YouTubers charge fans $72 to live-stream extravagant wedding

Gone are the days of getting a family friend to tape your wedding day with an old school camcorder, as influencer power couples are now charging fans to watch them tie the knot.

YouTube stars Tana Mongeau, 21, and Jake Paul, 22, (the brother of Logan Paul who was forced to apologise for filming a dead body in Japan’s ‘suicide forest’) boast over 25 million subscribers between them.

Taking full advantage of their audience, the couple said “I do” over the weekend and live-streamed the Las Vegas affair via app Halogen.

But not all fans could watch the ceremony unfold, as the newlyweds charged $49.99 (approximately AU$72) for followers to watch them exchange vows.

The money-making move sparked widespread criticism online with Twitter users mocking an advertisement which dubbed their nuptials “the wedding of the century”.

“The royal wedding was free, like come on Tana,” one wrote.

While another added: “I’m honestly shook that Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau are charging $50 (what the couple described as ‘FOMO pricing’) to watch a live stream of their wedding. Who does that?”

Bizarre details

The big day featured three dresses, a media wall and Jake’s brother Logan saying he didn’t think the marriage would last more than “a month or a month and a half”.

But the details of their over-the-top wedding only get more and more bizarre, with a fight breaking out just as Tana and Jake were pronounced husband and wife.

The pair exchanged rings in front of a man dressed as a nun, but just as they were leaning in for a kiss, an unknown person entered the shot and threw a drink at Jake.

He lunged at the person in return, and all hell broke loose.

They’ve only been dating for three months

The couple announced their engagement in June after two months of dating -leading a number of fans to speculate that the affair was in a bid to promote Tana’s forthcoming reality television show.

“I think Tana and Jake have reached Kardashian levels of ridiculousness, where nothing even shocks me anymore,” YouTuber, Jack Edwards, told GQ magazine.

“Their YouTube channels are founded on shock factor and this is just another episode of the reality TV show that is their everyday lives. Charging $49.99 is so crazy it almost doesn’t seem crazy anymore - it’s like we’re desensitised to how awful it is that it’s just funny.”

Not the only ones

Interestingly, Tana and Jake they aren’t the only influencer couple to cash in on their big day.

Last month, Instagram star, Marissa Fuchs, was proposed to by her fiancé Gabriel Grossman in a ‘surprise’ engagement.

Over the next two days, the couple shared several Instagram Stories, racking up 45 minutes of footage in total, with their combined 201,000 followers.

In a bid to keep keep their followers engaged, Fuchs embarked upon a 48-hour trip which saw her flock from New York and Miami to Paris - collecting expensive jewels and eating in expensive restaurants along the way.

But it turned out to be a well-planned marketing stunt after The Atlantic reported that a pitch deck had been sent out to several brands in the hopes that they would sponsor the engagement in exchange for exposure.

“We’re pleased to offer your brand the opportunity to align with this momentous occasion and the beautiful cities [Fuchs] will be visiting along the way,” the business proposition read.

While British wedding photography firm, Betrothed & Co, recently called out a social media influencer for requesting an hour-long wedding video and 1,000 photographs of the big day in exchange for promotion and “Instagram Story shout outs”.

Reporting by Danielle Fowler

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