Surviving the Wedding

David Eddie hears from a reader who is unhappy about his brother's wedding plans and considering not attending.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, David Eddie hears from a reader who is unhappy about his brother's wedding plans and considering not attending.  The reader writes:

My brother is getting married this year. He and most of my family are religious while I am not. He and his fiancée have decided to have a religious ceremony 5 hours out of town one weekend and the reception the next weekend in town. While there are no formal wedding positions (best man, usher, etc.), he has asked me to be a member of the wedding party.

He wants my wife and I to be at both events. However, because we are not religious, their church will not allow us to attend or view the religious ceremony. When I asked my family what we would do while they're getting married, I was told we could wait outside the building until they were married and then participate in pictures and go out for dinner with them. I feel like we are being treated as second-class citizens, because we do not share the same belief system, but we're still expected to pay for accommodations, gas and meals and spend a weekend traveling just to have a few pictures taken after the wedding.

Should I suck it up and go and support them because it's their day, or should I voice my displeasure with the situation and risk damaging my relationship with my brother and his wife-to-be?

Click here to read Eddie's advice.