It’s common knowledge that weddings have become quite expensive. According to The Knot’s 2021 Real Weddings Study, the average cost of a wedding in the United States was $28,000. So it only sounds realistic that couples are now finding interesting ways to cut costs.

In a story previously reported by FACE2FACE Africa, a couple wanted to hold their wedding reception on a train because, according to husband Daniel Jean, “we didn’t have enough money to host the reception of our dreams that I had always envisioned. I decided to surprise them with an amazing reception on the L train.”

While I could understand getting creative on a budget to make the big day unforgettable, this New York couple definitely went all out.

Nova and Reemo Styles treated their wedding planning like a concert and decided to charge guests admission to the event.

For $333, a guest could enjoy a 12-hour New York City experience and a seat on a double-decker bus. Guests were not told what to expect.

Excerpts from the wedding on their Instagram page show that while there was no specific theme, guests were encouraged to come in jeans.

“And I said, ‘People go to a Beyoncé concert because they know they’re going to have an experience. Let’s pressure the guests and sell tickets to a wedding,'” Nova told ABC7.

Her husband Reemo was initially skeptical whether people would come to the wedding if his wife’s plan went ahead. Although there were some objections, some guests attended the wedding.

Nova reported that one angry guest replied, “‘I would never spend money on tickets.’ ‘I don’t care.’ ‘Who do you think you are? Jay-Z and Beyoncé?'”

Like many others reading this, my initial thought was, “In the current economic climate, why are people asking us to pay so much to attend a wedding?” But kudos to those who did, because it meant they genuinely wanted to support the bride and groom, or were probably just curious to see how the whole thing would turn out.

Still, this means that some guests who love the couple and would have loved to be there may not have been because they couldn’t afford the ridiculous price of the wedding ticket.

Sure, others may have started a crowdfunding campaign, used registry contributions, or even asked for sponsorship to raise funds, but then again, I don’t know if the couple weighed those options before making their choice.

But regardless of criticism or not, the Styles’ strategy worked and saved them $70,000 in wedding costs.