A ‘Bride’, Her Instagram Influencer Partner, And A Court Case: Bizarre Story Of A ‘Fake’ Wedding That Wasn’t

<p><strong>Trending News:</strong> What started as a whimsical “white party” invitation took a shocking turn for a woman when she found herself at the centre of a ceremony she never intended to take seriously. The event, pitched as a social media prank by her influencer partner, soon revealed layers of deception that led to an extraordinary court case &mdash; and finally the annulment of her marriage.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The incident took place in Australia.&nbsp;</p>
<h2><strong>The Proposal, And The Strange Wedding</strong></h2>
<p>The story of the couple, both foreigners in Australia, began in September 2023 when they met on a dating app, according to a BBC report. Their relationship progressed quickly, with the man proposing just three months later. However, within days, events took a bizarre turn.</p>
<p>In her deposition in a Melbourne court, as per the report, the woman said she was invited to what she was told would be a “white party” in Sydney, where attendees were required to wear white clothing. The Melbourne resident packed a white dress as instructed, but upon arrival she was startled to find only a few people present there &mdash; her partner, a photographer, the photographer&rsquo;s friend, and a celebrant. She couldn’t see anyone in white.</p>
<p>The woman said she immediately questioned the setup. &ldquo;…he pulled me aside, and he told me that he’s organising a prank wedding for his social media, to be precise, Instagram, because he wants to boost his content, and wants to start monetising his Instagram page,” she was quoted as saying in the court.</p>
<p>Initially reluctant, the woman agreed to play along, believing the ceremony was just for show, since “he was a social media person” with more than 17,000 followers. The BBC report said she assumed a legal marriage would require formalities such as filing a notice of intended marriage. She even dialled a friend, who apparently reassured her that the event couldn&rsquo;t possibly be real, after which she exchanged vows and kissed her partner for the camera.</p>
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<h2><strong>The ‘Motive’: Permanent Residency</strong></h2>
<p>Two months later, the ruse unraveled &mdash; when the man asked her to add him as a dependant on her permanent residency application, claiming their marriage made it possible. When she protested that they were not actually married, he revealed the truth: the Sydney ceremony had been legally binding.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Shocked, the woman discovered a marriage certificate and a notice of intended marriage that had been filed without her knowledge or consent &mdash; weeks before the man&rsquo;s proposal. The signature on the certificate bore little resemblance to her own, the BBC report said, citing court documents.</p>
<p>”I’m furious with the fact that I didn’t know that that was a real marriage,” she told the court. “…he lied from the beginning, and the fact that he also wanted me to add him in my application.”</p>
<p>In his testimony, the man denied any deception, claiming they had agreed to an intimate ceremony. However, the court found otherwise. The judge concluded that the woman “did not provide real consent to her participation” in the wedding, having believed she was acting in a staged event.</p>
<p>”She believed she was acting. She called the event ‘a prank’. It made perfect sense for her to adopt the persona of a bride in all things at the impugned ceremony so as to enhance the credibility of the video depicting a legally valid marriage,” the judgment read, according to the BBC report.</p>
<p>With the court’s intervention, the marriage ended in October 2024.</p>