Last night SO got a text message from his cousin, asking if we were busy the weekend of August 24th. SO said we had no specific plans, but that we were busy in general in the weeks leading up to our wedding, which is Sept. 14th. His cousin responded that he, in fact, was getting married August 24th and wanted to know if we could come.

My initial reaction was all, "Did we just get invited to a wedding via text message?" But then I started thinking about it, and while we don't really have specific plans for that weekend, I had pretty much decided I wasn't going to commit to much from now until after our wedding, especially to anything like a weekend trip, etc.

I have my bachelorette and bridal shower this weekend, next weekend is my final dress fitting, and I still have to make an appointment for my hair and makeup trial. I'm also DIYing all the decor and have barely made a dent in it yet, so I have been planning to spend most of my free time crafting.

Additionally, I have never met this cousin of SO's, and SO has not seen him or even spoken to him directly in the 2+ years we've been together. SO did not even know he was engaged or getting married until that text message! As best as we can figure, the cousin probably received our invitation (we invited all cousins on both sides as a matter of formality) and went "Oh crap, I was invited to his wedding and he wasn't invited to mine!" and so he sent a text invite.

The wedding is a few hours drive away and we'd end up having to spend the night, so it would eat up the entire weekend. I told SO that if he felt really strongly about it, I'd go, but I'd be stressed about losing an entire weekend to get things done 3 weeks before our wedding. SO is also starting grad school August 26th, so after that weekend, he will be of no help to me until the wedding.

SO said he really didn't mind if I didn't go, but that he might go by himself. Then I felt guilty because if that happens, his family will probably think I'm an asshole. To be clear, I don't mind at all that the wedding is so close to ours, so it's not about that, and I don't mind the text invitation, either - I think it's kind of funny. I just think it's really short notice and I start feeling really overwhelmed when I think of losing a weekend I had mentally set aside to get shit done.

I don't want to be a jerk, though.

WWYD?