Freeloading friend, was I right to say anything?

Bookowl

I completely disagree on this.
I'd given a gift to the newlyweds from their wedding registry and even offered to put her name on the gift. To that she said no I'm getting them a gift.
She didn't have to give a gift but purposely left a gift bag to throw me off the scent. Even said a gift was coming to my house.  You can slice that any way you want but that was a sneaky thing to do. She's repeatedly ignored me when I've chased it up. I actually don't believe the gift was ever even ordered but leave a gift bag anyway?! That's deceptive and sneaky! She basically lied to me.
Ok, so I'm being unreasonable apparently. NY was £180 and I again repeatedly asked her to it. I never got it back. My trip to London with the play and food that she paid with a taste card which offers 2for1 and half price deals on chained restaurants would've never added up to the fullamount I paid for NY. 
By your statement about me unreasonable re this I can only assume you do the same thing.

She'll never pay her way it seems not unless she is reminded several times and even then doesn't pay. She will never freely offer to pay her equal and fair share.

According to you that seems ok…right?! 

Whalie

If you decide to continue the friendship, then do not give her chance not to pay her share.  Don't buy tickets etc on her behalf, just send her details and leave it to her.  You know what she is like, just don't give her the opportunity to do this!

Rosa_Damascena

Might your friend have a different version of events / be taking something else she gave you into account? Recollections can vary!

It does sound to me like its better to walk away from the friendship than let this matter gnaw away at you.

enthusiasticsaver

Regardless of whether your friend is a freeloader or not it sounds like you are better off not making arrangements again with her. I think the plus one at the  wedding is a grey area as normally I would pay for any plus ones to an event like that and if your mum offered to go out of her way to pick her up from the airport that is on her.  If your friend offered to pay the £20 and hasn't then you are within your rights to keep chasing her for it as she did you.  The other trips sound like they were supposed to cancel each other out although you obviously feel they didn't.  The simple answer is don't make plans in the future unless you each pay for yourselves.  Most restaurants split bills and you can both pay for your own travel. The gift issue is either deceitful or a misunderstanding.  Only you and she will know that. 

Grumpy_chap

Are the comments around money a proxy for other uncertainties in the friendship?

If I had a friend that was close enough to me that they would accompany me to a Wedding as a "+1", and that friend agreed to make the visit, even with the costs of a flight, I would not be quibbling over the cost of petrol for Mum to give the friend a lift from the airport to my house.  Presumably, the flight has cost much more than £20, and if Mum needed the £20 petrol (which gets you quite a reasonable distance even with today's petrol prices), then I'd probably just settle up with Mum directly.

The gift thing also seems odd.  Presumably the friend is not particularly well known to the newly-weds, hence being the OP's "+1" rather than having an invite to the wedding in their own right, why would the "+1" consider a gift in their own right?  Going to a friend's friend's wedding where you don't really know many people can be quite dull TBH.  Or did the friend feel put out at only being a "+1" if they felt the newly-weds should have invited them in their own right (or named on the joint invite, not just a "+1"?

There seems to be a lot more here than has been shared.

What is the original basis and previous longevity of this friendship?