Man Ditching Wife's 30th Birthday for Wedding Party Slammed: 'Furious'

A man has been slammed online after he revealed that he was planning to go to his friend's wedding instead of his wife's birthday party.

In a post on Reddit's popular r/AmITheA******, user u/Acceptable-View-4318 explained that his wife was turning 30 and had planned a big birthday party with her friends and family.

But there was an issue. The man wrote: "Unfortunately my best friend has also got his wedding on the same evening. I have picked my best friend's wedding as we are very close and I do not get along with my wife's family."

While the husband was clear he had made his choice, his wife was not happy about it.

"My wife is now furious with me and demanding that I do not go to the wedding," he wrote. "But I can't go back on the commitment I made to my best friend."

Relationship expert and creator of interactive online dating game show "The Game Show of Love," Emma Mankey Hidem, told Newsweek: "Wife's 30th birthday vs. best friend's wedding is definitely a tough dilemma. Regardless of the order in which they were planned and in which he was invited, they're both major milestones for important people in his life."

Turning to the internet for advice, the man asked if he was wrong to be going to the wedding rather than his wife's birthday party—revealing that the party had been planned months in advance and the wedding invite had only arrived that week.

"I guess if you want to be divorced, it's fine to go to the wedding," said one commenter.

Another Redditor wrote: "You've known about your wife's party for months. You were going. Why is it ok to renege on that commitment?"

Instead of opting for one or the other, Mankey Hidem suggested that the husband make an effort to attend both events.

"He can attend both by leaving the wedding reception early to go to the birthday party," she said. "Yes, it's not fun to have to leave a wedding early to go to a party with people you don't like, but he made a commitment to his wife when he married her."

Other commenters on the viral post pointed out that the man may just be trying to dodge an uncomfortable evening with his in-laws.

"Your wife's party was planned for months and instead of sucking it up and spending time with her and your in-laws you decide going to a friend's poorly planned wedding is more important," said one reply.

Another commenter said: "It doesn't matter if you don't like your wife's family. Do you like your wife? Because it's about her, not them."

Statistics from Fatherly, a digital lifestyle brand that provides news and advice for parents, show that around one-third of couples have issues with their parents-in-law, with the most common arguments being caused by career success, parenting style and money.

But Mankey Hidem explained that relationships require compromise.

"It is common for people to dislike family members of their spouse—a lot of people don't even like members of their own families—but when you marry someone you are accepting the whole package of that person, which includes their family, so it is your duty to get along with them as best you can," she said.

"You can go, but prepare the divorce lawyer," suggested another Redditor on the viral post. "How you can't see you are the a****** is beyond me. The lack of preparation of your friends is not your wife's problem to deal with."

Newsweek has reached out to u/Acceptable-View-4318 for comment. We were unable to verify the details of this case.