Couples Are Now Sending Wedding Invites to Fortune 500 Companies

When Marielle Mathe Brookner arrived at FedEx to pick up her wedding invitations, the bride-to-be wasn’t thrilled with their color.

“I’m devastated,” she recalls thinking. “I really need to get these out as soon as possible.”

Brookner successfully persuaded the retailer to print new copies, but she didn’t let her original invites go to waste. Instead she decided to invite some atypical guests to her November nuptials: Disney, Ben & Jerry’s, and In-N-Out Burger, among other brands. She knew Mickey and Minnie Mouse were unlikely to take up room on her seating chart; the 28-year-old realtor “did it mostly for fun.”

“I have extra invitations. I have postage. I might as well just do it,” she says.

These days the number of companies on wedding invite lists can rival the number of extended family members. As more brands flaunt online personalities, couples are feeling increasingly inclined to include them in their big day in the hopes of scoring unique swag, gift cards, or just plain recognition. Some crafty brides go right to the top, addressing invitations to CEOs with an eye to receiving a wedding gift.

“I have extra invitations. I have postage. I might as well just do it.”

But not every brand is willing to respond. Although there’s a rumor that Chick-fil-A sends couples wedding gifts, it’s not true, according to the company. “Anything we would give would be based on a personal connection,” Andrew T. Cathy, the fast-food chain’s chief executive officer, wrote in an email.

Other brands have been more generous with brides and grooms over the years. The Boston Red Sox have mailed out dirt from Fenway Park, the pet supply website Chewy once sent newlyweds a tennis ball and a bandanna, and Lucasfilm gave a Star Wars–branded cookbook to betrothed superfans. Some celebrities, including Mariska Hargitay, Michael Jordan, and Zachary Levi, have reportedly answered wedding-related mail with flowers and signed photos.

On TikTok, wedding-inspired content has exploded, which has helped fuel this trend. Many couples discover the most likely responders via Facebook groups, including the 77,000-strong Wedding Celebrity Contact group, which is dedicated to finding addresses. Mark Cuban, the billionaire Shark Tank investor and former Dallas Mavericks owner, says he receives hundreds of invites to weddings from strangers. “It’s insane,” he tells T&C. “I don’t send anything.”

Lara Mahler, a New York City–based wedding planner, says future spouses are sometimes forced to buy more invitations than they intend to use, and including brands at their weddings is a way to use them without adding to the headcount.

Mark Cuban says he receives hundreds of invites to weddings from strangers. “It’s insane,” he tells T&C.

But sometimes a high-wattage guest will RSVP yes. Last December representatives from Auntie Anne’s, the pretzel retailer, showered one couple in Georgia with the company’s signature butter-scented snacks during their reception.

Heidi Zak, who runs the lingerie brand ThirdLove, received a wedding invitation from a customer-slash-bride, which included a letter touting the company’s bras. She says brands, like human beings, can clear the eternal to-invite-or-not-invite threshold. “If you think about who you invite to your wedding, it’s these people who have, no pun intended, supported you,” Zak says.

Since stamps cost less than a buck, adding to companies’ letter piles is low stakes—but highly rewarding if they respond.

Mahler says, “I think now more than ever people have this strong connection to celebrities and brands and kind of feel like what do they have to lose?”

This story appears in the October 2024 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW

Andrew Zucker works at a production company in New York City. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, and Air Mail, among other publications.