I won $10k from a scratchie wedding favour, friends tell me to gift to couple

"I was shocked they wouldn’t give at least a small amount as a belated wedding gift to the bride and groom, given they wouldn’t have had the ticket without them," a friend said.

Eleanor Katelaris

3 min read

August 28, 2023 - 9:23AM

Sex Relationships

Don't miss out on the headlines from Sex Relationships. Followed categories will be added to My News.

Sarah* was recently a bridesmaid at her friend's destination wedding in Cyprus.

As a show of appreciation to their guests for making the effort to travel, the bride and groom gave out scratchies as wedding favours.

But when Sarah ended up winning some pretty serious cash from hers, the question arose about whether or not she should share the winnings with the newly married couple.

Sarah's friend took to Reddit to vent...

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this.

Image: IStock

"I casually asked them how much they were going to give to the bride and groom"

Sarah's friend explained in the thread: "The whole wedding day was lovely, we had a wonderful time. For context, I have a close friend group of 10, all couples and we all decided to make a big holiday of it and rented a villa for 10 days.

"As part of the wedding favours the bride and groom gave everyone a lottery scratch card in a cute little pouch. We all sat down to eat and while we were waiting, Sarah started jumping up and down shouting she had won $10,000 on the scratch card.

"The whole room erupted in applause and the bride and groom ran over to congratulate them. It was already a very happy occasion but this just made it even better."

The next morning at breakfast, Sarah and her partner Paul were chatting about what they were planning to spend the winnings on.

"Everyone was asking them questions and I casually asked how much of it they were going to give to the bride and groom," the poster said.

"There was no agenda behind my question - I didn’t ask because I was trying to hint that they should do this, it just never occurred to me as a possibility that they wouldn’t give at least a small amount as a belated wedding gift to the bride and groom, given they wouldn’t have had the ticket without them."

Paul and Sarah then went "very quiet" before Paul admitted they weren't planning on sharing anything with the couple - before Sarah "got up and walked out."

"Later by the pool, it was clear Sarah had been crying and Paul said I was an a**hole for making them feel awkward and implying they were cheap," the OP said.

"I just said it because that’s what I would do in their situation, but it is their money and their decision so they should do what they want with the money (I forget exactly how I worded it - but that was the jist)," she clarified.

Paul and Sarah then walked off and didn't talk to their friend for the rest of the holiday. The friend conferred with the rest of their friendship group, who all agreed they thought they should share some of the prize money.

"Mind your own business"

Users in the comments ultimately sided with Sarah and Paul, saying the OP should have "minded her business."

"The scratch card was a gift to them. There was a lot of presumption and implied judgment in your question, whether you meant it or not. Mind your own business in the future," the top comment said.

Another person wrote: "$10k is a great win but it's not so much they can share it without making their winning pretty meaningless to them in the end."

And a third agreed, adding, "Because of the way you phrased the question you stopped them from making a kind gesture themselves and turned it into an obligation where the amount they decided to share would then be an issue for people to question if it was 'enough' or not.

"It's such a shame you turned something nice for them into something that made them sad."

"You’re the a**hole. Everybody got a scratch card and they won. It is NOT your business to inquire how they would spend that money, especially in public, regardless of your intention," someone else concluded.

A different user pointed out that the OP had "no idea what Sarah and Paul might have needed the money for".

"You just had to put them on the spot and implicitly pressure them to do what you think you would have done with the money if you had won instead," a different woman said.