Iowa City teachers finalists in Facebook wedding contest

IOWA CITY – Kirk Ryan used Brendan James to help him propose to his fiancé, Katie Gilpin.

Now the couple hopes to accumulate enough votes so the musician will sing at their wedding.

“It already will be unforgettable,” Ryan said of the upcoming nuptials. “His performance would just add to everything.”

It could happen. The two Iowa City school district elementary teachers are finalists in a contest to win a wedding serenade from James. The couple needs to win the public voting portion of the mywedding.com contest taking place on Facebook to ensure James will sing at their July 2 ceremony.

“It would just be unbelievable to have him there just because of the role he played in the proposal,” Gilpin, who teaches third and fourth grade at Kate Wickham Elementary School, said.

Ryan, a fourth grade teacher at Robert Lucas Elementary School, proposed to Gilpin after a Brendan James concert on Nov. 19, 2010. He surprised Gilpin with the tickets as an early Christmas present. The proposal took place after the concert.

“She had picked out her ring, so she knew I was going to propose and I wanted it to be a surprise,” Ryan said. “I knew I was going to be nervous that night, so I pretended I was nervous about surprising her with the concert.”

A few months after their engagement, the couple learned that the wedding planning website mywedding.com partnered with Decca Records to give one couple the ultimate first dance – a wedding performance by Brendan James.

“I was like ‘No way!'” Gilpin laughed.

Perhaps it's just another sign that Gilpin and Ryan are supposed to be together. The pair met through mutual friends last summer. The couple said their relationship started with a three hour conversation about everything.

Their wedding will be held on the anniversary of the day they met.

To enter the competition, Gilpin and Ryan had to submit a video that expresses their love using one of James' songs. Gilpin enlisted the help of her students in the couple's video appeal, which closes with the class asking viewers to vote for their favorite teachers.

Gilpin and Ryan found out Sunday that their video is one of the three finalists selected.

“Now it's a popularity contest,” Ryan said.

Voters on Facebook will select the winners, with voting ending at midnight on Thursday next week. The winning couple will be announced on March 11.

To vote for Gilpin and Ryan, Facebook users can visit mywedding.com's Facebook page. Click on ‘Contests' in the left-hand column, and click on the ‘Vote Now' tab on mywedding Video Contest.

The direct link for the contest can be found

here.