- November 1, 2024
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Lidieth Gil and Arnaldo Lopez had planned on getting married in a courthouse. It’d be a small wedding, but that’s all they could afford.
Only a few months into their engagement, Lopez’s best friend, Josh Martinez, gave the couple great news. He told them that they won a free wedding from Wed By the Sea, a Palm Coast and Flagler Beach wedding business.
Lopez said he thought his friend was joking, initially. But after reading the wedding contest submission, he realized a bigger wedding wasn’t just a fairytale.
“We’re grateful — very grateful,” Lopez said. “Winning this contest just makes this relationship just that much more special.”
Wed By the Sea opened in Flagler County in August 2018, and launched the wedding contest soon after opening.
Ambi Yurk, owner and planner/coordinator of Wed By the Sea, said being from the Flint, Michigan area and moving here made her want to “give back,” she said.
The contest had about 30 submissions from all around the U.S., but Lopez’s and Gil’s relationship of four years inspired their win.
“They faced difficulty and are working really hard to make a good life for themselves and their daughter,” Yurk said. “We were looking for somebody who needed a break, somebody who’s working hard.”
Lopez served in the U.S. Army for five years, got married, had a daughter and got divorced. But he said his now 8-year-old loves Gil, which is very important to him. As a full-time student at Daytona State College during the day and a U.S. Foods employee at night, Lopez has a full plate.
Lopez and Gil are both from New York, but they didn’t meet until they moved to Palm Coast. The two briefly dated in 2007 before Lopez went into the military. But they’ve learned that timing is everything.
Gil is in the real estate business in Palm Coast. She said she’s thankful her job and bosses accommodate her having multiple sclerosis, which has recently started to affect her more. She has a 17-year-old daughter and 24-year-old son. The couple also cares for nieces and nephews often, making it a full house.
“We’re at a loss for words, especially knowing that we’re not the ones that entered; somebody else entered for us,” Lopez said. “So that makes it even more worthwhile.”
With the wedding approaching on April 26, Gil said she’s thankful for Yurk’s help. A bigger wedding was something her grandmother always wanted for her, she said. And Gil’s mother dreamed of having a beach wedding.
“It’s something my grandmother wanted before she passed,” Gil said. “Actually, two days before she passed, she was bugging me about me having a big wedding and how she wanted my dress. So, I thought that was pretty cool that I kind of got close to what she wanted.”
Yurk said she hopes to make this an annual contest with Wed By the Sea.
Visit https://www.wedbythesea.com.
