One penny wedding gift

Two students at McMaster University in America are getting total strangers to pay for their wedding.

Peter Dolanjski and Milissa Majic are raising funds by selling advertising space on a website at just one cent per advert, reports the Hamilton Spectator.

The couple, who met at a New Year's Eve party in 2002, plan to tie the knot in June 2008 and are aiming to raise $20,000 for the big day.

The idea came to Peter, who studies computer engineering and society, when he was trying to think of a thesis for his course.

One aspect of the course is studying the relationship between technology and people and so Peter decided that he could sell advertising space via viral messaging.

"Hopefully it will take off, give me an excellent paper for school, and solve a problem for our wedding," he said.

So far the couple have raised $1,000 dollars through the site and some companies have been willing to pay more than the required one cent.

The highest bid has come from a local plumbing firm which paid $450.

"We're not expecting necessarily to make $20,000 off of this, but if nothing else, it's an experiment for school ... and we thought it would be fun, a little venture for us to try out," added Peter.