Here it is the much anticipated blog post with the five finalists for the 2014 Big Wedding Giveaway!! Let me tell you, this was NOT easy. I wanted to just include everyone that entered this contest. They all had great stories and unique weddings. But the rules are only 5. So to keep everyone’s anticipation and anxiety level low I’ll get right to it. Below are the five finalists for the giveaway. You have until Feb 14th (how appropriate) to get your votes in (see the poll at the bottom of this post). The winner will be announce no later than Feb 16th. Okay, lets see who the five finalists are (in no particular order):

1) BRITTANY AND JOSH:

Josh and Brittany will be married at the lovely Boone Hall Plantation in 2015.

Wedding Details: “Both of our families are traveling from Greenville, SC. A few family members and friends are traveling from out of the state. This will be the first time my Grandma has been to Charleston and I am excited for her to see the venue. Boone Hall is very special to me. Growing up my Dad enjoyed participating in Civil War re-enactments and he always took me when he attended the one at Boone Hall. I remember falling in love with the huge Oak trees and history there. Every night, Boone Hall would host a “ball” at the Cotton Dock for the guests and I remember dancing with my Dad late into the night. Now, my wedding will be at the plantation and the reception where I danced with my Dad will be where I am first announced with my new husband! This is sure to be a tear jerker! Also, I think it is special that my best friend and josh’s best friend are also dating. They began dating just a couple months after us and now they will both be in the wedding party.”

HOW THEY MET:
“Josh and I both attended the University of South Carolina. We did not meet at school, but actually at work. I worked at an off campus apartment complex. I thought I had to complete an internship for my major and my boss was going to let me take a semester off. Before, I could tell her that I no longer had to take the internship, she already hired someone in my place…Josh! Luckily, the apartments were at capacity, so my boss was able to keep me and Josh on board. I was not very fond of Josh at first because I thought I was going to lose my job to him! But, I have never met someone who doesn’t love Josh. Within a couple of weeks we became best friends, spending countless hours together. It even turned out that he was from Greenville too and lived just 30 minutes away from me. Within two months we began dating and have been together ever since. Just a few months after we started dating we both graduated in December 2009. I was a semester early and Josh..a semester late :). It was exciting to be able to graduate on the same day at the same time. Even our extended families got to meet afterwards. This past Christmas, Josh told me that he wanted to start a new tradition of giving me an ornament for every Christmas we have been together. I did not think much of it because Josh is always really thoughtful. He had five small, neatly wrapped boxes (his mom’s wrapping no doubt). He said he had some making up to do, since this was our fifth Christmas. For 2009 he gave me a USC ornament, fitting since we met and graduated there that year. 2010 was a wine ornament marking our one year anniversary trip to a winery. 2011 was a Chicago ornament, since we went there to visit his uncle that year. 2012 was a schnauzer to remember getting our little puppy, Charlie. Last was 2013. I opened the box and it was a beautiful silver bell with “Christmas 2013″ engraved on the side. As I pulled it out of the box, Josh got down on one knee and pulled a ring from inside the bell and asked me to marry him. I was in SHOCK. I cried, said yes and then began shaking. I had NO idea, which is just like I wanted it to be. I had to run and take my asthma inhaler because I was short of breath. Everyone still gives me a hard time about that :). Now, here we are planning our wedding. I cannot wait! The best is yet to come!”

2) RANDY AND ADAM:

Randy and Adam will be saying “I do” this year at the Redeemer Church with a reception at the Historic Rice Mill.

HOW THEY MET:
“Adam and I met in in Kandahar Afghanistan. I was working for the USO, taking care of our troops in a war zone and he was deployed. He was on a secure compound so we never crossed pathes until one of my coworker’s who was helping their unit brought me along to help her and we met. We instantly liked each other but could not be in a traditional relationship in a war zone. He asked me for coffee which is the only form of date you can really have out there but then my brother passed away and I had to rush home, cancelling our date. He found out what had happened and immediately contacted me to tell me to take my time at home and that we would get coffee when I returned to Afghanistan. We did and have been together ever since – together meaning living in seperate countries for 9 months before I moved to England last December!”

“After months and months of job searching here, we thought I was going to have to go home for 6 months and come back this year to try it all again (stupid immigration rules). We were heartbroken at the thought of being separated so while we were skiing in Verbier, Switzerland Adam asked me to marry him.  Adam proposed the second time this November. He planned to do it on Guy Fawkes night where there are bonfires and fireworks but the ring wasn’t ready in time. I was going home and he was getting nervous that he couldn’t do it before I went home and he wanted me to be able to tell friends that I was engaged. When the ring came in we were going to go for a walk in the country but even though it rains all the time here in England, those last 3 days it was POURING so all of his ideas were being shot down so he built a fire at home and made dinner reservations. When I came down from getting ready he was down on one knee and the rest is a blur but I said yes and can now enjoy being engaged!”

A little about their wedding: “Our wedding will be bringing in guests from all corners of the world and many military members who have not seen each other since we were all out in Afghanistan. You become a family out there so it will be wonderful to bring everyone together again. Not only do we get to celebrate our love but there will be lots of hugs and tears from friends being reunited and remembering our friends who never made it home. We will have a memory table for those friends and for fallen family members. My brother was going to walk me down the aisle but as he passed away he can not do this. His son will be walking me down the aisle and his widow will be doing our reading. His other son and daughter will also be in the wedding to honor my brother’s memory – He was amazing. We will have several different military uniforms from different branches and different countries. A handful of them will be highly decorated. We will have the British women in hats and fascinators. Although it is a formal dress code, it is going to be a wonderfully beautiful mix of people and fashion. Adam has always said he would serenade me with our favorite Olly Murs song but he will not divulge anything so I can’t say for sure. Also, my US Marine friends who I took care of while overseas said that when I get married they will do the sword tunnel but that would also be a suprise to me – I don’t want to say one thing and then dissappoint you! I am still working on the decoration aspects but I hate boring things so I will make it cool – it will definitely be warm and loving! Our wedding car will be a Camaro convertible because Adam, being British, considers that the ultimate American car since he saw it on Hawaii 5-0 over here!”

