We are so excited to announce the Military Giveaway finalists. We had so many entries and had such a difficult time narrowing the contest down to 20 couples. Each and every one of these couples has sacrificed tremendously for our country and deserves the most incredible wedding Annapolis can offer.

Voting begins today and will continue until 5pm Sunday. Please vote using the poll at the top right of the page (under the search). Duplicate votes will not be counted as we can determine IP and host addresses. Contestants with high abuse rates will be disqualified. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook to get the latest updates about the contest!

Thank you so much to The Pretty Pixie, Allison Barnhill Designs, Weswen Design, Vida Carson Photography, Charlotte Jarrett Events, Lotus, Mary Kay – Ida Sukalo , Saving Dates and Up-Do’s for I Do’s for their generous contributions!

Alison and Chris

Chris and Alison met during college at West Virginia University in 2004. Not even a year into their relationship, Alison’s mom passed away after an illness. She knew he was a keeper when he stayed with her and supported her through the entire thing. When the tables turned and he was deployed with the 303rd PSYOP CO, they both knew they could get through anything together. After seven wonderful years, he proposed in March on Catalina Island. They are hoping to get hitched next summer!

Cera and Cameron

Cera and Cameron met in high school but didn’t start dating until after they graduated. Cera knew pretty quickly that Cameron was the man she was meant to marry. Cera says, “I look at Cameron and I see my whole future, and even though I’m fully aware of the hardships that sometimes arrise with army relationships I support Cameron with every decision he makes and through the time we’d have to spend a part because there’s no one else I would rather spend my life with.” Their wedding is scheduled for June of 2012.

Elizabeth and Charlie

Elizabeth had a crush on Charlie when they were in the 6th grade and although she moved away, they stayed friends. They reconnected during college and Charlie, a U.S. Naval Academy Alum, asked Elizabeth to go to his dining out. They soon realized they were meant to be more than friends. Three years later while they were dating, Charlie told Elizabeth he would be leaving for Afghanistan. He flew out to see her and as they were leaving her apartment, he asked her to marry him. They are getting married New Years Eve of 2011.

Gabriela and Daniel

Gabriela and Dan met at a Navy vs. Notra Dame football game in October of 2011. Gabriela was a student at the Academy and Dan was at the game with a few of his friends from The Basic School. A mutual friend introduced the two and it didn’t take long for Gabriela to realize she was falling for this Recon Marine who had served in Iraq 4 times! Seven months later, Dan proposed and Gabriela said yes before he was all the way down on his knee! The two will be married on September 1, 2012 and they are excited to start a new life together!

Heather and Travis

Heather and Travis met in 2009 when Heather was a student at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. Travis had travelled to Indiana to watch the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game and after a terrible ND loss to Navy, the two met on the side of the road when Heather and her friends were walking to a bar. They dated long distance until 2010 when Heather accepted a job in Columbia, MD. They got engaged on May 21, 2011 at the Naval Academy Ring Dance and are planning a June 2012 wedding.

Jenelle and Seth

Jenelle and Seth met in 2008 when she was stationed at Ft. Gordon, GA and he was at Ft. Bragg, NC. One of her soldiers was engaged to one of his soldiers and the two decided to set up Jenelle and Seth. After a few weeks of talking, he drove down to Ft. Gordon for their first date. About 6 months later, they both deployed to Iraq (Jenelle) and Afghanistan (Seth). Seth proposed after that deployment and now they are both stationed in Seoul. Their wedding is schedule for August of 2012.

Jennifer and Scotlin

Jennifer and Scotlin were introduced to each other four years ago by mutual friends, but it was not good timing for a relationship so they decided to be friends and kept in contact. On April 16, 2010, Scotlin invited Jennifer to see him perform in a men’s glee club concert. Something about that evening just clicked, they began spending all of their free time together and started dating. A month ago Scotlin asked her to marry him and we are hoping to have our wedding in October 2012!

Kaitlin and James

Kaitlin and James met June 28, 2006 on induction day at the Naval Academy. They were in the same Plebe Summer squad and became close friends, inevitably falling for each other. The rest, as they say, is (Naval) history. James, now a civilian, followed Kaitlin to Florida for NFO flight school, and they are planning to have their November 2012 in Annapolis!

