Meet the Couple Who Won £25,000 to Plan Their Dream Wedding
Hitched's £25,000 wedding competition winners, Emily and Charles, share their incredible love story and how the prize is making their dream wedding a reality
For one lucky couple, 2025 is set to be the year of a lifetime as they say "I do" with £25,000 worth of wedding suppliers covered, thanks to Hitched.
Meet Emily and Charles, this year’s winners, who are now able to plan the wedding of their dreams without the financial stress!
"We Were in Shock!"
Emily and Charles, based in Brighton, couldn’t believe it when they got the call from Hitched telling them they had won.
"I got a phone call from Dani at Hitched one evening and she shared the news that we'd won! We were in shock and couldn't quite believe it, but we quickly moved past this and got super excited - running out to get some champagne to celebrate!"
A Love Story That Spanned Continents
Emily (32) and Charles (30) first met in 2011 on a beach in Greece while solo travelling. "The day after we met, I was supposed to be continuing on to a different island but missed my ferry by a whole day!
“Charles said I could join him on the next part of his trip, and we ended up spending a week together in Mykonos."
After spending two years apart, fate brought them back together when Charles invited Emily to spend Christmas with him, and the rest is history.
Fast forward to 2021, after six years together, Charles proposed in a way that was both thoughtful and personal.
"It was during lockdown on my birthday, and Charles had planned a special evening. I love puzzles and escape rooms, and he found a company that designs locked boxes with enigmas and ciphers.
“I had to work out the clues to get the code to open the box. Inside was my ring, and when I finally solved it, Charles got down on one knee. I hadn’t suspected a thing!"
Planning Their Dream Wedding
The couple had just returned from a year travelling around South East Asia when they found out they had won the competition, so they were only just starting to think about planning their wedding.
"We’re hoping for a September or October wedding in the South East of England. We’d love a beautiful location, great food, and amazing music - a live band for the daytime and an awesome DJ in the evening. Fireworks would make it extra special, too!"
The first priority for them is finding the perfect venue: "We’d love a space that has both indoor and outdoor areas and onsite accommodation for family travelling long distances to be with us.
“A great photographer is also a must—we love natural shots that capture little moments."
How the Prize is Transforming Their Wedding Plans
Without the competition win, Emily and Charles say they likely would have postponed their wedding until they had saved up more.
"We’d spent most of our savings on our year abroad, so winning means we can get married this year - especially as it’s our 10th anniversary!"
With the £25,000 prize, they’re looking forward to making their wedding unforgettable: "We can now have amazing live music and incredible food to make the day even more special!"
Finding Wedding Inspiration with Hitched
Emily and Charles have already found Hitched incredibly useful in their wedding planning journey. "The directory of vendors is so comprehensive and easy to navigate, which is awesome.
“Plus, the planning tools - like the guest list manager and checklist - will really help keep us organised."
Meet the Winners of our 2024 Hitched Dream Wedding Competition
The winners of the Win a Dream Wedding competition are Courtney, 23, and her partner Adam, aged 23. Our Hull-based winners discovered the competition on our Hitched app (even more reason to download!), and cannot wait to put their new wedding budget to good use.
The pair went to secondary school together, and will be together eight years this April. After getting engaged in November 2022, the couple originally set their wedding date for 2026 due to budget restrictions. In a twist of fate, Courtney and Adam have excitingly brought their wedding forward to this year due to their recent win.
Follow Courtney and Adam’s journey with us, as we document how they plan on spending their prize money, and their magical big day itself! If you’re wanting to learn more about the winners, we’re happy to say that we have the scoop on their love story.
Courtney and Adam’s History
Courtney and Adam are fulfilling their ‘childhood sweethearts arc’ with their dream wedding, but it wasn’t until their final year of school that they really connected and became friends.
“We were in a few of the same classes and after a few weeks of talking Adam finally asked me out on a date. We took my dog for a walk around the local park and the rest is history,” Courtney reveals.
The pair began dating, and 6 years later, Adam popped the question! Their fairy-tale proposal is truly one for the books, and he had been working hard behind the scenes to bring it all together.
