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An Alton couple is hoping to win a $60,000 wedding of their dreams.

Kim Charlton, 24, and Jeff Dondanville, 25, are vying for Lou Fusz Automotive Network’s Dream Wedding Giveaway, one of 360 couples hoping to win a package that includes $15,000 toward the purchase of a new car at Lou Fusz Automotive and other prizes by sponsoring businesses.

The couple has dated for the past five years and was engaged on Dec. 19, 2008, at the St. Louis Zoo. The couple is planning an Oct. 24 wedding.

Charlton works as a teaching assistant at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and she is finishing her master’s degree in speech communications.

Dondanville is employed as a file clerk for Heyl and Royster Law Firm in Edwardsville and will working on his master’s degree beginning in the fall.

Charlton’s twin sister, Angel Adams, and the maid of honor, said the couple entered the contest hoping to alleviate the wedding costs because they are also preparing for their first child.

“Kim and Jeff are paying for their wedding almost completely on their own,” Adams said. “They are both working full time, attending school as well as preparing to be parents. They’ve been through a lot together and have the biggest hearts of anyone I know and are deserving of this.”

The couple is expecting a daughter, who they plan on naming McKenna, and want to include her in the big day.

Adams said that she and her sister’s father doesn’t have the extra funds to contribute toward the cost of the wedding and their mother is battling terminal cancer so it’s been a somber time. If they were to win it would be a boost for everyone in the family, she said.

Visit www.loufuszgiveaway.com to vote. The voting deadline is May 31.