In a unique effort to raise money to pay for her wedding, bride-to-be Kelly Gray of Virginia Beach, Virginia is auctioning off the opportunity for someone to be a bridesmaid in her wedding.Gray, a 23 year old hairdresser, and her fiancé, Karl Gau, are doing their best to plan a wedding on their very tight budget. With just a combined annual salary of $32,000 and a one year old daughter, they don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on their wedding, nor have they been able to save.
In an effort to cut corners and save on wedding expenses, they’re getting creative. They’ve already decided to bake their own cake and that an iPod is just as good as a DJ. They also contemplated doing a bake sale, but her bridesmaid suggesting auctioning off something - another bridesmaid spot! Kelly Gray didn’t think much would come of it but, she has been pleasantly surprised.
Gray had hoped to make a profit as well as cover the winning bridesmaid’s dress and shoes. She also said that whoever wins the auction will be in the wedding no matter what. Well, the winner ended up being eBay user Drpeppersnapple with a winning bid of $5,700! This user’s winning bid won her a dress, shoes, the bridesmaid spot, as well as an invitation plus one to the reception.
Turns out that Gray can have a better wedding than she hoped for, because the eBay user who won is actually from the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, and is sponsoring her wedding, not for $5,700 but for $10,000! Their sponsorship means that Kelly Gray can have a beautiful wedding, with, of course, the drinks provided.
