Kalina invited over 40 people to her wedding. Only 5 showed up.

Kalina Marie and her husband had been dreaming of their wedding day for what felt like forever.

After nine years together and a pandemic that delayed their plans, they were finally ready to say "I do" in October.The couple, engaged since 2019, had been meticulously planning their big day for over ten months.

Kalina kept everyone updated on Facebook, creating a guest list of family and friends she thought would be there to celebrate one of the biggest moments of her life. She even sent out written invites to her family who did not have profiles online.

But on the day of the wedding, as Kalina and her husband walked into the venue, their hearts sank.

Image: Instagram

Out of the 40 people who RSVPed, plus 25 written invites sent to older family members, only five actually showed up. Just five.

In a TikTok that's now gone viral, Kalina shared her heartbreak with the world. "FIVE PEOPLE SHOWED UP!!!!!!!" she wrote in the caption. "Like, are you kidding me?!"

She had pictured walking into a room full of cheering friends and family. "I dreamed that I would walk into a bunch of people hooting and hollering," Kalina said. But instead, her entrance song—a cover of Miley Cyrus' 'When I Look at You'—felt painfully ironic.

Watch: Marie invited over 40 people to her wedding, and confirmed the week before. 5 showed up.

As the lyrics played, "When my world is falling apart," she couldn't help but feel that they matched the scene. The decorated venue, nearly empty, was nothing like what she'd imagined.

"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," she said in the heartbreaking video's caption.

"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?"

She continued, "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."

Image: Instagram.

In the week leading up to the wedding, she had personally confirmed several guests who assured her they'd be there.

"I had 40 RSVPs, and so that's what we planned for. We set up the venue for 40 people. My mom made enough food for 40 people," she explained.

"I checked in with everyone the week of, and at least 20 people had gotten back to me saying that they had an outfit and that they were coming."

Image: Instagram

But when the big day came, they were nowhere to be found.

So, despite the heartbreak, Kalina and her husband decided to make the best of it, dancing and sharing moments with the few loved ones who did show.

"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," Kalina added.

Looking back, she said this experience has been a time of "re-evaluation."

"We've been having to deal with the grief of deleting a lot of people out of our lives," she explained.

In a follow-up TikTok, she addressed some of the comments and questions she'd received: "Today is one week since that happened. And I still ask myself why every day.

"But I am thankful that I have my husband and my son to remind me exactly why we will get past this and we will get through this. Thank you all for your questions, and I truly hope this clears some things up for everyone."

She also clarified the setup: her mother, a chef, had prepared all the food, and it's common nowadays to have a private ceremony and separate reception.

Image: Instagram.

"For those who say they wouldn't come to the reception because they weren't invited to the wedding—I'm sorry that's your attitude. But it's kind of the trend nowadays to have two separate events."

Perhaps most painful was that a large portion of no-shows were from her husband's family. "A lot of his family were the ones who didn't show up," she revealed, noting that he's still grappling with disappointment.

Since sharing her story, people have rallied around her, with countless TikTok users sharing similar experiences of being let down by those they thought they could count on.

One user shared, "They were never real friends. Me and my partner were going to have a big wedding, then the engagement party changed our minds with people not showing up, cancelling, or not even replying. Not real pals."

A wedding photographer also chimed in, saying she's seen this trend firsthand: "Wedding photographer here. I've been seeing a huge trend of this happening. I ask brides to put on their contract how many were invited... and even the ones that say 150ish guests, there may be 60 show."

Others shared their own disappointments with events gone wrong. "Happened to my daughter's birthday. I will never do it again. We'll take her places for her birthday now," wrote one commenter.

Another added, "Congratulations! ❤️ This same thing unfortunately happened to me as well 3 weeks ago. I spent all morning decorating myself, making sure everything was nice. No one called to say they weren't coming."

Reflecting on the outpouring of support and offers for a "redo" wedding, Kalina wrote: "It has been a whirlwind of emotions since this happened just this last Saturday.

"Thank you all so much for offering a redo, wouldn't that be amazing? But, like many of you have said. My little group is really all I need. And now I truly know, who is there for me and who is not.

"I will just be forever grateful that so many people got to see the entrance I dreamed about for so long."

Feature image: TikTok