12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
This simple wedding hack would be a godsend for single guests like me
At a wedding last summer, I was told there was just one single man in attendance – a friend of the bride's family who had officiated the ceremony. 'You should go for him,' urged my married friend, non-alcoholic beer in one hand, pregnant belly protruding underneath the other.
At first, I bristled; the audacity of coupled-up people thinking they can simply bump us single folk together like Barbie dolls! Just because it's a wedding and I don't have a partner, doesn't mean I want to meet someone! And who's to say I even fancy the one lone single man!
By 1am, though, my rationale was a little different and I was kissing that single man in his car. Later, I found out he wasn't actually single at all and had spent most of the night telling people about this amazing new woman he'd just started dating.
It wasn't the first time something like that had happened, either. Two weeks after I'd spent the night with someone who talked incessantly about his ex at a wedding, I found out she wasn't an ex at all. They were very much still together.
My point is that few settings are as ripe with opportunity and disappointment for single people as weddings. The setting itself is obviously romantic. Generally speaking, there's positivity permeating the air (and an open bar never hurts). But wedding hookups are not the love stories we've been sold. Most of the time at the ones I've been to, the number of single people in attendance has been low. And nobody is really making a concerted effort to set anyone up because, in all fairness, someone else's wedding is not about you, is it?
Personally, I think this is a waste. Hence why I was thrilled to see someone finally taking tangible action to give single people at weddings the leg-up we all deserve, so to speak. According to a now-viral TikTok shared by Killah Kelli, a therapist from LA, a recent wedding she attended was kitted out with 'singles sheets' on each of the tables, outlining photographs and names of all the single guests in attendance.
'Business in the front (LinkedIn), party in the back (IG),' Kelli wrote in the video's caption, in reference to the couple's decision to use LinkedIn and Instagram profile pictures on either side of the sheet, offering guests the chance to see a more well-rounded view of one another.
The creative strategy has gone down astonishingly well, with millions of people praising it across the internet. 'Those are real friends,' one person commented. 'They know hook-ups happen at weddings, they're just making sure you don't hook up with someone who maybe just left their spouse at home.'
As cringe-inducing as it might seem to some, a singles sheet would've certainly improved my wedding hookup experiences – not least because I would've been able to avoid the men who were actually in relationships.
Us single folk could all do with a little more support from our coupled-up friends, especially at weddings. The proceedings are long, with the average reception lasting around five hours, providing ample time to get to know someone and observe how they interact in a social setting.
Even with a singles sheet in place, I imagine it would feel far more organic going up to someone who took your fancy on the sheet and striking up a conversation about how you know the bride and groom, as opposed to trying to make small talk over text about the weird hobbies you listed on your Hinge profile.
In a dating culture that is fatigued by apps and online interactions, singles sheets are exactly what we need right now. It's thoughtful, it's proactive, and frankly, it's inspiring.
