Couple Turns Wedding Into ₱7.5M Charity Event
Digital entrepreneurs Marley Jaxx and Steve Larsen from Idaho, USA, held their wedding on August 1, 2025, in an unconventional way—by selling tickets for people to attend.
The couple spent around US$50,000 (₱2.85 million) on the celebration. Instead of inviting only family and friends, they opened the event to their online audience. Ticket prices varied: the highest at US$1,000 (₱57,016), which included full VIP access for three days, while lower-priced options of US$57 and US$97 allowed access to selected parts of the wedding. To their surprise, dozens of people—mostly strangers—purchased tickets, raising US$96,000 (₱5.47 million) from ticket sales, plus another US$36,000 (₱2.05 million) from a post-wedding brunch.
The brunch, called the “Biohacking Brunch,” offered counseling sessions, red-light therapy, breathwork tutorials, and energy recovery experiences led by experts. Many of these premium perks were suggested by their followers, who also agreed on the US$1,000 ticket price.
Despite criticisms that the event was a “scammy cash grab,” Marley explained that their goal was not to deceive but to challenge the multi-billion-dollar wedding industry. She admitted they recovered their wedding expenses but emphasized that the excess funds—US$132,000 (₱7.52 million)—went to charity.
They chose Village Impact, an organization that builds schools in Africa, as the beneficiary. Marley shared that it costs US$15,000 (₱855,922) to build a classroom, and several wedding guests even donated the full amount for the cause after hearing the couple’s plan to help construct a classroom in Kenya in July 2026.
The celebration lasted three days, from Thursday to Saturday, with family and close friends enjoying VIP-level experiences, while online followers joined depending on their ticket tier. Some attendees even traveled without knowing the couple personally, leaving as newfound friends.
Marley and Steve said the experience revealed who their genuine supporters were—those who attended out of interest and goodwill, not just for social media hype. For the couple, the wedding became not only a unique celebration of love but also a meaningful opportunity to support education for children in need.
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