Chicago Newlyweds Go Viral For Billing No-Show Wedding Guests

Before passing judgement on whether sending an invoice to someone who no-showed at an event they had previously agreed to attend, you have to ask yourself if you've ever done that. Or, has it been done to you?

Looking back 30 years to my wedding (Amy's too, I guess...), I seem to remember that there were a handful of people on our invitation list who said yes to attending, but later changed their minds. I really don't remember being all that enraged by the people who blew it off, but we weren't paying for each responding guest ahead of time, either.

Saying Yes, But Then Not Showing Up Cost This Couple Some Money

Dedra and Doug Simmons have grabbed themselves international viral attention after a post of an invoice they created for no-show wedding guests went viral across social media.  The problem is centered around a destination wedding in Jamaica, where 109 people were invited but only 101 people showed up.

It's not the wedding itself that proved to be a pain in the butt for the new couple, it's the fact that they had to pay the Jamaican resort $120 per person in advance for seats at the wedding and reception. The expected 109 guests, and had paid for all of them.

Now, Doug and Dedra are letting the people who skipped out after RSVPing know that they'd like their money back, and they're reaching out via both email and certified letter with an invoice:

NBC-5 Chicago:

"If those eight people said, 'Doug, Dedra, we can't make it,' we would have totally understood it, would have been no problem," Doug Simmons said.