Published to Reddit’s infamous r/AmITheA**hole forum, a man under the anonymous username u/puppetAH123 shared his story in hopes of getting many opinions from the “AITA” community. The popular post has over 3,000 upvotes and 2,000 comments.
The Redditor began his post by explaining how he met his fiancée while they were taking the same puppetry class in their school’s performing arts program. While designing their own puppets, they used them to flirt with each other. He named his puppet “Hat Boy” and she named hers “Daisy.” The original poster (OP) said they still use their puppets at home and at a local theater where they perform puppet shows.
He wrote, “While planning our wedding, we realized we wanted Hat Boy and Daisy to be a part of the ceremony. They’ve been a part of us since the beginning, and it just felt right. We also invited our entire troop of puppeteers from the theatre and got the idea that we should have our wedding completely officiated by ‘puppets’ and that our wedding parties would be made up of puppets (and our closest puppeteer friends!). We figure it’ll make for incredible pictures.”
“Here’s where we aren’t sure if we are [the a**holes] or not: We’re insisting that all of our guests also participate and use puppets. In lieu of gifts, we’ve asked everyone to purchase high quality (but not nearly the quality of professional puppets) puppets to use during our wedding. We took the guess work out of it and directed them to several vendors, some of who offer some really cool options. Everyone could realistically expect to spend $150-$500 depending on what sort of details and whatnot they wanted.”
The OP explained that they wanted their guests to “wear” their puppets the entire wedding and reception. They told the guests that the puppets can be controlled with one hand. Their idea was that the puppets were also guests.
They found out most of their guests weren’t too thrilled about having to carry a puppet around. More specifically, the couple’s families had problems with it as they found the request to be “completely unreasonable.” Their many concerns revolved around how they’re supposed to eat, drink or dance. The couple had exceptions for not using the puppets while going to the bathroom but wanted the puppets on their guests’ hands during most of the wedding.
The OP said, “We also made sure that our hors d’oeuvres are all finger foods. There will be plenty of cocktail tables so people can put down their drinks. We even made sure that all of the food for the dinner itself is portioned so that it can be eaten in bite sizes just with a fork without having to use a knife.”
“We really think this would make for a special day. We only get to do it once, and think that it will be an event that all of our guests will remember for a lifetime. We have a hard time believing that once there, they wouldn’t have a blast,” he concluded, saying that the request is “silly but harmless.”
In a comment made to Newsweek, the OP explained how he and his fiancée have done a lot for their friends’ and families’ weddings, and they want that same respect back for theirs.
“We’ve bought plane tickets, hotels, clothing, gifts, and we loved every minute of it because we love our friends and family. We’re asking for an evening of indulging in our dream wedding, and we guarantee everyone will have an incredible time and will remember it,” he said.
Millions of couples get married each year. According to The Knot, the cost for each person to attend a wedding in 2021 was about $266, and on average, 105 guests were invited.
If you are planning on attending a wedding but are unsure of how much to spend on a wedding gift, traditional wedding etiquette says that you should make an educated guess about how much money the wedding couple spends on the wedding reception per person, per Brides.com. The average is somewhere between $100 and $200.
Redditors were quick to comment, slamming the soon-to-be-married couple.
“[You’re the a**hole]. You’re not like, bad people, but Jesus Christ is never want to associate with y’all ever again I’m exhausted and infuriated reading this. Your quirky nonsense is gonna keep people away,” u/LeatherHog wrote, receiving the top comment with over 15,000 upvotes.
U/Medium_Person said, “…you’re hosting a party to celebrate your love. But you’re still, hosting. You should absolutely not be expecting these people to spend hundreds of dollars on an experience that sounds awkward and bizarre for those not in your community. Also, a wedding they’ll remember forever? This is not the way you want to accomplish that. I promise. [You’re the a**hole].”
“[You’re the a**hole]. $150-500 on a puppet ill never use again isnt harmless. i have a lot of things id much prefer to spend my money on and your guests probably feel the same,” u/ur-humble-overlord explained.
“[You’re the a**hole]. $150 is a lot for some people. This wedding would make me feel extremely uncomfortable. Like am I supposed to give my puppet a name and a story? It is supposed to have its own voice? Am I supposed to interact with my own puppet? Am I supposed to toast with my puppet? Am I supposed to pretend to feed my puppet? So many questions. So much anxiety for a guest,” u/AsparagusSad1561 exclaimed.
