Brad & Hilary’s Free Wedding Giveaway Entry

I was born and raised in Charlotte. Brad was born in Michigan and moved to Charlotte around middle school. Once we were both in Charlotte, we started to do a lot of things together despite attending different schools. In 7th grade, we both were selected to participate in the middle school All District band in Mooresville, NC. Brad always recalls the flute players up front (particularly my friends and me) being so annoying and talking throughout the whole thing. Most of my closest friends went to my church but they went to a different school than I did, which happened to be Brad’s school. Five years later, I went to most of Providence High School’s basketball games. Brad went to a few of Weddington High School’s games, mostly the ones against Providence. On a break from a 14-hour shift at Cold Stone Creamery, I went over to see my friends taking pictures before their senior prom. Brad was also a member of that group.

Crazy enough, we didn’t even meet each other until a few weeks later! Our friends told us about each other and that we were both going to be attending NC State in the fall. During high school, my dad’s business began to go under and finances got really tight for my family. I knew there wouldn’t be any money left when I went to college, since I was the youngest of three kids. I realized I would have to fund my own college education so when I was 15 I got a job at Cold Stone and worked as often as I could which included 50+ hours a week over the summer. We started talking right after graduation and then Brad came into Cold Stone to visit me after he got done with work one day. My coworker came to get me from the backroom where I was decorating a cake and told me a cute guy was there to see me. I went out to the front to meet Brad for the first time. My managers were standing outside staring at me, though, and a minute later I was running to the backroom saying I had to go. Luckily, Brad was intrigued and we went on our first date the next night. This date was a great representation of our money saving tactics: Brad used a gift card both for our dinner at Macaroni Grill and our dessert at Starbucks.

We became “official” a few weeks later and then headed off to orientation at NC State soon after. It turned out we were in the same group there since we were both Business majors and there was only one person in between Saunders and Schaefer alphabetically. During the orientation session, someone in our group noticed we were holding hands and asked, “Are y’all dating or something?” and we said yes and then they asked if we had just met. Brad wanted to be the funny one so he said towards me, “Yeah, what’s your name again?”

A month later, we started our freshman year at NC State and became inseparable – literally. I went to all Brad’s intramural sport games and we both became involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. Our commitment to Christ and our common beliefs and morals have been a strong bond for us throughout our relationship. After our first semester, we began to take almost all of our classes together, and to this day we have had 4 out of the 5 classes with each other every semester. Luckily, it has worked out really well as we both have continuously made Dean’s List and kept up our grades. As best friends, we really enjoy just hanging out with each other and finding inexpensive but fun dates to entertain us. Most of our friends think they would get sick of spending that much time with one person, but we couldn’t see it any other way. Our favorite thing to do from August to February is to spend the whole weekend together watching football. We go to every NC State Wolfpack home game and watch the away games on TV. Brad is also a die-hard Michigan Wolverine fan, through thick and thin, since he was born and raised right outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was hard for us to try and cheer for them this year, but as true fans, we both endured the season. GO BLUE! It just so happens that Michigan has inspired us to have similar colors for our wedding theme.

Brad continually showed his love for me with sweet surprises. For our one year anniversary, he planned a romantic dinner. Always thinking of saving money, he had amazing food cooked by his mom, served by his dad, and pictures taken by his brother. He paid great attention to things I loved and every detail down to the croutons and salad dressing were all my favorite things. During my sophomore year, my family lost our house and I had to forego a Crusade retreat to go home and help move. I got a few days off from my job as a Resident Advisor and so a few weeks later, Brad came back with me to Charlotte to spend our fall break with my family, instead of heading to Indiana for his grandparents’ 50th Anniversary celebration. I felt so bad that he was going to miss it, but he insisted on coming to Charlotte. Little did I know this was because he was asking my parents for permission to marry me! He had found a great deal on a cruise and planned to give it to me for a Christmas present, and he wanted to let my family know in advance so they could come along with us, as Brad’s family had already agreed to go and he wanted my family to be there for the proposal as well. He spent months trying to find the cheapest 3-day cruise that would still be nice. I got the sweet present for Christmas and was anticipating the departure in May.

Following my sister’s graduation from UNC, our families headed straight for Florida for the cruise. My sister was about to move to Spain for a year to teach English, so it seemed like such a thoughtful idea to get our families together before she left. We had an amazing time and it was great to relax before our internships started. After spending the day together on a private island where only ten people walked past us the whole time, we got dressed up for the formal night on the cruise. Brad met me with a rose and we went to look at the beautiful scenery from the ship. We were talking about how great the day was and I mentioned it being one of the best days of my life. Brad told me later he was worried because he thought I knew what was going on, but I was so shocked when he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him! It took me a while to answer because I didn’t think he was serious until I saw the ring and then I started crying and of course said yes. There is a Kenny Chesney song called “Never Wanted Nothin’ More” that perfectly describes the ring he spent months looking for, that was small but beautiful: “A little ring is a little thing, but it was all that I could afford. Now she’s mine, all mine, ‘til the day I die, and I never wanted nothin’ more!”

Once the cruise was over, we came back to Raleigh. The next day, we attended another orientation together, this time for our summer internships with Target. His family was so gracious to let me stay in their guest room for the next few months because I didn’t have money for an apartment. We were set on having a long engagement and waiting until May 15th, 2010 to get married which was when we were set to graduate from NC State. We did lots of research and realized we didn’t want to wait longer and decided on an August 1st, 2009 wedding instead. I will be graduating early in December and Brad will still graduate in May. We have been praying about our relationship and God has opened many doors for us to get married early. We were a little overwhelmed at first with the high cost of weddings, especially since we are funding the whole wedding ourselves. We realized we needed to leave it to God and know that it was in His hands and He would be able to provide for us. Soon after, I found wonderful deals on a reception location as well as my church, Calvary Church, for the ceremony.

During junior year, I was having a hard time finding a job. Finances got even tighter and Brad helped me a few times to pay my rent and purchase my textbooks for school. I received another blessing when I got an internship in November. It turns out this would be my second internship with Brad, this time working for Sageworks, a local financial analysis service and data company in Cary, NC. We’re each working 20 hours a week to fund school and wedding expenses, going to school full time, participating in numerous clubs and organizations, and planning a wedding from Raleigh that will be in Charlotte. We are now experts at using Excel spreadsheets as we have spent lots of time and effort researching and documenting possible reception locations, ceremony sites, apartments for when we get married and other expenses. Just last week, we were blessed again with signing a lease for an apartment in August, one of the most expensive moving months, and getting it at the rates of January, one of the cheapest.

We are trying the best we can to cut any unnecessary expenses for the wedding. We are not bitter of upset about having to pay for it, we just view it as an added obstacle for which we are willing to work hard in order to overcome. We have especially been looking for a quality photographer at a great price since photography is budgeted as our largest expense, although this allotment is on the low end for quality photographers.

For us, the happiness in our relationship isn’t a result of money. Good thing, since we don’t an abundance of that! ☺ We wouldn’t be getting married early if that was the case. It is just important to us that we are together and using our relationship to grow as one in Christ. We are happy with everything we have and so lucky God placed us in each others’ lives, especially at such a young age. It is so great to have found the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with as we will only be 21 when we get married. Our parents are both celebrating their 30th anniversaries next year and they have been great examples of successful marriages, especially through all the difficult times. This contest is another great opportunity that we are glad we have stumbled upon before the deadline. We think this is an incredible thing that you are doing and are happy for whoever receives this great gift. We’re glad we now have our full story written down to treasure even if we aren’t picked ☺