A Chicago-based couple recently sparked a heated debate on social media, after posting photos of invoices they sent to wedding guests that confirmed their presence at the event but eventually decided not to attend.

Doug Simmons, 44, and Dedra McGee, 43, invited 109 guests to their fairytale wedding reception at the Royalton Negril Resort & Spa in Jamaica. However, some of them repeatedly confirmed their presence, but ultimately failed to show up on the big day, which left the couple feeling so aggrieved that they decided to create invoices for the cost of the absentees’ meals. A model of the invoice posted on Facebook demands that the no-show guests pay $120, or $240 in case of a plus-one, as compensation for the expenses incurred by the couple on their behalf.

Photo: CHUTTERSNAP/Unsplash

“The amount above is the cost of your individual seats. Because you didn’t call or give us proper notice that you wouldn’t be in attendance, this amount is what you owe us for paying for your seat(s) in advance. You can pay via (payment app) Zelle or PayPal. Please reach out to us and let us know which method of payment works for you. Thank you!” the invoice reads.

“Don’t be offended when I send this #invoice to you. It’s gonna look something like this. I’ll be sending it via email and certified mail… just in case you say you ain’t get the email,” Doug Simmons captioned his Facebook post.

Simmons, a small business owner, told the New York Post that he opted for the unconventional strategy to make the no-shows pay because they had multiple chances to let him and his bride know they couldn’t make it, but never bothered to do so.

“Four times we asked, ‘Are you available to come, can you make it?’, and they kept saying yes. We had to pay in advance for Jamaica — this was a destination wedding,” the groom said. “No one told me or texted me, ‘Hey, we can’t make it.’ That’s all I was asking. If you tell me you can’t make it, I would be understanding — but to tell me nothing, but then let me pay for you and your plus ones? Four people became eight people. I took that personally.”

The unusual invoices divided people on social media, with some siding with the newlyweds and praising them for having the guts to ask no-show guests to pay up, while others described the move as “tacky” or “petty”, claiming that guests didn’t really owe the couple anything.

“I understand being upset about no show guests for a small wedding but sending an invoice is too much,” on Twitter user said.

“Actually guests owe some respect what’s the point in RSVP lists? Granted this is petty but to say guests owe nothing is really disrespectful and actually shows an arrogance similar to this bride/groom,” someone else argued.

Simmons later posted again on Facebook, claiming that he had gotten hundreds of supportive messages from people who went through similar experiences and shared their own horror stories.

“MY #PETTYPOST HAS TURNED INTO SOMETHING DEEPER… IT HAS EXPOSED PEOPLE’S LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND ALWAYS FINDING A WAY TO MAKE THEMSELVES THE VICTIM,” his Facebook post read.