The Ultimate Utah Wedding competition, hosted by the U, provides a free wedding for the winning couple. Annalisa Purser, communications specialist at the U, said the crimson competition began in 2010.
The deadline for this year’s entry was Dec. 15, and the U’s office of trademarks and licensing narrowed down the applicants to the two most fanatic couples — Ashley Kittelsrud and Colton Groves, and Alexandria Woodall and Jordan Burningham. The public will vote to determine the winning couple, who will be announced Jan. 14.
Voting began Jan. 7 and runs through Jan. 13. Last year, there were a total of 4,316 votes for the couples, said Purser. The public will also be able to vote on the specifics of the wedding for the winning couple, including the cake, dress and catering.
“[The vendors] get to know the couple and then they’ll present two different options that fit with that couple’s personality and their taste,” Purser said. “The public will vote on which one they actually use in their wedding.”
In the midst of plans for the cake and the dress, public outcry began to pour in, urging the U to reopen entries to allow same-sex couples into the competition after the district court’s ruling on Dec. 20 to allow same-sex marriages in Utah. Purser said because the deadline for couple nominations had passed before the state allowed same-sex marriages, the entry form will not reopen. Purser added that the competition did not receive any same-sex couple applications in the open entry period.
The two finalist couples were grilled by a panel on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The trivia contest was broadcast by ABC 4’s Good Things Utah. The panel included U mascot Swoop and 2013 winning groom Ryan Lawrence, among others.
Ashley Kittelsrud, one of this year’s competing brides, said she and her fiancé Colton Groves studied hard for the panel. The two memorized trivia about U coaches and championships to prepare.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking, but I feel that it went pretty well,” Kittelsrud said. “We knew all of the questions they asked us.”
Kittelsrud met Groves at a Bible camp six year ago. Both are currently students at the U — Kittelsrud studies exercise and sports science and Groves is in architecture. Kittelsrud previously attended a university in Indiana and received her associate degree from Dixie State. Groves was part of the reason she came to the U.
“We did the long distance thing for a little while, and then I ended up moving to Salt Lake. It’s great being closer,” Kittelsrud said.
Kittelsrud said she and Groves deserve to win the wedding because they participate in a variety of school activities at the U, such as sporting events and Pioneer Theater performances. She also said with school and part-time jobs, it is hard for the two of them to plan a wedding.
Alexandria Woodall, the other bride-to-be in the competition, said her struggle is not time, but money. Woodall has two children — five-year-old Koda and three-year-old Gracelyn. Koda was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010 and finished chemotherapy eight months ago.
“His medical bills have really set me back financially, so it would just be really helpful to not start our family more in debt than we already are by having to plan a wedding,” Woodall said.
Woodall said her two children deserve to have two parents and wants to win the wedding for that reason. Woodall and fiancé Jordan Burningham met at Viewmont High School and are both life-long U fans.
Neither Woodall nor Burningham are currently a students at the U, but Woodall plans to enroll in the nursing program in the upcoming Fall Semester. She was inspired to study medicine because of the attentive care resident U student doctors gave her son during treatment.
“I’m sure there are so many people out there that deserve it way more than us, but we’ve had a lot of hardships the last few years, and we just feel like it would be really helpful,” Woodall said.
Burningham also has unique ties to the U. He used to attend the Rick Majerus basketball camps when he was a kid and recalled a time at camp when Majerus sat on his lap to help with his shooting form during the panel on Jan. 7.
Voting is available on Facebook and at the Ultimate Utah Wedding’s website. According to the judging panel, a lot is at stake — they joked that the losing couple will be wed at BYU.