“We were on holiday in New York with my mum and her partner. It was Thanksgiving and we got up early to walk towards Central Park to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I had dreamed of watching this parade since I was young because Miracle on 34th Street is my favourite film.” Courtney explains.
“We stood for three hours watching the parade and then walked across to Central Park when it finished. As we were walking around the park we were taking lots of pictures together and being typical tourists. We then walked to some rocks by the boathouse and I thought we were taking a picture when Adam got down on one knee!”
Funnily enough, Adam’s day hadn’t gone exactly as planned. However, it worked out in the best way possible and took Courtney completely by surprise.
“I was in shock and so happy. Little did I know, Adam had planned to do it at the parade but it was too busy and crowded to get to the spot he had planned so he was stood for three hours panicking about how he was going to propose. At one point after the parade Adam knelt down to tie his laces and my mum quickly got out her phone to take a picture, I don't know how I didn't figure out what was going on! It ended up being the perfect proposal.”
Flash forward, and they now live together in their own house with their dog, Bluebell. Courtney says, “Adam didn't want a dog but now I think he loves her more than me!”.
Winning Hitched's Dream Wedding Competition
Courtney was at work when she got the exciting news that she won £25,000 to plan a dream wedding. She almost didn’t believe the news, telling us all about her experience with finding and entering the competition.
“I found out about the competition through the Hitched app. I downloaded the app to assist with the wedding planning. It was free to enter so I thought 'why not?',” Courtney says.
“When I found out we had won, I was at work. I answered the phone and received the news and I didn't quite know what to say, I was in shock! I rang Adam straight away and he didn't believe me at first. You just don't think it will happen to you!”
With their initial wedding date set in 2026, the pair’s wedding plans have been a whirlwind since they’ve won. Pushing their date forward to this year is no easy feat, but to Courtney and Adam, it feels meant to be - and for the a very emotional reason.
Courtney explains: “Due to budget restrictions we originally booked our wedding for 2026 which meant that my Grandad, who is terminally ill, was unlikely to make the day.
“But now thanks to this competition we can bring the wedding forward to this year and my Grandad will more than likely be there on our special day and I can't thank Hitched enough for making this possible. It really feels like fate!”
The couple put friends and family at the heart of their wedding plans, and their main take-away is how happy they are to be able to celebrate with everyone they love. When asked about what excites her the most, Courtney says, “having all of the people me and Adam love most in the same room celebrating our relationship. I also can't wait to share his last name because in our house I'm the odd one out because Bluebell (our puppy) has his last name!”.
Their Wedding Plans
Courtney and Adam are a fairly organised pair when it comes to their wedding plans. They are set on their vision, but their wedding must-have was always going to be family.
“We just want all of our friends and family there to celebrate and have a good time with!”
On how they want to spend their £25,000, Courtney details: “We already have our wedding venue booked which I found through Hitched. Our next priority is a photographer/videographer. We have always wanted to visit Australia but didn't think this would ever be a possibility but now we are looking at going for our honeymoon!
"It also means that there will be a lot less financial stress that typically comes with organising a wedding which means we really enjoy the planning process a lot more!
“Our venue is beautifully decorated with so many old classic features from the large indoor columns to the huge chandeliers, it's exactly what I've always dreamed of. We are keeping the wedding décor quite simple and elegant to match the beautiful building.
“In my dream wedding, Adam will cry when I walk down the aisle (but I guess I'll have to wait and see on that one). After our ceremony we'll gather to catch up with everyone and have drinks and canapes before going outside (with hopefully some amazing sunshine) for photos with all of our guests.
"We would then gather again for our wedding breakfast. We would have a sweetheart table so myself and Adam have time to speak to each other about the fact that we have actually just got married! I would love for our bridesmaids, groomsmen and some family members to give speeches. Especially my Grandad who writes poems for all of our families special occasions.
“On the night, we would love for everyone to have a few drinks and get themselves onto the dancefloor, Adam absolutely loves karaoke although I think in our friends and families dream scenario he would be banned from the microphone! Our dream day is solely focused on the thought of everyone there having a great time and celebrating with us.”
