One couple has faced complaints after asking friends and family to attend a sunrise beach wedding. But then again, perhaps all weddings are fundamentally unreasonable

Would you go to a 5.30am wedding? This is the question on people’s lips after a Reddit user revealed that this is exactly what they were planning for their nuptials. “Every year on our anniversary, my fiance and I wake up early, go to the beach and watch the sunrise together,” they wrote, adding that the tradition meant enough to them to form the basis of their marriage ceremony.

The writer also said: “We have been getting a LOT of backlash from our families about this.” Some guests, apparently, feel that travelling to a beach for a sunrise wedding is as unreasonable as it gets. But is it? Is it really?

The short answer is that, no, obviously it isn’t. Because everything about weddings is unreasonable. Having a wedding in a different country, and forcing all your friends to spend thousands of pounds to go on an externally mandated holiday, is unreasonable. Asking your guests to dress to a specified colour code is unreasonable. Forcing your bridesmaid to lose weight for the ceremony, as one bride did in 2017, is unreasonable.

The world of weddings is full of pushy couples overestimating how happy their own marriage will make other people. In this context, asking people to wake up slightly earlier than usual is fine. And, as with every other outrageous wedding demand, it’s important to remember that attendance isn’t mandatory.

Besides, I think this is quite sweet. It is a beach wedding that takes place at the literal crack of dawn, so nobody would be expected to stuff themselves into uncomfortable formalwear for the occasion. Plus, once it is over, guests have got the rest of the day to do whatever they like.

Isn’t that the dream? No miserable wedding-reception small talk with strangers the couple mistakenly thought you would like. No rubbish wedding dinner. No forced dancing. No arguments about designated drivers. No crap hotels. Wedding, quick drink, back in time for Loose Women. Perfect. The whole thing sounds perfect. So would I go to a 5.30am wedding? I would. And, yes, this is a request for an invitation.