- A TikToker called Madison Mulkey went viral after she said she served Chili's at her wedding.
- The comments were mostly positive, although some questioned whether staff were properly compensated.
- In a follow-up video, Mulkey said she tipped the staff — though some users still raise doubts.
A bride went viral with a TikTok video about serving Chili's at her wedding, framing it as a unique and cost-efficient option. The response was generally positive, with many applauding the idea and saying they wished they had thought of it themselves.
She also received curious questions and some criticism about whether it imposed extra work on her wedding staff, which prompted her to make a follow-up video saying that she tipped all service workers involved. Despite her attempted clarification, some viewers were unconvinced and alleged that she deleted a previous comment saying she hadn't tipped them.
Still, the apparent hack has inspired others to think more creatively about wedding food — so as long as restaurant and ceremony workers are properly compensated.
Mulkey did not immediately respond to multiple requests from Insider for comment.
Madison Mulkey, a photographer with over 28,000 TikTok followers, posted a video on Sunday explaining why she chose the restaurant chain Chili's for her wedding food.
She said the main attraction was the low cost — $1,950 for 99 guests. The food included chicken tenders, sliders, cajun chicken pasta, and salad. According to The Knot, the average price for traditional wedding catering can cost $75 a guest, which for Mulkey, amounted to nearly $7,500 total.
@brideisapersonality So happy we did this!! #greenscreen #bride #bridetok #weddingtok #bridal #wedding #2023bride #2024bride #2023wedding #weddingwardrobe #weddingideas #weddingplanning #bridalcontentcreator #brideisapersonality #chilis #weddingfood #weddingcaterer #budgetbride ♬ original sound - MADISON MULKEYShe said there were some unexpected complications that arose because they didn't want to pay the delivery fee — which would have been $300, she said in a comment. They threw their wedding on St. Patrick's Day weekend, and the restaurant was packed, so they had to pick up the food early at 11 a.m. and keep it cool before the service which was at 6 p.m.
Normally, Chili's workers would deliver and set it up, Mulkey said. But since they picked the food up directly from the restaurant, her hired servers — who were mostly hired for cleaning, she said — were forced to do a lot of the food preparations. She added that her coordinator helped them.
"Everyone made it work, thank goodness," Mulkey said in the clip, which has been viewed over 1.3 million times. "Our situation was rare. I'm sure if you order from Chili's in any other regard they would serve it and it would all be so hassle-free."
The reaction was mostly positive, with people saying they would be excited to find out a wedding they attended was serving Chili's, and that society should normalize scaled-down weddings like this.
"I would be so hype to find out the wedding food was chili's," a top comment with over 7,000 likes said. "This is my dream," someone else wrote.
The official Chili's Grill & Bar TikTok account even left a comment calling the video "iconic."
However, some people worried that Mulkey's wedding staffers were forced to take on more work.
"I'm all for this, but as someone who works in the industry, this sounds like a nightmare for your staff and coordinator," one top comment with over 1,600 likes said. "You should have paid for delivery."
A comment with over 2,200 likes said they'd give the poster an "A for creativity" but critiqued that the food was 7 hours old, which probably stressed the staff out.
@brideisapersonality Replying to @reputationbestalbumstan ♬ original sound - MADISON MULKEYThe concerns for her staff prompted Mulkey to make a follow-up video. She assured viewers that she tipped the Chili's kitchen staff $300, and tipped the coordinator and the servers on top of their hourly payment.
"All they did was make the food, help the buffet run efficiently, and then clean up," Mulkey said of the servers. "I didn't ask anyone to work outside of their bounds or their means."
Viewers, however, did not seem entirely convinced. Several comments on the follow-up video accused her of deleting a comment from her original viral video where they said she told another user she hadn't tipped anyone extra since it was included in their original payment (Insider was unable to find and verify the original comment).
Someone also claimed that Chili's managers aren't able to receive tips which prompted them to ask how she was able to tip them. (Insider could not independently verify this but has reached out to the company for comment.)
"Maybe they didn't take it, I have no idea what they did with it," Mulkey wrote in response. "We gave chilis a lump sum."
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