Media / Press Releases

 

Monday, February 13, 2012

Published on the Destination I Do Magazine Blog

Brought to you by the editors of Destination I Do Magazine

Win a Dream Military Wedding While Helping Charity
Words by Courtney Cox
Photos courtesy of Operation Happily Ever After

Sometimes out of tragedy comes inspiration – this was just the case for Wayne and Angie. Nearly 15 years ago, while active Air Force members, the couple’s 16 year-old son went missing. During the search for him, the couple was shocked by the love and support they received from their community, and fellow military members most of all. While their search didn’t have a happy ending, they turned tragedy into an opportunity to give back via Operation Happily Ever After.

Having felt the loving support and kindness of their fellow military members, the couple now strives to give back in any way they can. The second annual Operation Happily Ever After giveaway is currently running, and couples have a chance to win a wedding worth $50,000. If either the bride or groom is a military member, then you qualify for the contest.

The winning couple will receive a dream wedding including a rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception with all the trimmings, luxury beachfront accommodations, photographers, a videographer, flowers, a dress, tuxedos, weddings bands, invitations and much more. The lovely folks over at Operation Happily Ever After have covered all the bases.

The wedding will take place on the beach in front of the Sea Watch Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on September 8, 2012. Their rehearsal dinner will be held at Ripley’s Aquarium and sponsors like Peaches and Cream and The Little White Dress will work to provide the winning couple with anything they may need. Accommodations will also be provided for the couple, their immediate family and their bridal party.

So, here’s how to enter: visit OperationHappilyEverAfter.org and click on the contests tab. Here you will find a list of rules which will make sure you qualify, as well as a registration form. In addition to the form, the couple must also send in a picture and a few paragraphs about themselves. Within a couple days of receiving your materials, the couple’s information and photo will be posted on the website.

To win, couples must get as many votes as possible on OperationHappilyEverAfter.org. The couple with the most votes as of 12 midnight EST on March 16, 2012 will win. Best of all? The folks behind the contest have found a way to really make each vote count. Each vote will donate $1.00 to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. This organization helps service members returning from deployment with traumatic brain injuries.

So, not only will your friends and family be helping you to win your dream wedding, they will be helping our service men and women. For more information or to enter the contest, please visit OperationHappilyEverAfter.org or Facebook.com/OperationHappilyEverAfter.

If you'd like to learn more about destination weddings please visit www.destinationidomag.com.

February 6, 2012

Published in Fayetteville Observer Blog - & News Paper

Kim Hasty -  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

A horse-drawn carriage through tree-lined streets.

Custom-designed wedding rings.

Three nights at an ocean-front resort.

And all the lilies, roses and baby's breath a bride could want.

Operation Happily Ever After is searching for a couple interested in winning a dream wedding.

And along the way, the healing process will continue for two remarkable people who endured a nightmare.

"I always talked about when Chris grows up, I'm going to have grandkids and we're going to sit on the floor and read and watch Disney movies,'' Angie Eggleston said. "That's not going to happen.

"I didn't get to plan his wedding,'' she said. "This is a celebration of his life.''

Chris Eggleston was a 16-year-old student at Westover High School when he was murdered in June 1997. Thousands of people in the community searched for him for days before his body was found in a creek in the woods behind the school.

Even in their grief, Angie Eggleston and her husband, Wayne, expressed gratitude for the people who cared about them and their only child.

"Chris could still be out there in the field,'' she said. "Because of everything they did, they helped us find him.''

The Egglestons, who were both in the Air Force, retired in 1999 and now live in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where they spent many a family vacation with their son.

Wayne Eggleston started a professional photography business, snapping photos of happy people, brides and grooms among them. That experience inspired the creation of Operation Happily Ever After. Arranging a dream wedding seemed the perfect way to show the gratitude the Egglestons still feel toward the military community.

Stephanie and Larry Reyes were the first recipients, winning a $38,000 wedding package last year. They were married in September in Myrtle Beach.

Couples competing for the wedding package solicit votes at $1 apiece from friends and family. The money raised goes to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports the fallen military personnel [returning from deployment with Traumatic Brain Injury] and for the families of [those] wounded veterans. Last year's contest raised $4,300.

