The social media wedding of the year is right here in #ColumbusGa

Earlier in the week, I got a call from someone who said, “You know ‘Sayhop’ is getting married in Columbus this weekend?”

My reaction was quick, No, I didn’t know that.

Then I asked the money question: Who’s ‘Sayhop’?

‘Google her’ was all I was told.

So I did.

@sayhop is Sara Hopkins, raised in Harris County and an Auburn University graduate who punted a television broadcast career a few years back to become a social media celebrity. She is what is known as an influencer, which means major companies pay her to pitch their products on her social media accounts, including Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. She rose to social media prominence a few years ago on Vine, a social media site known for six-second looped videos. The site has been shut down, but that has not stopped Hopkins from continuing her social media career.

She’s a really smart young woman who has figured out how to translate her personality into a nice living.

How good is she at this social media thing? @lillyandchico, the Instagram account for her two Pomeranian dogs, has 14,700 Instagram followers. That’s her dogs, folks. She is really good at this stuff.

Which brings us back to the wedding this weekend. It is Saturday night at an undisclosed venue. But it’s kind of a big deal. A lot of hotel rooms have been booked in town this weekend. Again, I won’t mention the hotel, but if you pay attention to who’s popular on social media, you might actually see some of those folks walking around town.

Sayhop’s wedding is a big deal in the social media world, because she is marrying Robby Ayala, who like her is an influencer.

It is quite a merger. Take her 249,000 Instagram followers and Ayala’s 349,000 followers — and you’ve got a lot of followers. She recently posted a photo of her and Ayala with their marriage license. On Twitter, Ayala has about 198,000 followers and Hopkins has about 52,000 followers.

Talk about the word engagement having a dual meaning.

One person has estimated the combined Twitter followers of the bride, groom and wedding guests will approach 10 million. As someone who has been on Twitter for nine years, I can assure you that is a big number.

Let’s hope they are all using #ColumbusGa or #ColGa this weekend. If they are, we will be trending.

Hopkins has been posting this week about the wedding to Instagram story, a feature within the platform in which photos and videos disappear after 24 hours.

Hopkins is a master of social media. She lives in the Atlanta area, and Creative Loafing referred to her as “the Queen of Social Media” in Atlanta in a February 2016 story.

I told you, this was the social media wedding of the year — and it’s right here in Columbus. Here’s wishing the bride and groom many happy years — and thousands of new social media followers.

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 4:38 PM with the headline "The social media wedding of the year is right here in #ColumbusGa."