No social media and banned onions: These are the weirdest Met Gala rules celebs must follow

It’s the first Monday in May, meaning everyone who’s anyone is heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for the 2025 Met Gala.

As far as fashion and celebrity status goes, this is the event of the year. Led by Anna Wintour, the gala raises money for the Met and its art, but is more famous for the exceedingly incredible outfits seen on the event’s carpet.

However, if you manage to wrangle yourself an invite, it’s not just plain sailing from there. Not only do you need to wear the most stunning, trend inspiring garm, you also need to follow a strict set of rules.

And, if you don’t follow these Met Gala rules, I’m sorry but you might be saying goodbye to a 2026 invite.

No onion, garlic, or parsley

Right, I suppose this one isn’t for celebs to follow unless you’re thinking of sneaking in some seasoning. However, Anna Wintour has made it very clear that there is to be no onion or garlic served due to the smell, and no garnishes such as parsley as they could get stuck in attendees’ teeth.

It’s also been alleged that messy food, such as bruschetta, is banned. This is completely reasonable as attendees are wearing one of a kind outfits so getting tomato juice on a gown is a huge no-no.

You can only speak to Anna for a maximum of 20 seconds at the top of the Met steps

Anna is running a huge operation so she doesn’t have time for long, drawn out conversations with attendees. Therefore, according to Anna: The Biography, there is a strict 20 second rule in place at the Met Gala for speaking to her when you arrive to the top of the famed steps.

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Social media and phones are banned

via @karliekloss on Instagram

Thinking of Instagramming the whole event live from your seat? Think again.

In 2015, a notice was shared to attendees saying: “The use of phones for photography and social media will not be permitted inside the gala.”

Although, we’ve seen many iconic selfies come from the night so this doesn’t seem to be a bannable offence.

Met staff will keep an eye on you to make sure you’re mingling, not on your phone

As previously expressed, phones aren’t allowed and because of that staff members will be wandering about making sure you’ve not whipped out your mobile for a round of Candy Crush.

The event prioritises communication between guests, and we all know how hard it is to talk to someone on their phone, so staff are there to prevent this.

And whilst you won’t be embarrassingly called out publicly, according to Sylvana Durrett, Vogue’s director of special projects, guests will be “politely reminded” to put their devices away.

Whatever you do, don’t ignore the seating chart

The seating chart is bible, it’s taken months to put together and was finalised in April so whatever you do, don’t sit where you want, sit where you’re told.

This aspect of the event is only one of many finely tuned and seriously thought out steps put in place to create a perfect event.

Eaddy Kiernan, a Met Gala organiser, told Vogue: “We really try to think very carefully about who’s sitting next to each other.

“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?’…We try and think a lot about sight lines and where people have sat in the past. And we try to make sure someone isn’t staring into the eyes of a former flame.”

As part of the seating chart, spouses will be seated apart

This Met Gala rule in turn forces you to chat and mingle with new people, with Vogue’s Sylvana Ward Durrett iterating: “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?”

No kids are allowed

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This is an adults only night, but this rule wasn’t put in place out of spite. In 2018, Vogue created a rule banning under 18s from the event with organisers saying “it’s not an appropriate event for people under 18”.

Completely fair, could you imagine a child going through the hours of prep, then an evening long gala? Not exactly the most entertaining evening for kids.

Smoking is prohibited due to New York’s Smoke-Free Air Act

Vapers and ciggie puffers, time to buy some Nicorette patches because New York has banned smoking and using electronic cigarettes in many public areas.

Although, even with this rule being in place, celebs have been known to flaunt it.

In 2017, a number of celebs were all pictured smoking in the bathroom, to the dismay of health officials.

In an open letter to the Met, Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett wrote: “This spectacular event awes us all. We were dismayed to read reports that some celebrities chose smoking as their fashion accessory and flagrantly violated New York City’s smoking laws…

“You admire and emulate the designers, models, actors, and other celebrities who attend the Met Gala. We thus are concerned about how images of these celebrities smoking — which were widely shared around the world via social media — will affect youth smoking rates.”

The museum, however, responded, saying that it would “take steps to ensure this does not happen again”.

You can’t touch the exhibits, and if you do, you’re looking at a lifetime ban

The exhibits are art. It doesn’t matter if you’ve coughed up a fortune to be there, that doesn’t allow you to touch them.

If you do decide you’re better than everyone else and put your paws on the pieces, well, sorry, you’ll most likely be banned from attending in the future.

The Met’s curator Andrew Bolton, told Gayle King that there are only a few things that can get you banned, but they are “smoking in the galleries [and] touching the artwork. Those would be no-nos”.

You have to be invited, so if you’re not invited by a designer you have to pay a hefty fee

via @juliahobbs_ on Instagram

I’ve left this one to near the bottom as it’s pretty obvious but you have to be invited.

In 2024, tickets cost $75,000, but if you’re lucky enough for a brand to pay for your seat, it’s (technically) free!

However, even if a brand invites you, Anna Wintour still has to confirm the guest list, making it one of the most exclusive bashes in America.

It’s pretty obvious but you have to follow the dress code

This is one of the world’s best fashion events, so you can’t go turning up in whatever you please.

Yearly, there’s a theme, thought out and put together by the fabulous organisers and Anna herself. Therefore, it is a cardinal Met Gala rule that you must follow this dress code.

This year, it’s Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, as this is the name of the exhibit, which has a strong focus on black dandyism.

Featured image via Kaia Gerber and Lil Nas X on Instagram