Sponsor Our Wedding!

I`m really sorry that you feel that way, but I do appreciate your honesty! Just to clarify, we are looking for a win-win situation, not something that only benefits us.

Think about it this way. When it comes time for your young, not-yet-married friends to get married, are they going to go to the same businesses that sponsored your wedding, willing to pay big bucks for their services, or are they ALSO going to want sponsored weddings? Chances are, they`ll be in the same boat as you guys, with car payments and mortgages, and they`ll want their weddings sponsored, too.

I understand where you`re coming from, but I don`t think sponsorship is really a win-win situation. The companies don`t really get new business, just new people interested in being sponsored, and the couple ends up looking kind of tacky.

I wish you the best of luck, and hope you find a way to have the wedding of your dreams WITHOUT being sponsored! :)

Hi Heidi,
I totally understand where you are coming from. I just happen to have a different opinion on the whole thing. I really do think that if my friends saw something that they really liked at my wedding, they would be inclined to use that vendor for their own. Most people don`t seem to agree with me on this, but I think that having a sponsored wedding is very creative and resourceful. I think there are few people that would actually go through with all of the extra effort to make something like this happen, so I doubt it would turn into more people asking the company to sponsor them too. I feel like we have a good venue to offer, and it would be a great opportunity for small local businesses to get on the "preferred vendor" list with our venue if they do a great job! That`s the potential for a lot of additional business outside of my own wedding guests. I would think that would be a win-win situation.

Kristin,
There is no win-win situation with a sponsored wedding. You`d be the only winner, in turn looking tacky as just on this website alone, look at all of the people begging for free wedding, or sponsorships. No business will make money - it will only bring more. Like ants to a cake - they will not stop coming unless you take the cake away - no more free stuff. Why don`t you start your own business and see what it`s like to get tons of people asking for free stuff - you`ll get just as upset. As it all snowballs!

Hmmm.... I guess now I`m wondering if I`m hearing this from actual business owners ? Are you speaking from bad experience? If so, I`d like to know. I guess I`ve had a different outlook on the wedding sponsorship issue, and I didn`t think that it turned into people begging for stuff. I thought that it could be handled in a classy/partnership way. So I`m wondering if anyone on here is speaking from experience?

I actually do own my own small business (nothing wedding related), but we actually offered our first few events for free...... This brought people in and then once we had a name for ourselves, no more free events. It worked great for us! Nothing as big of a scale as weddings...

Having a business sponsor a wedding is, for the most part, difficult to do. Most businesses do not offer free services for weddings.

Also, it`d be tacky to advertise at a wedding - come on, have a little class!

A win-win situation as a business deal perhaps (doubtful for the business, but perhaps). A losing situation for your guests. Your wedding is neither the time nor the place to subject your guests to advertisements or highlight businesses for they`re potential future use. It`s guache, pure and simple. Your guests are invited by you to share and celebrate in your special day. Don`t use them to gain freebies.

You must be new to this board!

You came on a wedding message site that is full of people paying for there own stuff!

Why on earth would you even think that we would even be interested in hearing that you want your wedding sponsered?

If you look at mostly all the posts there cost cutting ideas.

If you read even half the posts on here you would see that these hard working people some handling two jobs , busting there butts working over time, some have children and some are getting married in their parents drive way so they can have a wedding to commit to the person they love or to have the wedding of there dreams. NOT TO SHOW OFF !

This is why majority of people think your freeloading.

Take it some where else we don`t want to hear it!

When you get real about having a wedding come back and well talk about it.

Now I know I`ve pushed it too far and this is the last you`ll be hearing from me because I`ll be kicked off this site but this has to be said.

I`m sick of little princess comming on here looking for a free ride.

P.S. Most of us don`t have our own house let a lone a new car so it kinda hard for us to relate to you.

Sorry it`s my opinion I could be wrong!

