A French couple are among the first to try out an unusual app that allows strangers to pay them for an invitation to their wedding – with the soon-to-be newlyweds charging £130 for tickets.
Jennifer, 48, and her husband Paulo, 50, are selling tickets to their Parisian wedding via Invitin, a France-based app that lets paying guests attend a wedding of their choice, The Guardian reported.
It’s no secret that weddings cost an arm and a leg, so when Jennifer, an actress, and her ex-athlete husband stumbled upon the invention at a wedding fair in Paris, they welcomed the opportunity to recoup their costs.
For those wincing at the thought of allowing intruders access to the most intimate moment of their lives, Jennifer said the app uses a filtering process to ensure paying guests meet certain standards.
‘I thought: “Woah, that’s quite something”, having people you don’t know at your wedding,’ she recalled her first thought when she discovered Invitin.
‘But we took the flyer, went away to think about it and decided why not? If we can see the profiles beforehand on the app and choose who to accept, it could be something quite original to do’.
Five paying guests have purchased tickets to Jennifer and Paulo’s wedding through the fledgling app and will join the soon-to-be bride and groom’s friends and family – including their 18-month-old son – at their French nuptials, taking the total number of guests to 100.
Ticket holders will be permitted to enjoy the full day of festivities, including a posh dinner, drinks, live music. and the wedding ceremony itself.
They will also adhere to the event’s ‘chic and elegant’ dress code – something the couple made sure of while vetting profiles.
Jennifer, 48, and her husband Paulo, 50, are charging people £130 to attend their wedding in Paris through Invitin – a France-based app that lets paying guests attend a wedding of their choice (Stock image)
Jennifer – who met Paulo on a dating app during the pandemic – added that the unconventional guest list is about much more than just making money, as the couple intends to utilise it as a matchmaking project for their friends.
‘We have a lot more single women friends coming to our wedding than single men, so we thought this could balance things out a bit,’ she told the newspaper.
‘Although it will help a bit in terms of the cost of things like decoration and the dress. It’s also because we thought it could be fun and we’re extroverts and open to sharing things’.
Invitin is a start-up project that was founded in France by Katia Lekarski in April 2025.
It allows users to simply browse weddings and book a seat, allowing thrillseekers to ‘discover different cultures and venues’ through the institution of marriage.
She revealed to the publication that so far six marriages in Paris were due to make use of Invitin by inviting unknown guests to their ceremonies.
The topic itself is a polarising one, with one bride-to-be being labelled ‘tacky’ for wanting to charge guests $50 per person to attend her wedding.
Perhaps invitees took it personally as they weren’t strangers but rather friends and family of the bride that she had personally invited to the ceremony.
Ticket holders will be permitted to enjoy the full day of festivities, including a posh dinner, drinks, live music and the wedding ceremony itself (Stock image)
‘We all know weddings are very expensive,’ the woman said in an online group. ‘What do you think about charging guests $50 to come?’
The bride thought that making people pay was a bright idea that would cut down on food costs – without limiting the guest list.
‘RSVP with your $50…I don’t think it’s tacky. It’s practical and good business,’ she said.
People were quick to slam the bride and vented their outrage online – with many calling it ‘ridiculous’ and ‘cheap’ to expect guests to foot the bill.
‘Wow. Yes, we know you don’t think it’s tacky – you just want to be told you’re right. And you are not’ one woman said.
‘This is tacky AF. Can’t afford it, don’t do it!’ another agreed.
‘Here’s my thought: Have the wedding you can actually afford!’ a third chimed in.
Jennifer explains that there is filter process to ensure unknown guests meet certain standards (Stock image)
Others suggested that an attendance fee for a wedding simply wasn’t good value for money.
‘Girl, I don’t even go to bars with a cover charge,’ one woman said.
‘I can get better food and entertainment for my $50 a head,’ another added.
One man was appalled at the American woman for thinking that a wedding was meant to be ‘good business’ – and not a celebration of love.
Another person said that the ‘entitled’ bride didn’t understand the meaning of the word guest.
A New York couple who insisted on marrying in style had 80 per cent of their guests RSVP ‘unable to attend’, after they attempted to charge them $333 each.
Nova and Reemo Styles had their hearts set on a wedding in the city’s famed St Patrick’s Cathedral – but discovered that the church alone would cost $150,000.
The couple decided to think outside of the box and came up with the idea of getting their guests to cover the cost for them.
‘Let’s put the stress on the guests, and let’s sell tickets for a wedding’, Nova said.
Thousands of people were shocked over the influencer couple’s ‘entitled’ behaviour.
‘Talk about TACKY!’ one man wrote. ‘I would never think of making someone pay to come to my wedding! That is just ridiculous’.
‘These people are cheapskates! They want the bling, but are too cheap to pay for it’ another added.