Reddit Stories - The BETRAYAL_ EXCLUSION of My Child from Their Wedding CELEBRATION_

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #betrayal #exclusion #wedding #familydrama #parentingSummary:A parent seeks advice on Reddit after feeling betrayed and excluded by their child from their wedding celebration. The emotional conflict and family drama unfold as Redditors weigh in on who is at fault.Tags:redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, betrayal, exclusion, wedding, familydrama, parenting, relationships, advice, emotional, conflict, dilemma, decisionmaking, communication, support, community, adviceforum, familybondBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. This tale has been told previously. Sibling and his spouse excluded my child from their marriage celebration after initially extending an invitation. Consequently, my child refuses to communicate with them. Whole family is blaming me because I was no contact. Six months ago my son Leo, 14M, decided to cut off my brother Jack, 46M. Now my mom, brother, Sill and other family members want me to make my son forgive him to keep the peace. For a little bit of context, I'm 46M, a single dad.

My family has always helped me in many ways, mostly babysitting when Leo was younger, and even before my son was born, we were all very close. We all live relatively close to each other so we've been able to keep in touch with weekly gatherings, spending the holidays together, etc. Everyone loves my son and my son loved them back. However, my brother Jack was always my son's favorite person. Back when my son was three to four years old, Jack and his wife had more flexible jobs than me, think freelancing versus a nine to five, so they always volunteered to look after Leo, something he loved. Almost every month they would take him to the zoo, or the aquarium, or they'd even go camping with him. As my son grew older, he started to develop the same interests as my brother like video games, photography, and music.

When Leo was nine, he told me he wanted to have the same career as his uncle. This is all to say, they were extremely close. Last year my brother informed me that he and his G.F. Mary were getting married. I knew that neither Jack nor his G.F. believed in marriage, so when I asked them about it, they told me it was all Karen's idea, my sis mom. Because Jack and Mary didn't care much about the wedding and since Karen was paying for it, they let her plan everything, from the venue to the food, music, etc. Karen decided to plan a destination wedding at a fancy resort.

In July of last year we received the invitation, and it was addressed to both me and my son. I even had a plus one if I wanted. And as soon as the website went up, I tried to make a reservation. for our hotel room. I should clarify that I had to call the hotel to make my reservation because the link wasn't working and I really couldn't risk not getting a room. When I received the email confirmation, it said room for two adults but I didn't think much of it and just assumed it was an error due to the language barrier with the hotel guy. I also bought the plane tickets for us around the same time. Fast forward to January, less than a month before the wedding,

when my sis called me crying saying that Karen had made a mistake with the venue. Apparently, the resort was for adults only so they didn't allow anyone younger than 16. My son was 13 at the time. I asked her if it would be possible for Leo and me to stay in another hotel, but they told me the whole resort was child-free so my son wouldn't even be allowed to attend the ceremony or the reception. I was disappointed and I told my sis I'd talk to my son about it. I knew how excited he was about his uncle's wedding, but she insisted both her and Jack wanted to tell him in person.

Honestly, my son was devastated. He started crying as soon as he was told he wouldn't be able to go. He pleaded with them and even offered to give them all of his savings so they could move the wedding. After 30 minutes of this, my sis got frustrated and just told him that he was being selfish and that this day wasn't about him. Leo eventually apologized and went to his room. After the wedding, my son just stopped talking to my brother. If Jack sent him a message, Leo would just ignore it unless it had something to do with me. For example, he would only reply if Jack asked him to tell me something because he couldn't reach me, etc.

On our family gatherings, Leo would only respond to small questions like can you pass the salt or help Grandma with the plates, but he would ignore my brother if Jack or Mary tried to start a conversation or ask him about school, etc. A month after the wedding, Jack and Mary offered to take him for a special vacation during spring break up for the wedding, but my son just ignored them and he later told me he didn't want to go with them. It was heartbreaking because I knew how much he wanted to go to that place and wasn't able to afford it yet, but he stuck to his guns. Something similar happened on Leo's birthday. He asked me if I was planning to throw him a party, I do it every year, and when I said yes,

he asked me not to invite his aunt and uncle. I tried to convince him to invite them because their family and they were really sorry, but he just said that if they didn't want him on their special day, he didn't want them on his. My brother was crying when I told him he wasn't invited. However, things came to a head this past weekend. We were at my mom's house and the conversation of Leo's University came up. My mum asked Leo if he was still planning on going to the same university as Jack and that he should start planning for that, but my son replied that he wasn't interested anymore and he had chosen to study something else.

