her vows were sponsored

i now pronounce you a tax write-off

Hey fam and welcome back to dumb rich! I am a day late but zero dollars short I can promise you that much. I apologize for my tardiness. Anyone who knows me knows I am nearly 10 minutes late to everything — so now it’s like you’ve experienced the real me. I’ve been recovering emotionally from Tiki’s adoption (jk, but really) and I have just had a lot of client work lately tbh. I am heading out of town today to work from Palm Beach. Will be on the lookout for the families from the Nanny Diaries. I appreciate your understanding during this difficult time.

Finalllyyyyy starting to feel a bit like summer. I can basically taste everyone’s Eurotrip approaching. Apparently, wedding szn is also in full swing. Majority of my friends have approx 2.5 kids, so I’m nearly tapped out on weddings. That said, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the coverage of everyone else’s wedding on Tiktok.

So like, let’s be nosy. People are monetizing their weddings and I’m maybe jealous…? I was inspired to write about this after this NYC influencer, Jaz Smith, posted viral TikToks during her wedding. She has over 500,000 TikTok followers and co-hosts a podcast with her influencer BFF. Two of the bridesmaids in her wedding each have over 1.5 million followers. Her wedding was actually the NYC influencer Superbowl. I admire her transparency throughout the process, it really earned my respect.

Let’s break down the ways she and other couples could be making money from their nuptials.

1. First, brand deals!!!! — Brands pay couples to feature their products—pajamas for bridesmaids, skincare, beauty treatments, invitations, you name it. Jaz chose not to accept brand deals on the wedding day to avoid working her own wedding (totally reasonable), though she did post sponsored content before and after.

   Take beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueira: she teamed up with e.l.f. to create a wedding-themed makeup kit showcased at her wedding. This is incredible advertising for the brand. Mikayla’s 17M followers saw it, and guests posted it in the background. Clearly it worked. The product sold out in just 18 minutes.

2. Free Shit — Not every couple is paid outright, sometimes they receive products or services for free. Photographers, alcohol brands, designers, and paper companies often gift their products/services in exchange for defined credit and/or organic exposure. It’s marketing that works.

3. Content. Content. Content. — Jaz certainly did deliver on posting ample content with over 20 TikTok videos throughout the day. If these videos meet certain requirements, she gets paid per view from the TikTok Creator Fund. This is a full blown content MACHINE. For context, her videos are getting millions of views — 9.3 million views on a single post. Posting 20 videos would take me far longer than one day. She even used a spreadsheet to plan videos (filming, music, who’s in the shot) and her assistant handled it all. I am genuinely impressed by this. Plus, she donated those TikTok earnings to two brides in her community. She also launched a Patreon podcast that debriefed the wedding, all behind a $7.50 paywall.

4. If people aren’t getting paid or receiving services for free, they’re at the very least getting a fat tax write-off for the extravaganza. Jaz said she spent approx $300,000 on her wedding. I hate that I’m not shocked. This wedding was a HUGE press moment for her. She has since received more followers and large brand sponsorships. There could be an argument made that a decent portion of her wedding generated revenue, and therefore could be a partial tax write-off. Pretty much it needs to be “ordinary and necessary” for her business as a lifestyle brand—she can argue it. It’s a very gray area for influencers! She is her brand!! Let’s say she can deduct $150,000 of her wedding. Living in NYC and in a high tax bracket, that can save her over $45,000 in tax.

Influencer brides are playing chess while the rest of us are still learning the rules of wedding season. Below are my hot takes (I’m super bossy lately, huh?):

• Venmo is better than nothing, but not ideal. Please write the card. If you do card + Venmo, that’s acceptable. But I’m a sucker for the card!

• I had a lot of discourse over how much the average wedding gift is, and I think this is based on how close you are with the couple. My friend group landed on $150 - $200 per person ($300 - $400 per couple) for an “average friend”. Tier one friends/family were higher. We are older though! When I was 25 that was not in budget. I also kind of think if it’s a second/third wedding you can maybe give less? Like this isn’t a comeback tour?

• I think it’s rude to require your bridal party have their hair and makeup done professionally if you aren’t going to pay for it. Let them do what they want or offer to pay.

• If you host a destination wedding, you need to expect people may not bring gifts. This likely wouldn’t be me but I do think it’s understandable.

• Cash bar is illegal.

Okay that’s all for now! Chat next week. xoxoxo