There is a lot to find in the aisles of Aldi grocery store — but a bride and groom aren’t typically among those things.
Nevertheless, that was the setting recently at one store featuring a Southgate couple.
Walking through the frozen foods section and standing between the fruits and vegetables display, Michael Hurd and Jessica Bojanowski expressed their love and joined hands in matrimony.
They were the lucky winners of the Happily Ever Aldi contest, winning an all-expenses paid wedding at the Aldi Insights Center, a model store in Batavia, Illinois.
The couple was married before family and friends seated in the store among the groceries.
Michael Hurd and Jessica Bojanowski walk the aisle at Aldi before saying, “I do.” (Photo courtesy of Aldi)
They were married by an Aldi store officiant.
This is the first wedding of its kind for Aldi.
Along with the wedding, the couple also was treated to custom hors d’oeuvres, signature cocktails, a themed wedding cake, wedding favors and free groceries for an entire year.
They also received shopping carts full of products to begin their married lives.
It was an invitation to share their love story that inspired the couple to attempt to cash in on the contest and its perks.
After evaluating hundreds of entries, it was the Southgate couple’s story of love that incorporated their mutual admiration of Aldi that tipped the scale in their favor.
Michael Hurd and Jessica Bojanowski of Southgate won a wedding and groceries for a year from Aldi after entering their love story in a contest. (Photo courtesy of Aldi)
According to the couple, when they realized the wedding would take place on Nov. 9, it was the icing on the cake to go for it.
That actually is the date of their first date.
They said they knew then it was meant to be.
According to the company, their weekly traditions involving trips to Aldi are woven throughout their relationship, which made them “the perfect couple” to win the contest.
The couple met in 2013 when Jessica began a brief stint working at a local bar that Michael had been working at for years.
Both said they were not looking for love at the time and it took a few months of friendship and late nights together at work before realizing they had an undeniable spark between them.
Not only did they have a spark for each other, but they also had a mutual attraction to the same store.
Southgate residents Jessica Bojanowski and Michael Hurd were recently married at an Aldi store in Illinois. (Photo courtesy of Aldi)
In fact, Jessica asked Michael out on a date immediately upon learning that he, like her, loved to shop at Aldi.
It wasn’t long after their first date that they realized they were destined to be together.
They both got new jobs, moved in together and got engaged in December 2018.
They worked opposite shifts so finding time to spend together was difficult at times, but the one thing that remained constant in their relationship was their excitement to explore new store products at their favorite store.
She said Michael always surprised her with flowers from the store and she appreciated the fact he would never say a word when she would spend a little too much time in the Aldi Finds aisle.
They had a standing Sunday morning shopping date.
The couple had wanted to get married for years, but said they just never had the tools to plan it. From the start of their engagement, they said they wished they had someone to plan the whole thing and just tell them when and where to show up.
Winning the wedding granted that wish.
The two now have a whole new meaning of the phrase “walking down the aisle,” and said they couldn’t be happier about it.
