My Wedding Was Free (Here’s How)
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It's true. I won a free wedding worth $28,000. And I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty great story. In fact, a lot of you have been asking me to share it. So Tanya Applegate, Ed Edge, Maurice Mosley, Katie, Jazeel, Jessica, Donna, Raphael, Lindemans, Laura, Diana, Stephanie, Brooke, Wonderful Life, Smith, Garfield, Gigi, and so many more. This one.

is for you. And even if you hate weddings, love, enjoy, if you like tips on saving money and making the most of a budget, stick around. There's something here for you too, okay? - There's something for everybody on board. - And while you're at it, pretend you're at a wedding reception and cha-cha slide on over to that like and subscribe button. You know what I'm talking about? Two clicks this time.

Cha-cha real smooth. You know what? Make it three clicks because you got to share it with a friend who hates the cha-cha slide as much as you do. I can't begin to tell you how much I dislike that song and how much I protest it by not getting up whenever it plays.

So I know what you're thinking. I must have entered one of those contests called Swole Mates, Fit for the Aisle, like a bodybuilding competition for recently engaged couples who are trying to get in shape before the wedding. And with this physique, the rest was history. I'm kidding. I wasn't in a Swole Mates competition. But the concept is not a bad idea. I mean, I could totally see that in the Trending Now section on my wife's Netflix. Not my Netflix. I don't watch that trash, okay? More of a love is blind guy.

And I know I was unbelievably blessed to have this experience. And not everyone is when it comes to their wedding. But please, don't do stupid for your wedding. Plan for how much you'll spend. Don't overspend. And for the love of each other and your financial future, do not take on debt to cover your wedding. You can have a dream wedding at a reasonable price that you pay for

in full. Here's the real story. It all started when my then fiance, now wife, Whitney, was Googling wedding venues. So she stumbled on this contest where a local wedding venue called Ravenswood Mansion and the city of Brentwood, Tennessee did a collab to provide a free wedding package valued at more than $28,000.

And here's the crazy part. All you had to do to enter this contest was upload a two to five minute video telling your love story and why you should be chosen. Then they would choose five finalists, post the videos to YouTube, and whoever got the most likes on their video in one week won the contest. Reminder, again, like this video. You won't win a wedding, but you'll win my respect.

And for some, that is worth way more than $28,000. They're still trying to earn it. R-E-S-P-E-G-E-C. Well, that's actually not how respect is spelled. According to Eurethra Franklin, that's exactly how it's spelled. Now, a lot of people have a fatalist mentality when it comes to contests. They'll say things like, I'm never going to win. What's the point in trying? These are all scams. And for things like the lottery, yes. And you probably and definitely won't win. But for smaller local contests, why not give it a shot? And here's why. In the end, literally seven people

entered this contest. Now, why only seven? I don't know. Maybe the contest wasn't aggressively marketed. Maybe making a video felt like too much effort for some people. But regardless, it gave us a fighting chance. So out of the seven entries, we ended up being one of the five finalists. So let me give you a little taste of our submission to this contest. ♪ She's Whitney Jane ♪ ♪ But love should be her middle name ♪ ♪ Cause love runs through her veins ♪

I'd be insane not to make her mine for good, oh lord, please make a way. I walked up from behind, pulled her down, and popped the question. And after a few very strange contortions out of excitement, she said yes. You're Whitney Jean. You take my last name. It ain't the same, I know.

♪ I'd be insane not to make you mine for good ♪ - After she said yes, I had some gates rise up to reveal 80 of our closest friends, family, and fellow team members at work. - And I was so shocked, honestly. It was perfect, I couldn't have planned it any other way. - Thank you.

Wasn't that nice? And I have to say, we really utilized our resources here. We've got super talented friends who generously helped us create the video and even produce the song that I wrote and create the music video for the engagement. Plus, it didn't hurt that at the time I hosted the Ramsey Show video channel where I shamelessly solicited viewers to go and give my video a like. Much like I did today. What can I say? Old habits die hard.

So a lot of people actually did it. They hit that like button. They were very invested in me winning this wedding. And let me tell you, I felt like a Middle Eastern Rudy. It was incredible. So here was the final ranking of likes from lowest to highest. 62 likes, 124 likes, 181 likes, 300 likes, and 1,628 likes. It was taller than me, baby. Can you guess which one we were?

That's right. You're looking at a winner. Who said I'm not a competitive athlete other than every single person in my high school class? It just needs to be a YouTube-related competition, okay? With less testosterone. Who needs it anyways? So we'd won, right? Well...

We didn't know because nothing actually happened. Nobody called us, nobody rang the doorbell with confetti cannons, nobody showed up to the door with one of those giant checks, nothing. In fact, it wasn't until the next day when I emailed them politely and said, "Hi, it looks like we have the most likes on our video, but we haven't heard anything." And they were like, "Oh yeah, you guys won." And as anticlimactic as that was, we were over the moon. I mean, we just couldn't believe it. It was just like when Harry found out he was a wizard, minus all of the awkward, upsetting family dynamics.

