Bride-to-Be Gets Surprise Wedding Shower in Baltimore Airport
— -- Love is certainly in the air for these two frequent fliers.
When Kelley Mulfinger of Dallas said “I Do” last fall, Southwest airlines said “Let’s celebrate!”
And that’s exactly what they did. Southwest threw this young, happy couple a surprise wedding shower at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland Wednesday.
The story begins back in October when Andy McIlvaine, 33, of Baltimore, was flying Southwest to propose to his long-distance girlfriend, Kelley, on the top of a mountain in Maine. He had done his due diligence as a gentlemanly groom-to-be, thinking ahead and packing three champagne bottles in his luggage to help set the romantic mood. Worried they may break in transit, however, he asked the friendly airline staff for a few extra “fragile” stickers to ensure they’d arrive all in one piece.
"I said, 'I'm sorry, I've got three bottles of champagne in there and I'm really hoping these stickers will help [keep] them from breaking,’” McIlvaine told The Sun newspaper in Baltimore.
Woman Surprised at LAX Airport with Serenade Proposal
JetBlue Helps Man Pull Off Epic Proposal at 10,000 Feet
The airline employees were curious what he was celebrating with all the bottles of bubbly in tow. When they learned of the elaborate engagement plans, the staff was so excited for him that an employee handed him a $100 Southwest voucher and said, “Have fun, good luck and go get your girl. Here at Southwest we’re all about love.”
Overwhelmed by the airline’s generosity, McIlvaine wrote “thank you” letters to Southwest’s CEO and the airline’s customer relations department.
Needless to say, Southwest wasn’t going to stop there.
On Wednesday, more than 100 Baltimore-based Southwest employees, passengers and airport staff surprised the bride-to-be upon her arrival with a champagne toast, 40 dozen roses and a personally signed congratulatory note from Southwest CEO Gary Kelly.
“When Southwest contacted me about a wedding shower, I was very surprised, to say the least,” McIlvaine said. “I was initially a little hesitant as I wondered if Kelley would kill me and also, I've never been one who likes being the center of attention.”
He got over the stage fright of sorts, and went on to give his fiancee the surprise of a lifetime.
“I had no idea what was in store,” Mulfinger, 30, told ABC News of the moment she walked off the plane. “I was told to wait 30 seconds and then walk through the Jetway towards the terminal. As I was waiting, three Southwest employees starting humming, ‘Here Comes the Bride,’ and I thought it was cute and was excited that I’d maybe get to see Andy at the end of walkway.”
Not only was McIlvaine there, “but so were hundreds of people, and my mom and his mom,” she recalled.
As if the champagne and roses weren’t enough, the airline had also flown in both of their moms-- and Mulfinger’s sister-- for the celebration.
“My sister surprised me with a birthday cake,” the excited bride-to-be said, explaining how it also doubled as her “first wedding cake taste.”
Mulfinger’s sister is “an excellent baker,” and is going to make a special, surprise-flavored wedding cake for their May 2016 wedding.
“The flavor is going to be a secret to guests, but it's my favorite,” she said.
And as for their honeymoon, “We will definitely fly Southwest for the honeymoon as long as they fly there,” McIlvaine said. “They have started flying internationally, which is great, so we might explore one of those locations.”
