Couple donates part of their wedding budget to Haiti relief

The powerful images coming out of Haiti prompted a Maplewood, Minnesota couple to donate some of their wedding funds to Haiti relief efforts. And they hope their move prompts others to do the same.

"It's a lot of money to us, but it's really a drop in the bucket," said groom-to-be Will Nicholson.

Nicholson will marry Leah Bogen this June. While reading the Sunday morning paper, it struck Bogen how greatly the desperate images in Haiti differed from the smiling faces in her bridal magazines. So she asked future husband if they could donate some of their wedding funds to Haiti relief efforts.

"He sort-of gave me this shocked look and said, 'Yes, I love you!'" Bogen said.


Leah Bogen & Will Nicholson - generous people

They gave $2,500 -- their entire food budget and a quarter of their wedding budget --to Partners in Health, a group that has been working in Haiti for more than 20 years.

"If this was going to make things more perfect for her, I figured, what the heck, we should do it," Nicholson said.

They hope their move encourages other couples to consider similar donations.

Meantime, the couple is already working on a new wedding budget and looking for areas to skim back, including the honeymoon and flowers. As for the food, Bogen said peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches are a possibility. But they're not worried about the food.

"We'll still have the core elements," Nicholson said. "We'll have the people we care about around, we'll have us and we'll have the rest of our lives."

I love these people! Good for them for putting everything in perspective. But Leah, you make me feel cheap. Maybe I'll make a secondary donation...

And, hey, don't worry about Leah and Will's shrinking wedding budget. As soon as I found the original article, I found this one. When people heard about the couple's generosity, donations starting pouring in to bridge the budget gap. They got offers for services, and Leah and Will say they'll donate more money for every free service that they receive.

-Kay