There have been many unusual and jaw-dropping wedding stories as of late.
There was the bride who said it was “selfish” and “wrong” for her bridesmaid to get pregnant before the wedding day. And the “hurt, bewildered, angry and irritated” bride who wanted to uninvite the guests who gave her gifts instead of cash.
Then, of course, there was the bride who issued a weight-based dress code for her guests (and threw a lie-detector ‘party’ to find out who leaked the details online).
Now, a bride-to-be has been accused of “shaming” her guests after she revealed her plans to have them do a maths quiz at her wedding.
She explained on Facebook that she and her husband-to-be were mathematicians, so their wedding will be “perfused with mathematical tidbits”.
She said that they were planning on giving their guests maths challenges on their big day: each individual, or couple, would need to solve the problem to find out where they are going to sit.
The issue that most people had with the idea (beyond it probably going to be fairly difficult after a few glasses of bubbly) was that the bride said the “unique, bespoke” questions would be tailored to the guest’s “mathematical background.”
Which sounds innocent enough…at first. But what if someone gets a problem that they can’t solve, and ends up flooded with self-doubt or embarrassment? Or what if they end up insulted as they get a very, very basic maths question?
In a Facebook screengrab shared on Reddit, the bride said:
“Since both [husband] and I are mathematicians, our wedding (which is coming up so soon!) will be perfused with mathematical tidbits.
“For example, at the dinner, guests will be required to answer a mathematical question in order to find out where they sit.
“Every guest/couple will be presented with a unique, bespoke question: its difficult and subject matter drawn directly from what we know their mathematical background to be.
“In fact, a large number of our guests have research-level mathematical background, so for most of them their question has been drawn directly from their research paper or thesis.
“It’s been a rather time-consuming but very entertaining process to look at all kinds of papers that I wouldn’t ever normally look at. Like, for example, set theory!”
The idea received a mixed response on Reddit, with some users finding it “nerdy but cute” while others completely disagreed with the idea.
One person said:
“Potentially belittling to certain guests. Incorporate your passion for math in a way that won’t be frustrating or embarrassing in my opinion.”
Someone else commented:
“Sounds like a great way to make sure each of your guests feels either inadequate or insulted, but at least it’s bespoke!”
Another person joked:
“Upon looking into my background, they would likely decide to just sit me at the kid’s table.”
