Former Mission Viejo resident Meghan Kinney and her fiancé Air Force 2nd Lt. John Avrett have won a dream wedding in the “Salute to Love” contest.
Salute to Love, sponsored by OBXBrides.com, honors a deserving military couple with the ultimate beach wedding experience. With more than 102,000 total votes for the top 10 couples, the future Mr. and Mrs. John Avrett walked away with the most support and will be married April 14, 2012.
Family friend Pamela Azoff first shared the couple’s story with the City, which posted an article on its Mission Viejo Life blog and eNewsletter on October 25.
“Thought you would like to know that John and Meghan WON!!,” Azoff said today in an e-mail to the City. “I cannot thank you enough for posting their story on the MV Blog and online newsletter. I am sure it helped them win their dream wedding.”
Valued at $120,000, the ultimate dream wedding will be a weekend full of wedding-related events with an official ceremony April 14, 2012 for up to 75 people at The Sanderling, located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The three-day event also includes a bachelor/bachelorette outing, rehearsal dinner, farewell brunch and more.
John submitted a beautifully-written entry to Salute to Love describing when he and Meghan first met in a coffee shop in downtown Colorado Springs, Colo. He detailed the flood of emotions when he first laid eyes on Meghan and how quickly they fell in love. Meghan grew up in Mission Viejo and attended Castille Elementary, Newhart Middle School, Capistrano Valley High School, and Tesoro High School before home schooling so she could focus on her love for synchronized swimming. She was planning to swim in the 2012 Olympics until she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. The mammoth costs associated with her cancer treatment left the couple with little money to plan their wedding.
“After 18 months together and battling Meghan’s cancer on the front lines, I truly believed we are humbly deserving of the ‘Salute to Love’ wedding experience,” John said. “As ambassadors for the United States, Meghan and I both want to be a beacon of hope and a measure of inspiration for everyone that comes across our story. We know this dream wedding will set the tone for an amazing marriage. We are so incredibly thankful for everyone’s support and encouragement.”
