Montgomery Couple Makes the Finals in Dream Wedding Contest

Three weeks ago, April Adamo and Pat Schippers were pretty sure they were not going to enter the Eleven Eleven dream wedding contest. Two weeks ago, they decided to go for it, but they were certain they’d never get even a thousand votes.

On Friday, the Montgomery couple made it into the finals. Not only that, they did so as the top vote-getters, with 3,508 votes—exactly 1,100 more than their closest competitor. They now get to compete with the two other top winners for a massive wedding-themed prize package, something the pair could “never in a million years” afford, Adamo said.

“I’m absolutely floored,” Adamo said.

Like a lot of things in their lives lately, the decision to get married and to enter the Eleven Eleven Wedding contest came down to Adamo’s son Isaac Parris. Isaac was last June, and since then has had surgery, radiation therapy, and rounds of chemotherapy (which are still ongoing).

With Isaac’s health constantly in question, Adamo said the idea of getting married became more important to her and Schippers. They’ve been together since 2008, having reunited at an elementary school reunion, and Schippers has been “an amazing stepdad,” Adamo said, particularly through Isaac’s struggles.

“All of this stuff happening made us realize how quickly life can change,” Adamo said. “We’re hopeful one day we can be at (Isaac’s) wedding. At the same time, if something, heaven forbid, should go wrong, he would never have known that Mom and Pat were married.”

Isaac’s medical bills have left the family financially drained, and unable to afford even a modest wedding, let alone the extravaganza that awaits the winner of the Eleven Eleven contest. Adamo, a St. Charles schoolteacher, said they shopped around, looking for halls and even barns to hold the wedding in. All were too expensive.

“You’re either spending thousands and thousands of dollars, or going to the justice of the peace,” Adamo said. “We want our friends and family involved.”

That’s when a photographer friend, whom the family had met through Isaac, told them about the contest. This is the third year that Eleven Eleven Wedding has pulled together sponsors from the Chicago area to give one couple the wedding of their dreams. The winning couple will tie the knot on Sunday, Nov. 11.

But before that, there are several other dates that must be kept open, for planning with the vendors. Adamo and Schippers were initially hesitant about entering, because Isaac’s treatment schedule may not allow them to make those meetings. In the end, though, they decided to go for it.

The pair pulled off a commanding lead in the contest right away, racking up 1,000 votes in two hours, and never looked back.

The next step will happen on Wednesday, when Adamo and Schippers sit down for a video interview, which will be shown to the vendors sponsoring the giveaway. Those vendors will choose which of the three couples is this year’s big winner, and their decision will be revealed in a Chicago ceremony on May 8.

Adamo said both Isaac and his sister Ivy are excited for the possibility that they might win. Isaac is finishing up one round of chemotherapy and preparing for another, which starts on April 20, Adamo said. But his spirits remain high, despite the chemo’s cumulative effects on his strength.

Should the couple win the contest, it would provide a welcome dose of good news, and something for the family to look forward to. It would also, as they wrote in their Eleven Eleven Wedding entry form, “show that love can endure, and (be) a sign of all the good times that await their family.”

“For us, it’s now more important,” Adamo said.