Angie Eggleston said this year's package will be worth $50,000.

When the Egglestons first contemplated the idea, they mentioned it to some friends. One owned a local bakery. Another was a deejay.

"This is what we're thinking about doing,'' the Egglestons told them. "Would you think we were crazy if we asked you to donate to something like that?''

Their friends' enthusiastic response shows in the number of sponsors for the event.

"This has been great for us,'' Angie Eggleston said. "We've found a wonderful community here. We'll never find another group like the people in Fayetteville, but it's close to that here.''

The second annual contest is under way and anyone who is in the military or marrying someone in the military can apply. Voting will end March 16. Contestants can go to operationhappilyeverafter.org or Facebook to enter. Contestants need not be stationed at Fort Bragg.

"It's a great way for us to show our gratitude,'' Angie Eggleston said, "for what the military does for us every day.''

Community news editor Kim Hasty can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 486-3591.

January 24, 2012

Published in Fayetteville Observer Blog - January 2012

Dream wedding competition back for a second year

Last year, Master Sgt. Larry Reyes and his then-fiance, Staff Sgt. Stephanie Brewster, raised over $1,500 to benefit a charity that supports the families of fallen or wounded service members. In return, they received a wedding package valued at more than $35,000.

Now, the organizers behind "Operation Happily Ever After" have again kicked off the competition aimed at raising money for charity while giving back to soldiers and veterans.

Last year, OHEA raised a little over $4,000 for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, according to Angie Eggleston. The wedding package was donated by various companies in and around Myrtle Beach, S.C.

This year's contest is set to end on March 16. And the wedding package has been upped to a $50,000 value. Anyone who is in the military or marrying someone in the military can apply, Eggleston said. To do so, visit www.OperationHappilyEverAfter.org or visit the organization on their Facebook page.

Reyes and Brewster are both Fort Bragg soldiers who have served multiple tours in [Iraq]. They beat out 10 other couples by raising the most money for charity.

Angie and her husband, Wayne, former Pope Air Force Base airmen and owners of a wedding photography business, are the impetus behind the contest.

They began OHEA as a way to say thanks to the military, nearly 15 years after their only child, 16-year-old Chris Eggleston, was kidnapped and murdered in Fayetteville in 1997. During the search for Chris, countless service members volunteered their time.

"Thanks to friends, family and God we are now able to give back to those who helped us in our time of need by paying it forward," Eggleston said.

This year's wedding package includes a rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception with all the trimmings, luxury beachfront resort accommodations, photographers, a videographer, flowers, a dress, tuxedos, wedding rings, a cake, horse drawn carriage, invitations, and other special surprises, according to the release.

January 9, 2012

Published in The Biz: Horry County Business Journal - January 2012

Local charity finding plenty of support from local business to help military couples marry

By Amanda Kelley
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Angie and Wayne Eggleston never saw their only son get married.

They were both in the Air Force and living in Fayetteville, N.C., when Chris Eggleston was kidnapped and murdered at age 16.

During the tragedy, the military community reached out to the Egglestons.

“He never got married,” Angie said. “He never got to shave. He never got to drive. He never got to go on his first date. There were a lot of ‘he never got tos’. He was our only child, so we’ll never have grand children. But this is an opportunity for us to pay it forward.”

“This” would be Operation Happily Ever After, a charity contest the Egglestons created last year. The project provides a wedding for one military couple.

Wayne now works the wedding circuit as a photographer with his studio, Wayne’s View Photography.

“As we traveled around to different places for bridal shows we heard brides say, ‘Oh we wish we could come to the beach to get married, but we can’t afford it,’” Angie said.

That’s how Operation Happily Ever took flight.

“I told Wayne that’s the one thing we can do to give back to the military community is to start this wedding contest,” she said.

The winning couple is chosen through votes on the foundation’s website, operationhappilyeverafter.org. Each vote costs $1 and all of the voting money is given to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

“It’s another nonprofit organization that helps service members returning from deployment with traumatic brain injuries,” Angie said. “This way we get to give a free wedding and help literally thousands of people.”

The contest and voting period ends March 16, so the couple can start working with the vendors to plan the wedding and get the word out to their guests.

