"AITA for suing my friends after their wedding?"
I (30M) am a lawyer, but I’m also very active in music. I sing, and I play piano, organ, guitar. Pretty much any instrument I can get my hands on. I’ve performed at several weddings, often as a personal favor for close friends.
A while back, my friends Jimmy and Belle asked if I could handle the entire music for their Catholic wedding mass. That meant singing and playing organ through the whole liturgy processional, offertory, communion, recessional, etc. I agreed, assuming I was being invited as a guest and doing this out of friendship.
But as the wedding approached, I noticed I hadn’t received any kind of invitation not even to the mass. I asked Belle and she replied: “Oh! We had to trim the guest list. But you can still come early to rehearse and do the music.”
Translation: I wasn’t invited. I wasn’t even treated like a guest. Just free labor.
Still, I honored the commitment. I arrived early, rehearsed, sang and played the entire mass alone, packed up, and left. No acknowledgment, no token, no food, no seat, no thank-you.
So I sent them a professional invoice at a reasonable rate for performing solo for a full wedding mass. Nothing excessive. Just what it was worth.
They didn’t pay it.
Belle ghosted me. Jimmy said he’d “talk to her,” but nothing happened.
They ignored follow-ups. After 30 days, I sent a demand letter. No response. So I sued them for breach of oral contract and unjust enrichment.
We had written messages confirming the arrangement. Screenshots of Belle asking me to perform, timing, songs, and expectations. I represented myself. They showed up shocked that I followed through.
Guess what? I won. The judge ruled in my favor and ordered them to pay the full amount, plus court costs.
Now our friend group is on fire. Some say I went too far. Others quietly say “good for you.” Belle’s been posting cryptic quotes about “betrayal” and “money over friendship.”
So now I’m wondering AITA for suing people I once considered friends after they used me for free live music and refused to pay?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
Abject-Ad-2459 said:
NTA. If you were not allowed to attend as a guest, that means you were hired to play, this they pay.
Weekly_Barnacle_485 said:
If you were "trimmed" from the guest list they don’t consider you to be much of a friend.
Jumpy-Speaker8517 said:
Money over friendship is a joke where was this friendship when you didn’t even get an invite to the wedding. It was clear they only wanted to use you as free labor.
Rejscj24 said:
You tried. They failed. They obviously did not consider you a friend.
FinePossession1085 said:
NTA. They didn't invite you to the wedding and treated you like "the help" but more rudely than one should ever treat people who service events.
FaeriegurlShops said:
Don’t do business with friends. That is a quick way to lose your friends. The end.