Operation Happily Ever After

Local charity finding plenty of support from local business to help military couples marry

By Amanda Kelley
amanda.kelley@myhorrynews.com

 

Angie and Wayne Eggleston never saw their only son get married.

They were both in the Air Force and living in Fayetteville, N.C., when Chris Eggleston was kidnapped and murdered at age 16.

During the tragedy, the military community reached out to the Egglestons.

“He never got married,” Angie said. “He never got to shave. He never got to drive. He never got to go on his first date. There were a lot of ‘he never got tos’. He was our only child, so we’ll never have grand children. But this is an opportunity for us to pay it forward.”

“This” would be Operation Happily Ever After, a charity contest the Egglestons created last year. The project provides a wedding for one military couple. 

Wayne now works the wedding circuit as a photographer with his studio, Wayne’s View Photography.

“As we traveled around to different places for bridal shows we heard brides say, ‘Oh we wish we could come to the beach to get married, but we can’t afford it,’” Angie said. 

That’s how Operation Happily Ever took flight.

“I told Wayne that’s the one thing we can do to give back to the military community is to start this wedding contest,” she said.

The winning couple is chosen through votes on the foundation’s website, operationhappilyeverafter.org. Each vote costs $1 and all of the voting money is given to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

“It’s another nonprofit organization that helps service members returning from deployment with traumatic brain injuries,” Angie said. “This way we get to give a free wedding and help literally thousands of people.”

The contest and voting period ends March 16, so the couple can start working with the vendors to plan the wedding and get the word out to their guests.

At press time, only one couple had registered, but Angie had received another application and was waiting on a photo so the second couple’s story could be posted to the website.

Both of the couples are in the Marines.

Last year’s winners were from Fayetteville, N.C., and worked at the Womack Army Medical Center.

“They work with people that have traumatic brain injuries,” Angie said. “It was really touching to them because now they get to help them in more ways then one.”

The couple was pregnant when they got married.

“We were so touched by this last family,” Angie said. “It just so happened that the groom had lost a brother, so they named their son after his brother and our son. They’re certainly in our life forever.”

But the gift of a wedding wouldn’t be possible without the area businesses helping. In total, the donations are nearly $50,000 in products and services.

“We have been so fortunate,” Angie said. “People have been even better than we anticipated. I just wasn’t sure how people would react when I asked them to donate their services and they were just thrilled about it.”

They’ve even had to turn people away because they only have one sponsor for each service. For example, Cakes By the Sea is the only bakery and the Little White Dress is the only bridal shop.

The only duplicate is the photography.

“The first wedding took place on Sept. 10, 2011,” Angie said. “That’s one whole day [these businesses] can’t do anything else. Basically you can’t make any money that day, and it’s two days if you include the rehearsal dinner. It has really been above my expectations.”

Casey Nowak at the Little White Dress said getting involved was an easy decision.

“We do a lot of charity stuff anyways,” she said. “It was another way to get involved with the community and help people that aren’t as fortunate.”

The bridal shop donates a dress at a $1,000 credit.

The last bride was pregnant and took a sample dress so the store didn’t have to custom order the dress the way they normally would.

“We found a dress she fell in love with off the rack,” Nowak said. “We did her veil and all her accessories and it went a little over $1,000, but we were happy to do it.”

Part of their willingness to help was because of the Eggleston’s themselves.

“They are great people and have a great reputation,” Nowak said. “They do a lot for other people’s businesses. I think it’s everyone helping each other out so we’re all more than happy to get involved.”

A destination wedding like this for 50 guests would be unaffordable for many of the military couples.

“When Wayne and I were both in the military we got married and we came from families that didn’t have much money,” Angie said. “To think that we could have pulled a wedding off like this, there’s just no way.

“We didn’t have a photographer. We had a few flowers, a little bitty cake and then our parents, who opened a can of peanuts and some mints and that was about it.”

The donated wedding also brings people to Myrtle Beach who never would have considered the vacation spot before.

“Some from as far as Washington state flew in for [the last] wedding,” Angie said. “They told us they never would have come to Ripley’s Aquarium and they’ve since been back to Myrtle Beach with their families and went to the aquarium.”

Ripley’s holds the rehearsal dinner for the couple and welcomes all of the guests to tour the aquarium without paying admission.

“We’re bringing people into the area,” Angie said. “A couple they get married, yeah their wedding is free, but even though they’re only here for three days they’re still spending money and they’re still helping our economy.”

The contest is a yearly event with a September wedding. This year’s date is Sept. 8, 2012. 

It’s not too late to enter the contest.

There is a list of rules for interested couples including length of service. Reserve or recently discharged service members may qualify. 

For a complete list of rules, visit operationhappilyeverafter.org.