'I felt sick on my wedding day when only five guests showed up'

For one couple, their finally came - a day they imagined would be the best day of their lives, surrounded by the people closest to them - but it was far from what they imagined. As the bride-to-be and her groom walked into the reception, they discovered that nobody had turned up.

Kalina Marie and her husband, Shane, expected crowds of people to attend their day of dreams, but it quickly turned to dust when the doors opened onto an almost empty venue. As they entered the grand, yet eerily vacant reception hall, the bride and groom wore stoic expressions. The only sound filling the space was ' "When I Look at You", with the poignant lyrics "When my is falling apart" echoing through the emptiness, a stark contrast to the lavish decorations that surrounded them.

The couple, who walked into the hall with their son, can be seen putting on a brave face as they celebrate with the handful of guests who bothered to show up. The heartbroken bride, Marie, shared the clip on which has gained over seven million views.

“This is our entrance to our Masquerade ball,” Marie, from Oregon, wrote in the caption. “The Masquerade 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 mum messaged me at 1:15pm that no one was there. My husband and I finally showed up at 2 o’clock, to five people, in a venue planned for 40.”

Maire described how she had dreamed of walking into a venue full of people “hooting and hollering” the newlyweds. Instead, she had to “hold herself together” in the face of the dozens of empty seats.

“All the wasted food and drinks,” Marie continued. “All the empty tables and chairs. Every moment of my reception changed to adapt.” However, determined not to let no-shows ruin their special day, the couple shared clips dancing with the few people there and their first dance as husband and wife.

“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?” Marie questioned. “Why couldn’t we matter enough for people to show up?”

She shared that it made her “sick” that supposed “friends” of hers had still not messaged her to congratulate her or explain why they had not come. The clip generated hundreds of thousands of comments on TikTok, with many asking if there was another side to the story.

“How can people RSVP ‘yes’ and then not show up?” a puzzled user asked. “Were they just invited to the reception and not the ceremony?” another said.

In an update a week ago, the couple, who have been together for nine years and announced their wedding date in January, said they were “still a little embarrassed and still moving through the stages of grief,” as well as “still dealing with anger.”

“I wouldn’t even wish this on my worst enemy,” Marie added.