At press time, only one couple had registered, but Angie had received another application and was waiting on a photo so the second couple’s story could be posted to the website.

Both of the couples are in the Marines.

Last year’s winners were from Fayetteville, N.C., and worked at the Womack Army Medical Center.

“They work with people that have traumatic brain injuries,” Angie said. “It was really touching to them because now they get to help them in more ways then one.”

The couple was pregnant when they got married.

“We were so touched by this last family,” Angie said. “It just so happened that the groom had lost a brother, so they named their son after his brother and our son. They’re certainly in our life forever.”

But the gift of a wedding wouldn’t be possible without the area businesses helping. In total, the donations are nearly $50,000 in products and services.

“We have been so fortunate,” Angie said. “People have been even better than we anticipated. I just wasn’t sure how people would react when I asked them to donate their services and they were just thrilled about it.”

They’ve even had to turn people away because they only have one sponsor for each service. For example, Cakes By the Sea is the only bakery and the Little White Dress is the only bridal shop.

The only duplicate is the photography.

“The first wedding took place on Sept. 10, 2011,” Angie said. “That’s one whole day [these businesses] can’t do anything else. Basically you can’t make any money that day, and it’s two days if you include the rehearsal dinner. It has really been above my expectations.”

Casey Nowak at the Little White Dress said getting involved was an easy decision.

“We do a lot of charity stuff anyways,” she said. “It was another way to get involved with the community and help people that aren’t as fortunate.”

The bridal shop donates a dress at a $1,000 credit.

The last bride was pregnant and took a sample dress so the store didn’t have to custom order the dress the way they normally would.

“We found a dress she fell in love with off the rack,” Nowak said. “We did her veil and all her accessories and it went a little over $1,000, but we were happy to do it.”

Part of their willingness to help was because of the Eggleston’s themselves.

“They are great people and have a great reputation,” Nowak said. “They do a lot for other people’s businesses. I think it’s everyone helping each other out so we’re all more than happy to get involved.”

A destination wedding like this for 50 guests would be unaffordable for many of the military couples.

“When Wayne and I were both in the military we got married and we came from families that didn’t have much money,” Angie said. “To think that we could have pulled a wedding off like this, there’s just no way.

“We didn’t have a photographer. We had a few flowers, a little bitty cake and then our parents, who opened a can of peanuts and some mints and that was about it.”

The donated wedding also brings people to Myrtle Beach who never would have considered the vacation spot before.

“Some from as far as Washington state flew in for [the last] wedding,” Angie said. “They told us they never would have come to Ripley’s Aquarium and they’ve since been back to Myrtle Beach with their families and went to the aquarium.”

Ripley’s holds the rehearsal dinner for the couple and welcomes all of the guests to tour the aquarium without paying admission.

“We’re bringing people into the area,” Angie said. “A couple they get married, yeah their wedding is free, but even though they’re only here for three days they’re still spending money and they’re still helping our economy.”

The contest is a yearly event with a September wedding. This year’s date is Sept. 8, 2012.

It’s not too late to enter the contest.

There is a list of rules for interested couples including length of service. Reserve or recently discharged service members may qualify.

For a complete list of rules, visit operationhappilyeverafter.org.

January 1, 2012

Published in Grand Strand Bride Magazine - January 2012

In her words:
Larry and I met at work through the Army at Womack Army Medical Center in Fayetteville. As non-commissioned officers (NCOs), we saw each other at several meetings and then began a genial relationship.
Once, Larry asked me to go to lunch, and I jokingly replied that he needed to make an appointment. But it wasn’t long before we both felt a connection with each other. We quickly realized how we both valued our
love for God, family, and friends, and our relationship evolved from there.  As our relationship grew deeper, we discussed getting married several times. We knew that we couldn’t live without each other, but I was impatient. Out of the blue one day, he took me shopping. I wondered why he wanted to visit a local jewelry store until we found ourselves in front of the ring case. He simply said, “Pick.” I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. Eventually, though, I recovered, and the rest is history.

Larry has served our country for 23 years, I have served for eight years, and we have been deployed to Iraq for a total of 24 months. Life apart makes it difficult for military couples to plan a wedding, so
we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to pull it off.  One day a friend called to tell us about a dream wedding contest in Myrtle Beach sponsored by Operation Happily Ever After (OHEA). The organization
is a nonprofit group of Grand Strand wedding vendors who donate their services to one military couple’s wedding. Proceeds benefiting the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund are generated through online voting to select the winning couple.

