Wedding Singer Gifts Performance for Friend's Reception. After a Falling Out, Bride Still Expects Band for Free

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock image of a musician at wedding party.Photo:Martina Lanotte/getty

Martina Lanotte/getty

A wedding singer is wondering if she’s in the wrong to revoke her gifted performance at a friend’s upcoming nuptials after a major falling out with the bride and groom.

“We have performed for free for friends and family before and we offered to play a set in exchange for food. She was very [excited] about the idea,” the post’s author noted.

As her post went on to explain, the singer later got into a “huge fight” with the groom at the engagement party. The blow-up led to her getting kicked out of the event and the bridal party. She was then uninvited from the entire wedding, a decision the Reddit poster understood.

“It’s fine,” she wrote. “I couldn’t pretend to be happy for them at the wedding, it’s their day, if they don’t want me there, it’s okay.”

Stock image of a bride and groom upset on their wedding day.Chev Wilkinson/Getty

Chev Wilkinson/Getty

With her wedding invitation revoked, the woman assumed she was no longer expected to deliver on her gift, but the bride expected otherwise.

“My former friend (her words) insisted that since they had ‘booked’ us, we are required to perform at her wedding. For free,” the professional wedding singer shared on the forum. “I told her that we only perform for free for friends and family, and even they pay for accommodation and travel as well as provide us with food at the event.”

She continued, “If she wants us to perform, it’ll be the standard fee since we are not friends. We have an opening to take the wedding, but we are not doing for free.”

As a result, the post claims, the bride has spoken poorly of her former bridesmaid to their wider social circle. The singer wrote that their mutual friends believe the wedding band should perform for free “in order to keep the peace,” but the woman is still hesitant to “give an expensive value gift” to someone who no longer considers them friends.

The general consensus among Reddit replies favors the wedding singer’s stance, not the bride’s demands.

Stock image of a performer at a wedding.Kobus Louw/Getty

Kobus Louw/Getty

“The agreement to perform was based on a friendship that has since ended,” an anonymous user replied. Someone else agreed, “Since she removed you from the wedding, it’s fair to expect the standard fee for your services. It’s not unreasonable to set boundaries here.”

One comment suggested offering a “reduced price” performance as a possible solution that could “keep the peace” without invalidating the singer’s perspective.

source: people.com