The month of voting for this wedding contest seemed to last a year.  Each day leading up to the end started dragging more and more.  So by October 17, Jaime and I were not only anxious but also exhausted!  And then we still had to wait several days for the official vote tally.  Needless to say, we were on the edge of our seats.

I received a phone call from the CVB on Wednesday October 22, letting me know that we had won the contest.  I was thrilled!  And I was even more excited that Jaime didn’t know yet, and the plan was to surprise her with the news.  So I met up with a camera crew and we made our way to Jaime’s office at Mercy Ministries.  When we walked into her office, she was obviously in the middle of work.  I immediately started telling her the news, and it was awesome (and hilarious) to watch her facial expression change from the work face… to curiosity… to excitement… to REALLY EXCITED.  I guess I’m all about catching surprises on camera this year!

During the voting process, we tried to come up with creative ways to get votes.  Not only did we email, call, and text all our friends, but we tried to share our story with complete strangers.  Thankfully, we had a lot of Survivor fans help us with votes, and supporting their favorite Reality couple.  My mom posted flyers with our photo, a short story, and the voting link all around my old neighborhood in Greenville, SC. My parents both created Facebook accounts just to stir up votes for us!  And I know Jaime’s Mom also put up flyers and created a Facebook account. I had a good time handing out the cards after FLOREZ concerts and getting people to vote.  Most people loved hearing our story and were very happy to help.

Winning this wedding is such a blessing.  I feel blessed just to have Jaime and such loving family and friends.  And winning this amazing wedding is the icing on the (wedding) cake.  Not only will the wedding be amazing but also this will help us financially and hopefully give us the opportunity to buy a house, which is our next dream.

I can’t think of any place I’d rather get married than Charleston.  It is not only beautiful and charming, but it is located so close to my family.  And most importantly, I know Jaime has always wanted to get married there.  Knowing that her wedding dreams are coming true and seeing her face lit up on our wedding day is about the best gift I could ask for.