We registered and amazingly, we won! What was even more fantastic is that the Operation Happily Ever After wedding vendors made everything happen. All we had to do was travel to Myrtle Beach and tie the knot. Larry and I were concerned about our financial ability to have the wedding of our dreams, but these wonderful folks made the dream come true. There were so many special moments during our wedding weekend, but two stand out. The first was spending time with family and friends that we had not seen for some time because of our military obligations. It was also the first time that our parents were able to meet.
The second is our pride in knowing that through the OHEA dream wedding contest, we helped raise funds and awareness for [the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund].

The Contest:
One deserving military couple will win a beach themed wedding in Myrtle Beach, while raising awareness and funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.
Eligible couples can register online for a 2012 dream wedding. The winning couple is selected by online voting.

Contest ends March 16, 2012.
For details of the wedding package and a list of participating vendors, see the additional tabs at the top of this website.
www.OperationHappilyEverAfter.ORG

 

November 24, 2011

This image was on display during our annual Operation Happily Ever After - Thanksgiving Family Portrait fundraiser at the Sea Watch Resort.  Each family received a free portrait along with a chance to win a two night stay at the resort, all for a donation to OHEA!

This is our 2011 winning couple:  Stephanie & Larry Reyes of Ft. Bragg, NC - on their wedding day!

 

May 1, 2011

As published by: http://www.murrellsinletmessenger.com/

 

SON'S MURDER IN NC LEADS TO INLET AND CHARITY

By Tim Callahan
Editor/Publisher
“Vampires” killed Chris Eggleston. After Chris was reported missing for five days in Fayetteville, N.C., his body was found in a shallow grave in the
woods behind his high school.Friends and law enforcement personnel attempted repeatedly to keep his parents, Wayne and Angie Eggleston, who now live in Murrells Inlet, from viewing the body. They did not want
this to be the way the Egglestons remembered their son. But, Angie would not take no for an answer. No matter what anyone said, she had to make sure it
was her son. It was – and it wasn’t.Chris’s body was greyish white. His hands,mouth and head were bound with duct tape. The parachute cord used to strangle him to death was
still tied around his hands and neck. One eye had not been covered with tape. By the look on Chris’s face, and the way his hands were placed,Wayne said it was obvious his son had died terrified
and that he struggled mightily to the end to breathe. The police quickly arrested a male high school student and charged him with the murder. Sometime later they arrested a female student. She
was charged as an accomplice. Through two murder trials, and their own experience with Chris, the Egglestons pieced together the bizarre reason why their son was killed.
It all started when the Egglestons found out that Chris was hanging out with a group of kids who were obsessed with all things vampire, including television shows and books.

Wayne said they even pricked their fingers, put the blood in a cup, and passed it around to drink. They called their vampire group “The Kindred.”
Wayne and Angie told Chris that as a Christian family it wasn’t right for him to be involved in something as cultish as this group. He had to get
out.
Wayne said Chris told his friends he no longer wanted to be a member and that he was leaving the group. The “vampires” held a “trial” and decided
he had to die. A boy, who liked the same girl in the group Chris did, offered to carry out the sentence. Matthew Myers eventually pleaded
guilty and was sentenced to 25 to 31 years in prison. The girl, Shanon Tyson, allegedly insisted Chris had to die and helped lure him to his death, but
her court case ended in a mistrial.However, according to a story published Dec.15, 2001 in the Fayetteville Observer, she was tried a second time and pled guilty to first-degree
kidnapping charges. In exchange for a guilty plea, the state dismissed the murder charge against her.She was sentenced to 45 to 63 months in prison.
Wayne still finds it hard to believe that Myers,who was small, could subdue Chris by himself. Even if Tyson helped him, Wayne can’t see Chris
bound so easily. But, wondering how it happened won’t bring his son back, he said. One thing he does know is that the boy who was convicted of
murder proved to be incredibly unstable, with a history of bizarre acts. The Egglestons eventually filed a lawsuit against the school, where it was alleged “The
Kindred” met, settled through court ordered mediation for $150,000, according to the Fayetteville Observer.Of great consolation to Wayne, he said, is the
knowledge that his son gave his life to Jesus Chris shortly before his life was taken. One way Wayne grieved the murder of Chris in 1997, was to write a book,
“My Grieving Soul,” published in 2002 by Infinity Publishing.com. In it, he recounts the details mentioned in this story. He also relates his frustration with
a detective who wrote Chris off as a runaway from day one. Wayne said if not for the persistence of hundreds of his military colleagues at Ft. Bragg, who
combed the woods for days, Chris would never have been found. An anonymous caller, and another female student, tipped them off about the woods.
During the excruciating first days of the tragedy,the entire Fort Bragg and Fayetteville, N.C.,community wrapped its arms around Angie andWayne, holding and
supporting the devastated couple with acts of kindness that continue even to this day.

