Weddings are typically beautiful occasions that people put a lot of thought, time and effort into. But because they’re often such “big” things, weddings can also make for some awkward situations.
- The great-uncle who always gets drunk and makes passes at every female at the event
- The family members who don’t like “that” invitee’s skin color/sexuality/religion and proceed to gossip to everyone about it
- The bride who gets thrown into the pool (I observed this one at a wedding, years ago. The reception was outdoors, poolside, and, welp…)
But I’m not sure anything can beat the awkwardness of traveling halfway around the world to attend a wedding that, as it turned out, they weren’t invited to.
Misunderstood Invite Turns Into International Getaway
The groom was one of Davide’s close friends from college.
“The wedding came up casually in conversations between my boyfriend and the groom,” Sarli told the Daily Mail. She said the groom had described the event as a “small wedding with family and close friends.” Davide had interpreted the discussion as “you’re definitely going.”
Davide was so positive that they’d been invited that, according to Sarli, he “booked everything” for the destination wedding. He apparently paid $1,500 on round-trip flights and another $3,000 for five nights at the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, since that’s where other friends said they were staying for the event.
The big difference? The friends were actually on the wedding guest list. Yasemin and Davide, as it turned out, not so much. The couple had received a save-the-date text, but never received an official wedding invitation.
Sarli started feeling something was “not quite right” in the days leading up to the wedding, because they never got any updates about the event.
“The red flags started waving a few days before we left,” she said. “There were no follow-up messages, no schedule, no ‘can’t wait to see you!’”
By the time the two realized they’d made an incorrect assumption (because you know what happens when you assume LOL), it was “too awkward” to mention it to the bride and groom. On top of that, canceling the trip at the last minute would have meant losing a lot of money. Plus, since they both had busy work schedules, they had been looking forward to “finally spending time together”.
“So we made a mutual silent decision: We’ll just quietly turn this into a secret getaway and pretend like everything’s totally normal,” Sarli explained to People.com.
When You Travel 14 Hours… and Go Undercover
It was a 14-hour flight from Frankfurt to Buenos Aires, which Sarli calls their “secret vacation.”
“We kept it a secret mostly because it was mildly embarrassing, and we didn’t want to take any attention away from their big day,” Sarli explained. “We basically turned it into a little inside joke: ‘We flew across the world for a wedding we technically weren’t even part of.'”
Once they arrived in Argentina, the couple immediately went “undercover.” They didn’t want any of their friends to know they were there, to avoid embarrassment.
They even went so far as to track other guests’ social media updates so they wouldn’t bump into anyone.
“If we found out the wedding group was hanging by the pool, we stayed in our room or booked spa treatments,” said Sarli. “We ate super early or super late to avoid dinner overlap. We even planned random day trips just to make sure we wouldn’t randomly bump into anyone.”
They even went as far as using disguises – wearing clothes they typically wouldn’t wear – so that guests wouldn’t identify them at first glance.
Davide had to leave Argentina early because of work responsibilities. So Sarli flew back home alone, which “made the whole trip feel even a bit more surreal.”
TikTok, Breakups & A Wedding That Wasn’t
Sarli and Davide broke up not long after the “secret vacation.” But the former couple “never talked about it with anyone” from the wedding. Sarli did, however, post about the ordeal on TikTok a couple of weeks ago – and it went viral. So much for THAT secret. But Sarli says they’re all “still on good terms.”
@sarliunlimited priceless. #fyp #weddingvibes #adulting
“It was never about them — just one big misunderstanding that turned into a great story,” Sarli says.
As it turns out, Davide is scheduled to get married later this year. He left no room for confusion — he already told Sarli that she is “officially” invited to his wedding. 😉
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1 comment
What nice people to be so considerate of the wedding group and trying to avoid any awkwardness.