- - Influencer Halley Kate Defends Decision to Skip Big Wedding When She Marries Fiancé Reed Williams: 'Hell, No'

Madison E. GoldbergFebruary 11, 2026 at 4:59 AM

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Halley Kate Defends Her Decision to Skip Wedding Ceremony

Halley Kate/tiktok

Influencer Halley Kate said she feels like "we have lost the plot on what a wedding is" in a new TikTok shared on Tuesday, Feb. 10

Halley announced her engagement to fiancé Reed Williams on Jan. 23

The influencer cited the mounting pressures placed on extravagant weddings and the bridal party as other reasons why she is opting for a courthouse wedding

Influencer Halley Kate is explaining her choice to not have a wedding ceremony when she maries fiancé Reed Williams.

The influencer, 25, whose full name is Halley Kate McGookin, previously announced her engagement in a post shared to her Instagram on Jan. 23.

And on Tuesday, Feb. 10, Halley shared a new TikTok video to manage people's expectations of her upcoming marriage.

"Ever since I got engaged, whenever I see somebody, they're like, oh my God, I cannot wait to see your wedding," she began the video. "And I'm like, 'Ooh, like, you didn't get the memo, I'm not having one.'"

Halley Kate and Reed Williams

Halley Kate/Instagram

The influencer went on to share that she has "felt this way" about not needing a big ceremony since she was 15. "Everybody was like, 'No, you're gonna change your mind.' I didn't."

She went on to cite a previous explanation she shared on her Instagram Stories in January, in which she wrote that while she loves "friends' weddings and being a guest," she didn't necessarily love "where the tradition of a wedding stems from."

Halley noted in the video that since sharing her Instagram Stories post, she has "never had more people replying to me being like, oh my gosh, thank you for normalizing this again, I never see anybody talking about this."

Further explaining her rationale, she added, "First of all, you are just as legally married and your marriage is just as valid whether you spend zero dollars on a courthouse wedding or a million dollars on a 500-person wedding."

"We don't have to walk down the aisle. Why am I pressing play on a song and sitting there, like, prancing down an aisle while I make all my friends and family stare at me? I actually can't think of something that I would rather do less," she continued, adding that she "hates" forced attention.

Halley kate and her fiancé Reed Williams

Halley Kate/Instagram

While Halley said she could afford a wedding, she explained that she would rather spend her money on other experiences. "I would wake up the next morning and be like, 'Oh, my God, I just burned all that money, and I can never get it back," she said, adding, "Hell, no."

She noted that her fiancé, Reed instead put more money into her marquise diamond engagement ring — and a future trip. "And I still don't think we're gonna spend a fraction of what we would have spent on a wedding," she explained.

She concluded, "I just feel like we kind of lost the plot on, like, what a wedding is. It feels like you have to have this huge budget. You have to go on these bachelorettes where everybody has to spend thousands of dollars to have a bridal shower, you have to do an engagement shoot. Like, oh, my God."

She then explained that she and her fiancé will tie the knot in a courthouse wedding with a small party afterwards for friends and family.

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"I know that's not traditional. That's just what I want to do for me, because it's my wedding or nonexistent wedding, and I can do whatever I want," she concluded the video.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”