Met Gala season is here, and fashion’s biggest night is nearly upon us as celebrities prepare to descend on New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This year’s Met Gala theme is Costume Art, which will see ‘garments placed in dialogue with a range of artworks spanning 5,000 years of art history from the Met’s collection,’ as stated by British Vogue.
Anyone hoping they can simply turn up in a show-stopping outfit should know the event is strictly invite-only, with the guest list famously curated under Anna Wintour’s watchful eye.
But even with an invitation, getting through the doors isn’t free. Attending the Met Gala still comes with an enormous price tag — though it’s not usually something the biggest stars are personally reaching into their pockets to cover.
Tickets weren’t always so eye-watering. When the fundraiser began in 1948 to support the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in Manhattan, entry reportedly cost $50. Since then, the price has climbed dramatically.
For 2025, tickets are reportedly said to set guests back a whopping $100,000, the New York Times reports.
That figure marks a notable jump from last year, when a single ticket was priced at $75,000.
And if you’re looking at a full table, you’d be facing a reported $350,000 — said to be unchanged from the previous year.
So do celebrities really pay that themselves? Often, they don’t. Even if the cost wouldn’t faze someone like Kris Jenner, stars typically attend as guests of major fashion houses and designers.
In many cases, brands and designers extend formal invitations to A-list names and cover the seat — but those attendees still need to be approved by Wintour.
Designers also tend to handle the rest of the logistics, from creating bespoke looks to flying talent out and arranging accommodations for the night.
That said, celebrities can still choose to contribute by making a personal donation to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
It’s certainly a perk-laden way to attend one of the biggest nights in the fashion calendar.
While fans can’t buy their own way inside, they can still follow the spectacle from home. The red carpet arrivals will be streamed live across Vogue’s digital platforms — including YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok — on Monday, May 4.
The carpet officially begins at 6pm EST/ 3pm PST, though many celebrities start arriving from around 4:30pm EST/ 1:30pm PST.
E! will also be hosting a red carpet special starting at 6pm EST.
Once guests get inside, the rules remain tight. Despite the social-media frenzy outside, selfies are famously forbidden during the event.
Wintour introduced the no-selfie rule in 2015, aiming to keep the inside of the gala private — although a handful of attendees have still managed to sneak the occasional bathroom photo over the years.
Even the menu comes with restrictions. Some foods are reportedly avoided simply because they’re risky in a room full of couture — whether that’s ingredients that might get stuck in teeth, cause lingering breath, or spill easily on expensive outfits.
Wintour addressed the rumors that the likes of onion, chives and garlic are banned from the event, telling Today host Jenna Bush Hager in 2024: “Well, those are three things I’m not particularly fond of, and so yes, that’s true.”
If guests think they can escape an awkward tablemate, they’re out of luck. Seating arrangements are carefully planned, and guests are not permitted to swap places once assigned.
Seating decisions are treated as strategy, weighing up everything from last year’s pairings to who has shared tables at other high-profile events.
“A lot of thought goes into who sits next to who, if they sat together last year, if they’ve sat next to each other at other events, so much goes into it, it’s shocking,” Sylvana Ward Durrett, former director of special projects at Vogue, said in the 2016 documentary The First Monday in May.
Another rule: no smoking. The policy was reportedly reinforced after several celebrities were photographed smoking in museum bathrooms in 2017, with reminders the following year citing that it’s ‘illegal to smoke in the museum’.
New York City has prohibited indoor smoking since 2003, and Met Gala invitations have reiterated this rule in the past.
There’s also an age limit. If you’re under 18, you won’t be getting in.
The restriction was introduced in 2018 — the year of ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination’.
A Met Gala spokesperson later confirmed the age restriction was introduced as ‘it’s not an appropriate event for people under 18’.