Is it polite to go to an event you are invited to when you know it's to be polite?

This afternoon/evening my parents, sister, brother in law and niece are attending a friend of their's wedding they know through a 4WD club. I met them briefly once at a weekend away when we all went to a 4WD weekend that I had to go to cause it coincided with my mums birthday weekend.. Anyway I haven't seen or spoken to them since and that was two years ago this weekend actually.

My parents and sister, brother in law and niece have been to a few outings and bbq's with them and got invited to their engagement party and then wedding.. I was also invited to go to both as well.. As I don't know them, I appreciated the invite, but I didn't feel comfortable to say yes to either of them since I had not spent anytime with them in two years and when I did meet them, it was just after my break up and I was too upset and sad to really contribute to the conversations..

My Dad feels I should have said yes to the invite and gone anyway since they thought to include me in the invitation.. However I just felt that although it was kind of them, it was really an invite to be polite so I didn't feel left out and I didn't feel it was my place to be there at their big day, I also thought if I said no, they had another seat to invite someone else who they might have wanted to invite to the wedding.. I know I would have been bored and probably would have wound up on my phone all night to entertain myself which I feel wouldn't have been appropriate..

What I wanna know is.. Is my Dad right by insisting I should have gone anyway as they did invite me or was I right in politely declining the invitation as I don't know them personally and I know I wouldn't have enjoyed it or had a good time at their special day.

 

Re: Is it polite to go to an event you are invited to when you know it's to be polite

Thanks to you both and I agree Chip. If it was a good friend or someone I was close to, I would certainly go to the wedding or special event whatever it was, but I do barely know them. I honestly wouldn't even know them if they walked past me in the street cause I don't remember what they look like.

 

Re: Is it polite to go to an event you are invited to when you know it's to be polite

Hexagon: Thanks, it what I was thinking too..

Kaiser: I made sure to politely decline. As I was on my parents invitation, My mum wrote that she and dad would be going but that I had decided not to go but thanks for the invite and they were fine with it, and didn't really expect me to say yes anyway, so that's how I knew it was out of politeness.

If it was someone I knew really wanted me there, I would not have even hesitated to say yes.

It is more so my Dad's opinion that he thought simply because I was invited, I should have gone. He is a little old fashioned on these types of things especially where if you are to be somewhere at a specific time, then it is rude to be even 1 minute late lol.