Somehow, Wayne said, they survived the initial shock, the investigations and the trials. “Without our faith and the overwhelming support of
family, friends and strangers, we would not have survived,” Wayne said.What helped them more than anything, Angie said, was a grief support group that met once a
month, Compassionate Friends.Two years after Chris’s death, Angie and Wayne retired from the Air Force and moved to Murrells Inlet, where they later opened a business,
Waynes View Photography, which is now located off Bypass 17. They had been working out of their home for years but felt it was time to expand. They opened the doors to an office and
photo showroom last month. Wayne and Angie meet Angie and Wayne met in the military at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. Several friends told Wayne they were talking with this
woman from South Carolina who they could not understand because of her accent. Having graduated from high school in Georgia, Wayne was jokingly asked to translate for them. He did.
“And the rest is history,” Wayne said. Wayne served in the U.S. Air Force as a firefighter, emergency medical technician and as a control and command specialist, first for the
Military AirLife Command and then for the Joint Special Operations Command at Ft. Bragg, N.C. Little by little, time helped lift the fog of despair
lodged deeply in the Egglestons’ souls, but Wayne said he will never forgive Myers and Tyson. He knows some may think is it not Christian
of him to think this way, he said, but he is being honest with others and himself. Wayne can’t forgive “The bottom line,” Wayne said, “is I can’t forgive
them, because I cannot get the image of the way they left my son out of my mind. The more I think about this, the more I feel that, I cannot
forgive them, because that would be forgiving them for something they did to my son, not to me. “Do I seethe with hatred and loathing, and
seek revenge? No. I choose to miss my son, and focus on his sweet memory.” He said there is some consolation with Tyson’s sentence, which he felt was
way too lenient, in that “she will have to answer to a higher court and a higher authority someday. One of the vilest things and most wicked acts a person can commit
in the eyes of God is to harm a child. The ones responsible for his brutal murder will have to answer to God one day, and that is enough for
me.”
Finally rounding a bend in their lifelong journey through grief, Angie and Wayne eventually began to talk about finding ways to step outside
their grief, show their appreciation to the military community, and keep the memory of their son alive. Gradually, a grand idea took shape,
one which would focus on a happy event, and provide the opportunity to pay it forward to those currently in uniform. Operation Happily Ever After formed
A nonprofit project named Operation Happily Ever After was created, which provides a Myrtle Beach dream wedding for a lucky military couple.
Drawing on their experience as wedding photographers and their contacts with other wedding professionals, the Egglestons began approaching
local vendors, asking them to donate their time and skills for this good cause. They were amazed at the generous and enthusiastic response
they received. [Nearly]everything will be provided, including the wedding ceremony, a reception with all the trimmings, luxury beachfront resort
accommodations for the wedding party, and a three-night honeymoon stay.
Operation Happily Ever After will also raise awareness and funds to help support the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit organization
which assists military members and their families. The Operation Happily Ever After logo aptly symbolizes their project goals: a military dog tag
on a metal chain intertwined with a pair of wedding rings, one bearing the discreet engraved initials of their beloved son Chris. Further information and
support To learn more about Operation Happily Ever After, visit www.operationhappilyeverafter.org To learn more about the Intrepid Fallen Heroes
Fund, visit www.fallenheroesfund.org To learn more about the Waccamaw Chapter of Compassionate Friends, serving the Myrtle Beach and Georgetown areas,

visit www.compassionatefriendsmb.com. Compassionate Friends is a nonprofit, self-help organization offering
friendship and understanding to bereavedparents. Its purpose is to support and aid parents
in the positive resolution of the grief experienced from the death of a child, and to foster physical
and emotional health of bereaved parents and siblings.
To order Wayne’s book, visit www.buybooksontheweb.com

