Photo shows Doug and Dedra Simmons, Chicago couple who posted a $240 invoice online that went viral last week.
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Courtesy of Doug Simmons/ Nicky Watkins
  • The Chicago newlyweds who posted a $240 invoice said that some of their guests who RSVP'd apologized after not showing up.
  • It comes after the groom, Doug Simmons, shared the viral photo of the invoice online last week.
  • Simmons told Insider that they never actually sent the bill.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Chicago couple who posted a $240 invoice to the guests who failed to show up to their wedding said they received some apologies, stating that it was a "teachable moment."

Doug and Dedra Simmons held their dream destination wedding at the Royalton Resort in Negril, Jamaica this month. Simmons told Insider that 109 guests RSVP'd, but eight people did not show up – who he said confirmed their attendance from last November to as recent as August 1st. He noted they paid for the tropical wedding in advance.

The couple wasn't notified ahead of time that the guests were not coming, and when they returned to the states, Simmons said no one reached out to them.

"When we got back, they didn't say anything," Simmons told Insider on Monday. "And I feel like that was a real issue because we would've understood if they had told us that they could not make it. It wouldn't have been a problem. But to no call, no show… that was an issue."

And that's when he posted the viral invoice on his Facebook last Monday, on August 23, that caused a frenzy and heated debate online.

"Don't be offended when I sent this #invoice to you," Simmons wrote. "It's gonna look something like this. It's gonna look something like this. I'll be sending it via email and certified mail…just in case you ain't get the email #PettyPost."

Doug Simmons posted a $240 invoice online for guests who failed to attend his wedding.
A photo of the $240 invoice posted by Doug Simmons. He told Insider that he did not actually send the bill.
Courtesy of Doug Simmons

Simmons said he jokes a lot on his Facebook page and clarified to Insider that he never actually sent the invoice out. However, he did start to receive apologetic explanations from some of the missing guests after they felt bad after seeing his post.

"It was me just being a bit petty and just having a teachable moment at the same time. I've never had to send it out because just them [the missing guests] seeing it alone on Facebook brought about guilt," he continued. "You don't have to always do stuff for people, but the fact that you put it out there and they saw it, that's when they came running and say, 'Hey, you know, I apologize.'"

Simmons added that some guests even offered to cover the costs, but he declined.

"We said: 'Hey, it's okay. Let this be a lesson to you. Please don't do this to anybody else because we understand that things happen, but it's just not okay at the end of the day to do someone like that, especially someone that you call a friend or you call family.'"

According to Simmons, the couple has received hundreds of messages online from people who agree with his post.

He added: "The past three or four days, I've gotten hundreds and hundreds of comments and inbox messages thanking us. A lot of people have been stiffed when it has come to their wedding and their birthday parties. People RSVP, and they do not show. It's very inconsiderate and it's not okay."

Read the original article on Insider