Jen and I got engaged and started planning a wedding. Weddings are, after all, supposed to be a very special and memorable day. Americans spend more than $100 billion on weddings each year. The median cost of a wedding is $18,086.

It didn't seem to jive with "who we are" - though. We're low key people, and have a motto of "living lite" - and a big wedding seemed really contrary to who we are as a couple. We also like to keep things in perspective, and while we COULD blow a massive amount on a single day of joy with our friends and family, we'd be sipping champagne while about 800 million people in developing countries still don't have access to something as basic as clean drinking water.

So we decided to celebrate our love by doing something different. Instead of dishes and furniture, we're asking you to help give clean, safe drinking water to people in need. We've already got all the stuff we need, really. But you can't really put a price on knowing you've changed the lives of hundreds of people forever - that's a pretty cool gift you can give us.

Just $20 can change someone's life there, and 100% of the money we raise will directly fund charity: water projects in the field. When those projects are complete, we'll all get photos and GPS coordinates to see the lives we changed together.

Why charity: water?

A number of reasons. First, transparency. They go so far as to show you via GPS where the trucks and projects you’re funding are located. Also, 100% of the donated funds go to actual projects – not operations. They fund their operations through other sources. Plus, of all the numerous nonprofit organizations out there, they’re the one that we believe is innovative enough to actually make a huge impact and solve the water crisis within our lifetime. It’s not a shallow platitude from them, we really think that they have what it takes to solve a major crisis – and let’s be frank, the world needs a win right now.

So instead of shopping at Macy's or Target or Crate & Barrell and buying a plane ticket and all those other associated costs with an awesome wedding, please celebrate our marriage by making a donation.