That is the question you need to ask yourself. How you handle this will determine if your friendship survives at all once the wedding is over. This is a very important event of your friend's life and by inviting you, you have been asked to share in it. If she attended your wedding, and your mutual friends will be there, you need to handle this with a lot of consideration for her feelings.

You cited a lot of good reasons why attending may not be feasible. The wedding is far enough away that you need to travel and will more likely than not need at least one night in a hotel, so it's not exactly convenient. You cite the expense and after having attended three weddings last year (two of which I had to travel for and one where I was in the bridal party), I can certainly sympathize with being leery about spending that much money. Between the gift, travel, hotel, and possibly a new outfit for yourself, the costs can run hundreds of dollars. If you really cannot afford to attend, there's nothing wrong with admitting it. Maybe you're overwhelmed by student loans that you and your husband are paying back. Maybe one of you is out of work at the moment, or you're saving up for a house. When the wedding isn't local, it's a little easier to bow out gracefully.

You also cited that you're husband is not exactly a social butterfly and "dreads" these kind of social situations. While it's understandable that he would try to avoid large gatherings where he might be uncomfortable or have to put himself out in some way, it's going to very much isolate you as well. It's not a healthy response and you either need to help your husband become more comfortable in social settings, or accept that when it comes to things like weddings, you may end up having to attend solo. Otherwise you will find yourself losing the good will of a lot of friends and family.

If you want to keep the bride as a friend, return the RSVP card indicating that you are unable to attend and then speak with her directly. Let her know that you wish that you could go, but explain honestly why you can't. Send a gift (at least as good a gift as you would have given if you had attended) and show interest in her special day. Make sure that she knows that you really would have attended if you could and will at least be there "in spirit". She may be momentarily upset that you couldn't be there, but can quickly get over her disappointment by you showing that you still care. Make plans to get together after she gets back from the honeymoon where you can catch up without the pressure of the wedding. You might find that you are able to build a better and closer friendship if you want to.

You seem ambivalent about maintaining your friendships with a lot of these people, but you also are conflicted about just letting these relationships slip away. You claim that you don't feel any closeness to the friend who is getting married. Why? She obviously feels that you are good friends, so you need to ask why you don't feel the same. You obviously cared enough to help her through that rough patch and she logically believes that you care about her. If she's not the kind of person that you want to be around and won't miss her presence, then it's OK to admit it. But at least have the guts to admit that this is not a friendship that you want to put any effort in preserving. If that's the case, just decline the invitation and be prepared to give up this circle of friends.

Really think about what you are doing before acting and possibly ending a lot of friendships. Are you disinclined to go because you just don't want to be put out socially? If so, then the problem is with you, not them. If you really don't care for these people and have a good circle of friends that you socialize with regularly, then it's OK to cut the ties and move on. But be honest with yourself and them.

I fully expect Speed Racer to be more a visual event that an actually storyline since the original anime wasn't exactly Tolstoy. Even as a kid, when I started my anime addiction, I could appreciate that Speed Racer was pretty lightweight stuff, especially in comparrison to Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman) and Star Blazers (Space Cruiser Yamado). The plotlines were paper thin and the action was over the top and comical. When you have a villian called Snake Oiler and the repeated reminders that Racer x is in reality Rex Racer who was supposed to have died years ago in a tragic racing accident yada yada... Rashamon this isn't. And it's not supposed to be.

Every time they try to update a cartoon into a more modern themed movie, it never seems to work (Josie and the Pussycats anyone?). People do want to see the same elements that made the shows fun when they were kids and don't want the stories to be modernized too much. I'm kind of happy that the movie is going to retain the simplistic, silly plotline that is true to the original. There was a certain charm to the old anime and I'm rather looking forward to seeing something that has the qualities of a show that I was so fond of as a kid.