Third-Time Bride Skips Wedding Loans by Getting Friends to DJ and Shoot the Big Day

A woman marrying for the third time at 39 says she and her fiancé, Roger, are avoiding wedding debt by relying on friends to officiate, DJ, photograph and help coordinate their ceremony, according to Business Insider. Unlike her first two weddings, where both families helped cover costs, this time the couple has no financial safety net — Roger's father died 13 years ago and his mother has Alzheimer's disease.

The couple chose a more than two-year engagement to give themselves time to plan and budget. Roger works as a respiratory care specialist while attending massage therapy school, and the author works as a freelance writer. Leaning on friends' free labor for officiating, photography, DJing and coordination is letting them put together what they describe as a wedding they can actually afford.