Last year, one ticket cost $75,000. A year earlier, it was $50,000). Purchasing a table can put you back $350,000.

Absolutely no phones

The Met Gala is a strictly phone-free event. That means no selfies, no social media, no doomscrolling. Though last night at the Met Gala 2025, a handful of celebrities (who shall remain unnamed) reportedly broke the rule to post a video from inside the reception. (Gasp!)

You have to follow the seating chart

See your friend sitting across the room? Unfortunately, you can’t sit with them unless Anna Wintour has placed you there. The seating chart is not a suggestion at the Met Gala.

“We really try to think very carefully about who’s sitting next to each other,” Eaddy Kiernan, who worked on the seating chart in 2024 told British Vogue. “Our ideal pairing would maybe be two people who we think will just get on like a house on fire, but who may not even realise that they have a lot in common. So with each person, we really do take time to think, ‘What will they talk about?’”

Reportedly, spouses are seated separately to encourage conversation. Vogue’s Sylvana Ward Durrett explained, per E, “The whole point of these things is to meet new people, and to be interested in what others are doing. What’s the point if you come here to hang out with your husband?”

Some foods are off limits

Wintour is careful to avoid not-so-glam foods when she’s approving the menu for the Met Gala. Off the list are parsley, onion, garlic, chives. As Wintour told Today, “Well, those are three things I’m not particularly fond of.” In fact, this rule is apparently why Katy Perry left onions out of her burger outfit at the 2019 Met Gala.

No smoking inside (duh)

This may seem like an obvious one — after all the Met is a public building. Their website specifically lists that it’s a no smoking space. However, a number of celebs have been pictured lighting up in the Met Gala bathrooms in the past. During an appearance on CBS Mornings, curator Andrew Bolton was asked the best way to ensure you never get invited back: “Smoking. Smoking in the galleries. Touching the artwork. Those would be no-nos,” he said, per Evening Standard.