I mentioned earlier today on my Facebook status that I've become fascinated with sowing & reaping.  It seems like everywhere I turn it's right in my face.  A few weeks ago I listened to a message by Bill Johnson on giving.  Then a week or so later I a message by Kris Vallotton on giving, sowing, reaping, etc.  Yesterday I read a note by Jason Vallotton on sowing & reaping.  Today I put on a podcast by a guy Blake recommended.  The topic?  Sowing & reaping.

So I'm sitting here at my computer trying to figure out what to share on tomorrow night at the first little get together we're having at our house for some young adults. Hmm, maybe I should discuss sowing & reaping?  I remember Bill Johnson saying that he never studies to teach, he just teaches from whatever the Lord is showing him.  So should we discuss sowing & reaping?  But a few days ago I was thinking in a totally different direction.  Decisions, decisions...  Oh yeah, I never got around to finishing my daily Bible reading; I think it was Luke 8.  Maybe I'll get some inspiration from that...

"Luke 8 - The Parable of the Sower"

OK Jesus, I can take a hint! 

Kyong-ok and I have been saying for some time that we should document all the favor Jesus has given us in regards to our wedding planning so I decided to take a few minutes and do just that.  Our prayer has been for a debt-free wedding and we continually pray and ask for His favor on everything, believing He will come through and He hasn't let us down yet!

(Keep in mind these are California prices, not Indiana or Alabama.  )

When we first started looking at locations for our ceremony and reception the prices floored us.  By the time you add up the venue, tables, chairs, linens, meals, drinks, servers, bartenders, etc you can hit $20k without even trying.  I did a bit of looking online and decided to visit the #1 place to be married in Sacramento, as voted by a local magazine, Vizcaya Pavilion.  The coordinator we spoke with was very nice and sympathetic to us wanting to save money.  So she knocked $1,000 off the location rental fees.  Then she waived the corkage fees.  Then she said she'd charge us actual meal prices instead of charging us the higher of the two meal selections, as they normally do.  Finally, she knocked another $2 off the beverage cost per person.  All told, it was about $10,000 less than other places we had looked at!

Next came wedding dresses.  I knew they were expensive but not exactly how expensive.  Kyong-ok started looking around and would call me periodically as she found ones she liked.  "I found one for $2400.  Here's one for $3200.  This is a nice one for $2800."  Ahem, uh yeah, ok.  You're gonna wear this how many times?  But Jesus stepped in and she found a dress she really liked for $690.  Sure that's still a small chunk, but about 1/3 or 1/4 of what we intially thought we might have to pay!

Photographers were up next.  We met with a couple and were getting quotes in the $2000-3000 range for the shoot plus a few little extras thrown in.  We really wanted a disc with all the images, which most photographers charged another $600-800 for, as well as a DVD slideshow of pics to show my family back in Indiana, another $250-350.  Kept looking, kept praying and got a connection to a photographer that attends my church named Rob Robertson.  He was super nice, does great work, and really wanted to help us out.  We wound up getting two photographers for the entire day, plus an engagement photo shoot, plus a disc with all the images, plus a DVD slideshow for just $1250.  That's probably 65-75% off!

OK Jesus, now we need a DJ.  Contacted a few that were recommended to us and the price was $1500-1800 for a basic package.  If you need a second sound system (which we do for the outside ceremony), additional mics, etc that's all extra.  A friend of ours was in a wedding and said the DJ there, Dale, was really good so we should give him a call.  I did and we met up with Dale's wife, Danyae.  She was super nice, not to mention incredibly organized, and offered us a little better deal than what we'd been hearing - I think they wanted $1200 for the basic package.  We told her all the things we needed, which were normally extra, and asked for a deal.  OK, she said, we'll do it all, including two sound systems and all the mics you need, for $725.  Hello, Jesus.

Good heavens, who knew cakes could cost so much?  Anywhere from $2.50-3.50 per person was the norm, with a few bakeries charging $4-5 per person.  Multiply that by 200 people and you're looking at $1,000.  For cake.  I'm sorry, you want a grand for sugar and flour?  Jesus must have thought that was ridiculous too because we found a lovely place another friend recommended for under $1.80 per person.  Thank you, Jesus!

The last major hurdle was the honeymoon.  Our honeymoon week falls on spring break, which is why we chose it since I'll be off work, but that also means that everyone and their brother is also traveling then and the resorts and airlines know it!  We first started looking at all-inclusives in the Carribean and Mexico and considered a few places around $4,000 for the week, not including airfare.  Hawaii would be nice but there aren't any all-inclusives and by the time you add up airfare, renting a place, and food you'll still be in the same price range.  We also thought about renting an apartment in Paris as we found some cheap weekly rentals for around a grand but place tickets to get us there were over $1k each.  Time was ticking and the more I called places, the more they were saying they were full or tickets just weren't available because of demand.  Several times I felt the pressure just to book something but kept having this check in my spirit that we should wait - Jesus had been so faithful on everything else, let's hold out and give Him a chance to come through.

We sweated it a few more weeks and then a friend of Kyong-ok's called and said a couple friends of her's wanted to meet us.  She'd been telling them about our story, how long we'd waited to get married, how we met, where we worked, etc and they'd like to meet up for lunch.  So we met up the next Sunday after church and told them our whole story.  At the end, they said, "We own this condo in Kauai and if you'd like to use it..."  I'm sorry, you literally just met us twenty minutes ago and you're offering to let us use your swank condo in Kauai?  We got more details and it's on the much desired north shore of paradise in a town called Princeville, apparently the swanky place to be.  They said their place is perched on the edge of a cliff so you walk in and are looking out nine foot glass windows over a lush green canyon and the ocean.  They love it and try to spend several months there a year.  They've even sent two of their own kids there for their honeymoons.  All they wanted was $350 for the entire week to cover the cleaning service and power.  Then, a few days later, a couple great friends of ours called and offered to pay the $350 for us!  So we got a luxurious condo on the primo north shore of the garden isle of Kauai for $0 + airfare.  I guess that was the deal we were holding out for - thank you, Jesus!  (I even love that we'll be in Prince-ville.  )

It really has just been ridiculous how much favor the Lord has given us towards our wedding.  We've met great people, gotten great service, and saved great loads of money.  To top it all off, I called the wedding location again today and they waived the cake-cutting fee as their wedding gift to us and knocked another $2 per person off the beverages, saving us another $1,000!

Jesus is so good!  There is never a recession in heaven and He never lacks.  All glory to Him for crazy favor!

Debt-free wedding; debt-free life!