A bride was left distraught when she realized no one had attended her wedding reception.
US based kalina marie documented her wedding day in a heartbreaking TikTok that received more than 6.6 million views, with other users urging her to “redo” the event so she could attend.
In the now viral video, Kalina, her husband and son can be seen walking towards an empty venue where their masquerade ball-themed reception was taking place.
‘POV: You planned the most beautiful entrance. Just to open the doors to an empty place,” the newlywed wrote about the images, which showed two people opening the doors for Kalina and her husband.
A woman dressed in red can be seen applauding as a photographer captured her entrance.
US-based Kalina Marie shared heartbreaking footage from her wedding reception on TikTok after only five people attended the event.
The only other person in the frame was a woman who appeared to be working on a laptop, possibly controlling the music.
Kalina captioned her video: ‘This is our entrance to our masquerade ball.
The masquerade ball I’ve talked about EXCESSIVELY for the last 10 months,” he continued. ‘The same dance to which I not only digitally invited more than 75 people. But I ALSO spent money to send out 25 beautiful invitations.
‘FIVE PEOPLE APPEARED!!!!!!! Are you kidding?!? As you see in the video, we enter the premises. And there is no one there.
The bride explained that she delayed her entry for an hour after her mother gave her the news that no one had shown up at 1 p.m.
At two in the afternoon the room was almost completely empty.
‘I dreamed that I was with a group of people cheering us on. Screaming and shouting to celebrate us,” Kalina shared.
“But all you see is a woman trying to hold herself together because she had NO idea how to deal with the fact that her place was almost completely empty.”
In the now viral video, Kalina, her husband and son can be seen walking towards an empty venue where their masquerade ball-themed reception was taking place.
She added that while the couple ultimately “made the most” of their wedding party, the lack of support from their “friends” left her feeling “sick.”
‘It just makes me think, why? What did we do? Am I such a bad person?
‘What did my husband do to deserve all this? Why couldn’t we care enough to have people show up?
‘I still have ‘friends’ who haven’t even messaged me to congratulate me or tell me why they didn’t come.
‘It really makes me sick. Honestly, I can’t understand this.
Kalina ended her post by saying she was grateful to be surrounded by family “that shows up when I need them” before adding the hashtag #whereisthelove.
Her post sparked an outpouring of support from TikTok users, who promised Kalina that they would attend her reception if she decided to “do it again.”
One comment said: ‘Let’s do it again. This time invite me and the rest of us. We’ll show up and get out. I love you beautiful, and congratulations!!’
Another person added: ‘Now you have 52,000 people who will see you enter! We are cheering and shouting for you!!!’
A third person wrote: ‘I say redo it and we can all support you and your beautiful family!’
Others offered to send wedding gifts to Kalina and her husband, who she has been dating for nine years, with one person urging her to “MAKE THAT gift list.”
Some offered excuses for why Kalina’s guests had not attended the reception, including being too broke and confusion over whether the masquerade ball was to celebrate their marriage.
One comment said: ‘Some people don’t go to events because they don’t have money.’ I once slept in my car for a friend’s wedding because I couldn’t afford a room or a gift. “Then I saw people say that it is rude not to buy a gift.”
Another added: ‘I’m so sorry! Did these people RSVP? Has anyone offered an explanation? Was the invitation for a wedding or a masquerade ball?
‘Did they know this was your wedding? I send you love and hugs’
A similar comment read: ‘Is this a reception or a masquerade ball? Maybe they didn’t understand it?
The bride responded to this message about guests’ possible confusion about her reception being a masquerade ball, clarifying that guests “knew exactly what it was” because she had “talked about it excessively for 10 months.”
A handful of people shared that they had had similar experiences, with one person revealing, “My husband and I sent out over 200 invites with over 150 RSVPs and even called the night before to tell us they were coming.”
‘We had less than 40 people actually. I spent over $9,000 (around £7,000) on the place.
After her TikTok went viral, Kalina thanked people for their kind messages and support and shared a sweet video of her and her partner’s first dance together as husband and wife.
She captioned the post: “Never in a million years did I imagine my video would blow up like it did.
“I’m completely overwhelmed.”
However, Kalina added, the joy of receiving “love and support” from people on TikTok was accompanied by “the pain of erasing many people from our lives.”
She also thanked her new fans for offering to attend a “redo” party and said she will be “forever grateful that so many people were able to see the entrance I dreamed of.”