A few months ago, French salesman Dagobert Renouf was close to being homeless. However, he still wanted to marry his fiancée Anna Plyninová. His extraordinary plan soon went viral.
In July, he tweeted a bold idea. He wanted to finance their wedding by selling advertising spots on his wedding tuxedo. His post quickly went viral and attracted tech companies interested in sponsoring his “business expense wedding”.
“Someone joked that they would give me €500 (approx ₹51,000)) if he gave me his logo on the suit. Then it caught on and other people said they were going to do it too,” Renouf told PEOPLE.
With the response growing, Renouf launched a website that allowed brands to buy slots on his suit. Anna was fully supportive of the plan, though she jokingly negotiated Prada pumps as part of the deal.
“My wife didn’t like the idea at first, but then we started to focus on really taking advantage of the opportunity to bring our entire business community that I’ve built up over the years together on this special day,” he said.
The couple agreed to only work with small, independent businesses rather than big corporate brands that don’t align with their values.
Over the next three months, Dagobert Renouf kept his followers informed about his creative wedding project. He shared AI-generated designs and pricing details for his sponsored tuxedo.
Advertising spots on the outer jacket cost between $300 ( ₹26,500) and $2,000 ( ₹1.77 lakh), subject to visibility. Startups were allowed to pay $100 ( ₹8,800) to have their names printed inside the lining. Renouf offered no refunds.
He has promised to wear the suit to his wedding ceremony and will feature it in photos and videos shared with his 116,000 followers on social media. 26 companies then participated, turning his viral idea into a real business success.
Sponsored wedding
Dagobert Renouf and his fiancee tied the knot on October 25 in Lille, France. Photos and videos of his tuxedo covered in sponsor logos quickly went viral. Renouf said guests, including his wife’s mother, loved the idea.
“The jacket looked very premium and elegant, even more so on the skin. So it didn’t ruin anything. I was actually more stressed than anyone because I was always trying to make every logo visible in the pictures,” Renouf told PEOPLE.
However, despite selling $10,000 ( ₹8.86 lakh) for ad spots, the project barely saved him money. The suit alone cost $5,200 ( ₹4.61 lakh) to design and manufacture. After paying $2,500 ( ₹2.21 lakh) in taxes, Renouf was left with roughly $2,000 ( ₹1.77 million).
