In 2009, while looking for ways to give back to her community, Liz Guthrie, a party and event planner, organized a Dream Wedding Giveaway in San Francisco for couples who couldn’t afford a high-end wedding. Although the giveaway received 350 applications from all over the country, the story of one couple warmed everyone’s heart. 

Enter Vanessa Muza Teskey, a U.S. Air Force officer battling stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and her fiancé, Capt. Mike Hawkings, also an Air Force officer. After graduating from the Air Force Academy, the couple met and got engaged in 2008. Vanessa received her cancer diagnosis one day before Mike was deployed to Southwest Asia.

From 11,000 miles apart, the contest gave the couple hope for a brighter future and enough resilience to face Vanessa’s chemotherapy sessions. Vanessa and Mike’s love story ended up winning them a $100,000 high-end wedding package –all of the proceeds were donated by local businesses and wedding industry professionals. 

And although the Hawkins’ wedding was a huge success, Liz felt a little bummed down: she thought that there were loads of people deserving of a wedding. What if there was a way to grant that dream wedding to more couples like the Hawkins? Couples with a moving love story who were entrenched in life-altering circumstances and lacked the headspace and the financial capacity to plan a high-end wedding.

And this is why, in November of 2009, Wish Upon a Wedding was officially born.  Our original wedding industry founders came together with a vision to give couples and their loved ones a day away from terminal illness, helping them create memories to sustain them through the upcoming challenges. 

Our Mission

Wish Upon a Wedding grants weddings and vow renewals to couples facing terminal illness or life-altering health circumstances. We help couples alleviate the financial burden and time commitment that planning a wedding entails, focusing instead on dealing with their treatments and spending time with their loved ones.

Due to their health-related circumstances, the couples we honor have endured far more significant challenges than many of us could imagine, and we aim to celebrate their love for one another.

Today, our board members and local committees have grown to include professionals and partners from a wide range of industries across the United States. We’ve been able to grant more than 250 weddings and vow renewals through the generosity and kindness of individuals, wedding industry professionals who donate services, corporate sponsors, partnerships, and marvelous volunteers. 

We are grateful for your generous support and the opportunity our couples have given us to take part in their love story. We are so proud of our organization and hope that you will follow us on our journey.