Kassie and Mark

Although Kassie is from a small town in Indiana and Mark is a southern boy, the two met while Kassie was living in New York City and Mark was in town commissioning the USS-NY. She was his tour guide for the few days he was there and he gave her a tour of the ship. Mark proposed this past December at the Biltmore Estates. They’re currently going through their first deployment and planning their May 2012 wedding!

Katherine and Matt

Katherine and Matt met in Albany, New York at a street festival. She was on leave visiting a friend and Matt was in town for a technical training course for his job. Katherine asked Matt to be her air guitar partner and they had so much fun they met for drinks later that night. They soon realized how much they had in common (including calling Maryland home!) Matt went back to Texas and I went back to Michigan but the conversations didn’t stop. They were engaged in February and will be getting married in September of 2012.

Kayla and Jacob

Jacob and Kayla met five years ago while working at a bar. It was Kayla’s first night working with Jacob when he asked her to play a joke on his friend by pretending to be his new fiance. They went all night playing along and at the end of the night she leaned over the bar and planted a big kiss on him. For three years they didn’t see each other and then two years ago they reunited at college. They became best friends and were soon engaged! Their wedding is scheduled for September 17th, right before Jacob heads to Afghanistan.

Karli and Justin

Karli and Justin met at a party in high school. Justin was sick and Karli took care of him all night. Their first date was at a carnival and Karli knew from the minute they started dating that Justin was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with! Justin is in the Navy and is currently stationed in Groton, CT.

Kimberly and Aaron

Aaron and Kimberly met in Pensacola, Florida, while Aaron was at Naval flight school and Kimberly was at University of West Florida earning her Masters degree. After a failed first attempt to ask her out at a bar, the two ran into each other again and they exchanged numbers. But from the first date on, they were head over heels for one another. The two had actually spent several years right next to each other without knowing – Kimberly spent most of her life in Annapolis and Aaron attended the Academy!

Leslie and Matt

Leslie, a Federal Investigator for the US Government, met Matt, an Air Force Raven, during a routine interview. They exchanged numbers after the interview and the rest is history! Matt proposed during his reenlistment ceremony in front of their entire families. As they were all standing around Air Force 2, Matt dropped down on one knee. Matt left in February and is set to return in August or September. Their wedding is scheduled for April 21, 2012.

Liana and Sean

Sean and Liana met at church a little over a year ago. They had both been going to the same church for years and she had noticed him almost every Sunday but she was too nervous to approach him. Finally, she figured she didn’t have anything to lose so she introduced myself. He thought that she was a visitor. He had never seen her before! They really hit it off and he almost immediately asked her out. Their wedding date is scheduled for October 29th, 2011.

Marcella and Alexander

Marcella and Alexander met on a connecting flight from California to Texas. He was on leave visiting his family and she was on her way to visit her aunt. Although Marcella was a bit of a mess that day, they talked, listened to music together, and just hung out for the rest of the 3 hour flight. They kept in touch and started dating back to California. Shortly after they moved to Maryland, Alexander proposed! Their wedding is scheduled for April of 2012.

Mallory and Zach

Mallory and Zach met while she was on Barracks duty on New River in Jacksonville, NC, she had no intentions of it going anywhere. They hit it off after he randomly asked her to put his laundry in the dryer. They fell in love and in March they deployed for Afghanistan. Although they are currently split up, they strongly believe that being out there is a test of faith and love. If they can make it through deployment together, they can make it through anything. Their wedding is scheduled for November of 2011.

Reina and David

David’s brother and Reina went to school in Indiana and both sang in the choir. She met David when the the choir toured through Boston. They connected over Facebook and were friends for a few years when Reina learned that he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. After his overseas tour, he was to be stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC. He returned just in time for the Inauguration and Inaugural Ball. For the first year of their time together, David commuted 12 hours each weekend to come see Reina!

Sheila and Matthew

Despite only living an hour and a half from each other and attending George Mason University together, it took the Army to bring Sheila and Matthew together. They met while training in California and started dating in October of 2009. Much of their relationship has been spent apart and now Sheila is deployed in Afghanistan. They are hopeful that once Sheila returns from Afghanistan they will be stationed in the area and will be able to have their wedding shortly after!