Thu Apr 14, 2011

As published by: http://fayobserver.com/articles/2011/04/14/1086754

Parents whose son was killed give thanks to military community

By Drew Brooks
Staff writer
Master Sgt. Larry Reyes was at a loss for words.

His fiancee, Staff Sgt. Stephanie Brewster, wasn't any better.

The couple, standing outside the Airborne & Special Operations Museum on Thursday, were in shock after finding out they had won a $38,000 wedding package.

"I'm just going to be like 'wow' all day," Reyes said.

The couple were among 11 pairs competing for the first package given by Operation Happily Ever After, a nonprofit group formed by Wayne and Angie Eggleston. The former airmen wanted to pay back the military community that supported them after the murder of their teenage son, Chris, in 1997.

Brewster and Reyes are set to be wed Sept. 10 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Included in the wedding package are a rehearsal dinner at Ripley's Aquarium; a stay at a beachfront resort; a wedding gown, cake and flowers; entertainment; photography; and a horse-drawn carriage, among other perks.

Couples competing for the wedding package solicited votes - at $1 apiece - from friends and family.

The $4,300 raised will be donated to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports the families of fallen military personnel and veterans who were severely wounded.

Brewster and Reyes raised $1,523, according to Angie Eggleston. The runners-up raised $1,424.

Brewster, 25, works at Womack Army Medical Center. Reyes, 41, is a member of the 28th Combat Support Hospital.

Both knew they were among the top three couples, but neither was confident that they had won.

"We weren't getting our hopes high," Reyes said.

"It's a blessing. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Brewster added. "We couldn't have done it by ourselves."

The couple met while both worked at Womack and began dating last year. They have been engaged since January.

Chris Eggleston was 16 when he was killed in June 1997. His body was found in a swampy area behind Westover High School after he had been missing for several days.

The body was found by special operations soldiers who were canvassing the area. Thousands of others in Fayetteville helped post fliers for the missing teenager.

Matthew Myers, a Westover student, pleaded guilty to the killing in 1999 and was was sentenced to 25 to 31 years in prison.

Wayne Eggleston said he and his wife retired from the military in 1999 and eventually moved to Myrtle Beach, where he became a wedding photographer.

The couple had been searching for a way to honor their son's memory and thank the community that helped. They settled on the wedding package, parts of which were donated to the nonprofit group.

"It meant so much to us," Wayne Eggleston said. "We just wanted a way to give back. This is a cool way for us to say 'thank you' to a military couple each year."

This year is the first for Operation Happily Ever After, but the Egglestons are looking forward to growing the nonprofit group and giving out wedding packages for years to come.

"We know it's going to get bigger," Wayne Eggleston said.

The competition was open to any military couple and was not limited to Fort Bragg.

Staff writer Drew Brooks can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 486-3567.

November 11, 2010

Link to Watch Video:  ABC 11 Eyewitness News / WTVD Raleigh - Durham - Fayetteville

Gilbert Baez

FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Wayne and Angie Eggleston's son Chris was murdered in Fayetteville 13-years-ago. The 16-year-old Westover High School student was killed by fellow students, and Fayetteville's military community searched non-stop until they found his body buried behind the school.

 

"Bill Gorman walked up to us and said they're calling you over to the school. And you need to go now," recalled Wayne Eggleston.

A Special Operations soldier found Chris' body in a shallow grave. But, the Eggleston's grief was tempered by the goodwill of those who helped find their son.

"We can never really fully repay them, but we photograph a lot of weddings and work with a lot of wedding professionals here on the Grand Strand. And Angie woke up one morning she said 'Why don't we just give away a wedding?'"

The Egglestons have a successful photography business near Myrtle Beach. They take lots of pictures of military personal getting married during the happiest times of their lives.

