intend to talk to my Dad and his girlfriend tonight but I'm worried there's going to be a huge freak out (my Dad doesn't like being told NO and I've already had two other family members completely flip out at me regarding the guest list). But I have to say something. The wedding is soon and we can't go over our limits regarding guests.

Advice please!

103 Comments

  • M
    Super October 2018
    MaltedMilk ·
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    OP - divorced mom here, perhaps I can help. Invite your dad, he gets to bring a guest no matter what the nature of the relationship. Not quite sure how either bringing a date makes the day less about you but who knows. Give up the parents table, allow them to all sit where they want. I have forty plus years of attending weddings and I have never seen the parents/g-parents table. There will already be stress on this day - please don't add more.

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  • A
    Savvy May 2018
    A ·
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    Thank you!
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  • Mcskipper
    Master July 2018
    Mcskipper ·
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    Okay, serious props to you on gathering advice and coming up with a workable solution amidst the rest of the insanity of the comments in this post Smiley laugh Smiley star
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  • Orange_Mellen
    Savvy March 2018
    Orange_Mellen ·
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    I would say you should seat your dad and girlfriend together. Do you have to have your mom, dad, and grandparents all at the same table? Or could you have your dad and his side of the family at a table and your mom and her side of the family at another table?

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  • A
    Savvy May 2018
    A ·
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    Haha thank you!
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  • A
    Savvy May 2018
    A ·
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    I appreciate the help questions. I commented an update. No to the parents table and yes to the girlfriend. Parents and their partners will be at separate tables.
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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    Your "logic" is completely backwards, AND you contradicted yourself by saying you got married the first time in under a year of knowing that man. so you didn't consider yourselves a couple until after you were married? THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

    one does not need to share a home or finances to be a couple. two people can be in a serious relationship that's not "just dating" and not live together or share all of that together. one does not need to help you care for an ill parent for you to consider yourselves as being in a relationship. are you just making this up as you go for fun?

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  • M
    Super October 2018
    MaltedMilk ·
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    Mrs Fall Bride - I agree. You want to tell my neighbor who has been dating her boyfriend for twenty years but have separate homes they are not a couple? Me neither!! My fiance and i were super serious, with different homes for a looong time.

    A couple is a couple is a couple.

    OP - good for you for coming to a great compromise for everyone. I could sit at a table with my ex and his new GF or wife and I could really care less. We three (FH, me and ex) have sat together at many functions - it is no big deal.

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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    That's great! good for you for actually reading all the comments and not immediately getting defensive and shutting it down.

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  • stbmrs2019
    Devoted September 2019
    stbmrs2019 ·
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    My FI and I will be together 9 years this May. We just got engaged this past November. We've been living with each other for 4 years at this point. So anything before that, we weren't a couple? We knew we were right for each other from the first date, quite literally.

    You do not get to judge the seriousness of other people's relationships. Once someone says this is my SO, then bam! They are SOs and a couple.

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  • A
    Savvy May 2018
    A ·
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    Thank you!

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  • Nemo
    Master August 2018
    Nemo ·
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    When my FH was my boyfriend, it was very different than a regular friend. I met FH's family about 2 month into us being together and he met mine by month 4.

    Your logic is so confusing. Help me understand this.

    You moved in with someone 2 weeks after you started dating them, and magically you became a couple. But someone that has been with their significant other for 364 days and doesn't live them with isn't a couple?

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  • starsinwaves
    VIP November 2018
    starsinwaves ·
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    I've had a really boring day at work and I'd just like to thank this thread for existing. #wtf

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  • M
    Dedicated November 2018
    mimi ·
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    Smiley smile Sometimes when I keep replying on stuff like this I think I'm wasting time, but then I think that someone's getting enjoyment out of it besides me, so I'm not a total loser. Even when the enjoyment is laughter at me-it's all good.

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  • M
    Dedicated November 2018
    mimi ·
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    Sydney, we were engaged when we moved in. There was no magic-there was just a ring and a moving truck. Anyone can get those if they want.

    It's wonderful that you and FH had something special and recognized it soon after you started dating. What isn't wonderful is people expecting others to recognize it as such so soon, or arbitrarily apply a significant status to that relationship because you're calling each other boyfriend or girlfriend. It's not official until it's official. I don't know why people are so confused by my logic, it's pretty black and white-but thank you for being so respectful with your questions.

    For me, a significant other is ONLY someone whom you are engaged to, married to, living with, or dating longer than a year. They may still be significant to you long before that, but expecting others to treat them like such is not right imo.

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  • stbmrs2019
    Devoted September 2019
    stbmrs2019 ·
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    But again, you have no place to judge anyone else's relationship and the seriousness of it. That is up to the couple and if someone considers that person their SO, then it's their SO. My FI and I have been together a long time, longer than most couples getting married on here. That being said, we went to two weddings in the first few months of us dating. Both weddings treated him like my SO, because that's what he was. Just because you have these ridiculous guidelines does not mean it is etiquette approved.

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  • Sarah
    Master June 2016
    Sarah ·
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    Would you tell your children that the individuals they’re in a relationship with aren’t significant if they’ve only been dating 11 months and don’t live together? If my mom had said that to me, I don’t think I’d have a relationship with her.
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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    My "poor reading comprehension" lmao OK. But I'm the one attacking people, right? Mmmk boo. Let's just completely gloss over the fact that you have no respect for other people's relationships. No prob.

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  • M
    Dedicated November 2018
    mimi ·
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    If he wasn't invited to those two weddings would you have been offended though? The idea that everyone should treat "new" boyfriends and girlfriends as significant is what I'm against. Of course they should be nice and friendly and respectful towards whomever you're seeing. But expecting a young couple to pay $100 plus for your new person, and saying they're just as significant as the couple at the table who's been married for 20 years is what I'm against.

    Etiquette in these forums vs. etiquette by experts is quite different. You only need to invite significant others, and significant others are ONLY married, engaged, living together, and long term couples in etiquette. Guests can't call you up and tell you that their new boyfriend Matt whom they've known for three months is significant too, and should be treated just like any other guests significant other. It's simply not true.

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  • Mrs. Fall Bride
    Master October 2016
    Mrs. Fall Bride ·
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    "significant" is subjective. if one person is significant to another person, NO ONE ELSE can say otherwise. there is nothing logical about what you're saying.

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