Ridiculous...
In that kind of situation. The host should have made absolutely clear upfront. We are doing a special thing and it will be $X per person. Please rsvp.
But to invite somebody to dinner, then blind side them with a bill? Extremely poor taste.
I own, on VHS, a documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright. One of the owners of one of his designs said that he would sometimes drop by with a knick knack of some sort and say he thought it would look really good on the mantle or some such. They thought that was really nice of him. But then they would get a bill for it in the mail. 🤣
Right? They should have stated the per individual price in the invite. No one expects to pay for a dinner party invite. So rude.
That said. I just had 35 neighbors over to celebrate our 50th anniversary. We had a local restaurant cater it. Cost me $1300, not counting the free booze.
They work for the IRS?