- Influencer Marissa Fuchs (AKA Fashion Ambitionist) and her partner Gabriel Grossman went viral for documenting a three-day proposal scavenger hunt on Instagram which culminated in a symbolic wedding in Paris.
- But suspicions were raised when a slick marketing deck, seemingly to send to brands and sponsors, for the proposal was revealed.
- The bride maintains she didn’t know about the proposal plan in advance.
- Fuchs’ position as director of brand partnerships at Goop may also now be on thin ice.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
Last week, an Instagram star hit the headlines when her boyfriend sent her on a scavenger hunt leading to her engagement, and ultimately, wedding.
The whole thing was documented on Instagram over the course of a few days, with Marissa Fuchs, who runs the website and 200,000 follower strong Instagram account, Fashion Ambitionist, being sent across the world by her now husband Gabriel Grossman, a vice president at Morgan Stanley based in New York.
But what originally seemed like an incredibly romantic, elaborate, and beautiful gesture soon took a more complex turn when the Atlantic discovered a “pitch” for the whole spectacle, which the couple may have sent to advertisers and brands before the stunt took place.
However, the newlyweds, both 30, have spoken out to say Fuchs really didn't know about the plan (or the advertising pitch) in advance.
Indeed, Fuchs' reaction to the moment Grossman finally proposed in the grounds of Château Bouffémont outside Paris, appears to be genuinely full of emotion.
http://instagr.am/p/BzCNADbFEqO
The whole scene was recorded from many angles, and nearly 5,000 people watched the moment unfold on an Instagram Live.
But that wasn't the end of the adventure - there was a rabbi at the château ready to marry the couple then and there (although it was a symbolic rather than official wedding).
Grossman worked with one of Fuchs' oldest friends, social media specialist Elicia Blaine Evans, on the proposal plan, and she is apparently the person responsible for the sleek marketing deck.
Evans has admitted to having meetings with brands on behalf of Fuchs without the latter's knowledge, according to the New York Times.
These meetings were reportedly largely unfruitful, but she did secure free services from a vacation photography company called Flytographer, which duly received shout-outs on Fuchs' Instagram.
http://instagr.am/p/By4m1GdFRGm
"There was an informal agreement," Evans said. "They just wanted us to promote some. Obviously, Marissa had no idea. She was like, 'What and why are we doing this?' and I had to explain to her what she had to do moving forward.
"She hasn't tagged them in everything, and that's because she doesn't think it feels organic, but she loves the content, so we've had to go back and edit and add them in one or two posts. Other than that, she hasn't been tagging. She was supposed to follow my directions."
Many people pointed out that Fuchs' Instagram posts seem to match up too perfectly with the proposed posts suggested on the schedule to be genuine.
Fuchs, who is also director of brand partnerships at Goop, told the New York Post on June 20: "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."
Fuchs' position at Goop may be somewhat in peril, however - until Thursday afternoon, her job at the company was mentioned in her Instagram bio. It isn't any more.
Grossman says he got her boss' approval to take time off work for the proposal, but when the NY Times contacted Goop's PR team, they were told a very different story.
"Marissa never received formal approval from Goop for this," said Noora Raj Brown, senior vice president of communications at Goop. "We have opened an internal review into this to see what happened, but we do know that she did not go through the proper channels for any such request."
http://instagr.am/p/By77nzDlBeQ
Fuchs maintained that she only found out about the marketing pitch while the three-day proposal was taking place, but that she didn't actually see it.
For his part, Grossman said he used his now wife's contacts book to get in touch with brands she'd worked with previously. This resulted in an array of freebies and discounts on products featured in the proposal.
One of these was a monogrammed key and necklace chain made by jeweler Jade Trau.
"Jade Trau has a very close relationship with Marissa," Grossman said. "I paid $4,000 for the pieces, but they would have been retail: $10,000 or $12,000.
"I also told her, if she ends up redoing her engagement ring and whatever wedding bands we end up getting, she'll probably want to work with her anyway."
http://instagr.am/p/By21YcGAfag
He continued: "I originally went into it saying the budget's going to be $40,000. I think I'm probably a little under $50,000, all in."
Some argue that's less than a standard New York wedding would cost, and Fuchs has also been rewarded with over 50,000 new followers thanks to all the interest in the stunt - and you can't put a price on followers, after all.
INSIDER has reached out to Fuchs for comment but is yet to hear back.