Courtney and Adam are still coming to terms with the fact that they won, and we can’t wait to see what they do with their dream wedding! We imagine it’ll blow us all away.
Meet Our 2023 Competition Winners: Kayleigh & Ryan
The winners of our ’Win a Dream Wedding’ competition 2023 are 27 year-old Kayleigh and her partner Ryan, 29. The couple live together in Cambridgeshire and were enjoying their first holiday together when they found out the good news.
The couple had their dream wedding, courtesy of Hitched, in 2023 and you can read all their wedding details here!
Kayleigh & Ryan’s Story
Kayleigh and her partner Ryan have been together for three years now, but it wasn’t an immediate connection for Kayleigh.
“Ryan had been persistently messaging me, but it wasn’t until almost a year later that I actually agreed to go out with him,” Kayleigh explains.
But it seems Ryan’s persistence paid off, as it wasn’t long before Kayleigh realised the relationship’s potential: “Once we got to know each other, we realised that our families actually knew each other as well. They all used to live in the same cul-de-sac as one another and my auntie is godmother to Ryan’s little sister. I don’t know how, but our paths had just never crossed.”
Clearly meant to be, Kayleigh and Ryan dated for a further two and a half years before Ryan decided to pop the question in July 2022 - and he got the whole family involved in the plans.
Explaining how it all went down, Kayleigh told us “Ryan held a surprise engagement party with all our family and friends there. My auntie and cousin were over from Australia and it was their last day here, so we’d all planned to go out for a Sunday lunch - little did I know it would turn out to be a much bigger occasion than that.
“When I arrived, I was surprised by everyone and could see Ryan standing underneath the pergola. He’d always said he wanted to propose in front of everyone, but I said he wouldn’t have the guts to do it. I was completely proven wrong.”
There was no need for an engagement announcement - everyone who was closest to them was there to celebrate with the couple immediately. Whilst it was a complete surprise for Kayleigh, everyone else was in on Ryan’s secret plans.
Kayleigh explains: “Ryan told all our family and friends months before the engagement so that he could plan the perfect surprise for me. All of my family were over the moon and loved that Ryan wanted to make it so special for me. He knows that my family mean everything to me so I loved it!”
Winning the Hitched Competition
Kayleigh and Ryan were on their first holiday together in Australia when they found out the exciting news that they’d won the Win a Dream Wedding competition. Talking about the process of entering and winning, Kayleigh said, “I was scrolling through TikTok and saw the competition so I thought, I’ll give it a go. I entered but never thought I’d win.
“We were on holiday in Australia when we found it. I’d just woken up and saw I had loads of missed calls and messages from the marketing manager at Hitched. She’d messaged to say that she had some good news and that we’d won the competition. I was in complete shock. I just stared at my phone until Ryan woke up and then told him the exciting news.”
Like many couples, Ryan and Kayleigh needed to save up quite a hefty sum of money to plan their dream wedding. Before winning the competition, the couple wanted to save £20,000 for their wedding - but this meant pushing the wedding date back to 2025 to ensure they could afford the wedding they wanted.
Winning the competition means that Kayleigh and Ryan don’t have to wait another two years to get married, nor do they have to save that £20,000 wedding fund. And it’s not just the wedding date that’s been impacted by winning the prize. Family is so important to Kayleigh and Ryan, and winning the prize money means more of their loved ones can attend the wedding.
Kayleigh explains, “Winning the competition means we are now able to invite more guests to our special day and we can now have a videographer. I was also planning on doing the wedding invitations and wedding flowers myself to try and keep costs down, so it’s such a relief that I now don’t need to worry about trying to do things myself to save money on the wedding.
“This isn’t just bringing the wedding date forward. I feel like winning this money will have a massive impact on our lives outside of a wedding as we really want to save for a house and this means we can start putting our money towards that instead of paying for the wedding.”
In the meantime, you can also continue to plan your dream wedding here on the Hitched website, with more than 3,000 wedding venues and over 16,000 wedding suppliers, get searching today!
