When you attend a wedding, you follow certain etiquette rules and customs while you’re there. Guests show up in an ensemble that speaks to the dress code, bring a gift, and actively (and enthusiastically!) participate in the couple’s carefully planned pre-wedding and big day events. These obligations, however, often come with certain costs; guests often purchase a dress or suit, travel and lodgings, and, of course, a present during this process.
Needless to say, it can be financially overwhelming. In the age of bank-breaking weddings, though, there are still plenty of duos who recognize the cost of being a wedding guest and adjust their plans accordingly. One viral (and profoundly wealthy) couple, however, recently took it to the next level—they put their guests up in five-star hotels, gave them access to a fleet of Rolls Royce cars, and even gifted them $800 on their wedding day, just for making the (fully-funded) trip.
Dana Chang, a travel creator known for her trips around the world, uploaded a viral TikTok of her friend’s wedding, which came with a ton of perks for guests, back in April. She starts off the video by saying “This is what a Crazy Rich Asian wedding looks like in real life” before explaining that the bride and her fiancé flew her to China, put all their guests up in a luxury hotel for five days, and offered them a private Rolls Royce car service so they could explore the area. The video jumps to the big day, where Chang shows how the couple’s wedding décor brought Europe to China with old-school phone booths covered in floral arrangements, custom newspapers with the couple’s photo on the front page, and staged coffee shops reminiscent of those you may see in Paris or London. But the “craziest thing,” according to Chang, was that the couple gave out red pockets.
In Chinese culture, it is customary for wedding guests to give gifts in the form of red pockets or envelopes, which contain money. The red packaging symbolizes good fortune and success. Chang’s friends put a spin on the Chinese tradition, giving their guests red envelopes, instead. “They refused to accept pockets from any guests,” she adds in the video, which shows the other gifts attendees received from the bride and groom. “Instead, my friend handed around to each guest red pockets—and that’s on top of giving us wedding gifts. So just for attending my friend’s wedding, myself and other guests got red pockets with $800, a wedding gift, almost a week stay at a luxury hotel, a private driver, and return flights.” In the comment section, Chang said she met this rich friend in high school and had “no idea that they were rich for years.”
Naturally, viewers were amazed by the couple’s multiple grand gestures; the video has gone viral in the past few months, garnering over 12 million views and 12,000 comments since Chang posted it. “Does your friend need another friend because I volunteer as tribute,” one person commented. “Look[ed] at my friends and sighed,” said another user. One person felt like other couples should take note. “Honestly this is a good friend. Rich or not, the steps taken are sooo thoughtful and loving! Even if you scale it down and make it like, I’ll Uber you to the venue, which is a nice AirBnb, etc,” they wrote. Another user agreed: “Not having your guests pay to travel to your wedding is pure class.”
