Bride 'Blew Her Entire Savings.' Now, She Expects Her Sister to Help Pay for Her 'Lavish' Wedding
A woman is questioning whether she's wrong to refuse to help her sister pay for her "dream wedding," after she lost money in a multilevel marketing scheme
In a post on Reddit's "Wedding Shaming" forum, the woman shared that her sister has asked to use her savings to fund her wedding
"She knows I have a decent chunk of change saved and she's been dropping not-so-subtle hints about how I'm 'so responsible with my money' and 'don't have a mortgage yet' so surely I can spare some cash for her big day," the Reddit user wroteA woman wonders whether she's wrong to refuse to help her sister pay for her "dream wedding."
In a post on Reddit's "Wedding Shaming" forum, the 30-year-old woman opened up about her sister's "serious main character energy when it comes to her wedding."
"The kicker — she expects me to foot a significant chunk of the bill after she blew her entire savings — $25k — on a ridiculous MLM [multilevel marketing] scheme," she explained.
According to the OP (original poster), her sister, a 32-year-old named Chloe, has a history of being "terrible with money."
"Think impulsive buys loans for trips, the whole nine yards," the OP wrote. "Meanwhile, I've been diligently saving every penny for a down payment on a house. Our financial approaches are polar opposites."
"About a year and a half ago, Chloe got completely sucked into one of those 'boss babe' wellness drink MLMs," she continued, referring to the business model where participants earn money from both selling products or services and recruiting others into the network. According to the Federal Trade Commission, many MLM companies are illegal pyramid schemes.
"I tried to warn her gently at first, then more forcefully as she sank more and more cash into inventory and training. She was convinced she'd be a millionaire. Spoiler alert: she's not," the OP added. "She flushed her entire $25k savings down the drain and is now financially back at square one."
According to the Redditor, Chloe is engaged and has plans for a "massive, fairytale wedding — the kind that easily costs $50k+" — and she's asked her sister for help paying for the lavish event.
"She knows I have a decent chunk of change saved and she's been dropping not-so-subtle hints about how I'm 'so responsible with my money' and 'don't have a mortgage yet' so surely I can spare some cash for her big day," the OP wrote.
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Eventually, the sister "straight-up asked" for the money, and the OP was taken aback by her justifications for the bold request.
" 'You know,' she said, 'if you even threw in like 10 grand it would make such a huge difference. You don't really need all that house money right this second and this is my one shot at the wedding I've always pictured,' " the OP wrote, recounting the conversation.
The OP said she absolutely "lost it" after this request and promptly shut it down.
"I told her, 'Chloe there is NO WAY I'm paying for your wedding. You literally flushed your savings down the drain on a scam, even though everyone told you not to and now you expect me to bankroll your fantasy. My savings are for MY future, not to bail you out of your past mistakes,' " she said.
Her sister got upset, calling the OP "selfish" and "unsupportive." The sisters' mom also took Chloe's side, telling her other daughter: "Family helps family."
"Honestly, I feel a little bad for making her cry and I do love my sister," the OP admitted. "But I also feel like I'm being put in an impossible position. She made her bed and now she expects me to pay for the luxury sheets."
In the comments section, readers were quick to take the OP's side, agreeing that she shouldn't have to fork over her hard-earned savings just because she isn't getting married or buying a home right now.
"Any time she brings it up, just remind her that 'no' is your final answer," one person advised. "If she wants a $50k wedding, then she and her fiancé had better start saving that."
"I find it extremely audacious that you are being asked to give up or push back your dream because of your sister's poor financial decisions," another commenter said. "She needs to learn to live within her means. And right now, those means do not extend to a $50k wedding."
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