Groom Refuses to Invite Mother Who 'Ignored' Him His Entire Life to Wedding: 'She Expects to Be Front and Center'

Mar. 15, 2025

Man arguing with his mother (stock image).Photo:Getty

Getty

A groom is giving his mother a taste of her own medicine.

In a post onReddit’s popular “Am I the A——?” forum, a groom whose mother made him feel “invisible” his entire life is now excluding her from his wedding guest list. He explained on the platform that until he got engaged, his mother wanted little to do with him.

After his parents got divorced when he was 8 years old, the groom’s mother remarried quickly to a man with two children from a previous relationship. Her new family seemingly replaced her old, as she “focused all her attention” on them he explained.

Upset groom (stock image).Aleksandar Georgiev/Getty

Aleksandar Georgiev/Getty

“Ever since, it’s like I was no longer a priority in her life,” the groom, 26, wrote of his mother. “Like, I’m not exaggerating when I say she treated them way better than me. They’d go on trips, she’d go to all their sport events, and they’d get everything they wanted.”

He continued: “I felt like I was invisible. She didn’t ask about my school, didn’t care about my friends, or even my mental health. I started to feel like I wasn’t even her kid anymore.”

When he moved out after turning 18, the groom hoped his mother would “care” enough to keep in touch with him, but she didn’t. Whenever he made the effort to reach out, she would say she’s “busy” or not respond at all. So, eventually, he stopped contacting her.

But things changed when the groom announced his engagement. “Out of nowhere” she began excitedly texting her son, as if they were “super close,” wanting to know every detail of the wedding.

“Even saying things like, ‘I can’t wait to see you start this new chapter,'” the groom recalled. “Like… seriously? I haven’t heard from her in years, and now she expects to be front and center for my wedding?”

The groom directly told his mother that he wasn’t comfortable with her attending his wedding after her treatment of him over the years. He said he’d be open to rebuilding their relationship after his wedding, but not before it. This caused his mother to burst into tears and accuse him of “holding a grudge.” She insisted that as his mother, “she deserves to be there.”

Mother and son at wedding (stock image).Getty

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to just forget the fact that she ignored me my whole childhood,” the groom wrote, noting how it’s unfair to let her show up at the wedding when she never showed up for him.

He asked the forum: “AITA for not letting my mom come to my wedding after everything that happened?”

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“Childhood neglect is not something you forgive and forget for most people, especially when you’ve come to terms with not having a relationship with your parent,” one person wrote in part. “She doesn’t get to waltz back in to ruin what’s supposed to be one of the happiest days of your life.”

“Who has to apologize, definitely not OP (original poster),” another Redditor commented. “His birth giver has been absent for two thirds of his life and suddenly she wants to jump in and celebrate.”

source: people.com