By Meena Thiruvengadam
San Antonio Express-News
When Christina Vincelli arrives at a historic Georgia plantation in a horse-drawn carriage on her wedding day, she'll wear a veil and garter she didn't have to pay for. As she walks down the aisle, she'll carry flowers she won't be billed for either.
Vincelli, an Atlanta receptionist, and her 24-year-old bridegroom-to-be, Jevon Gantner, an El Paso native who works at an airport, are seeking company sponsorship for their "Gone With the Wind" theme wedding.
Although there are a few things they'll likely be paying for, the couple so far has nabbed sponsors to provide wedding planning, decorations, DJ service, garters and a guest book.
"Once you get one thing, it is so motivating that you want to go out and get more," Vincelli said. She's snagged thousands of dollars' worth of items through sponsorship.
Company sponsorship, a somewhat rare but increasingly common occurrence in the wedding world, is much like bartering. A company provides a product or service for a couple's wedding, and in return the couple provides some form of advertising for those businesses.
"Because of the cost of weddings, sponsorship is becoming more popular," said wedding book author Leah Ingram. "I'm hearing about more people who are trying it." As part of their sponsorship contract, Vincelli and Gantner will send a list of sponsors with their invitations and thank-you cards mailed to wedding guests. They'll also place 4-by-6-inch framed cards with vendor information near sponsored products, thank sponsors at the reception, place links to business Web pages on their wedding Web site and hand out sponsors' coupons.
"Companies can pretty much tell us what they would like us to do, and we're not going to turn them away unless it's just totally ridiculous," Vincelli said. "I don't want banners or anything all over my wedding." Sponsorship is not an entirely new concept. At Mexican weddings, padrinos (sponsors) -- though not advertising-driven -- sometimes help reduce wedding costs.
"Close family and friends often sponsor different portions of events to help the young couple out," said Johnny Hernandez, a San Antonio chef whose grandparents are from Mexico. He says he's been a padrino for a handful of friends and family members.
Without sponsorship, Vincelli, a 32-year-old single mother, says there is no way she could afford the fairy tale affair she's planning.
The national average cost of a wedding has jumped almost 50 percent in the past 10 years to more than $22,000, according to the Fairchild Bridal Infobank. Weddings in Texas are among the nation's least expensive, with an average cost of close to $19,000.
Overall, American couples spend nearly $39 billion on wedding expenses, and 27 percent of brides and grooms pay for their own events.
Still, Mira Kirkland, a San Antonio wedding planner, doesn't think company sponsorship has a place in a wedding. "I think it's in poor taste," she said. She thinks brides who can't afford what they want should opt for less expensive ceremonies that are within their budgets.
Kirkland said a few customers have asked her about working to get sponsors for their weddings, but she's never given in to those requests.
"I understand the attractiveness of getting everything for free," she said. "But a wedding is not a sporting event or a charity event. It's usually the social event of your life. (Sponsorship) seems to be a detraction from what you're there for." An Atlanta wedding planner with a different viewpoint was the first to respond positively to Vincelli's sponsorship request. To get the 15 or 16 sponsors she's landed, Vincelli estimates she's contacted about 1,500 vendors. "You get a lot of them that are just like, 'Yeah right,'" she said.
Ingram said to get sponsors, couples must make sponsorship attractive to businesses. "You have to present an audience the sponsor is looking to reach and may not reach otherwise." Successful sponsorship requires a savvy negotiator and salesperson, Ingram said.
Ryan Frisbie, co-owner of advertising and promotion company Texas Wedding Mall, says sponsorship can be valuable to wedding vendors. "A lot of these vendors are small businesses, and they're looking for any way to get their name out," he said. "Word of mouth is the best kind of referral." To Vincelli and Gantner, it's worth it to provide business referrals for a dream wedding they don't have to entirely foot.
