Carolyn Hax: A face-slap to be excluded by fiance’s friends

Dear Carolyn: My fiancee’s friend is having an engagement celebration weekend at an out-of-town resort. The guest list included the friends and significant others of the bride- and groom-to-be, including my fiancee, but I was not addressed on the invite. When my fiancee responded that both of us were coming, she was informed that it was a “friends only” event and that the invite was for her to attend solo. As for the other significant others, we were told that they are mutual friends. By inference, this means that I am not – I am just the person my fiancee has been dating.

Have I misinterpreted my role all along? Should this change how I approach them going forward? Should this change how my fiancee approaches them going forward? And what if it doesn’t change her friendship with them; should I be hurt by her loyalties? – Feeling Left Out

You just took a face-slap, so it makes sense that you’re responding emotionally – but taking one opinion as a consensus is a dangerous habit to get into.

So, no, this shouldn’t change how you approach “them,” nor should it change how your fiancee approaches “them.”

Do, though, open your mind to the important information available in the way your fiancee responds to this insult.

Did she acknowledge your hurt feelings? Did she feel hurt? Did she tell her friend that your exclusion was insulting to her?

The most important information I’m missing is whether you can talk about stuff like this with your fiancee, freely, productively and without defensiveness on either side.

It can definitely be tough on a couple if their peer groups aren’t rooting for them, but not damaging as long as you two are rooting for each other. Bringing up the former with your fiancee is where you start looking for answers, but in the latter is where I suspect you’ll find the truth.