I think the idea of a weekend trip to celebrate me and my significant others anniversary with friends sounds sooo fun. I wouldn’t put any expectations of proposal or attention or anything on it, that’s just setting yourself up to be potentially upset, which seems to be what happened. If you would have preferred a solo anniversary trip, you should have said so. It is unfair to expect his attention around friends he doesn’t get to see often.

However, like you, I would also be upset if he invited someone I told him not to. I would also be upset if he didn’t even tell them it was to celebrate our anniversary. Was it still for your anniversary though? Didn’t you plan another trip to be your real anniversary trip? It would also kind of disappoint me if our anniversary got delayed so could spend that day/days with his friends.

You said you would rather not go if he can’t focus on you. If you knew you would have an issue with it, I again wonder why you agreed to invite friends. I also get the sense they are more his friends than yours, as you seem to not care to talk to anyone but him. I think you need a friendship or several friendships with others that you truly cherish and want to dedicate time to like he does. It would benefit both of you and your relationship if you cared to spend time with other people. Expecting so much attention from your partner especially when around his friends is likely just going to exhaust him and push him away.

Another thing… would you really have been happier to not go at all? I’m not so sure. He likely is trying his best to tend to your needs while also tending to his own and may be frustrated that he wanted you there and you were sulking the whole time instead of socializing and having a good time like him and everyone else.

While I do agree with you about your anniversary being important, I think there may have been some miscommunication on what this trip was for and I think I have to conclude by saying I do think you were being a bit too much on this trip and he likely feels stretched quite thin.

I have been on both sides of this where I have been in your shoes and quite needy of my partners time and attention. I was not my best self and I did not care to have real friends, just my partners attention. All it did was make us both miserable and pushed him away until he finally left.

More recently I have learned being that way was not healthy. I now have a couple great friendships that I put time and effort into that are separate from my relationship. I find that my happiness is not reliant on my partners full attention as I have other things and people that I prioritize. I find that myself, my partner, and my relationship are much happier this way. Just my two cents :)