Woman sparks controversy over offering tattoos as wedding favours

Many kinds of favours have been given out at weddings, but not everyone is happy about what one person gave out at their wedding.

On 11 August, a photographer named Lyndi Mishé – who goes by the username @lyndimishephotography on TikTok – posted a video with text across the screen that read: “Your sign to have a tattoo artist at your wedding.”

The video showed a montage of multiple wedding attendees being tattooed, as Mishé captioned the TikTok: “Loving this new trend.” The video also showed a close-up of a small tattoo one guest had received, which appeared to be the outline of a buffalo.

Since it was posted earlier this week, the TikTok has now been viewed almost six million times with nearly 2,000 comments. Some TikTok users fell in love with the idea and wished it was something they could have participated in. “The amount of random tattoos I would leave with,” one commenter wrote.

Another commenter pointed out “how awkward” it would be if the bride and groom had put in extra money to hire a tattoo artist for their wedding, only for no one to receive a tattoo. “It would be so awkward if no one wanted a tattoo,” the comment read.

One person expressed concern for the artist themself, noting the constant need to reset and sterilise their tools. “I couldn’t imagine how stressful for the artist it’d be to have to set up, stencil and tattoo, and then sanitise everything. Outside. Over and over,” they wrote.

Some commenters were questioning how sterile the process would be, considering the guests were given permanent artwork while outside on what appeared to be a windy day. “Also tattooing outside… it cannot be sterilised so yea. It’s a cute idea that just would need tweaking for safety,” one person mentioned.

There were also commenters who wondered about the process of hiring a tattoo artist for an occasion like a wedding. Some people asked whether the attendees individually paid for the tattoo, or if the bride and groom paid the artist a large lump sum when she was hired, while others questioned if there was a risk of drunk guests getting caught up in the moment.

“Normally you only wake up the next day with a sore head – this takes regrets to a whole new level,” one commenter said.

Mishé responded to some of these questions in the comments section, where she explained that the tattoo artist charged everyone who wanted a tattoo a set price of $60 and “it was cocktail hour so no one was drunk yet”.

Tattoos are becoming more popular among wedding attendees, as TikTok videos show tattoo artists working on wedding guests at the reception. Meanwhile, brides and grooms have appeared to get matching tattoos on their big day. Some have made the tattoos a pre-ceremony tradition, while others have decided to get the joint pieces of artwork immediately after saying “I do”.