Then my mom said I thought you wanted to be like your uncle and my son just said why would I want to be like him? At this point I intervened and told Leo he didn't have to be so rude but the damage was already done. Both my brother and Sil heard what he said and they left shortly after. Last night my brother texted me saying I was an asshole for letting my son continue with this grudge and he even accused me of being jealous of their relationship and that's why I wasn't doing anything to fix it. I just told him these were the consequences of his actions and that this was 100% his fault by allowing his pa's mother-in-law to plan the wedding when she obviously hated my child. He hung up on me.

My mom and some other family members think I should force my son to forgive my brother so we can all move on claiming there was no ill intent and it was just a small mistake. But I don't think I should. My son was clearly hurt and he should be allowed to heal and forgive them only when he's ready. So, Ada? Edit, sorry I stopped responding yesterday. I got distracted by a SIV 6 game after seeing the reveal for 7-L-O-L. I'm going through all the comments and I just wanted to answer a question I've seen like 10 times now. I did not go to the wedding. I didn't want to leave my son alone while most of the family was away and it just didn't feel right going to the wedding after what happened. Additional information from OOP on the family conversations.

His response was rude because of the tone, not because of what he said. He said what he said, and using a very specific tone, to get a reaction out of his uncle. That's why it was rude. He wasn't just responding to the, rather inappropriate, question asked by Grandma. He was acting up. He was trying to pick a fight. Trust me, I've heard that tone many times before. I'm not saying I'm perfect.

I understand why he is hurt and angry. I have respected his boundaries and helped him navigate this as best as I can, but that doesn't mean I have to accept him picking up a fight every chance he gets. As for the conversation, I didn't include my reactions because I didn't consider it relevant. paraphrasing, of course, it went something like this. Mary, we made a mistake and you won't be able to go to the wedding. Leo, but why? You invited me?

I want to go. Mary, the place where the wedding is taking place only accepts adults. You can't enter. Leo, I don't get it. Can't you make an exception? Me, they can't. It's not up to Mary and Jack. Remember when you tried to get a part-time job at the pub and the owners told you they can't have children inside, let alone working there?

It's like that. Leo, can you get married somewhere else? Mary, we can't. We already paid a lot of money for that place. Leo, I can give you my savings. I have ex-Mary, it's not enough and it's not just us who spent money, all the guests already spent a lot of money and they don't want to lose it. Leo, my dad has money. He can give you money so I can go.

Please, I want to be at the wedding. It's not fair. Jack, I'm sorry, Leo. But we can make it up to you. What do you say if we take you to Greece after the wedding? You always wanted to go. Leo, getting more and more upset, I don't want to. I want to go to the wedding.

Why don't you want me there? me, Leo, it was a mistake. They wanted you there, but we all made a mistake, and we didn't realize sooner there was a minimum age. Leo, it's not fair. Why did they invite me then? I want to be with my uncle on a special day. Mary, raising her voice, this is not our fault. It just happened and you need to let it go.

I'm sorry you can't be there, but you need to stop being selfish. This is my special day, not yours. Then Leo broke down. Like I wrote in another comment, I tried to console him and I just shot Mary a shut up look without saying anything at the moment. Jack did tell her something but I didn't hear what he said. Once he calmed down, Leo said he was sorry and asked me if he could go to his room. Mary and Jack were saying sorry but Leo didn't even look at them. I followed my son to his room to make sure he was okay, and he asked me to leave.

I went back to the living room. Me, WTF is wrong with you. You have no right to yell at my son. Mary, I'm sorry. I'm too stressed. We had been fighting with my mum about this for two months. Me, I don't care. I told you on the phone he would be disappointed and you made it worse.

