A bride has spoken out after she went viral this week for sharing a video of herself walking into an almost empty venue at her wedding reception.
After viewers speculated that there must be “more to the story” and questioned how it could have gotten to that point without her knowledge, Kalina Marie decided to update her followers on the details leading up to that day.
She and her husband, who have been together for nine years, got engaged in 2019 and could not have the wedding when they had planned, due to the pandemic.
In January of this year, they announced they would finally tie the knot in October, and for the past 10 months, Marie said she’s been “talking about it” all over Facebook.
“I created a Facebook event and invited everyone I could and also sent out over 25 invitations to our seniors and those who are not on social media to make sure they were included as well,” she said in a video.
Marie said she received 40 RSVPs, so she planned for that number by setting the venue accordingly and making sure her mom had enough food.
She also made sure to get in touch with everyone last week to confirm their attendance and said “at least 20 people” had gotten back to her saying they were coming and some even had outfits.
The biggest question she’s left with after the massive no-show is “why?”
“If I could answer that, I would tell you. And no, I haven’t really gotten a lot of messages explaining why people weren’t there or giving me excuses,” she said.
However, the newlywed said she was actually grateful for this because it meant she could clearly see who really cared for her and her husband.
“We’ve had to deal with the grief of cutting so many people out of our lives,” she admitted.
“For the most part, we’ve been doing a lot of reevaluating our lives and just spending a lot of time appreciating what we have and what we’ve had.”
In another clip, Marie said she was still “a bit embarrassed” and “going through the stages of grief” after the day.
When people asked her for a “re-do,” she agreed, but said her husband is extremely introverted and is also dealing with a lot of residual anger.
“A lot of his family were the no-shows as well,” she revealed.
One of the saddest parts about this whole thing is that she didn’t get any cards from people.
For anyone who has had something similar happen to them, Marie says: “I’m really sorry, as I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
News.com.au has contacted Marie for further comment.
Just like in her original video, Marie’s comments section was filled with messages of support.
“My heart aches for you,” said one person, while another called him “cruel” and a third “unbelievable.”
Others noted that it was a powerful learning moment: “You really find out who your friends are when you have a wedding. Sorry, you went through this,” insisted one user.
“You don’t need people who didn’t introduce you in your life,” assured another.
Marie’s original video now has eight million views and showed the shocking moment the couple walked into their empty waiting room.
Hand in hand with stoic expressions, they walked alongside their son and tried to come to terms with what had happened.
A somber cover of Miley Cyrus’ When I Look at You was their opening track, with the lyrics: “When my world is falls apart” eerily reflecting their situation as they put on a brave face.
“This is our entrance to our masquerade ball,” Marie wrote in the caption.
“FIVE PEOPLE ARE INTERVIEWED!!!!!!! Like, are you kidding me!?!? As you see in the video, we enter the premises. And no one is there. The guest said at 1:00 p.m. My mom texted me at 1:15pm that no one was there. My husband and I finally showed up at 2 o’clock, to five people, at a place scheduled for 40.”
Marie said she had a “dream” that she walked into a group of people who were “howling and screaming” at them.
However, she had to “hold it together” because she had no idea how to deal with the fact that her place was almost completely empty.
Despite the disappointing turnout, she said she wasn’t going to let her no-show guests ruin her special day.
She explained that they still made the most of it, sharing clips from the dance floor with the few people who showed up and a sweet clip of her and her husband dancing for the first time.
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Image Source : nypost.com