3) CARRIE AND JEREMY:

These guys will marry later this year at the Historic Rice Mill.

HOW THEY MET:
“We met through mutual friends in pittsburgh, PA and later found out that we worked in the same place.
The proposal was planned by my chef boyfriend at the allstar cochon in Las Vegas (a heritage pork competition) amongst his peers, surround by bourbon, pork, and vintage vegas.”

A LITTLE ABOUT THEIR WEDDING:
“Jeremy and I currently live in Alexandria Virginia. We always knew we wanted to have a destination wedding and on a recent visit to Charleston we both knew that it was the perfect place. We love the charm, old southern feel, and amazing food that Charleston offers. We are very excited to have our family and friends explore the city and take part in our special day with us. We thought what better way to celebrate our day than to do serve our most favorite meal of the week, Brunch! We want our colors to include pale pink, purple, and touches of turquoise. Since we are having a brunch wedding we are planning on serving bloody mary’s mimosas and also a bourbon bar. We also decided on a very small wedding party with only having a best man and a maid of honor.”

 

4) SUJATA AND JACOB:

Jacob and Sujata will be getting married in Charleston in 2015. They haven’t picked out a venue yet but there’s still time.

WEDDING DETAILS:
“I was raised Hindu and Jacob Catholic. Our wedding will be a fusion and celebration of two wonderful families. We are thrilled to bring our family and friends together in lovely Charleston.”

HOW THEY MET:
“Jacob and I met through a mutual friend in Hagerstown, Maryland.
I am a news reporter, and he is a meteorologist. We were both working and living in the area. It was an instant friendship and romance.
On Christmas Day, I was in Apex, North Carolina and Jacob was in Lisbon, Ohio with his family. We facetimed in the morning.
Before Christmas dinner my brother said Jacob had made a video of my newphew’s 3rd birthday party. When he popped in the DVD, it was actually a montage of our past two years together. At the end it said “Merry Christmas Sujata.” Right at that moment, he walked into the room.
I was pretty hysterical. It was the most wonderful moment of my life…luckily all caught on film.”

5) LISA AND HEATH:

Lisa and Heath will be married in 2015 at Blessed Sacrament in West Ashley followed by a Charleston Yacht Club reception.
HOW THEY MET:
“Heath and I first met in law school. A month in, I found out that Heath was a masssive UGA supporter and alum and offered to get AJ Green, his favorite Georgia player, to sign a tshirt for him during a Summerville football game. We remained friends and would often chat about school over the course of the next three years.
So I guess you could say, it took some time (and some friendly intervention) for the stars to align.
After graduation, Heath ran into my friend and long-time roommate, Katie Orvin, at the bar exam. The two started talking and with an unexplainable smack of half-truth and intuition, Katie blurted out, “Lisa said to tell you good luck!” After that day of testing, Katie called me up to tell me what she had done. I answered the call thinking Katie wanted to talk about the exam, but instead Katie’s first words were… “I have news for you. It’s about a boy…”
With Katie’s help and a mutual affection that began with the AJ Green autograph… Heath and I arranged to to get coffee and the rest, as they say, is history. From our first hangout on St. Patrick’s Day two years ago to the night of my dear friend Audie Plowden’s wedding when Heath left Audie on the dancefloor because he just had to “go ask Lisa to be [his] girlfriend”… we have been basically inseperable and have forged a friendship and love that leave us both perfectly overjoyed.

As for the proposal…

After Heath finished graduate school, his parents, Tim and Nan, moved from Heath’s hometown of Albany, Georgia to a small fishing village called St. Marys. Tucked in at the bottom of the Georgia coast, the little town is known for being America’s second oldest city and more importantly for our story… as the main gateway to the Cumberland Island seashore. Since making the move to St. Marys back in 2008, Heath’s family have begun the holiday tradition of spending a day on Cumberland every December. In December 2012, I joined in on the annual voyage and fell in love with the pristine and uninhabited barrier island.  Fast forward one year… Having asked permission from my parents, Doug and Michelle, on the night of the annual Summerville Christmas tree lighting and under the auspices of adhering to the Ward’s Cumberland Island tradition, Heath drove me down to St. Marys for the weekend.

That Saturday morning, Heath’s parents came up with an excuse that kept them ashore, Heath and I headed over on the ferry solo and single, but came back engaged and beyond thrilled about the year ahead! On one knee, Heath proposed on the beach with not another soul in sight, yet now we couldn’t be more excited to share in this new journey with all of our friends and family (and hopefully with Jeanne Mitchum Photography!)”

 

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE. NOW GET TO VOTING! 🙂

(All the same rules in the previous blog post about this contest still apply. I am also not responsible for any technical issues in the voting. If you can’t vote it’s possibly because you’re at work (doesn’t allow multiple votes from the same IP address) try a different internet browser and make sure you are on a home computer. Or try your phone. 🙂 Thanks! )

I have added a gallery to my facebook page for voting. Click like on the couple’s photo if you want them to win. Head over to my page!

If you’ve finished voting feel free to hop over to my WEBSITE and check it out or my FACEBOOK page! THANKS!