Get out. Jack, please Jacob, she didn't mean it. I'll make it up to Leo. Me, I said I don't care. Get out. Then they left and I just went to check on Leo. I don't have a photographic memory so I don't remember every single word that was said, but this is the gist of what happened that day.

Update 1, so I've received some messages asking for an update. I appreciate everyone who took the time to comment and send me messages. Some may have been a bit harsh, but I deserved it. Thanks for slapping some sense into me. The short version is that we'll stop going to the family events for a while. I talked to my brother and he will respect my son's boundaries, and he also explained what really happened. And, above all, Leo is doing much better now. Here's the longer update in case anyone's interested in the details.

Mom and Sister The short of it is that I informed my mom that both the same. Leo and I would stop going to the family gatherings until things calm down and, more importantly, until he felt comfortable again. She was understandably upset, but I think she finally understood how much she had been hurting Leo. What surprised me is that my mom told me that Jack had become depressed so she was worried about him, and that's why she was so insistent that Leo should forgive him. I basically told her that if we forced Leo to forgive my brother, we risked pushing him away from us. As for my sister, she was also sad when I told her we'd stop going to the family

gatherings but she said she understood. However, she suggested we make our own weekly tradition so the children can still hang out, and that's what we've been doing for the last couple of weeks. We decided my nibblings would come to my house one week and then Leo would hang out at hers the next. So far it seems to be working and Leo is happy with this arrangement. I think it helps that he isn't being pressured by the adults expecting him to talk to his uncle. Jack and Mary. The weekend after I posted here, I texted my brother asking him to meet me so we could talk. I had told him that I wanted to speak with him alone so Mary wasn't present. Jack immediately apologized and said how much he regretted what he had done and the things he had told me. He confirmed what

I already suspected and said he was stressed because of the constant fights with Mary. He mentioned that he had considered divorce because of how bad the fights got. I may seem cruel here, but I basically told him that I didn't care about that. What I wanted was for him to tell me the truth about what the hell had happened. Jack maintains that he didn't know about the venue being child-free until last November. However, like many of you suspected, Mary had known for quite a while, maybe even the whole time. Apparently, this all started a few years back when Jack and Mary took Leo to the beach. While they were playing, my son had accidentally called Jack Dad before quickly correcting himself. From what Jack told me, it was a small mistake like when you call a teacher

mum. Leo was embarrassed, but Jack just laughed it off. The catch? Jack's Mill, Karen, and Phil had joined them for that vacation and they overheard Leo when that happened. When they came back from their vacation, Karen had gone ballistic claiming she was triggered by some random kid calling Jack Dad knowing that Mary can't have children. Mary had tried to explain it was just a misunderstanding, but Karen became extremely toxic and abusive towards Mary and she started making demands like not inviting Leo over when Karen visited, etc. So when Jack and Mary decided to get married, and since they initially just wanted to elope and not have a party at all, Karen manipulated Mary and convinced her to let her plan the perfect wedding for her only daughter.

Mary gave in because she was sick of several years of emotional manipulation and she just wanted to keep the peace. So Karen hijacked the wedding and she chose a child-free venue on purpose. Mary discovered this when the venue was booked or shortly after but she didn't say anything because every time she tried to argue, Karen would play the victim and stuff. Mary claimed that she had tried to negotiate with the resort that an exception be made so the children could attend the ceremony slash reception even if they stayed in a different hotel, but the manager stood firm on the policy. But the closer they got to the date, the more anxious she got until she finally admitted the truth to Jack in November. According to my brother, Mary exploded to Leo because of all the constant bullying and manipulation from her own mother, and she also felt extremely guilty by letting things get that far. For his part, Jack said that if he had found out before, he would have stepped in and cancelled the wedding rather than exclude Leo and my sister's children.

