If anyone has been in the situation where the bride's parents are divorced and the father and mother absolutely hate each other. The bride is close to her father and has a very shaky relationship with her over dramatic mother. We've decided to semi-elope and invite only those very close to us including the bride's 3 best friends, her father, brother and the groom's father and sister (and all of their respective others). The bride does not want to include the mother, but knows that if she doesn't there will be hell to pay afterwards when the mother finds out the father was there. The bride's mother is also an alcoholic and will want to be involved in everything the bride does, which the bride doesn't want. Does anyone have any advice on this? It would be about 8 hours away from their homes so it would be a kind-of destination wedding, but a place that you can drive to. What do you do? The bride feels somewhat bad about not inviting her just because it is her mother, but does that justify having to deal with all of the drama she knows the mother will bring? The father's girlfriend will also be there.

So don't invite her, it is your wedding

Toni and I had the same thing, her mom and dad are separated, and no one wanted to invite my mom.

So we just did not invite any of them. In the end there will not be a right answer, since no matter which you do, something is going to be there to help you end up on the Jerry Springer show at some point