The thrill of going viral: 27-year-old's side hustle brings in up to $20,000 a month.

Lexi Tobin was always "the planner" among her siblings and friends.

In 2019, Tobin assisted her brother-in-law with his proposal planning. She purchased picture frames, hung lights on an archway, placed candles in paper bags, and arranged them at her family's beach house in New York state. On the day, she nervously recorded her sister walking down a white aisle towards her fiancé's arms.

She uploaded the footage to TikTok a year later, on a whim. Within 30 minutes, more than 100,000 people watched the 41-second video. Now 27 and living in New York City, Tobin says, "I think 9 million people watched it in the first 48 hours. I was completely blown away by the thrill of going viral."

Planning other people's wedding proposals and posting bride-to-be's reactions on TikTok became a lucrative side hustle for Tobin, who generated six figures of revenue, including approximately $9,000 in median monthly revenue, during the 12-month period ending last month, according to CNBC Make It's review of documents.

In November 2023, Tobin's side hustle generated over $20,000 in revenue.

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Tobin also plans other events such as bridesmaids' proposals, brisses, engagement parties, and birthday parties, in addition to her first wedding. She earns some of her revenue from her clients and keeps approximately 15% of her event planning fees as profit. The remaining revenue comes from brand and affiliate marketing deals through TikTok, which has nearly 330,000 followers, and Instagram.

She earns a substantial income as a director of account management for an advertising tech company and invests her side hustle earnings into the stock market, she says, living off the income she makes from her full-time job. Tobin spends up to 40 hours per week on her side hustle and roughly 60 hours per week at her day job, where she earns "substantially more," she says.

Tobin views her side gig as a long-term project despite the taxing nature of working up to 100 hours a week. Similarly, Brian A.M. Green, an Atlanta-based upscale event planner who consults for WeddingPro, believes that focusing on a specific niche like proposals within the broader wedding industry is beneficial for business.

A proposal with five vendors can now cost upwards of $10,000, according to Green, and this cost is likely to increase as the entire wedding industry becomes more expensive, as found in The Knot's 2023 Real Wedding Study, which surveyed 10,000 newlywed couples.

Tobin usually employs one to three vendors for each event, she remarks. "It's all trial and error," she says. Building her business took "a really long time," she notes. "I constantly have to remind my friends I've been doing this for five years, and it took time to gain followers, monetize content, and establish a legitimate business."

In March, Tobin got married under twinkling lights, walking down a candle-lined aisle in an embroidered gown with her parents on each arm. She took a deep breath as she reached her husband, her beaming smile never wavering.

She posted it all to TikTok. More than 19 million people watched.

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