But by that point a lot of people had already booked their flights and hotel rooms so canceling wasn't an option. In the end I told my brother that none of that excused the way they had behaved, especially his wife. She was a 40-plus-year-old woman picking a fighting with a kid. She had yelled and called him selfish when all Leo wanted was to offer the two thousand. pound he had saved so he could be part of Jack's special day. I reminded him that Leo looked up to him and considered his hero, and he had let him down. He had shown Leo that he wasn't important to him the way Jack was important to Leo. I also told him that I would keep supporting Leo on going no contact and I'd be going low contact with him myself. He asked me for a chance to

apologize to Leo, but I told him he had already apologized. All he could do now was wait to see if one day my son would accept his apology. Jack seemed hurt, but he told me he would respect our wishes and give us time and space. Leo. As for my son, I apologized for not standing up to him and forcing him to meet with the family every week. I told him that he could decide what he wanted to do with that part of the family going forward. He seemed reluctant to stop going, but I let him know that I would support him no matter what and that I wouldn't be upset. What made me happy was that Leo suggested we could stop going to the family every week and instead we could spend more time together, he and I, doing some of the things he used to do with my brother.

Last week we went to a vintage car show and next week we're going to watch Wicked. I'm not a theater guy, but it sounds fun. I also told him I was worried he had stopped doing things he liked and that he shouldn't stop just because he had a falling out with someone he cared about. Basically told him it was okay to still enjoy things by himself or with someone else. He admitted he actually wanted to do those things but stopped just to spite Jack. I decided to give him an early Christmas gift and bought him some games he had been excited about but that he had refunded after the fight with my brother.

He even convinced me to play with him some Final Fantasy online game on his PS5 while he plays on PC. I admit I have no idea what I'm doing on that game since the last Final Fantasy game I played was still in 2D, but he seems to enjoy watching me fail. Any advice here is welcome. Finally, we decided to take a trip to his dream destination for my birthday. I was a little bit sad because it's going to be the first time in almost 50 years that I don't celebrate a birthday with my brother, but I've got my son and that's all that matters. So yeah, Leo is happier and less stressed about the family. Speaking of which, I think the family is finally respecting our boundaries so that's good too.

I just hope my brother can work on his marriage. I may hate what they did but I do want him to be happy. Update 2, February 19th, 2025. It's been a while, hasn't it? The wedding anniversary is next week and I remembered this post. I just thought I'd do one quick update for those wondering what had happened. Longer update, Leo and me took a step back from the big family for a bit. But we decided to give the holidays a go with everyone.

I gotta admit I was nervous. We even had a backup plan in case things got awkward with Jack and Leo. Thankfully, it was all rather uneventful, like all the others. The biggest thing is that my brother and Leo had a proper chat on Christmas Eve. I saw them talking, and Leo went all quiet which worried me at first. But he said it was a good talk. They're not back to how they were, not by a long shot, but they've been spending a bit of time together since then, hanging out, and

sometimes just playing games. It's still a bit weird for all of us, but it's progress. I guess. I know some people were worried about Leo's future, as if my brother's career was the only option, LOL. But Leo's a good kid. He's been branching out and trying new things. He said he wants to become a game developer or maybe a writer. I've been reading some of his stuff, and it's pretty good, or I may be biased because he's my son and all. As for uni, he's been considering a physics degree or becoming a pilot. That's probably my fault. I introduced him to my favorite author and now he's obsessed with time travel and alternate universes. I also, finally, convinced him to try a sport and he's liked it too far. I even got him to watch some games with me and may drag him along

to next year's dub C. And I always wanted to visit Mexico so it's going to be nice, just the two of us and all that. Jack and I have been making an effort to meet up every fortnight. It's been hard, I won't lie. Our birthday was back in October and it was particularly rough. I know some will be angry at me, but I miss my brother. I read something that said that you can love someone and not like them, and that's kind of where I'm at. Leo will always be my number one, but Jack's my brother, and it hurts to be a part, you know. On the Jack and Mary front, they're heading for a divorce. They had to be married for a year and Jack said he'll file ASAP.

Maybe next week or the week after. It's been tough on him. He said it wasn't just the fallout with Leo, but a lot of other things too. I'm sad for him. But life goes on, doesn't it? It's mostly been pretty boring, day-to-day stuff, dealing with work and a team, and some health-related stuff. But yeah, thanks to everyone who commented.