Sponsored weddings: a tradition for the Instagram generation

Brand partnerships and sponsored posts are part and parcel of being a social media influencer – and that increasingly includes saying "I do" to sharing even their most private moments.

Weddings can make for great online content, but tying the knot is "costing more than ever", said The Times. According to Hitched.co.uk, the average cost rose to £18,400 last year, up by 6% from 2021 and by 102% since 2020, when pandemic restrictions devastated the wedding industry.

Now, the industry is "grappling with a new problem", as influencer brides and grooms seeking "to save their pennies" while still impressing their followers fuel the rise of the "sponsored wedding". 

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Scoring freebies

 Inflation and "wage stagnation" have made weddings "a budgeting nightmare", said the New York Post. So some couples are using "their social media savvy" to "score freebies" and "save tens of thousands" on everything from drinks to bridesmaids' dresses. 

The trend has been developing for a while. In 2018, fashion influencer Chiara Ferragni and rapper Fedez staged a "wedding festival" during which "every opportunity for sponsorship was taken", said Vogue Australia. Actor Priyanka Chopra and singer-songwriter Nick Jonas also jumped onto the "sponsored wedding bandwagon" later that year, with sponsors including Amazon getting online shout-outs during the multiday event.

Would-be stars with far smaller followings are getting in on the act too. "Everyone's an influencer these days," party stylist Amanda Orso told the New York Post, "and even if you're not, brands are giving away things for free to get exposure and free advertising." 

The end of romance?

The wedding industry has faced "a tough few years" after losing more than £5.2 billion during the pandemic, said The Times. And while sponsoring weddings can pay off, many businesses are struggling to hand out "freebies" that are often "particularly time-intensive" to deliver. 

"It's not just like a box of make-up that you're getting for free," Hitched.co.uk editor Zoe Burke told the paper. "It's a very bespoke, very tailored service."

Couples may have to accept a lower "quality of service" in return for cutting costs, according to luxury wedding planner Mark Niemierko. The result, said The Times, is that their big day may "look great on social media but be underwhelming for guests". 

Another issue is whether "the question of whether a celebration of love should even be sponsored", with critics including Niemierko arguing that the concept is "at odds" with what a wedding "is supposed to be about". 

Vogue Australia suggested that having a wedding paid for by "companies and brands with no affiliation to who you are as a couple" is "an unusual way to celebrate finding the love of your life".  Using the day to "make money" may well "signal the end of romance", the magazine concluded.  

But "for people whose entire lives are sponsored", said Town and Country, should we expect a wedding to be "an exception"?  And "can people whose careers revolve around their brands afford to miss out on hawking the ne plus ultra of personal express?"