The Friendship Tax No One Talks About ft. Ru Wolle

#353: We’ve spent this entire visibility series talking about what it means to be seen — in your career, in your work, in the world. But this final episode brings it all the way home, because the most personal version of that question lives inside your closest friendships.

We all want to feel seen by the people who know us best. And this week’s guest shows us exactly how complicated that gets when a wedding is involved.

I’m joined by Ru Wolle, journalist and author of I Hope You Elope. After feeling financially and emotionally stretched by the obligations of being a bridesmaid, Ru made a decision that went viral — and sparked a conversation so many of us were quietly waiting to have. We get into the ways wedding culture has turned friendship into a loyalty test, how unspoken expectations create resentment, and why so many women walk away from a wedding weekend having lost a friendship they thought would last forever.

This one hit. I think you’re going to feel very seen — which feels like exactly the right note to end this series on.

This episode is for you if…

• You’ve ever said yes to something when every part of you wanted to say “can we talk about this first?”
• You’ve felt the financial pressure of wedding culture but didn’t know how to name it
• You’re navigating a friendship where something big went unsaid
• You want to celebrate the people you love — without it costing you the friendship

We talk about:

• Why friendships get tested hardest around major life events — and what’s really underneath that
• The unspoken expectations that quietly build resentment between even the closest friends
• How social media has changed what we feel like we owe each other in big seasons
• What honest communication actually looks like when the stakes feel too high to say anything

Episode Links:

• Follow Ru on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ru_wolle/
• Read I Hope You Elope — A Bridesmaid Survival Guide: https://bookshop.org/a/55347/9781668095683

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This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.

Produced by Dear Media

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