199 cups of milk tea, a 5.2-meter-long spicy gluten stick, thrifty people have started to get bizarre and offbeat sponsorships for their weddings.

You most likely have never attended a wedding like this.

Besides the cartoon portraits of the bride and groom, the welcome standee is also printed with the logo of a certain dating app; red-packaged freshly made milk tea is neatly arranged at the check-in area for every guest to claim; at the wedding banquet, each table is equipped with a pack of custom spicy strips in gold and red color scheme printed with well-wishes.

When the ceremony ends, the thank-you list is displayed on the large screen, with a string of familiar brand names showing up one after another, and you suddenly realize: All of these are sponsored by brands.

Not many people are willing to hold such weddings for now, but the number is growing. On Xiaohongshu, the entry "wedding sponsorship" has recorded over 10 million views and 350,000 discussions. Couples preparing for their wedding flood into the comment sections of related recruitment activities on official brand accounts to sign up, and some even directly post notes tagging multiple brands to request sponsorship. Of course, the latter may also face confusion and ridicule from passers-by.

Netizens hold mixed attitudes towards ordinary people seeking sponsorship for their own weddings. (Figure/Screenshot from social platforms)

But in fact, some people who know how to seize opportunities have indeed reaped rewards. A civilian account with only three-digit followers secured sponsorship from 5 brands, including a pair of wedding shoes worth over 300 yuan, and spicy strips that "were not finished even two months after the wedding". Some others said they got sponsorship from 20 brands for their wedding.

In the past, wedding sponsorship was almost an exclusive treatment for celebrities and top influencers, where brands gave them diamond rings and wedding dresses, equivalent to a high-exposure marketing campaign. Now, as long as you provide an invitation and a wedding date, ordinary people may also receive "wedding gift" from brands.

In particular, when brands get exposure and couples realize "traffic monetization" of their weddings, it is undoubtedly a win-win situation. As for what passers-by think of it, that is another story.

How Many Brands Can a Civilian's Wedding Accommodate

Brands have racked their brains to leave a deep impression on guests.

Take Mala Prince for example, it has unconsciously gained a reputation of "loving to participate in weddings", and even opened a dedicated account called "Wedding Assistant". When sponsoring, it follows a comedy style: a huge red vehicle printed with the couple's names and well-wishes is parked next to the wedding venue, striving to be the most eye-catching support display. It also gives the couple a pair of 5.2-meter-long spicy strips that can be used during the wedding door games.

But this is not a random move to please fans. Its "Spicy Strip Wedding Plan" started in 2022. It releases recruitment for the next month every month, and the number of slots has increased from the initial 100 weddings to 1000. By July 2024, it has sponsored more than 2000 weddings in total. Under each post, hundreds of people sign up. That "Wedding Assistant" account is actually its year-round open registration entry.

Another way to attract ordinary people to sign up is to emphasize "the photos taken here are extremely stunning", which milk tea brands including Bawangchaji and Shuyi Shaoxiancao know very well. Lining up rows of milk tea at the wedding venue is not only spectacular, but also fills the atmosphere to the fullest — as the saying goes, "Sweet milk tea symbolizes sweet love".

Bottled beverage brands are not willing to lag behind either. Hope Water plays the role of "getting deeply into the drama", directly dressing itself up as a classical wine jar with a Chinese character for "happiness" pendant, pretending to be aged nuptial rice wine.

(Figure/@Mala Prince Wedding Assistant, @Hope Water Official Account)

What? You say you are an internet brand? You don't have spicy strips or milk tea to give away? Taqu App set a good example: it helps the couple design and produce human-shaped welcome standees and table cards printed with its own logo, so that it can get into the photos openly when guests take pictures and check in on the wedding day.

Of course, there are thresholds for brand sponsorship activities. The common case is that only a small number of winning slots are provided, which heavily depends on luck. Some activities require users to follow the official account, join the group, fill in the registration form, and submit feedback photos through a unified link later, with a relatively larger number of slots. Some others require a deposit in advance, which will be returned only after the couple's social media posts meet the required data metrics.

Xiao Baozishi often came across related posts during her wedding preparation period, and then got the idea of giving it a try. "What if I get selected?"

She followed a number of official brand accounts, and paid attention to whether there were related recruitment activities every day when she browsed her phone during commute. She also saw some people post to tag brands for sponsorship, but she did not try that method. Because she did not know many brands, it was better to sign up directly through official brand accounts than search for them one by one.

After browsing around these official accounts, she found that many brands launch wedding sponsorship activities for ordinary people, especially food, beverage and wedding supplies brands. Some netizens also summed up their experience, saying that interacting more with official brand accounts makes it easier to get selected.

When netizens summarize the sponsorship they have obtained, they often act as voluntary brand advocates to speak highly of the brands. (Figure/Screenshot from social platforms)

Xiao Baozishi signed up for activities of 11 brands in total, and finally got sponsorship from 3 big brands. "It also exercises my writing ability, because most brands require me to write down the stories between me and my partner." In addition, brands have some basic requirements, such as a confirmed wedding date, proper space to place sponsored materials at the wedding venue, and so on.

The process from waiting to being selected is itself a surprising experience.

The first brand that contacted her was the well-deserved "eye-catcher" Mala Prince. There were only 100 slots for that recruitment, with more than 1000 registration comments. When Xiao Baozishi saw the friend request message, she "could not believe such a good thing would happen to me".

