Woman Refuses to Attend Sister's Wedding Because She Won't Let Her Bring Service Dog
"My parents are furious and think I'm being heartless. They said I should be willing to do anything to have my sister there on my special day," the bride's sister wrote on Reddit
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Service dog (stock image); bride and groom (stock image)A bride's sister is boycotting her upcoming wedding because she won't be allowed to bring her service dog.
The bride explained the dilemma in a post on Reddit, beginning by noting that she and her fiancé have planned "a big, elegant affair" and have "spared no expense" for their nuptials. While the couple is thrilled with the venue they have booked, it has very strict rules — one of which is that no animals are allowed on the property "due to its historical nature."
The bride's sister experiences "severe anxiety" and "panic attacks," and her service dog, a golden retriever named Max, helps ease her symptoms.
While the venue does make an exception for "legitimate service animals," the bride said, it seems she still does not want her sister's dog at the wedding. "Max is highly trained and well-behaved, but he's still a dog," the bride noted.
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A golden retriever service dog (stock image)"The thing is, l've been waiting for this day my whole life, and I don't want anything to go wrong," she continued to explain. "I'm worried that even though Max is a service dog, he could still cause some sort of issue or be a distraction. Also, I don't want to start a fight with the venue that could risk our deposit or the entire booking."
The bride said she told her sister that while she would love to have her at her wedding, Max needs to stay home. As a compromise, she offered to arrange transportation and a pet sitter to be "close by" so her sister could "check in" with the dog. But her sister insisted she needs Max with her "at all times."
"She then said that if Max couldn't come, she wouldn't be able to attend, and now she's not speaking to me," the bride wrote, noting that other family members have taken her sister's side on the issue.
"My parents are furious and think I'm being heartless. They said I should be willing to do anything to have my sister there on my special day," she added, concluding her post by asking fellow Redditors, "AITA [am I the a------] for not letting my sister bring her service dog?"
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A bride walking down the aisle (stock image)In the comments section, the general consensus was that the bride was being unkind to her sister by not letting her have Max at her side, particularly as the venue does welcome service dogs.
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"A service dog isn't a pet; it's essential for her well-being, and excluding her like this sends a pretty cold message. Would you rather have a flawless setting or your own sister present on your wedding day?" one person wrote.
Others suggested that the bride might be "worried the dog will take attention away" from her on her wedding day. "I feel like you are just using this 'venue' narrative to push your actual intentions of excluding her," one person argued.
"Are you doing this because of the venue... or because you believe a golden retriever will steal attention away from you?" another asked. "Because this reads like this is all about your ego and not the venue's rules."
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