Something old, something new, something… sponsored?

It takes a lot of dough to say I do. And in this age of influencer marketing, it is not surprising that people who command a large following might take advantage of offers of sponsorships in exchange of photos on their accounts.

Real‑life couple and celebrities Billy Crawford and Coleen Garcia last weekend earned the ire of netizens after photos tagged as their prenup shots were called “racist.”

 

The two were quick to respond. “It was taken out of context. It’s far from what we intended,” Crawford said in a statement sent to ABS‑CBN. He further clarified that it wasn’t a prenup shoot but a tourism shoot that involved a local guide. The soon‑to‑be Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were in Ethiopia because they were “invited and sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines” to do the shoot there “for their tourism and [to] capture their natural environment.” They were told that “tourism helps their economy.”

Whether it was indeed a prenup shoot or not, however, the concept of sponsored weddings isn’t new.

Locally, power celebrity couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera also faced criticism for their own wedding in 2014—a celebration that included extravagant trappings like a 12‑foot 5‑tiered Goldilocks cake.

Their wedding coordinator Teena Barretto took to Instagram to clarify that sponsorship and x‑deals comprised “not even 5 percent of the total wedding cost paid by the groom.” She added that “some sponsors were graciously accepted, most were politely declined.”

 

HEAVILY SPONSORED

Meanwhile in Singapore, in September last year, Straits Times published an article about the wedding of influencer Melissa Celestine Koh, who at that time had some 234,000 followers on Instagram. According to the article, the “heavily sponsored” wedding included a styling counter featuring Dior cosmetics, and a dinner menu that offered tea pairings from TWG Tea with the courses. Her thank‑you posts included big names such as Swarovski and Tiffany & Co. The venue, The Ritz‑Carlton Millenia Singapore, confirmed it had a “partnership” with the bride, while designer dress brand Julliet was said to have made 27 bridesmaid dresses, as well as another eight dresses for the engagement party.

But aside from the couple, who are able to save (if not make) some money, who benefits from sponsored weddings in the long run?

The sponsors, obviously. Julliet co‑founder Sonia Ayu Lester, who was a 23‑year‑old then, was quoted in the same article as saying: “This was our first time doing something of this scale for a bride. We love her photos and her follower demographic fits the population we are looking to target.”

 

INFLUENCER MARKETING

Tapping a social media influencer, after all, has recently been one of the more effective ways of marketing. In a SparkUp article published last May, Adi Timbol‑Hernandez, President of non‑stock, non‑profit organization called the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) called social media influencers “effective” primarily as a reach channel. “They add more human voice to a brand,” she said. “Also, because they are on social media, influencers are able to invite more participation and direct engagement among the audience versus above the line media channels.”

Compared to traditional means of advertising like television, radio, and print, influencer marketing, she said, is “more personal and authentic if done right.” Influencers also serve as consultants, giving clients an idea about what they should offer to consumers as some influencers “have a deeper understanding of what clicks in the market.”

But at least in the wedding of Ms. Koh, the audience—their wedding guests—didn’t seem pleased. “The sponsorships cheapened the wedding, made it insincere,” a friend named Min, who attended Ms. Koh’s wedding, was quoted by Strait Times as saying. “I felt as though she had made money off me through her wedding.”

In the case of Crawford and Garcia, did the sponsored shoot indeed help Ethiopian tourism? SparkUp called their office several times this week but their country manager has yet to pick up. According to Twitter, Ethiopia became a trending topic when the photos broke out. If those actually translated to bookings, we have yet to find out.