Love,
NINA

Actually no, I work for someone and would never go into the bridal business because of people like you, I should say freeloaders like you..... Being that you are not in the bridal business I could understand how you don`t know squat about the issue you have brought up. I was in with my photographer and 2 seperate couples came in asking him for sponsorship - he was polite and said no. We went in to see our tuxedo shop and a woman came in asking for a sponsorship - and refused to leave until she knew why they wouldn`t accomodate!! I was irate. Here I was with my fiance, paying with money that we had made on our own, and I was being interrupted by freeloaders!!!!! Then I spoke to my travel agent , with whom we are booking our honeymoon with, and she said that she had sponsored one wedding about 6 months ago, sent them the the French Riviera, she REFUSES to ever do it again, as she was actually on the news with the couple whose wedding she sponsored it in actually worsened her business instead of picking it up. She had to change her telephone number as all she was getting was sponsorship phone calls - let it be noted that I have known her to be in the travel business for a long time, booking tons of trips with her, and she always said she was busy - now she says that it was a horrible business move on her side to sponsor the couple, as it cheapened her image. Business people get burned on things you think would be a "win-win" situation - therefore don`t count on good people helping you. If you get anyone to help you it`ll be people that are either totally struggling because they have crappy businesses, or because they will chose crappy stuff for you. Like discontinued pieces, or crappy dates that are never taken up by weddings because of off-season - that is all you`ll be deserving of - basically crap.
FREELOADERS SUCK - GET A JOB AND STOP WAISTING OTHER PEOPLES TIME!!!!!!!!! THIS IS TO ALL THAT ARE LOOKING FOR A FREE WEDDING!!!

Dearest Whatever,

100% right!

This so called wedding that got sponsered that everyone is talking about and got the whole ball rolling was for a person in Chicago, IL her father a wealthly man (not sure what he does check Fox`s news site bill o`really did a segment on it).

It turn out that the father who got this wedding sponsered spent thousands or even millions on the vendors for years and in return they gave him the stuff for his daughters wedding as a gift.

Now people are flat out harrassing vendors for sponsership which is a majority of small business owners when they have nothing but mis-information on how the whole deal worked.

Most businesses are authorized sellers of wedding realtated items they don`t own them.

Which means that they only rent the name they don`t have the power to just give stuff way such as carlton craft, mon cheri, davidsbridal and ect. According to there P.R. Reps. "You have to go staight to the company and ask . We get this request alot (sponsering) it`s not going to happen very soon. "We can`t sponser one bride and not the others" according to Jennifer Blank Westen Pennsylvania Sales rep for Rex-craft.
"the vendor has to purchase at dealer cost (the products) in order to sponser your wedding which is not cost effective".

Joelle a wedding decor store owner in Johnstown, PA
"it`s cheaper to advertise in the media or at a wedding show then it is at your wedding." Ad`s in the phone book or in the newspaper are going to direct market 100`s of brides faster that say maybe 3 or 4 people at your wedding".

I hope maybe this will help stop this.

Best wishes!

Love,
NINA

Wow. You people are mean!

I was asking questions - and nicely at that! I had never even heard of this sponsorship idea until a couple days ago, so I had no idea how out-there it was. This was your opportunity to educate me and offer your opinions.... But name calling and finger pointing seems highly unnecessary.

I think a lot of you need to get off your high horse and realize that not everyone has the same opinion as you... And that is OK.

After hearing what you have to say, I`m probably not going to waste my time trying to get anything sponsored for my wedding.... And I appreciate your insights on that..... But that doesn`t change the very low opinion that I now have of all of the namecallers on here.

I work very hard for a living, and it was wrong for any of you to suggest otherwise.

Kristin, you have to understand that all of us have been battling with this sponsorship concept for awhile now. There have been tons of posts dealing with this issue, and just as many responses. It just got out of hand with everyone asking for sponsorship, when this is not really the place to ask for it. This site is basically a site for brides, not businesses. I don`t believe anyone meant to directly attack you, just the concept. I am sorry you feel that way, but please read the other posts on this board. Most of us are actually supportive to each other, however there are the standard few exceptions. Anyway, just wanted you to think about why there were some not-so-nice responses. Best wishes and good luck with your wedding:)

Brides and Grooms go to http://www.abbiweddings.com and follow directions on how you can win 125 free covers. No calls and no sponsorship but this may help you.

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Dearest Whatever........

I hope your marriage ends in a swift divorce leaving you with little more than Payless shoes and a VD. Harsh huh? Now you see how it feels.

Has anyone noticed that people come on here asking for help?.... HELLLLLOOOOOOO,,, all i see is a bunch of people being mean to someone.
YES, i know you are all paying for your wedding.... "GO YOU" but what gives you the right?.. I just don`t get it.
Must be nice to have a perfect life and everything that goes with it.... You`ll have to tell me how you did it...... Oh wait.. Never mind i might be getting it for free...and well that would not be cool....

