Those who have had their meet-cute at a popular supermarket chain can parlay that into the wedding of a lifetime.
On Wednesday, grocery chain Aldi announced a contest to find a lucky couple to get married in the aisles of an Aldi, all expenses paid. The sweepstakes includes an Aldi-themed wedding plus free groceries for an entire year. That’s a wedding gift much more useful than a bottle of Hello Kitty wine.
The winners, who must be willing to be wed on Wednesday, Nov. 9, will find themselves carted off free of charge to the Aldi Insights Center, which will be transformed into their wedding venue for the couple’s non-perishable nuptials. The AIC is the grocery chain’s model store near its headquarters in Batavia, Illinois, an hour outside of Chicago.
The winning couple will receive a hefty chunk of their wedding pre-planned for them. This includes travel accommodations, hair and makeup for the wedding day, a professional photographer and more.
The wedding will be officiated by an Aldi employee (who will be ordained, we imagine) and after the couple says their “I do’s,” their reception will boast plenty of the supermarket’s signature touches, including Aldi-themed wedding favors, a storefront photoshoot, a branded tiered wedding cake and a reception for the lucky couple and up to 50 guests. Family, friends and other loved ones will snack on a smorgasbord of Aldi fan-favorites — like mini Red Bag Chicken sliders — and other signature items. Canned fried apples, anyone?
“ALDI fans show us their love every day, and we think getting married in our aisles will be a dream come true for many of them, so we can’t wait to give one lucky couple an amazing start to their future life together and share in their love story,” Kate Kirkpatrick, Aldi USA’s director of communications, told TODAY Food in an email. “This will be the first wedding ALDI ever hosts, but hopefully not the last!”
To enter, couples who have been engaged for at least a month can visit the “Happily Ever ALDI” contest page from Aug. 3 through Aug. 17 to enter — but act quickly, because only the first 500 entries will be considered. Aldi asks contestants to share what makes their love story special in a 500-word-or-less essay and make their case for why they deserve to be the first couple ever to be married at Aldi. The winning couple will be notified at the end of August.
Big culinary outlets have long been a popular setting for engagement photos, as well, like Costco and Waffle House, so it makes sense that a grocery store like Aldi would take the next step, so to speak, like Taco Bell did in 2017 when it hosted a couple's nuptials. Aldi said it's showing love to fans who have shown their love over the years by marking some of their most cherished life moments with the grocery chain, including their engagements, baby showers, birthday parties and more.
That’s not just lip service, either — there are multiple Facebook groups dedicated to everyday finds, date-night dinners, charcuterie boards and even wedding cakes made by the folks that frequents the popular grocery chain, with one active Facebook group dedicated to Aldi recipes garnering more than 725,000 members. The lucky couple might be posting about walnut shrimp or beef brisket right now — who knows!
