Got Cans? California Couple Collects Recycling For Dream Wedding

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Picture this: A wedding in Fallbrook on a warm, fall day where oak trees fill the small town just north of San Diego. The venue is filled with peonies and baby’s breath, which pop the wedding party’s ensemble that are a flushed burgundy and silver.

The vision is one Mikayla Virgen, 19, and Joel Arnold, 21, hope to bring to life next year when they plan to get married. But, they need a few hundred pounds of something in order to make it happen: cans.

Virgen and Arnold, who have been together for 10 months, are collecting cans to save up money for an engagement ring and their dream wedding. The goal: $20,000.

Arnold, who lives in Oceanside, said he got the idea of collecting cans from his grandfather.

“My whole life, my grandpa has always collected recycling,” said Arnold, who works at a marketing company. “I remember collecting cans in the summer to raise money. It was always just an extra chunk of cash.”

The couple began collecting cans a few months ago with little expectations until they brought it to a recycling center, Virgen said.

“I didn’t expect to get as much as we did but the first time we brought cans in we made $130,” said Virgen, who lives in Carlsbad.

From there, the couple began advertising on neighborhood social media website, Nextdoor.com, and received more cans.

“We’ve had an overwhelming support from the community,” said Virgen, who works as a nanny. “One neighbor gave us nine bags and another gave us three bags.”

“We’ve even pulled over on the side of the road because we saw a bottle,” Arnold said.

A few hundred of dollars later, the couple said they hope to collect more recycling to pay for their dream wedding. But, the cans won’t just help with their wedding, it will help build their future too, they said.

Arnold said they both have big plans for the future. They want to start their own business and hope to one day become parents. For now, as they collect cans around Southern California, they are just grateful they found each other.

“From the second that we’ve met, it feels like we’ve been best friends for our whole lives,” Arnold said. “I just knew she was the one the second I met her.”

Anyone in the region who would like to donate cans to the couple can email them at mikaylavirgen@gmail.com. They’ll happily pick up any donations, they said.

--Courtesy photos