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Instagram stars deny faking 'surprise wedding'

Marissa Fusch and fiancé Gabriel Grossman
Marissa Fusch and fiancé Gabriel Grossman shared an elaborate proposal to Instagram. Photo: Instagram/fashionambitionist

Fan suspicion is growing in the wake of Instagram couple Marissa and Gabriel Grossman’s elaborate ‘surprise’ wedding, as the pair deny they were both aware of the plans and pitched them for advertising money.

Documents published by The Atlantic last week exposed a detailed sponsorship pitch of the multi-national scavenger hunt that Marissa - who goes by the name Fashion Ambitionist on Instagram - undertook, that culminated in a ‘surprise’ wedding in Paris.

Now the pair have both spoken out strenuously denying that the bride-to-be was aware of the plan - or pitch - ahead of time.

The couple tied the knot in Paris. Photo: Instagram/fashionambitionist
The couple tied the knot in Paris. Photo: Instagram/fashionambitionist

“I still haven’t seen it and still don’t know what’s in store for the rest of the engagement,” Marissa told The New York Post before the events culminated in her wedding.

Gabriel explained that a long-time friend of Marissa’s, Elicia Blaine Evans, was behind the posts on page and part of the pitch.

Speaking to The New York Times the friend explained that no official sponsorships had been reached, and that Marrissa was totally unaware.

“There was an informal agreement,” she told the paper.

“They just wanted us to promote some. Obviously, Marissa had no idea.”

Marissa backed this up, telling The Post, “I know people are saying that everything was sponsored — but that couldn’t be less from the truth. Gabe has paid for every inch of this proposal.”

The controversy

View this post on Instagram

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A post shared by MARISSA CASEY GROSSMAN (@fashionambitionist) on

The Instagram world held its breath on Tuesday as fashion and travel blogger Marissa Grossman - or Fashion Ambitionist as she goes by on Instagram - shared tidbits of an elaborate scavenger hunt her boyfriend had set up, that culminated in a surprise wedding shared with the pair’s thousands of followers.

Over 200k followers of Marissa were treated to extensive documentation of the world-wide scavenger hunt for her then-fiancé on Instagram.

The event kicked off with a post shared by Marissa captioned, “WHAT IS HAPPENING?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The post featured videos of her partner hinting at a proposal that would be ‘non-traditional’, before he challenged her to follow a trail of clues that would lead to him.

She followed this with three Instagram stories which showed her following clues that take her to opulent destinations, from America to Europe, until she finally found her soon-to-be-husband.

The couple then tied the knot to their fans’ surprise, in a small ceremony in Paris.

Or rather, ‘surprise’ wedding as some are claiming.

Incriminating sales pitch

An investigation by The Atlantic is claiming the whole endeavour was pre-planned and pitched to brands ahead of time.

The newspaper uncovered a pitch deck - or media invitation - of the event that was sent to brands in hopes of sponsorship ahead of the elaborate event, and the journalist responsible shared them to Twitter.

The documents detail an extensive itinerary and feature exclusive images of the pair, and describe the proposal as an ‘opportunity’ for partnership.

“This summer, Marissa of @FashionAmbitionist will be pulled into a surprise adventure created by the centre of her life, Gabriel,” the PDF shared by The Atlantic reads.

Brands are then invited to ‘align with this momentous occasion and the beautiful cities she will be visiting along the way’.

The documents say Gabriel has ‘mapped out the journey’, and that the planned destinations will unfold ‘without Marissa’s knowledge’.

Fans have noticed however, that the pitch describes how Marissa will document the experience on her Instagram, and that it lines up perfectly to how she let the journey unfold to her followers.

The document says the influencer will include a short video to commence, a ‘long-form video next-stop post’, and a final ‘long form video final post’.

Fans suspicions continued to rise after the influencer uploaded this final video yesterday.

An advertising expert, Bryan Pederson, told The Atlantic, fans are right to be suspicious.

"Either her fiancé has been intimately involved in every single aspect of her business and influencer marketing career and knows every detail of her influencer partnerships, or she has had some input," he said.

Fans are now accusing the couple of staging the whole thing as an advertising opportunity, though none of the engagement posts include advertising disclosures.

Fans left confused

Fans have flooded Instagram, suspecting the blogger was really aware of the plan the whole time.

“This is so creepy and fake,” one fan commented on the initial post.

“Lol just read your own sponsorship deck and you’ll get your answers,” another wrote

“Nothing screams romance like pre-pitching your marriage proposal to brands,” another said.

On Twitter however it was a different, more resigned reaction.

The couple maintain the engagement and wedding were not sponsored, and that Marissa was blissfully unaware of how the journey would unfold.

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