The registration link for Shuyi Shaoxiancao provided options of 99 cups and 199 cups, and Xiao Baozishi chose the former, "I would be extremely grateful if I could win any". Unexpectedly, because the venue was large enough, the customer service took the initiative to upgrade her order to 199 cups. Although the milk tea category, sugar level and ice level could not be specified, when the festive red cups were neatly arranged at the entrance, the spectacular effect was already satisfying enough.

The third time, she won 30 boxes of milk provided by Mengniu Lucky Peanut, and the brand staff even came to the wedding venue specially to arrange the display. "They contacted me in advance, asked me whether I preferred Western style or Chinese style, and checked if the placement position was appropriate."

Getting sponsorship for an ordinary person's wedding is a pretty honorable thing. (Figure/@Xiao Baozishi)

Xiao Baozishi's wedding was held in a hotel in a county in Shandong Province this May. All the guests at the wedding spoke highly of it. "Who could have imagined that a wedding in a small county would also have brand sponsors? Everyone said they had never seen a wedding as fun as mine. After all, which wedding can let you drink milk tea and eat spicy strips at the same time, and be so happy?"

After getting the sponsorship successfully, the couple needs to return clear and beautiful photos or videos to the brand, and post them on social media with brand-related hashtags or tag the official brand account. In addition to posting a separate note for each sponsorship, Xiao Baozishi also published a summary post of all sponsorships on her account, and the comment section was full of people asking "how to get sponsorship".

"I think brand sponsorship and our cooperation in posting content are mutual. Of course, in most cases, the sponsor will communicate with us in advance to confirm a form acceptable to both sides." A girl surnamed Xu from Anhui told Jingzhe Youth. She got sponsorship from 10 brands in total, and even made an Excel spreadsheet to record the progress. After sharing it on social platforms, she also received many inquiries, and her friends who are about to get married also plan to fight for sponsorship.

Barter: Profit or Loss?

Some people summed up the reason for seeking sponsorship in one sentence: "It's really a great deal, you can save at least thousands of yuan."

In the past, you would feel heartbroken when giving hundreds of yuan as a wedding gift to others; you thought you could get the money back when you got married, but when you got the bill from the wedding planning company and hotel, you found that the wedding gift money you received could not even cover a fraction of the banquet cost.

The "Special Research Report on the 2025 Edition of Wedding Culture Industry Planning" released by China Industry Research Consulting Co., Ltd. Industry Research Institute shows that in 2025, the broad market size of China's wedding culture industry exceeded 2.3 trillion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.8% in the past five years; the per capita expenditure on weddings exceeded 130,000 yuan, and the number in first-tier cities even exceeded 220,000 yuan.

A decent wedding costs a lot of money. (Figure/《The Love You Give Me》)

People who live a practical life will never miss the opportunity to save money. Some choose to "cut expenditure" by simplifying procedures, reducing unnecessary items and cutting the cost of core wedding service providers; others open up new ideas to "increase revenue" by actively inviting brands for sponsorship.

"My wedding date is confirmed, are there any brands willing to sponsor me?" Many people post with this as the title, tagging dozens of official brand accounts in the main text. Some even add the suffix "wedding-preparing" to their IDs. On Xiaohongshu, this kind of suffix works as a self-introduction, making it easier for people in the same situation to find each other and exchange information — after all, the recruitment information is scattered in dozens of official brand accounts, which is impossible for one person to browse through all.

However, such posts may also attract netizens who do not know the situation. Under a high-interaction "sponsorship request" post, top comments include those mocking "wool-pulling", those thinking it is "acting weird", and others joking: "It's hard to imagine that when the host says 'please watch the VCR', a 3-minute advertisement is played on the large screen."

People who have had sponsorship experience replied calmly: "Some brands do sponsor ordinary people, and I got it. But you have to take the initiative to reach out to them. We are not big influencers, so we have to be proactive if we want to get it."

Reasonable and active striving for sponsorship is not shameful. (Figure/《Fake It Till You Make It》)

Jinzi held her wedding in the second half of last year, and she did not consider seeking sponsorship because she was afraid of "social embarrassment". "I would rather buy the things myself, it won't cost much."

In her opinion, the thousands of yuan saved by sponsorship is negligible compared with the total wedding budget. "The wedding banquet costs a lot. A lunch banquet plus dinner banquet for one table costs more than 2000 yuan. Usually people book about 40 tables, which costs 80,000 yuan, and those with many relatives need to book 60 to 70 tables. So consumers can also put forward requirements, such as asking the hotel to give some free drinks and snacks, which the hotel will meet if the requirement is not excessive."

Jinzi added: "Besides, there are too many trivial matters in preparing for a wedding. I have to spend extra time signing up for activities, communicating with brands about sponsorship and photo feedback, and arranging the display positions for brands at the venue, which sounds tiring just to think about it." She also noticed that some netizens almost got scammed during the sponsorship seeking process, and it also takes a lot of energy to distinguish whether the sponsorship is real or not.

Wedding is a big project, and many unexpected situations may occur. (Figure/《Modern Family》)

Shen Shen, a netizen, holds a different view: "It's mutual exchange, and both sides get what they need. Merchants want exposure and cases, you want to save money. Talk about it openly, don't be pretentious. Sponsorship is not begged for, but exchanged for. Your content, scenario and sharing are all valuable to merchants."

The reason why brands are willing to sponsor ordinary people is not hard to understand. From traditional TV advertisements to ubiquitous internet advertisements, from celebrity and KOL endorsements to soft advertisements by mid-tier and small influencers, consumers have long developed sharp eyes to identify advertisements, and learned to quickly scroll past and avoid them flexibly. So it is inevitable that some brands are willing to find a large number of civilian accounts for promotion, and sooner or later some brands will copy this routine offline.