There are many different options when it comes to getting married. You can have a huge, expensive, all-out bash with a lot of people in attendance. You can have a small ceremony on the beach, in a public garden, or at your house. You can even do a private ceremony at a courthouse. (You can also do a combination of any of these things, and beyond.) Whichever way you go, there will still be some costs involved, mainly in terms of paperwork, any sort of party, and wedding attire. But what do you do if you’re so broke that you can’t even afford to get married?
Over the summer, a French man named Dagobert Renouf found himself engaged to the love of his life, Anna Plynina, while also on the verge of being homeless. They were planning a fall wedding, but Dagobert didn’t even have the money for a tuxedo. So, he decided to basically turn his tuxedo into a walking advertisement for whatever “indie companies” (aka start-ups) wanted to sponsor him. They’d become his personal corporate sponsors and he’d wear their logos on his tux. In the end, he raised $10,000 for their October 25 wedding.
“This summer I was completely broke, close to homelessness, but still wanted to marry my wife,” Renouf tells PEOPLE. “I asked for help from my community of entrepreneurs on social media, and someone joked he would give me €500 (approximately $576 USD) if he put his logo on my suit. Then it caught on and other people said they would do it as well.”
Renouf quickly launched a website for buying spots on his suit, with Plynina “fully on board” with the idea. It did, however, take negotiating white leather slingback Prada pumps “as part of the deal,” as well as a promise to only partner with “indie companies” instead of “huge soulless brands” that don’t align with their values.
“My wife didn’t like the idea at first, but then we started focusing on really using the opportunity to bring all of my entrepreneurship community I had built along the years alongside us on this special day,” says Renouf, who describes himself as an “entrepreneur turned salesman at a startup. Then we started taking it seriously.”
Over the next three months, Renouf updated his followers on his progress, from sharing ChatGPT-generated renditions of the jacket to detailing the price system. The cost to be featured on the outside of the jacket ranged from $300 to $2,000 depending on placements with the maximum visibility, based on one of his tweets. Renouf promised to wear the sponsored suit during his main ceremony and in wedding photos and videos to be posted on social media to his more than 116,000 followers. For $100, startups could also have its name printed inside the jacket linen. No refunds.
Twenty-six companies bought into the unorthodox opportunity, including: Comp AI, Dropkick Copy, ScreenshotOne, React Video Editor, Prompt Watch, FeatherFlow, Vidext, CommitKick, Superblog, WebCrawler API, CrawlChat, Rank.ai, indievish.com, ShortsAI.com, Clio Websites, LAUNCHTIP, Heap Chat, Papermark, LeanerCloud, Once Upon A, Inbox Zero, Toolfolio, Posterio, Kubrio, Luckynote, and Small Bets.
Designer and stylist Lamine Sow was hired to make the jacket. After all the ad space was sold on the dark green suit, Sow worked to transform it into a patchwork of startup logos.
Renouf married Plynina, who is a marketing manager, on Oct. 25 in Lille, France. Sixteen guests attended the ceremony. Renouf predicted that his special day would “be the most epic wedding in history,” and it certainly fulfilled his vision. Photos and videos of his sponsored tuxedo went viral, with users on X applauding him for seeing the project through. “We did it fam,” he wrote in one post.
“Our guests actually loved it, including my wife’s mom!” Renouf says. “She thought it was a fun idea from ‘people in marketing,’ since we both work in that domain. And the jacket looked very premium and elegant, even more in person. So it didn’t ruin anything. I was actually more stressed than anybody because I always tried to make sure every logo was visible in pictures.”
In the end, however, the groom “almost didn’t save any money.”
“Making a beautiful jacket with logos is more complicated than I thought, especially on such short notice,” Renouf says. “The suit ended up costing $5,200, out of the $10,000 I sold worth of sponsorship slots. Then because of my current entrepreneurship status in France, I couldn’t even expense it so I still had to pay $2,500 taxes on the $10,000. I basically got a free suit and $2,000 out of it.”
He adds, “The reason I didn’t save as much was also because most people beyond my initial community didn’t believe in the idea, it seemed too crazy and weird, so I couldn’t raise as much as I hoped. I really believed in the vision, but not everybody did.”
Although Renouf “almost didn’t make any money from the suit,” with him noting he “even lost some” after hiring a professional videographer to create content for the sponsors, it led him to “gaining a huge opportunity.”
“When I was selling spots in July, an entrepreneur from my community was impressed by how crazy and dedicated I was, and how I managed to sell so many slots so fast. He offered me a job at Comp AI, a fast-growing startup in New York, and I’ve been absolutely killing it and enjoying it since then,” he explains. “I found my dream job thanks to this.”
I hate that Dagobert was in a place where he had to do this, but I admire the hustle. We are living in times where sometimes, you gotta do what you (legally) gotta do, and taking advantage of corporations by selling them tax-deductible ad space on a wedding tux is pretty freaking genius. None of these sponsor companies ring any bells, but if any of them ever make the news in the future, we’ll always have the wedding tux for reference. I would not be surprised if other people try this method, turning it into a fad that burns brightly before quickly petering out. I’m also happy that Dagobert found a job out of all of this. Good for him!
Anna and Dagobert say that they’re going to auction the wedding jacket off to raise money for a charity that helps support children with epilepsy, which her dad died from. What a great way to pay it forward. Congrats to the two of them on their marriage! May they have many happy years together.
Big thanks to the 26 startups who helped us pay for our wedding, it was a beautiful day 😍 (full cinematic video coming soon) pic.twitter.com/2LDcrjjws5
— Dagobert – Corporate sellout 👔 (@dagorenouf) October 26, 2025
Currently getting people to sponsor my wedding and pass it as business expense under advertising. Sold 7 spots today. https://t.co/p8tK3q1rWl pic.twitter.com/i2OmLlTKnp
— Dagobert – Corporate sellout 👔 (@dagorenouf) July 24, 2025
I just got the 26 startups who sponsored my wedding a backlink from People magazine. https://t.co/rOinenmz7Z pic.twitter.com/W2OhLb3n4a
— Dagobert – Corporate sellout 👔 (@dagorenouf) November 4, 2025
This is the most French thing ever! 😂😂
I like the bride’s earrings.
My problem is that it’s ugly. I feel he could have gotten a better jacket designed and made more cheaply on Etsy.
I admire the hell out of the hustle but he should have worn a tie.
It worked for them because they’re both in marketing. Under any other circumstance, it might have been a sign to rethink legally tying yourself to someone who is so broke he’s “almost homeless”.
“ I basically got a free suit and $2,000 out of it.”
Aht aht….don’t forget the $1200 USD (before tax) spent on PRADA shoes for the bride of the ‘almost homeless’ man. Priorities just don’t exist anymore apparently
If you’re basically almost homeless should getting married be at the top of your list of priorities? Was he marrying her to have a place to live?? I have QUESTIONS.