News

Robins combat communications Airman, fiancée win $70K wedding

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott McNabb
  • 24th Air Force Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  There will be no justice of the peace, no flip flops on the beach and no Elvis-inspired weekend wedding fling in Vegas.

When Airman 1st Class Christopher Farrell and Amanda Walker get married, it will be in a quaint, but beautiful chapel on the campus of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., with the backdrop of a sprawling 68-foot by 35-foot window behind them and even higher arched beams above.

The rehearsal dinner and the reception will be in other, equally breathtaking venues on campus, although neither groom nor bride have ties to the 122-year-old university for women. Farrell, a 54th Combat Communications Squadron ground radar systems journeyman, and Amanda Walker, founder of missyourvoice.net - an organization that builds care packages for those serving in deployed areas, won a contest.

While Farrell is an aspiring guitar player, the pair's individual talents took a back seat to their depth of character as a couple in the first-ever ido-thankyou.com dream wedding contest hosted by Atlanta Wedding Loft and valued at more than $70 thousand dollars.

"Chris and Amanda are so very deserving of 'I Do Thank You,'" said Crandall Richardson, Atlanta Wedding Loft assistant director. "They do so much for others and I am so happy that we are able to help them by giving them the gift of a wedding."

The Atlanta Wedding Loft vendors are donating all the wedding components to include: planning, a couture gown, photography, catering, flowers, videography, invitations, hair and make-up artistry, entertainment and more. The couple had planned for a small, less extravagant wedding on the beach. They said they would have been happy with that, but both were awestruck when they found out they won on national television July 21.

"I cried, smiled, hugged Chris and then called my Mom," said the future Mrs. Farrell. "Chris and I bring out the best in each other in every aspect of our lives. Everything about the two of us is very complementary of each other. His weak points are my strong points, and his strong parts are my weak parts. Where one of us lacks, the other excels. I firmly believe that there is nothing that Chris and I could not accomplish together, we are quite the team."

The team met eight years ago through Farrell's friend who got to know Walker online while she was looking for new friends before she moved to Georgia. Her "military brat" tactics paid off more than she imagined it would when her future husband agreed to drive his friend to meet her.

"The first time I saw Amanda was in the summer of '03 and the first thing that went through my mind was wow," he said. "She was a blonde back then and she had an energetic, room brightening smile. Just from the look of her I knew that something was special about her."

But it's more than looks that hooked Farrell.

"The one biggest thing that I respect about Amanda is her drive to follow through with her ideas," he said. "She has such a passion for everything she does. She is very optimistic about things and strives to complete/win everything she does and I've learned to be optimistic with her."

Nearly 10,000 military members, family members and friends of those in the military see something special about her too. Walker started a business making specialty care packages for deployed members called MissYourVoice and the Facebook fan page has become a support community for everyone impacted by a loved one's deployment. Walker said she works hard to keep a personal connection with everyone on the site. She also said it was one of her friends from the site who told her about the wedding contest.

"It keeps me busier than I could have ever imagined, but I love it," she said. "It's completely gratifying to know that I make people smile all over the world. I sincerely believe that I play a role in a lot of people's daily lives. Be it with helping them get mail to their loved one, or just by offering advice, a kind word or support on my page. We support each other, help each other and care for one another. I am not just a company to my customers, I am not just the lady who makes their packages; I'm their friend. I go to great lengths to get to know my customers and my fans and interact with them daily."

Walker said the combination of how they serve the military as a couple and the fact that she poured herself into writing the contest essay gave them an edge on the other 83 couples involved.

"I spent three weeks writing an essay that was well put together, truthful, emotional, and persuasive," she said. "I had confidence that the essay would give us a good chance at winning, but of course was not certain about it."

The bride's mother called Farrell and Walker the perfect couple.

"They were friends first, and their true love for one another blossomed with time," explained Tami Walker. "They have a lot in common, and complement each other in many ways. They are like most young couples ... they spend as much time together as possible, take pleasure in the 'little things' in life, and know how to laugh and have a blast together."

Both Walker's parents served in the Army: her mother Tami for nine years and her father Edward who retired as a sergeant major. While the young couple spends as much time together as possible, Walker is no stranger to deployments and said she knows there will be trying times ahead.

"Growing up in a military family, I saw firsthand the benefits and the struggles of the military lifestyle, the time apart, the stress it brings on, the moves, the rules, and of course the effort it takes to maintain a successful military family," she said. "I believe that the only influence that my military background has on Chris and my relationship is that I have a better idea of what I am in for than most newlywed military wives would have. I knew Chris and was deeply emotionally invested in him way before the Air Force was part of the plan. I do not love Chris in any way because of his job; I love him for the wonderful, caring, amazing man that he is. His being in the Air Force is just one of the many things about him that make me proud."

Something that made Farrell nervous was meeting the hulk of a sergeant major his girlfriend called Daddy and asking for her hand in marriage. As fortune would have it, the couple had to fly in on separate airplanes and Walker's plane was delayed for hours. That gave Mr. Walker the time he needed to get to know the young man his daughter couldn't stop talking about. He grilled the Airman one-on-one, but was quickly impressed with Farrell. When the radar troop asked for his daughter's hand in marriage the next day, he granted it without hesitation.

"I ended up asking him the next day and he said he would love for me to be his son-in-law," said Farrell. "If he would have said no, I had no back-up plan but I'm pretty good at winging things. When he told me that he practically considered me his son already it was a good feeling. Everyone knows it's nice to be liked, but when your future in-laws feel so deep about you already, it's really humbling."

Walker's appreciation for Farrell's flight to El Paso to ask for his daughter's hand is genuine.

"It shows the great values the Air Force and his parents have instilled in him," he said. "It makes giving my oldest daughter away ... not as hard ... as it is."

The Airman's father said he's extremely happy his son and future daughter-in-law were named the winners of "I Do Thank You."

"I am very proud of them both," said Dennis Farrell. "I called everyone I could think of. The fact that they were selected, tells me I have a very special son and future daughter-in-law whom I love very much. My hopes are they will have a lifelong happy marriage and family. I'm very much looking forward to both of our families getting together to celebrate the wedding of a wonderful couple."

Farrell's mother chalked it up to her boy waking up to the fact that the woman he was already so in love with should always be in his life.

"They have dated on and off since high school, then my son finally realized what he had with Amanda," said Mary Myers. "You can see it in his eyes every time he speaks of her. I wish them both love, happiness and success in everything they do."

"I Do Thank You" will take care of the rest.