Experts told Jacobson that couples wanting a sponsored wedding should target smaller companies who want to get their names and products out to a large crowd.
"Angelique and Richard Burnsman had a $10,000 wedding for free after winning a contest on a local radio station," Jacobson said. "The flowers, tuxedoes, cake and her signature dress were all paid for."
Without a contest winning, Jacobson said, the average couple has to endure much more to get a company to pay for their wedding.
Tony and Brandy Bizzieri, of Oak Lawn, Ill., told Jacobson they tried unsuccessfully to get sponsored but learned that it takes almost one year -- and plenty of legwork -- to line up the sponsors.
Another couple, Tom and Sabrina Anderson, told Jacobson they were more successful. They had a "dream wedding -- top of the line," they told Jacobson, even though most of it was paid for.
"Probably 80 percent of our wedding was sponsored," Tom Anderson said.
The food, the veil, and even the wedding bands were donated by local businesses, in return for advertising at the reception. Their invitations had a vendor's logo on the back of the card.
"We had a scroll at each place setting, with all the different sponsors," Sabrina Anderson said.
"We actually had T-shirts printed up with each vendor's logo on the back."
Tom Anderson published a book about sponsored weddings and now helps other couples, including Todd Weiss and Debbie Lay, who plan to marry in June.
Weiss told Jacobson that the search for sponsors is not an easy road.
"I actually got some negative comments from people, just saying that 'I can't believe you're doing this. If you can't afford a wedding, maybe you shouldn't get married,'" Weiss said. "I didn't realize that money was one of the big precursors of love."
But Weiss and Lay "have made finding sponsors an art form," Jacobson said. "Their main tool is the Internet."
Jacobson reviewed the results of their search for sponsors before explaining how they did it.
The reception hall -- normally $4,000 -- will cost them half that amount. Four microbrewery kegs -- normally $200 each -- will be free. The cake -- normally $500 -- will be free. The baker told Jacobson she saw it as an opportunity to get her name out in the community without gambling on expensive advertising. His titanium ring -- normally $1,000 -- will be free. The disc jockey, photographer and videographer -- a package worth $4,500 -- will be free.
"It kind of brings together a group of 100, 200 guests, and sponsors present the best that they have to offer," Weiss said.
Weiss and Lay told Jacobson the steps they took to acquire the sponsorships.
The couple solicited from all over the county. The couple sent out information packets. The couple set up a Web site and posted sponsors' names on it.
By using the Internet, the couple told Jacobson, they avoided large banners at their wedding. "We're not going to have big banners or anything like that. It's a little placard here, a little placard there," Weiss said. "We're having a little slide presentation of pictures of us. As the credits roll, it will be credits for the sponsors."
Weiss and Lay have already saved $15,000 for their upcoming wedding and are now looking for a sponsored honeymoon package.
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Source http://www.nbc5.com/nbc5/2602609/detail.html
=== More info http://www.sponsoredwedding.com/
Sample webpage http://ardmore.cambria.com/weiss/
Cecil Pinto Trivia Service
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