Now, they plan to help one military couple do it for free. And it's not just any wedding. The gift will include $42,000 worth of wedding, reception, rings, pictures, gowns, tuxedos - the whole nine yards.

They call it Operation Happily Ever After.

"The bride goes to the website and she registers and she sends all of her friends, family, co-workers - you name it - to the website and they all vote. Now, each vote does cost a dollar," explained Angie Eggleston.

The money that's collected for the votes goes to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

"Which is another fund that has been set up for military service members that are returning from deployment that have brain injuries," Angie explained.

It's a mother and father's way of saying thanks to so many who wear the uniform and make a difference in our lives every day.

To sign up for the free wedding, go to http://operationhappilyeverafter.org/

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September 26, 2010

The Goldsboro News-Argus

Non-profit offer dream wedding to one lucky military couple

From staff reports

A new non-profit organization called Operation Happily Ever After is looking to give back to the military community.
Founded by the owners of Wayne's View Photography, a pair of Myrtle Beach, S.C., Air Force veterans, Operation Happily Ever After is looking to raise money to support the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, while also giving one lucky military couple a free wedding of their dreams in Myrtle Beach.
Anyone in the military or marrying into the military is eligible to register to for the wedding, which will include a rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception with all the trimmings, luxury beachfront resort accommodations for the wedding party, photographers, a videographer, a live artist that will paint a portrait of the couple, a cake and a groom's cake, an officiate, a three-night honeymoon stay, a horse drawn carriage, wedding bands designed especially for the winning couple, a wedding dress, veil and other special surprises — all valued at more than $42,000.
The funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which helps military members returning from deployment with any type of brain injury, will be raised through voting for which couple will win the wedding prize. Each vote is $1 and people can vote as often as they like.
The contest, which began on June 1, will end on Jan. 31, 2011 at midnight. The couple with the most votes will be announced later in Feb. 2011.
For more information, call (843) 997-7248 or visit www.OperationHappilyEverAfter.ORG. Visit the website to register and vote.
For more information about the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, visit www.fallenheroes.org.

September 1, 2010

The T & A Morning Show with Tommy and Abbi - WAVE 104.1

Tommy & Abbi, hosts of this hugely popular syndicated morning radio show did a live interview with the original founders of Operation Happily Ever After - Angie & Wayne Eggleston.  This Radio show, based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is also broadcast in the Jacksonville - Havelock - Greenville, North Carolina markets, which includes Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and New River Air Station, among others.

August 29, 2010

A family that survived tragedy is raising funds for an organization that serves wounded troops and their families. And offering one military couple a dream wedding.

Angie Eggleston, mother of 16-year-old Chris Eggleston, who was killed by classmates in 1997, founded Operation Happily Ever After in June with her husband, Wayne. The organization is designed to give a military couple a free dream wedding while raising awareness and funds to support the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund helps military members returning from deployment with any type of brain injury.

The wedding will include a rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, ceremony, reception with all the trimmings, luxury beachfront resort accommodations for the wedding party, photographers, videographer, an artist that will paint a portrait of the couple, a cake and a groom’s cake, an officiate, three-night honeymoon stay, horse drawn carriage, wedding bands designed especially for the winning couple, a wedding dress and other special surprises. The wedding is currently valued at more than $41,000.

For more information, contact 843-997-7248 or visit OperationHappilyEverAfter.org.

 

July 1, 2010

The whole story of Operation Happily Ever After is featured in Sassee Magazine's Southern Snaps, written by Connie Barnard.  Visit Sasee Magazine online.

June 14,2010

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund Website lists Operation Happily Ever After under "Fundraising Events".

The singularly unique way that the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund was created and is now managed is why we at Operation Happily Ever After chose them as the soul beneficiary.  Their creed, "Paying tribute to and supporting those who have sacrificed for our nation" epitomizes the purpose of our own reason for what we do - charitable giving,  and we are proud to be counted among them!  Please visit their website and see just how extraordinary this project is!

June 1, 2010

The very first print advertisement for Operation Happily Ever After can be seen in the June issue of Grand Strand Bride magazine.  It is a great resource for brides (and grooms) that are considering getting married in the Myrtle Beach area.  Go to www.GrandStrandBride.com to see where to get your copy today.