'Completely Broke' Man Couldn't Afford His Wedding. So, He Came Up with an Unconventional Way to Pay for His Suit (Exclusive)
- - 'Completely Broke' Man Couldn't Afford His Wedding. So, He Came Up with an Unconventional Way to Pay for His Suit (Exclusive)
Ashlyn RobinetteNovember 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
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Elina Aryukova
Dagobert Renouf and Anna Plynina on their wedding day -
Salesman Dagobert Renouf married marketing manager Anna Plynina on Oct. 25 in France
Three months before the ceremony, Renouf posted a tweet asking if any companies would sponsor his wedding with ad slots sewn onto his tuxedo because he was "completely broke" and needed a way to cover the cost of his nuptials
A total of 26 tech startups participated, and one of them even hired Renouf after being impressed by his ability "to sell so many slots so fast"
A groom turned into a walking billboard on his wedding day.
Just a few months ago, French salesman Dagobert Renouf was on the brink of homelessness. Still wanting to throw his then-fiancée Anna Plynina a wedding, he had to get creative to afford it.
In mid-July, Renouf tweeted that he planned to cover his wedding expenses with sponsored ad slots on his tuxedo. Days later, he asked again if tech companies would be willing to "sponsor" his wedding and "pass it as a business expense under advertising." His posts went viral — rapidly turning his "experiment" into a reality.
Elina Aryukova
Dagobert Renouf and Anna Plynina on their wedding day
"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."
He continues, "Then we started taking it seriously."
Elina Aryukova
Anna Plynina and Dagobert Renouf on their wedding day
Over the next three months, Renouf 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.
Elina Aryukova
Dagobert Renouf holding his suit jacket on his wedding day
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."
Elina Aryukova
Dagobert Renouf and Anna Plynina on their wedding day
"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."
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Elina Aryukova
Anna Plynina and Dagobert Renouf on their wedding day
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."
Renouf and Plynina met in April 2024, and are "very happy and in love." They plan to auction off the wedding jacket for charity by the end of the year to help children with epilepsy, the neurological disorder that Plynina's father died from 15 years ago.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
