Couple chases dream wedding

Talking with Erin Scanlon and Derric Pollard is like stepping into a Disney fairy tale. The couple lovingly gazes at one another, hands intertwined, as they describe their “perfect love.”

That’s not to say they haven’t battled their wicked witches and fierce dragons.

A year before the pair met, Scanlon lost her father, revered Orange Coast College math professor Dan Scanlon, to a heart attack, and just weeks before their engagement, Pollard’s mother suffered the same fate.

“I think it’s horrible that a couple should have that kind of tragedy in common, but thank God we have each other to get through it,” Scanlon said. “Derric was a big part of fixing my heart and now I am able to be a support for him.”

Fortunately, Pollard, a 29-year-old Newport Beach native, and Scanlon, 27, are “the kind of people who roll with the punches” and seek out solutions.

In hopes of offsetting the time and money devoted to settling Pollard’s mother’s affairs, the couple entered KIIS FM’s contest to give the “perfect wedding” to the “perfect couple.”

“When I heard about it on the radio, I just knew, ‘We are going to win this,’ ” Scanlon said.

“Most of the time, people see a couple like us and they say, ‘They’re so sweet, it’s disgusting,’” Pollard added. “But with us, they say, ‘They’re so perfect, it’s amazing.’”

The duo was among 1,000 couples who entered the competition, which stipulates each couple must maintain a website (viewable through www.derricanderin.com) with stories, videos and pictures depicting their storybook love. They’ve made it to the top 20.

The prize is the whole shebang, from the bachelor/bachelorette parties, to a string quartet for the ceremony, to the honeymoon.

“It covers pretty much every tiny, little part,” Scanlon said. “The videographer, photographer, hair, makeup, shoes, dresses, limo, DJ – everything!”

Scanlon and Pollard met through mutual friends a year ago at Newport Beach Brewing Company. Though each was involved with someone else, they soon broke it off to pursue their relationship.

“For us, it was just so obvious from the very beginning,” Scanlon said, adding they discussed marriage a week into the courtship. “He is absolutely everything I’ve ever wanted and several other things I didn’t even think of.”

Come May, Derrick was ready to buy the ring, planning to pop the question June 8, when his mom, a devoted Philharmonic Society of Orange County volunteer, was scheduled to return from a vacation in New York.

“She wanted to be in town when we got engaged,” Pollard said. “It was tough, but I still wanted to get engaged on the same day she knew it was going to happen.”

Pollard wishes his mom — the “ultimate planner” — could be here to help with the wedding, but in her absence, he is putting his faith in the radio contest.

“I figured if we can get involved and win this, that would save us a lot of time and money,” he said. “I know my mom would have wanted our wedding to be this nice and this extravagant.”

But if the couple doesn’t win, they are willing to forgo opulence to maintain a large guest list of family and friends.

“If we win this wedding, then we can get married with nicer food in a nicer venue, but all that kind of stuff is just icing on the cake,” Scanlon added.

Learn more about the competition and cast your vote for Derric and Erin (a.k.a. Derrin’s Love Machine) now through Tuesday by visiting www.kiisfm.com and following the links to the Perfect Wedding competition.