My parents threw an event in competition with my wedding.

We set up a nice brunch at our nearby home the day after, to which most close family and friends on both sides RSVP’d (online invitations). A few weeks before the wedding, my parents (who were unhappy about a lot of things), decided that this arrangement was inconvenient for hotel guests and too cheap (we paid). During one of their general bullshit tirades, they said “we’re throwing our own brunch at the hotel,” and I said “less food to worry about.” And hung up.

As the wedding approaches, they start to act nice and everything is fine. No RSVPs changed (we’re talking about 40 people attending out of the 200 guests) and not a peep about the threat. Wedding day comes, and they’re loving as you’d hope. It was a great wedding. By the end of the night, my aunt kisses me goodbye and says she’ll see me tomorrow.

“Oh, where will I be seeing you?” I asked.

“At the hotel of course!” She said. She looked mortified when I told her I’ll be at the brunch that she RSVP’d to. You know, like her own brother had tricked her?

The next day, we had a wonderful, relaxing brunch in our home with my close friends and my wife’s family. No one from my side showed up. Which, uh, kind of hurt.

For months, I didn’t even know what to say to my parents. How do I begin? Eventually, they got angry that I wasn’t returning their calls. So, I calmly explained over the phone how hurt I was that they did that at my wedding.

“We spent more than $1,000 hosting that brunch. You should thank me,” my dad said.

“Dad—you didn’t even invite me. How could I have even known when and where to attend?”

“You’re lying. You should have been there at 10:00.”

I haven’t spoken to my parents since. And I don’t intend to.