- Wedding tickets are sold to strangers to help couples finance their celebrations
- Invitin, a Paris startup, offers wedding tickets priced between Rs 15,353 and Rs 40,941
- Strangers buying tickets can attend, enjoy, and mingle at weddings they are not invited to
A wedding is one of the biggest milestones in a person's life, and though it is a memorable day, it comes at a cost that is too expensive for the majority. Now, a Paris-based startup has come up with an idea that may help couples manage their wedding finances.
By selling tickets to weddings to strangers, the startup claims to help pay for the cost of the festivities. In return, the paying ticket-holders, who may not otherwise be invited to many weddings, could mingle with other guests and enjoy somebody's happy day.
The idea for the startup came to Katia Lekarski, founder of Invitin, earlier this year while she was renting her home in south-eastern France to guests attending a wedding. Seeing the wedding guests, her daughter innocuously asked: "Why aren't we invited to weddings?"
Ms Lekarski, a former fashion model who previously ran an online platform selling and distributing interior design goods for children, said the question from her daughter got her thinking.
"I thought: what if we could pay for tickets to a wedding and help the couple getting married in that way?" she was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
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Strangers at wedding
Now, Invitin lists several couples selling wedding tickets for Rs 15,353 (150 euros) to Rs 40,941 (400 euros) each, and plenty of eager guests are willing to pay.
"I thought selling tickets to your wedding to strangers sounded interesting. I don't have a big family, so I don't get to go to lots of weddings. It's great to experience a wedding and different traditions, even if it's strangers. I'm keen to check out the decoration and music, and we'll be partying on the dancefloor," said Ms Lekarski.
Jennifer, 48, and her partner, Paulo, 50, decided to avail Invitin's services as they planned their wedding. While 95 family members and friends will be attending the wedding, five paying strangers who have bought tickets will also come to witness the union."
Both Jennifer and Paolo vetted the profiles of the strangers before giving them the nod to attend the wedding.
"It's not only about the money, which is a drop on a hot stone in terms of the overall wedding cost. 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 extrovert and open to sharing things," said Jennifer.
