- An engaged couple filmed themselves adding a speeding ticket fund to their wedding registry.
- They posted it on TikTok as a joke for their friends and family, not expecting it to go viral.
A couple added a speeding ticket fund to their online wedding registry after the groom-to-be was fined in the weeks leading up to their big day.
On October 9, TikToker Annabelle Griffin posted a video with an on-screen caption that said her wedding was in 26 days, before the clip showed a close-up of a letter her fiancé James Worth was holding, which appeared to have been sent from Tushka Municipal Court, in Atoka, Oklahoma.
The upload then showed a computer screen displaying an online wedding registry, which showed a listing titled "James's Speeding Ticket Fund," which amounted to $231, as Worth appeared to jokingly add "please help" in capital letters to the note box alongside it.
In the caption beside the upload, Griffin tagged the wedding planning service they used to create their registry to ask if they could add "the state of oklahoma" to the places people could purchase gifts from, and included the hashtags #speedingticket and #weddingregistry.
Griffin told Insider in an email statement that the idea came about after Worth received a speeding ticket while visiting family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was intended as a joke to see if family and friends noticed. They thought it would be funny post to TikTok, where most of Griffin's followers are people she knows personally.
"I just thought it would be something our friends saw and laughed at. I really didn't think it would gain traction so fast. Once it started gaining more views, people started asking for the link to our wedding registry so they could donate," she told Insider.
The video received over 378,000 views and 84 comments, many of which appeared to find the idea hilarious, while some wrote they'd also received speeding tickets around the time of their own weddings so they could relate to the situation. Viewers appeared to unanimously back the concept of the unconventional wedding fund, and some even offered to chip in themselves.
"I will donate for the plot. what's the link," a popular comment read that received over 3,000 likes, while another joked they would donate if they could come to the wedding.
Griffin told Insider the attention made the pair a little nervous as they didn't necessarily want the details of their wedding made public. But she said lots of family and friends saw it and found it hilarious.
"All of our wedding guests know James and I and know that we love to joke around. Only a few dollars were donated, but it was all from people who had found our registry from TikTok," she said.
The speeding ticket fund is no longer available to view on the couple's public registry, although it was previously seen by Insider. Other items on their registry included more traditional ones, such as household gadgets and furnishings, as well as a honeymoon fund, and a home furniture fund.
Griffin has previously posted multiple videos about the build-up to her wedding which include an insight into their detailed seating plan, and her post-bachelorette look.
Wedding registries are a popular topic of discussion on TikTok, which Griffin told Insider was part of her inspiration for the joke. The related search term has over 167 million views and features videos where creators share tips on what items a registry should include, things they said they had personally received and loved, or items they wish they had requested at the time.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.
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