We were over the moon. Let me share you the Facebook post from that special day. We did it. We won. We won a free $28,000 wedding at Ravenswood Mansion. I want to thank God, my amazing fiance, and all 1,600 plus of you who liked and shared our video. Your support and kind words have been the most surprising and wonderful part of this whole thing. I did two ofs. I don't know why. I was very excited. I didn't spell check.

I am legitimately hashtag blessed. And I spelled out the word hashtag instead of putting a hashtag. Not sure what I was... Okay, that's fine. This is our excited phase. Let me tell you, if you ever wanted to...

just knock your ego down a peg, go read some of your old Facebook posts and tell me you don't hate yourself just a little bit. Now, the $28,000 package was obviously extensive, but I just wanna give you some of the highlights of what was included in this. Venue, $3,000 value. Photography, $4,000 value.

Catering, $2,500 value. Dress, $1,500 value. Tux rental, $1,000 value. Event design, $4,500 value. Wholesale floral and design, $4,000 value. And so much more. DJ, calligraphy, event coordinator, cake, makeup, and hair, even a quartet. It was insane. Now, a couple of caveats. It had to be on a very specific day. Friday, November 2nd.

I don't know why, but that's when it had to be. If you want to send us an anniversary gift, please do. And you could only have 50 people in total in attendance. Now, this includes the bride, the groom, the officiant, the bridal party, the guests, everyone, 50 total. And that was tough because we wanted to celebrate with everyone who is important to us. So we decided to have a second reception later that day with a few hundred more people, which

which obviously was on us expense-wise. And then there were a few other things that we wanted at the wedding that weren't included in our prize package. Like, of course, the live camel that you may have heard about. His name was Cowboy and he was beautiful. Smelly and dirty, sure, and he may or may not have spit on some guests, but he was just a sight to behold, like an ancient dinosaur with fur.

Side note, you're probably wondering, did he have an accident? Sure, he's a wild animal. Is it really an accident if it's a wild animal? Okay, they're just living their life. It's not an accident to them. Listen, there's nothing to be ashamed of, cowboy. Sometimes duty calls. And sometimes you answer very aggressively. Maybe, maybe sometimes you're not too much. They're just not enough. You know what I mean? It's one of those. Why am I coaching a camel?

So to keep track of all of this and keep us sane for our covered expenses, non-covered and everything in between, I created an 85-row Google sheet. From our $35 premarital assessment to the LaCroix to the shredded craft paper I put in my groomsman gifts, every single thing was accounted for. And if you RSVP'd yes and you no-showed to the after party, know that I was extremely tempted...

to invoice you, 'cause I know how much all that costs. I forgive you, Darren, but I will not forget. Where were you, bro? You couldn't have sent your boy a text saying, "Hey, can't make it?" You just no-showed? Now, all in all, without the wedding contest, that would have been about a $45,000 wedding reception

and after party. And our expenses outside of the 28,000 still totaled up to around 18K, which is still a pretty decent deal considering wedding budgets these days. But thanks to our families who pitched in financially and our friends who helped out with things like videography and DJing, our personal out-of-pocket expenses for the wedding and after party reception was less than 2,500 bucks. And on the day of, we were blown away by how beautiful it was. The vendors were incredible, the venue was a dream. It was one of the best parties I'll ever go to in my whole life.

and probably the only one with a live camel. So what can you take from all of this? For one, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Even with the outrageous generosity we were given, there were still expenses we had to plan ahead for and cover. I mean, weddings are one of the most expensive things that you'll ever pay for other than a house or college. So we got creative, we compromised on some wants, and we had clear conversations with our families on the front end about what kind of financial involvement they wanted in the whole thing. Never just assume that your family's gonna cover it

Have a conversation, even if it's awkward. It will be worth saving yourself the stress of planning something you potentially can't afford. Also, when you're in a high-stress situation, remember that everything seems like a bigger deal in the moment. I frankly don't even remember what our invites looked like, and they still cost us $750. The best way to kick off your newlywed life together is with zero payments from the nuptials.

I actually wrote an article with 27 tips to help you guys save on your big day. And I will link that below for those of you who are engaged in planning or

just single and dreaming. And I'm curious, what is a wedding expense that to you is totally worth it or not worth it at all? Let me know down in the comments. Let's have some spirited discussion. Spirited. And for me, I got to say alterations on my maroon ASOS tux was worth every penny. They got it just skinny enough so I didn't rip a seam on the stanky leg. But also, I look like a great value Ryan Gosling, which is...

Always the goal. Good price, good value, but not Ryan Gosling. You're not going to get there. Make sure to share this video with a friend who loves a good love story or who loves an underdog story. I mean, straight rack out the princess. Tale as old as time. Thanks for watching. I'll see you guys next time. Oh, and shout out to Cowboy, wherever you are, homie. He's not dead. Well, he's not dead, so I don't... Not that I know. I haven't checked. I got to check on Cowboy. Phil, I'm going to give you a call. We're going to see how Cowboy's doing. We're going to get the full...

Yeah. I assume he's, camels live forever. I mean, think about the dinosaurs had a good run before they went extinct. Oh gosh, I got to make a phone call.