Reddit, I have discovered, is great for many things. An app to scroll through to avoid awkward eye contact on my morning commute. Something to read before I go to bed. A place to discover a fact or story I never would have come across.
Reddit is not an app that I thought would affect me so much that I would eventually reach out to a couple, photographed in a post, that made me smile.
I am going to preface this by saying, you HAVE to vote for them to win the wedding of their dreams. Read this story and you will know why.
Meet Amanda and Todd:
Their post on Reddit was a pregnancy announcement, with writing in the background on a brick wall saying, “It still works!”
Don’t believe me? Check it out here.
After about a day and a half, this post reached over 100k likes and thousands of supportive comments. I was dying to know more about them so I reached out.
Amanda, 25, graduated from college and became a Recovery Specialist at “a paralysis recovery center, Project Walk, in Carlsbad, California.” I asked Amanda about her first interaction with Todd and I find social media amazingly interesting in this moment as she admitted that she “stalked him before he came to Project Walk. I saw his name on the schedule for the upcoming week and asked my coworkers who that was and they said he used to be a pro dirt bike racer.” Amanda’s curiosity got the best of her as she looked him up on Instagram. She stated, “he was a total babe…I remember feeling a little awkward because I had already stalked him.”
Todd, 23, was a pro dirt bike racer born and raised in Ohio. He raced dirt bikes professionally in the 450 class, both in the AMA Monster Energy Supercross series and the AMA Lucas Oil Pro Motorcross series. In 2014, he was involved in an accident that resulted in paralysis due to his spinal cord injury. Todd explains how he cannot remember his crash even though “people who were there said I was conscious the whole time and talking.” After going through intensive care, then a step down from that, he was eventually transferred to MetroHealth for two months to focus on rehabilitation in California. Todd knows that he “has to learn to do things differently and continue life.” He went to California to receive more PT at Project Walk. This is where he met Amanda. He may be in a wheelchair, but he is all smiles and Amanda says the best thing about him is “his sense of humor.” He has the ability to make anyone laugh. Todd called Amanda “the hot therapist that I was too shy to talk to.” (Cue “awws” now.) He calls her “gorgeous” and “my best friend.” Who wouldn’t want this type of love?!
The two had finally realized they were crushing hard on each other at a Halloween party when Todd drank a bit too much and Amanda found herself taking care of him. Todd had admitted that his favorite trainer was Amanda “because she’s the most beautiful.” They are so in love, constant happiness and twinkled eyes.
Since then, the two have been an item. When Project Walk was over for Todd, Amanda knew she couldn't be in a long distance relationship. She moved to Elyria, Ohio from her hometown in California to be with the man she loved.
Amanda admittedly knew that the proposal was coming when Todd “set up the pregnancy shoot. Then I realized he was probably going to propose so I just kind of let him think he was going to surprise me.”
Amanda was always the "girl who can’t wait for a wedding and proposal.” They entered their story into the Brides Live Wedding, a website that gives “one lucky couple the chance to win the wedding of their dreams” in California. Not only would this help Amanda and Todd beyond words (as Amanda is now expecting a child!!), but the wedding would also be back in a state where Amanda’s entire family still lives.
And so we have the Reddit post that went viral. Amanda and Todd have been featured in People.com, Now This, Popsugar, and many more. For me, I just wanted to know more about a couple that is constantly entranced in their own love for each other. The two are nervous and scared about parenthood, but they “have each other so we know we will make it. We hope we can raise an amazing son together and that our story is an inspiration to others.”
A huge reason I wanted to write about Amanda and Todd is because I think (and I hope you do too) that they deserve this dream wedding at Montage Laguna Beach. People have to vote in order for them to win and my hopes is that after reading this, everyone will go to the website to place their vote for this expecting and beyond deserving couple.
Amanda and Todd, you have my vote. Now let’s get you hundreds more. Go vote now!
To learn more about Amanda and Todd you can check them out here: