‘Influencer’ Bride With 55K Followers Tries To Get Wedding Shot For Free, Photographers Destroy Her With Sarcastic Response
Instagram, like reality TV – is a world we know is elaborately staged but still want to believe in. Influencers have become the reality TV stars of our generation (or are sometimes both), and we can’t help but get lost in their ‘authentic’ posts – especially ones that document special moments like engagements and weddings.
Need more proof? Last week 195,000 people followed Goop employee Marissa Fuchs on a six-day scavenger hunt that ended in a “surprise” wedding. The elaborate affair was orchestrated by her partner Gabriel Grossman, which the pair alleged was done without her knowledge – that was until the Atlantic published a piece by Taylor Lorenz revealing the whole Instagram influencer extravaganza was set-up for, probably for brand sponsorship. Before the proposal, multiple brand marketers had received a PDF of a pitch deck, “in the context of a potential sponsorship.”
Schemes like this one may sound like they are one in a million, but social media has bred an influencer culture where broadcasting “special moments” appear more important than the moment itself. One “influencer” had their agent reach out to a wedding photography and videography company in the hopes of getting their special day documented for social media in exchange for exposure, which actually means free service – but when they pointed out she didn’t have a Fuchs-level following, things got ugly.
The agent of an “influencer” reached out to a photography/videography company in the hopes of exchanging free services for exposure
Image credits: YakobchukOlena(not the actual photo)
The agent contacted the company Betrothed and Co, a who specializes in wedding photos. The duo is contracted all around the world to document special events. The screenshots shared online showed a conversation between Frankie of Betrothed and Co, and the agent named Melissa.
Melissa wrote in the email that her client was a “well known Social media influencer” and would be getting married on April 20, 2021. The request was for a documentary-style video of the pre-wedding events, an hour-long video of the ceremony, as well as 1,000 photos she could share with the guests. In exchange for their efforts, the unnamed influencer would promote their business to her 55,000 followers from both Instagram and Facebook. For followers who requested the services of the company after her wedding, she also asked they get a 25% discount. But Frankie was suspicious of the agent and asked about the follower account.
As a well-established company, Frankie informed the agent that they had received similar requests before but from Influencers with much larger followings, and those people had even still paid for their services. According to the artist, the price of said services would be between €3-4k. According to the 2018 Real Weddings Study, from The Knot, the national average cost of a wedding photographer is $2,679.
Despite the shaky proof and logistics presented by the agent kindly said that if they were able to bring up their follower count by the impending date, they could work something out. Well, the agent proved to be a very choosy beggar – and things escalated.
Frankie kept his cool and responded with a lengthy email in which he apologized for his “forthright attitude,” among other things mentioned by the agent. He even mentioned his own mother had also died from cancer and shared some empathetic words despite the strongly-worded email he had received.
Social media and weddings have become one growing beast. The tag #weddingphotography includes more than 17 million posts. Similarly, #weddingdress rings in just over 20 million, while the tag #wedding appears in nearly 128 million posts. Forget wedding binders, 83% of wedding planning is now done online, 62% of couples create their own wedding site, 52% use a wedding planning app, and 54% implement a wedding hashtag.
People in the comments couldn’t believe this choosing beggar and shared their thoughts on influencer culture
I can't wait for this influencer "fad" to pass....please tell me this will pass..
I wouldn't call it a 'fad' given that cultural and fashion influencers have been around since the dawn of time. Marie Antoinette was a influencer, all of hollywood have been influencers, that part of Yankee Doodle about Macaroni - that refers to a men's organization that set the fashion of the time. The only difference is that it use to be an exclusive club for the rich and famous and now regular people can get into it. Is it annoying? Yes, it has always been annoying, but now that annoyance is just more spread out.
Load More Replies...I got stuck at "would of" from the response. It's "would have". HAVE. Would've is short for would have, and it's not would "of". Not a *positive* influencer...
Im pretty sure Frankie said the same thing, but more eloquent....
Load More Replies...C'mon people, we're forgetting the meaning of words nowadays..... They're deluders, it's a completely different thing.
So a fool followed by 55000 other fools wants stuff for free. Thumbs up for the phootgrapher that gave the entitled woman a marvellous reality check.
I'm sorry, but 55,000 is not a lot of followers, that's not that much exposure to a photographer. Not that anyone should ever be paid with exposure, ever.
Absolutely. 55,000 isn't even a good-sized small town. Spread that number over the population of the world, and that "influencer's" reach isn't even a drop in a bucket.
Load More Replies...I worked in a cake shop and an influencer with 2M Instagram followers came in and told she loves our designs and sat down with our main cake decorator and they spend an hour designing the cake and she payed for it! And then there was this ''influencer'' couple (at the time they had 26 000 followers, now 2 years later they broke up and deleted their account) that wanted $2000+ cake for 4 tags on their Instagram!! And after we politely declined we were called ''unprofessional'' in their YouTube video.
I got married at the courthouse in NYC for like $50 last year. Got a bouquet from a corner bodega the evening before, and my aunt made my dress. I did my own makeup and hair. My husband wore the suit he wears to work. You know what's the one and only thing we made sure we spent a good amount of money on? Our photographer.
Someone who is of the self-delusion that they are more important than they are.
Load More Replies...I sent this to my sister, who is a legitimate wedding coordinator in LA, and she said a good coordinator would not EVER reach out with an email like the one listed from said "influencer." She said she has seen emails to her from said people who state they would like her services and would "pay" her with exposure of her company - 1 out of every 300 "might" actually be a celebrity. She also gets the follow up emails as well; accusing her of being rude, dying parent/sister/brother/self, ignorance of who they "think" they are, (etc.) and that they will personally ruin her and her company for her "ill-mannered, bad-mannered, impolite, discourteous, impertinent, insolent, impudent, cheeky, audacious, uncivil, disrespectful, ill-bred, crass, curt, brusque, ungracious" (pick one) refusal of $0.00 USD for literally days of work given.
you brits are entirely too polite to this obnoxious idiot. But that's a cultural thing. But I'm glad to see that you used their ridiculous request to put your name and services out there so well to the public in a national & international forum. Good job, respect you for that, perfect answer to these a$$holes. We don't know who the idiot or their agent is, but everyone reading this now knows about Betrothed & Co. Thanks, Frankie, for giving a good answer to these people. All this free advertising can only help your business, and you deserve the influx of new business resulting from this...oh, by the way, here is their link: https://www.betrothedandco.com/
THANK YOU for pointing out the racism of the term "gyp"! Totally unacceptable term!
What a load of crud. Why would any legitimate business even respond to that first request? If they are already established in their field and command top dollar, they'd be receiving solicitation requests like that on a daily basis, why waste time responding at all? Of course, the idiotic icing on the cake is the casual mention of the mother's cancer diagnosis. Why the heck would someone be planning a lavish wedding 2 years in the future if they are concerned that their mother may not live to see the event?
I love their polite-but-burn replies! And now I am superinterested in knowing who in hell that "influencer" is.
I am really curios to know what the actual responses of the other photographers contacted actually were. This is a fantastic example of the best way to respond to these people, its so well written, so polite, but also with a great level of bite to it. Totally following Laura and Frankie now, just to spite this bride, and support some great sounding people. Also "unemployed and looking for free stuff", haha so true.
The initial and follow up emails from "the potential client" sound like they were written by themselves, not an agent or PR firm. There is no mention of the client name, the agent name, the types of followers, what the "influencer" covers in their posts along with slang terms of gyp. This combined with the fact that the second email ends with regards, melissa and the initial email from the "agent" came from someone with the first name starting with M is a huge tell. If I ran a company where my services were sold, I would not donate my creative expertise even at the 500,000 level. You have to think logically, how many of those "followers" would be within the region (geographically) where you work vs how many of them are in other parts of the world.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=436874870048322&story_fbid=751255861943553 Betrothed & Co's Facebook, they deserve a like for their replies I feel! :)
WTF is it about so-called "influencers?" Most of them seem to be fairly awful people. They certainly appear to be almost as narcissistic as certain politicians. Just who is being influenced and why? I'm trying to think of a single time in my loing life when I went out and spent money on something because someone I don't know, and probably never will know, told me to. I sometimes pay attention when a trusted friend makes a good purchase, but even then I'm only interested if it is something I already need/want. As for someone pimping some product or service online...yeah, not impressed. I suspect this is one aspect of human behavior I'll never fully understand. Then, I never was much on the latest styles or fads...so there is that.
It was only a matter of time before a dead relative would be mentioned 😂
Narcssistic to the max. She has influenced me to believe her marriage will not last. She's too demanding. Groom: Run for your life!
That's the same line Donald Trump gave to his caterer after he stiffed her!
DJs are used to people trying to pay them in... EXPOSURE... if only my bills could also be paid in exposure, I'd be all set accepting EXPOSURE as payment LOL then we could talk about doing events for EXPOSURE LOL - www.djemir.com
I dont understand why the photographer wastes so much time even answering to a stupid request like this.
maybe because they are not that hardworking as they claim
Load More Replies...Yes please, sign me up for doing my job for free and making a commitment like that 2 years in advance!
thanks for this articles It was a miracle when priest Kala help me reconcile my broken marriage back in the next seven days, (Lovetemple0001))))@gmail.)))com)))) and WhatsApp +(234(961))570)504) )just in case you have similar issues, capable of solving any all kind life problem etc
Influencers are a complete waste of skin. Every. Damn. One. Anyone who deigns to employ the kind of attitude used by all "influencers" in these stories is simply a s**t human. Get a f*****g job.
TLDR Hi Im full of s**t and think Im important and want free sevices do you want the honor of serving me? pffft 55000 followers what a joke
I normally don't like these type of posts on Bored Panda, but this one was a gem due to Frankie's responses. I love that guy.
Has anyone ever been influenced by an influencer, beside so called influencers?
Being an actual wedding photographer, that usually drops 1000-1500 pics on the couple and their guests 12h after the wedding, free download of all in full res, no watermark and free to reprint. Asking for "free shots" because you are an influencer? Won't fly with me... My terms are good enough for everyone already, not to quarrel. I would not accept you as a "customer"... "Exposure" don't pay the bills. Cash do, and my deals, quality and delivery has left me with no shortage of clients, so no thank you...
I have to agree that this influencer c**p is for the birds. It's basically a farce in which a person with an inflated self esteem and no talent of any kind to survive on matches up with a person with little self esteem looking for a life through the eyes of someone else. As for Frankie and Laura, WAY TO GO!! I love 'sarcastic' and 'snarky' and you gave them a heaping dose of it!
When did "of" take the place of "have"? I would "of" or could "of" should be would "have" or could "have". It's especially irritating as professional correspondence. I don't know if that what is what Frankie is referring to, but it's SO irritating!
So obviously faking having an agent hahaha Her angry and hasty response is enough proof. Expecting things for free? Sounds like she is just broke and trying to con hard working artists
I just don't understand why people think they should get things for free, and then talk down to people beacause they point out how stupid the whole thing is.....I too cannot wait for this to pass
I kinda wonder if Frankie is gay? From that email he or she! made me think that. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just loved the passive-aggressive snarky comebacks that one would think came from a gay person. Lol!
I must have been hiding under a rock. What the freak is an "Influencer"?
I never heard of an "influencer" until now. I guess that just about any niche can be used by somebody to earn a living.
Influencers = BS Aholes looking for suckers to believe in their dreams that are societies nightmares in the making.
The requests are part of the norm, the worst sort of influencer is the one that just steals your stuff. one such account that is a fake influencer is @abbyrichards17. Should have known.
Her Instagram is endless pictures.... of herself. Occasionally, another person is thrown in.
That's the same line Donald Trump gave to the caterer after he stiffed her!
Don't know how about you guys, but I'm dreaming about the situation when suddenly Instagram and Facebook just broke - hacked by someone or something - and... PUFF! A half part of modern young beggars will stop being "models", "(makeup)stylists", "dietician", "life coaches" and "celebrities"! The world would be the better place again! Sweet dreams!
The most depressing thing about this is that the photographers could have just made up this whole exchange in order to promote their own company.
I suggest you read the article about this in "The Atlantic". It is very real. Her name is Marissa Fuchs. She works for Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. Her Instagram handle is @FashionAmbitionist.
Load More Replies...Hhha funny, but did you ever think that they could did this conversation as a kind of PR or advertising by this "couple of hardworking creatives" ? I'm not saying that is true, but don't be a sheep ;)
I can't wait for this influencer "fad" to pass....please tell me this will pass..
I wouldn't call it a 'fad' given that cultural and fashion influencers have been around since the dawn of time. Marie Antoinette was a influencer, all of hollywood have been influencers, that part of Yankee Doodle about Macaroni - that refers to a men's organization that set the fashion of the time. The only difference is that it use to be an exclusive club for the rich and famous and now regular people can get into it. Is it annoying? Yes, it has always been annoying, but now that annoyance is just more spread out.
Load More Replies...I got stuck at "would of" from the response. It's "would have". HAVE. Would've is short for would have, and it's not would "of". Not a *positive* influencer...
Im pretty sure Frankie said the same thing, but more eloquent....
Load More Replies...C'mon people, we're forgetting the meaning of words nowadays..... They're deluders, it's a completely different thing.
So a fool followed by 55000 other fools wants stuff for free. Thumbs up for the phootgrapher that gave the entitled woman a marvellous reality check.
I'm sorry, but 55,000 is not a lot of followers, that's not that much exposure to a photographer. Not that anyone should ever be paid with exposure, ever.
Absolutely. 55,000 isn't even a good-sized small town. Spread that number over the population of the world, and that "influencer's" reach isn't even a drop in a bucket.
Load More Replies...I worked in a cake shop and an influencer with 2M Instagram followers came in and told she loves our designs and sat down with our main cake decorator and they spend an hour designing the cake and she payed for it! And then there was this ''influencer'' couple (at the time they had 26 000 followers, now 2 years later they broke up and deleted their account) that wanted $2000+ cake for 4 tags on their Instagram!! And after we politely declined we were called ''unprofessional'' in their YouTube video.
I got married at the courthouse in NYC for like $50 last year. Got a bouquet from a corner bodega the evening before, and my aunt made my dress. I did my own makeup and hair. My husband wore the suit he wears to work. You know what's the one and only thing we made sure we spent a good amount of money on? Our photographer.
Someone who is of the self-delusion that they are more important than they are.
Load More Replies...I sent this to my sister, who is a legitimate wedding coordinator in LA, and she said a good coordinator would not EVER reach out with an email like the one listed from said "influencer." She said she has seen emails to her from said people who state they would like her services and would "pay" her with exposure of her company - 1 out of every 300 "might" actually be a celebrity. She also gets the follow up emails as well; accusing her of being rude, dying parent/sister/brother/self, ignorance of who they "think" they are, (etc.) and that they will personally ruin her and her company for her "ill-mannered, bad-mannered, impolite, discourteous, impertinent, insolent, impudent, cheeky, audacious, uncivil, disrespectful, ill-bred, crass, curt, brusque, ungracious" (pick one) refusal of $0.00 USD for literally days of work given.
you brits are entirely too polite to this obnoxious idiot. But that's a cultural thing. But I'm glad to see that you used their ridiculous request to put your name and services out there so well to the public in a national & international forum. Good job, respect you for that, perfect answer to these a$$holes. We don't know who the idiot or their agent is, but everyone reading this now knows about Betrothed & Co. Thanks, Frankie, for giving a good answer to these people. All this free advertising can only help your business, and you deserve the influx of new business resulting from this...oh, by the way, here is their link: https://www.betrothedandco.com/
THANK YOU for pointing out the racism of the term "gyp"! Totally unacceptable term!
What a load of crud. Why would any legitimate business even respond to that first request? If they are already established in their field and command top dollar, they'd be receiving solicitation requests like that on a daily basis, why waste time responding at all? Of course, the idiotic icing on the cake is the casual mention of the mother's cancer diagnosis. Why the heck would someone be planning a lavish wedding 2 years in the future if they are concerned that their mother may not live to see the event?
I love their polite-but-burn replies! And now I am superinterested in knowing who in hell that "influencer" is.
I am really curios to know what the actual responses of the other photographers contacted actually were. This is a fantastic example of the best way to respond to these people, its so well written, so polite, but also with a great level of bite to it. Totally following Laura and Frankie now, just to spite this bride, and support some great sounding people. Also "unemployed and looking for free stuff", haha so true.
The initial and follow up emails from "the potential client" sound like they were written by themselves, not an agent or PR firm. There is no mention of the client name, the agent name, the types of followers, what the "influencer" covers in their posts along with slang terms of gyp. This combined with the fact that the second email ends with regards, melissa and the initial email from the "agent" came from someone with the first name starting with M is a huge tell. If I ran a company where my services were sold, I would not donate my creative expertise even at the 500,000 level. You have to think logically, how many of those "followers" would be within the region (geographically) where you work vs how many of them are in other parts of the world.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=436874870048322&story_fbid=751255861943553 Betrothed & Co's Facebook, they deserve a like for their replies I feel! :)
WTF is it about so-called "influencers?" Most of them seem to be fairly awful people. They certainly appear to be almost as narcissistic as certain politicians. Just who is being influenced and why? I'm trying to think of a single time in my loing life when I went out and spent money on something because someone I don't know, and probably never will know, told me to. I sometimes pay attention when a trusted friend makes a good purchase, but even then I'm only interested if it is something I already need/want. As for someone pimping some product or service online...yeah, not impressed. I suspect this is one aspect of human behavior I'll never fully understand. Then, I never was much on the latest styles or fads...so there is that.
It was only a matter of time before a dead relative would be mentioned 😂
Narcssistic to the max. She has influenced me to believe her marriage will not last. She's too demanding. Groom: Run for your life!
That's the same line Donald Trump gave to his caterer after he stiffed her!
DJs are used to people trying to pay them in... EXPOSURE... if only my bills could also be paid in exposure, I'd be all set accepting EXPOSURE as payment LOL then we could talk about doing events for EXPOSURE LOL - www.djemir.com
I dont understand why the photographer wastes so much time even answering to a stupid request like this.
maybe because they are not that hardworking as they claim
Load More Replies...Yes please, sign me up for doing my job for free and making a commitment like that 2 years in advance!
thanks for this articles It was a miracle when priest Kala help me reconcile my broken marriage back in the next seven days, (Lovetemple0001))))@gmail.)))com)))) and WhatsApp +(234(961))570)504) )just in case you have similar issues, capable of solving any all kind life problem etc
Influencers are a complete waste of skin. Every. Damn. One. Anyone who deigns to employ the kind of attitude used by all "influencers" in these stories is simply a s**t human. Get a f*****g job.
TLDR Hi Im full of s**t and think Im important and want free sevices do you want the honor of serving me? pffft 55000 followers what a joke
I normally don't like these type of posts on Bored Panda, but this one was a gem due to Frankie's responses. I love that guy.
Has anyone ever been influenced by an influencer, beside so called influencers?
Being an actual wedding photographer, that usually drops 1000-1500 pics on the couple and their guests 12h after the wedding, free download of all in full res, no watermark and free to reprint. Asking for "free shots" because you are an influencer? Won't fly with me... My terms are good enough for everyone already, not to quarrel. I would not accept you as a "customer"... "Exposure" don't pay the bills. Cash do, and my deals, quality and delivery has left me with no shortage of clients, so no thank you...
I have to agree that this influencer c**p is for the birds. It's basically a farce in which a person with an inflated self esteem and no talent of any kind to survive on matches up with a person with little self esteem looking for a life through the eyes of someone else. As for Frankie and Laura, WAY TO GO!! I love 'sarcastic' and 'snarky' and you gave them a heaping dose of it!
When did "of" take the place of "have"? I would "of" or could "of" should be would "have" or could "have". It's especially irritating as professional correspondence. I don't know if that what is what Frankie is referring to, but it's SO irritating!
So obviously faking having an agent hahaha Her angry and hasty response is enough proof. Expecting things for free? Sounds like she is just broke and trying to con hard working artists
I just don't understand why people think they should get things for free, and then talk down to people beacause they point out how stupid the whole thing is.....I too cannot wait for this to pass
I kinda wonder if Frankie is gay? From that email he or she! made me think that. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I just loved the passive-aggressive snarky comebacks that one would think came from a gay person. Lol!
I must have been hiding under a rock. What the freak is an "Influencer"?
I never heard of an "influencer" until now. I guess that just about any niche can be used by somebody to earn a living.
Influencers = BS Aholes looking for suckers to believe in their dreams that are societies nightmares in the making.
The requests are part of the norm, the worst sort of influencer is the one that just steals your stuff. one such account that is a fake influencer is @abbyrichards17. Should have known.
Her Instagram is endless pictures.... of herself. Occasionally, another person is thrown in.
That's the same line Donald Trump gave to the caterer after he stiffed her!
Don't know how about you guys, but I'm dreaming about the situation when suddenly Instagram and Facebook just broke - hacked by someone or something - and... PUFF! A half part of modern young beggars will stop being "models", "(makeup)stylists", "dietician", "life coaches" and "celebrities"! The world would be the better place again! Sweet dreams!
The most depressing thing about this is that the photographers could have just made up this whole exchange in order to promote their own company.
I suggest you read the article about this in "The Atlantic". It is very real. Her name is Marissa Fuchs. She works for Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop. Her Instagram handle is @FashionAmbitionist.
Load More Replies...Hhha funny, but did you ever think that they could did this conversation as a kind of PR or advertising by this "couple of hardworking creatives" ? I'm not saying that is true, but don't be a sheep ;)
248
99