This Valentine's Day, student Josh Sers wants to give his fiancee a dream wedding.
Sers and Nicole Aragon are competing with four couples to win the New Mexico Dream Wedding Giveaway.
The contest offers couples the chance to compete for a free wedding where sponsors such as Mark Diamond's Jewelers, Kyle Zimmerman Photography, Lucky Boyz Limousine, Mr. Tux and Scarpas Catering will supply everything from the cake to the wedding bands.
A seven-day, seven-night honeymoon in Italy is included in the package.
Sers said Aragon heard about the contest after she attended a bridal fair.
"We just submitted an essay and a picture, and in mid-December, they got back to us and said we were one of the top finalists for the New Mexico dream wedding, so we were pretty excited about that," he said. "Now, we're just trying to get people to vote and win the dream wedding."
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People can cast their votes for one of the five couples at NMDreamWedding.com.
The couple with the highest number of votes will win the contest and have their names announced Thursday.
Lainie Quirk, co-producer of the New Mexico Dream Wedding Giveaway and owner of Starlight Event Design, said the contest received about 600 entries.
Quirk said she partnered with Susan Caplan, owner of Patisserie C, to create the contest.
Sers said he and Aragon have been working hard to get votes.
"We've been sending out e-mails, text messages and handing out fliers," he said. "We're posting fliers anywhere and everywhere we can."
Quirk said Sers and Aragon were selected as finalists based on their essay.
"We liked their honesty and who they were and how they represented themselves," she said. "There was an overall nice wholesomeness about them that we liked very much."
Aragon said she and Sers will have a beautiful wedding even if they don't win the contest.
"We're taking pre-marital classes through Calvary Church right now," she said. "We're going to have a pastor marry us. We're thinking that if we don't win, we're going to get married at the chapel that's behind Hotel Albuquerque."
Aragon said she met Sers at Zimmerman Library about three years ago.
She said he proposed to her in August when they were on vacation in South Padre, Texas.
"We had gone out for a couple of drinks, and we were walking back on the beach under the stars, and it was so beautiful," she said. "We were talking, and he just randomly got down on one knee and asked if I would spend the rest of my life with him - that it would make him the happiest man on Earth. It was the most beautiful proposal."
