Couples deal with wedding expenses by allowing ads

ST. LOUIS -- Faced with planning an expensive wedding on short notice, Troy Kloha and Geneen Pazur were worried if they could say "I do" without going broke.

Expecting to pay about $20,000 for the large but not extravagant celebration, the couple did what many businesses would do -- they found sponsors.

In exchange for allowing the advertising, the couple could receive services at deep discounts or even free. Kloha and Pazur thought it was a perfect plan.

Sponsors say they get a captive audience, people who are in the frame of mind to think about weddings, events and celebrations.

The sponsorship doesn't include billboards or signs on the back of tuxedos. Most of the advertising occurs outside the ceremonial part of the wedding, with only a few printed lines on the back of the program.

Instead, the sponsors are more visible at the rehearsal and reception. In many cases, a large board at the reception lists the name and services of each sponsor. A placecard in front of the wedding cake names the bakery. Flower arrangements on each table name the florist. Sponsors also are allowed to attend the wedding and hand out business cards and can be included on the couple's wedding Web site.

Tom and Sabrina Anderson of Wakefield, N.H., plan to write a book about their 1999 wedding, which was sponsored.

"The best thing about having a sponsored wedding was the ability to have a huge fairy-tale wedding without the debt," said Tom Anderson, who estimated he and his wife saved more than $30,000. "We didn't have to sacrifice anything because we couldn't afford it.

"The sponsored wedding allows you to invite everyone you want to. You talk to business owners about giving you the best product they have because they want to impress the guests."

He said finding sponsors can take up to a year.

Kloha and Pazur didn't have that much time. Kloha proposed in July, then his mother asked if the couple could get married over Thanksgiving weekend. So, Kloha and Pazur got in touch with Todd Weiss and Debbie Lay, a couple whose Web site lists more than a dozen sponsors they would like to thank.

Weiss, an athletic trainer at Villanova University in Philadelphia, says he and his fiancee have already saved about $15,000 with the discounts and donations to their wedding.

Weiss warns that sponsored weddings involve plenty of hard work. He went through 80 vendors before one agreed.

"It's actually more work than if we'd done it ourselves," Weiss said.

Weiss and Lay were aided when a TV interview helped spread the word about what they were trying to do.

The couple now has sponsors providing the rings, food, tuxedos, reception room, cake and paper products either for free or for a discount. They're even negotiating on a sponsored honeymoon package. Vendors range from Kansas City -- Lay's hometown -- to Atlanta.

Traci Harrison-Madge, owner-operator of The Cakery Company in Kansas City, says she had been looking to sponsor a wedding for four years before supplying the wedding cake for Weiss and Lay.

"Now more people are wanting to use my cakes and other products for their sponsored weddings," Harrison-Madge said. "It is a great way to get your name out in the community without gambling on expensive advertising, which may or may not work.

"You also get to meet great people at every event, and most people get to taste your product and see what kind of work you are able to do. When they have their own events, they will think of the great cake that they had before."

Kloha and Pazur say they may not be able to find a sponsor for everything, since their wedding is only two months away.

"If we don't get sponsors, we'll still pay for it ourselves," Pazur said.