The crazy ways people are funding their weddings

When they noticed the big bucks their friends were making by renting out their home on Airbnb, Beck Rocchi, 30, and her fiance Joel Olsen, 29, decided to advertise their one-bedder in Windsor, Melbourne, to save some pocket money for their November wedding.
“The first time we were going away for three weeks and the apartment got booked straight away,” wedding photographer Rocchi says.
“Then we started renting it out when we were still in Melbourne and just went to stay with my parents who live 15 minutes away.”
They’ve managed to pocket about $13,000, which they’re putting towards extra entertainment, styling and better quality food.
“It’s such a big chunk of the wedding and takes a bit of the financial pressure off,” she says.
Shane Mackaness, 39, and his fiancee Lucy are doing everything from gardening to business admin to save up for their wedding on the Sunshine Coast next May.
The couple advertise their services on Airtasker and have done more than 94 odd jobs, earning hundreds of dollars a week.
“We do a lot of jobs together so even though we are using our days off from our fulltime jobs to do this, we are still spending time together,” Mackaness says.
“We have worked seven days a week for months, so sometimes we have to block out a day or a weekend for a rest.”
The elbow grease is paying off though — they estimate they’ll cover half the cost of the wedding, plus make a substantial contribution towards their guests’ accommodation costs.