A woman named Kalina Marie arrived at her wedding reception, expecting to see the smiling faces of her family and closest friends, only to be greeted by an empty venue.
Just five family members out of the 75 guests that were invited showed up on Saturday November 2, forcing Kalina and her new husband Shane to walk down the aisle in silence.
The couple, who have been together nine years, had a private ceremony where they tied the knot and then attended a masquerade-themed reception, which had been 10 months in the making.
Despite the invites asking guests to be there before 1pm, Kalina’s mother sent her a message at 1:15pm to tell her no one was there. And when she and her husband arrived 45 minutes later, no one else had arrived despite multiple RSVPs.
Kalina posted the videos of her empty venue on TikTok, where they racked up nearly nine million views and responses from people who were incredibly upset for her.
The bride wrote: "I dreamed that I would walk into a bunch of people cheering us on, hooting and hollering for us in celebration… but all you see is a woman trying to hold herself together because she had NO idea how to deal with her venue being almost completely empty.
"All the wasted food and drinks. All the empty tables and chairs. Every moment of my reception changed to adapt. Did we still make the most of it?? You bet your SWEET ass we did.
"But did this video just take all the good moments and shoot them out of the water for a second, f**k yea it did."
In the video, two women can be seen pulling open the reception doors to reveal the bride and groom and their son. The venue is decorated with fairy lights and lanterns, but all the chairs are empty.
Kalina looks visibly shocked, shaking her head in disbelief as she walks hand-in-hand with her partner, before sharing a sweet kiss with him.
While she put on a brave face, inside the bride was distraught.
She explained after the wedding: "It just makes me think, like, why? What did we do? Am I that bad of a person? What did my husband ever do to deserve any of this? Why couldn’t we matter enough for people to show up?
"I still have 'friends' that haven’t even messaged me to congratulate me or tell me why they didn’t come. It truly makes me sick. I honestly can’t wrap my head around this yet. All I know is, I have my man. My baby. And family that shows up when I need them. And for that, I will be thankful."
Despite being so let down by those close to her, the bride was determined to make the most of her special day, posting a second clip showing her dancing with her cousin, mother and best friend.
Kalina also shared her and her husband’s intimate first dance where they embraced and told each other they "were all [they] needed and it was [them] against the world".
Thousands of TikTok users left comments of support on her videos.
Watch below.
@kalina_marie_23 This is our entrance to our Masqurade ball. The Masqurade ball that I have talked EXCESSIVELY about for the last 10 months. The same ball that I not only digitally invited over 75 people to. But ALSO spent money to send 25 beautiful invitations out to. FIVE PEOPLE SHOWED UP!!!!!!! Like, are you kidding me!?!? As you see in the video, we enter the venue. And no one is there. The invite said 1pm. My mom messaged me at 1:15 that no one was there. My husband and I finally showed up at 2oclock, to 5 people. In a venue planned for 40. I dreamed that I would walk in to a bunch of people cheering us on. Hooting and hollering for us in celebration……but all you see is a woman trying to hold herself together because she had NO idea how to deal with her venue being almost completely empty. All the wasted food and drinks. All the empty tables and chairs. Every moment of my reception changed to adapt. Did we still make the most of it?? You bet your SWEET @$$ we did. But did this video just take all the good moments and shoot them out of the water for a second, F$&K yea it did It just makes me think, like, why? What did we do? Am I that bad of a person? What did my husband ever do to deserve any of this? Why couldn’t we matter enough for people to show up? I still have “friends” that haven’t even messaged me to congratulate me or tell me why they didn’t come. It truly makes me sick. I honestly can’t wrap my head around this yet. But all I know is, I have my man. My baby. And family that shows up when I need them. And for that, I will be thankful#FAIL #fyp #whereisthelove ♬ original sound - Sara Lones
Posted: at | |