Here`s a kicker. Ok, you want sponsorships - and say you get them....If you`re not incurring the expense of the wedding like all of us are - why should you get gifts? You should no longer be entitled to showers, gifts or cash gift. It didn`t cost you anything, so why should we all feel obligiated to pay for our plate - you did pay for it!
I`m going to crash all of the sponsored weddings with my friends and family - eat for free, as this is supposed to be an "advertisement" of your caterer, right... Establish if I like it or not, and leave. I will thank you before I leave, of course, take some of the business cards.... But I will not feel obligated to give you a gift nor feel bad that I came, as you did not feel bad for asking for sponsorships - so I won`t feel bad for coming to your weddings. That way the businesses that sponsored you will truly have a real advertisment - as I will now know what everything looked and tasted like. That would be considered a true advertisement - who`s with me?
So when and where is the next wedding - you can count me in!!

I don`t see why all the drama over sponsors? I suppose it`s personal choice and i don`t see the purpose of belittling people seeking sponsors. I am 29 yrs old, I worked for UPS for 7yrs, I was making $18hr, then i was diagnosed with cancer, i lost my job, i lived off of unemployment and my familys help, i never went on wellfare, food stamps etc. I am not a free loader by any means, after 9 months of chemotherapy and 3 months of radiation, i am now recovered and am a full time medical student, i will be a nurse in oncology. Not long ago, i didn`t think i`d live to be 30, now im almost there, and i am engaged. My fiance has been paying our bills. We are struggling to get by, his family doesnt have money, and mine is broke from paying my rent etc while i was sick. I have over $100,000. In medical bills. So i ask you, what is wrong with me seeking help in financing my wedding? i am a thrifty person, and do look for bargains and am by no means looking for a million dollar wedding, but if i can get free flowers or cake and simply lay out a few business cards, how does this make me a bad person or a free loader? to those of you working your butts off to pay for yours, congrats thats great, i am working my butt off too, but realisticly i know i will still fall short. So i just wanted to say not every one can do it alone, and you may want to consider circumstances you may not know about before you criticize those asking for help. I`ve been to hell and back, i know whats important and whats not, and if i can get help to make my wedding dreams come true, why the hell shouldn`t i? I may never have children due to chemo, my wedding may very well be the biggest day for me. Im not judging anyone, and i am the type who has worked for everything i have, i just hope maybe some of you won`t be so harsh on people who are seeking financial help with their weddings because you may not know their situation. Thanks

Karina,

Post your email. I will donate a dress and veil if I have your size. I can`t post my email, because my intent is just to help you, not be overrun with other requests. You`ve been through a lot and deserve some help from those that can give it.

Tonya
Wow, thanks, thats an amazing offer. I assume your in the wedding business. I was just here browsing for advice when i saw all the sponsorship debating and decided to throw in my 2 cents. Thanks so much, my e-mail is
Piercdbuttrfly@aol.com ~Karina

Wow-I stumbled across this site looking for bargains on my wedding and then I read this message board.... I do believe that people are intitled to their own personal opinions. The person who reads them, can only apply them to there lives/situation as they see fit. Whether you get a wedding sponsored, pay yourselves, family or what have you. The bride and groom will ALWAYS have the stress of having to ask for help. Simple as that. Karina, you have a testimony for sure. I can relate to an extent. My fiance and I are getting married in Texas, I`m from Illinois. Within this year, we were in a severe car accident, having to deal with injuries for the rest of our lives. Mid summer, I lost my grandfather, and now this past Thursday my fiance lost his job out of the blue. We are paying for our wedding on our own and we also have an 18month of son, who we had to pull out of daycare in which he just started last monday, to keep that $568 a month to go towards the wedding. So what do I think of sponsorships? Go for it! It`s not free loading as to what others may think at all. It`s help as if you asked a relative or friend. We are definitely thinking about sponsorships, contests and family to have our big day paid for. There is nothing wrong with that! We all do not have big bucks sitting in the bank. With a house, car kids(even if you don`t) we all have obligations to deal with. Sometimes, more than others....that`s life. So to put my `two cents` in, as long as we ALL are sticking to the meat of the cause...MARRYING THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE! Let`s not lose sight of that. Again, we all have opinions, don`t let that discourage you. If I had something to give, I would b/c I`m just that type of person and you can call it what you want. Just don`t lose sight.