AUSTIN, Texas — While a wedding is a momentous day for the bride and groom, as anyone who has been a part of a wedding knows, they are not cheap.
Weddings can also be a stressful day for a bride, between making sure everything is squared away and being picture ready, it can be a stressful day.
"All this extra pressure," said Stephanie who got married to her groom Kevin on Saturday.
The two of them met when they served on a board together. Then on Valentines Day in 2016, they went to dinner as friends.
"Just a really good opportunity to get to know someone without feeling like you had to impress them," said Kevin. "That's what allowed us to be really open and honest with each other."
"It wasn't really a date and I think we were just so open and vulnerable with each other," said Stephanie. "We ended up just talking for hours and hours."
So, when Stephanie wrote an essay explaining their love and how Kevin proposed on the day he graduated from Baylor with his MBA, the LifeAustin Church felt they were deserving of something special.
"That was a free wedding," said Jennifer Ashford. "We are giving away six weddings... five today."
The church donated everything from flowers to the photographer. Then, they took in entries for their free wedding weekend. The church looks at it as a chance to grow their community.
This gives the couples like Kevin and Stephanie a chance to share their story with the world and also to start their married life with less debt and stress.