\n
When <\/span>my <\/span>cousin <\/span>Lisa <\/span>got <\/span>engaged, <\/span>I <\/span>was <\/span>thrilled. <\/span>We <\/span>were <\/span>close, <\/span>and <\/span>I <\/span>expected <\/span>to <\/span>be <\/span>at <\/span>her <\/span>wedding. <\/span>But <\/span>as <\/span>the <\/span>date <\/span>neared, <\/span>I <\/span>never <\/span>received <\/span>an <\/span>invitation.<\/span><\/p>\n When <\/span>I <\/span>asked, <\/span>Lisa <\/span>said <\/span>they <\/span>were <\/span>having <\/span>a <\/span>very <\/span>small <\/span>Vegas <\/span>wedding<\/span><\/em>\u2014<\/span>just <\/span>ten <\/span>guests\u2014<\/span>due <\/span>to <\/span>budget <\/span>issues. <\/span>I <\/span>was <\/span>disappointed, <\/span>but <\/span>I <\/span>understood.<\/span><\/p>\n A <\/span>week <\/span>later, <\/span>she <\/span>sent <\/span>out <\/span>a <\/span>GoFundMe <\/span>link<\/span><\/strong> asking <\/span>for <\/span>donations <\/span>to <\/span>fund <\/span>a <\/span>$<\/span>15,000 <\/span>luxury <\/span>honeymoon <\/span>to <\/span>Bora <\/span>Bora<\/span><\/em>. <\/span>I <\/span>was <\/span>stunned\u2014<\/span>she <\/span>couldn\u2019t <\/span>invite <\/span>us <\/span>to <\/span>the <\/span>wedding <\/span>but <\/span>had <\/span>no <\/span>problem <\/span>asking <\/span>us <\/span>for <\/span>money?<\/span><\/p>\n Still, <\/span>I <\/span>let <\/span>it <\/span>go\u2026 <\/span>until <\/span>the <\/span>wedding <\/span>day.<\/span><\/p>\n I <\/span>got <\/span>an <\/span>Instagram <\/span>notification: <\/span>Lisa <\/span>was <\/span>live-<\/span>streaming <\/span>her <\/span>wedding. <\/span>But <\/span>it <\/span>wasn\u2019t <\/span>a <\/span>small <\/span>Vegas <\/span>event. <\/span>It <\/span>was <\/span>a <\/span>lavish <\/span>ballroom <\/span>affair <\/span>with <\/span>dozens <\/span>of <\/span>guests, <\/span>crystal <\/span>chandeliers, <\/span>a <\/span>live <\/span>band\u2014<\/span>everything.<\/span><\/p>\n She <\/span>had <\/span>lied.<\/span><\/p>\n Family <\/span>group <\/span>chats <\/span>exploded <\/span>with <\/span>anger. <\/span>Many <\/span>of <\/span>us <\/span>had <\/span>donated <\/span>to <\/span>the <\/span>honeymoon <\/span>fund, <\/span>thinking <\/span>we <\/span>weren\u2019t <\/span>invited <\/span>due <\/span>to <\/span>financial <\/span>constraints. <\/span>Lisa <\/span>tried <\/span>to <\/span>backpedal, <\/span>claiming \u201c<\/span>last-<\/span>minute <\/span>sponsorships\u201d <\/span>helped <\/span>fund <\/span>the <\/span>big <\/span>wedding, <\/span>but <\/span>no <\/span>one <\/span>believed <\/span>her.<\/span><\/p>\n People <\/span>started <\/span>pulling <\/span>their <\/span>donations<\/span><\/strong>, <\/span>and <\/span>Lisa <\/span>eventually <\/span>deleted <\/span>the <\/span>GoFundMe.<\/span><\/p>\n She <\/span>and <\/span>Jake <\/span>got <\/span>their <\/span>dream <\/span>wedding\u2014<\/span>but <\/span>they <\/span>lost <\/span>the <\/span>family’s <\/span>trust.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When my cousin Lisa got engaged, I was thrilled. We were close, and I expected to be at her wedding. But as the date neared, I never received an invitation. When I asked, Lisa said they were having a very small Vegas wedding\u2014just ten guests\u2014due to budget issues. I was disappointed, but I understood. A …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4621,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4619\/revisions\/4621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildwondertube.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}