A dream day 10 years in the making

USC's dream wedding winners had a decade year wait for the big day

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COLUMBIA SC (WOLO)–“We had our dream wedding planned,” says Nicole Dozier, about her magical day ten years ago.  Unfortunately, the United States Marine Corps had other plans.  Nicole and John quickly changed plans, and got married by a justice of the peace, and began their life together.  John was deployed shortly after their nuptials, and served in the Marines until being injured in Afghanistan in 2011.  The Dozier’s had been planning for do-over on their tenth anniversary, however they found themselves unable to afford a large affair.

Fast-forward a decade from their planned day, and the Dozier’s will have the opportunity to have their big day.  Tuesday evening, they learned that they were the winners of the USC Hotel Tourism Restaurant Management class’ dream wedding.

“Our class fell in love with their story,” says Christine Scheipe, one of the students in the program.  “We really liked the idea of giving them their second chance at a big wedding that can include all of what they missed the first time.”  There was also a special tie for program coordinator Annette Hoover, who worked with John’s father at USC before he passed away three years ago.

“I saw a link on Facebook, and decided to apply,” the mother of three said.  The announcement came after they were told by the organizers that they had made the top three finalists.

The HRTM class has been awarding dream weddings for 13 years, and have planned and executed 25 weddings, making the Dozier’s the 26th.  In order to win, the Dozier’s must allow the class to plan every aspect of their big day, relying on sponsors and donations to handle all logistics, including the location, which will be at Senate’s End in Columbia.

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