ROME—In the universe of wacky wedding planning, Amanda Knox’s betrothal to poet Christopher Robinson surely is in a galaxy all its own. The couple have set up a crowdfunding wedding registry site to raise $10,000 to help pay for their moonscape matrimony.
Knox posted a video of Robinson’s elaborate space-themed proposal on YouTube last year, so clearly the wedding theme was established then.
Knox, who became a celebrity after her conviction, then acquittal, for her alleged role in the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, recently came to Modena to speak at an Innocence Project event. Robinson, whose poetry has been widely published, accompanied her.
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“Let’s face it, we don’t need any more stuff,” the couple write by way of introduction on their crowd-funding page. “What we do need is help putting on the best party ever for our family and friends!”
The wedding is an invitation-only affair, according to one person who is invited from Italy, but the couple clearly don’t think that should stop friends and supporters from helping foot the bill, which includes payments to set designers, as well as plans for an “interactive theater” and a time capsule.
“Now we’re asking for help so that we can shower our friends and family with love and celebration! Instead of a traditional registry, we are asking for donations towards the cost of the wedding,” they write. “Whether you’re attending or not, all are welcome to donate to specific costs, or at a patron level.”
Everyone who contributes will receive a signed, limited-edition copy of the couple’s book of love poems, The Cardio Tesseract, to be published in conjunction with the wedding.
The reason they need the cash for their mega marriage is because they spent their wedding fund on Knox’s recent trip to Italy, they say. “With scant time to plan, and no financial backing, we had to spend our wedding funds on this challenging and important journey,” the couple writes. “It was well worth it. Amanda reached some hearts, and healed a bit of her own.”
The couple also tacked on a side trip to the French Riviera, which doesn’t come cheap. “After the event in Modena, Chris and I took a few days off to clear our heads and shake off the hurt in the French Riviera,” Knox posted on Instagram. “We ate well, got exercise, and read/wrote poems.”
Supporters of the couple are asked to choose where their donation will go. Those who want to give as little as $25 can earmark it for decorations. “Flowers? Who needs em? We’re going to have some crazy centerpieces that will warp your concept of time,” the couple write under one of the $25 options. Other options for the smallest donation are LED lighting or makeup for both the bride and groom, according to the registry.
Just $75 will help pay for the photographer, who, according to the blurb below that donation button, has his or her work cut out. “There’s going to be vikings drinking pan-galactic gargle blasters, mutants schmoozing with Grecian queens and cyborgs. No one will believe it happened if we don’t get some damn photos to prove it! Help us support a hard-working local photographer and artist.”
A donation of $100 can go to a time-travel machine that will apparently be available for guests. “Time travel is tricky business. To pull it off requires some special effects. Help us geek out with LEDs, projectors, and hidden wires!”
A cool $100 can also go toward the band or to the couple’s hand-made wedding attire. “You know we love to look fabulous,” the $100 donation option states. “We do it for YOU. And for this special occasion, we’re making our outfits by hand. Help us set a new record for all-time best dressed couple!”
There are also options to donate to the honeymoon, options of which include “to the moon, to Thailand, to a cabin in the Alps, or a bustling Shanghai street.” People can also donate to babysitting being provided for guests’ children, or to the food. “Join us in snobbery and help us provide gourmet victuals from across the time-continuum, from medieval meat pies, to mashed martian plantains.”
For those with deeper pockets, there are options to donate $500, which buys a shout out when Madonna’s “Lucky Star” comes on during the wedding dance, or $1,000, which buys a shout out when Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic” plays. There are even options for $2,000, $5,000, or a whopping $10,000, though the happy couple don’t seem to anticipate such generosity.
“We don’t really expect to have any donors this generous, but if you’re out there, and you exist, your friendship is truly timeless!” they write. “With your help, we’ll be able to make this night transcend the moment, not just with photos, but with an A/V time capsule. We’ll also send you a special video from the future, reading you an excerpt from the Encyclopedia Galactica—just tell us what subject you want us to look up in the future archives!”
Knox, who was exonerated by Italy’s highest court for the murder of her British roommate after being twice convicted for her alleged participation in a gruesome crime, deserves her day as a blushing bride.
But when she came to Italy in June, she blamed the media for obsessing over her every move and for essentially destroying her right to privacy and a normal life. Several times during the event, Robinson had to escort her from the conference venue to “escape” the camera glare. But if she really doesn’t want the attention, why go to such lengths to be so publicly outrageous? The registry is not an invitation-only site and is clearly designed to be talked about.
Knox does not agree. On Tuesday, she tweeted a response to those who she says have been “hating on her” all day, telling them that they have been “duped by the outrage machine.”
She goes on to say, “You gave ad $ to tabloids that profit by making you angry about things that don't matter. Our wedding will be crazy & fun & barebones if it needs to be, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter.”
No one would expect her to offer a way to donate to Meredith Kercher’s memorial scholarship on such a site. But maybe an option to donate instead to the Innocence Project, for example, should someone want to support her without pandering to what can only be described as self-serving narcissism? We wish the couple a happy future. But we also wish there was an option to donate $25 to just go to city hall if they really want privacy.
Editor's note: Barbie Latza Nadeau is the author of Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox, which was adapted for film in 2014.
