Fiancé promised a ‘dream wedding’ — now it can happen thanks to big NC lottery win

A man can host the “dream wedding” he promised his fiancée after winning the lottery in North Carolina.

“It’s been almost a year to the day and those promises will come true now,” Alfred Harrell told North Carolina Education Lottery officials, according to a news release from the lottery.

Harrell, who lives in Cary, won $150,000 with a scratch-off ticket and collected his winnings on May 17, according to the lottery. After tax withholdings, he took home $106,876.

He bought the Super Loteria ticket at a Circle K in Cary and scored the game’s first top prize.

“I’m still trying to process it,” Harrell told the lottery. “If I went the other direction and didn’t get gas there, I wouldn’t have won.”

Harrell told lottery officials he met his fiancée in May 2021. He made a promise to host her dream wedding in May 2022. This May, he won the lottery.

“May has definitely been good for us,” he said.

Harrell said he was looking at parks in his area as potential venues for the wedding, which he said would be a “big family celebration.”

Cary is about 10 miles west of Raleigh.

This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Fiancé promised a ‘dream wedding’ — now it can happen thanks to big NC lottery win."