From a young age, many people fantasize about finding their soul mate and having a fairy tale wedding.

In reality, weddings aren’t cheap. “I’ve been the bride on the zero budget, and I know how hard it is to have these dreams and aspirations but no budget to back it up,” Brenda Holdsworth, founder of Wedding Saviours said.

Wedding Saviours is a group of vendors in the Durham Region who are paying their services forward to help couples who can’t afford the wedding they’ve always wanted.

The idea to start Wedding Saviours came from Disney World. “They had their Pay It Forward campaign, where if you volunteered for a day, you received a free day at a Disney park. I thought ‘that is the coolest thing’. How can a group of small guys do what the big boys are doing?” Holdsworth said.

This year, Wedding Saviours held their first contest to find a lucky couple who needed help.

Major components to narrow down finalists included a creative storytelling entry, and time spent doing something charitable. “We were thinking small, and they went big. We wanted them all to have the feeling of what it is to pay it forward,” Holdsworth said.

Wedding Saviours gives the winning couple everything they need for their wedding; from chair covers to invitations, the couple does not have to worry about a thing.

This year’s winning couple, Sarah and Larry, stood out to the panel of vendors. “They’re a genuinely kind, giving couple who have hit some hard spots... in my opinion, we ended up with the right couple,” Holdsworth said.

One Saturday morning, Larry was home from his hectic job of driving trucks, while Sarah, a hair dresser, was getting ready to work.

Larry was reading the newspaper and came across the contest advertisement. The deadline was the next day at 11 p.m., and the two decided to take it on.

Their creative video entry won over online voters, and they advanced to the next round, where they did fundraising for autism, donated blood and volunteered at a food bank.

Both are excited for their big day. “Anyone can go to city hall and get married, but that’s not really a wedding,” Larry said.

The couple has chosen an Alice in Wonderland theme for their wedding, which even includes a cake covered in spiders.

Sarah can’t express how grateful she is for the support of Wedding Saviours. “It’s horrible to be in a situation and look at the reality of it and not see an end in sight,” Sarah said. “It’s so overwhelming, the amount we’re receiving. If you sit down and take everything in that’s being offered, it’s a lot, and it’s incredible.”

Sarah and Larry are getting married on Oct 22. Right now, the only thing left to get on the wedding list are tuxedos.

To find out more about Wedding Saviours, to donate your services or to watch webisodes of Sarah and Larry’s journey please visit www.weddingsaviours.ca.