Soon after Kayla King’s fiance proposed to her on a cliff in Laguna Beach, King, 21, noticed a new kind of TikTok content filling her For You page: wedding-themed posts from influencers planning their bachelorette parties and big days. King watched these influencer brides show off tons of swag from brands – everything from venue decorations to personalized invitations – that they’d received for free in exchange for posting; some were even paid to post about the brands. Though she’s decidedly not an influencer, with just over 750 followers on her personal TikTok, King wondered: how hard could it be to get some free stuff for herself?
It couldn’t hurt to try. So King, who lives in Phoenix and works in social media management for college sports, made a new account specifically for her wedding journey and started contacting bridal- and bachelorette-friendly brands to request free goodies.
