Local pair finalists in wedding giveaway
Dad grilling burgers on the grill, your fiance in a Hawaiian shirt, a pastor with a voice like Elmo -- sound like an ideal wedding?
Courtesy Photo
Like most girls, Nicole Schiller has dreamed of her wedding day since she was a little girl -- she just didn't imagine a backyard barbecue filled with chaos. Thankfully, the scene was just a pretend nightmare turned into a comical movie that was chosen as one of four finalists in the Charleston Wedding Giveaway.
Schiller, who is from Streamwood, and her fiance, Will Palmosino of Bartlett, are hoping to trade in their wedding day nightmare for a wedding package worth $80,000 set in Charleston, S.C. The package will include invitations, a rehearsal dinner, flowers, the ceremony, a golf outing, spa treatment, photographer, ground transportation, and a custom-made dress provided by a high-end Charleston boutique.
Liz Rennie, manager of media relations at Charleston Wedding Guide, said that their fun approach stood out.
"Nicole and William's video was really creative," she said. "They weren't just sitting on a couch talking about their lives. The dream sequence really took it to the next level."
The finalists come from an eclectic background: one couple met on the TV show Survivor; another are in medical school and won the money for the wedding ring on a game show; and another contestant is a former television news reporter.
Rennie said the competition drew submissions from all over the country. Celebrity judges picked the finalists, and the winning couple will be chosen by an online vote tally.
Schiller and Palmosino grew up just five minutes away from each other and had their first encounter at a homecoming football game where they were cheering for their separate high schools. When they both ended up at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, they recognized each other as members of rival schools and later began dating.
Schiller and Palmosino are both interning with the Illinois Legislature in Springfield while pursuing master's degrees at the University of Illinois there. Her master's is in political studies, his is in environmental policy. Schiller hopes to run for office one day.
After dating for 2½ years, the couple took a trip to Washington, D.C., where Palmosino took her to a Greek restaurant, ordered long-stem roses and a bottle of champagne, and proposed.
They found out about the wedding giveaway in a newspaper advertisement; and because Palmosino's hobby is filmmaking, they decided to enter the contest in August.
In his video, Palmosino described their relationship.
"They say that love is something that goes beyond the logical," he said. "When it is true love, it is supposed to feel right .... Whenever I am feeling down, she is always there; and whenever I am happy, she is there to share in that."
Schiller said she could not believe that she found someone to fulfill all the qualities on her list.
"When I was little, I made a list of things I wanted in my future husband and put it under my bed," she said. "I found that list when I was cleaning out my room after graduating from college. It had all the qualities that I now have in Will."
They are hoping this contest will enable them to get married in April 2009.
"This is really the only way we can think of to be able to get married as soon as we would like to," Schiller said. "We will find a way, but it might take a lot longer to do it otherwise."
