Human Interest

A Walmart Wedding! Michigan Couple Marries at Store Where They Work: 'All of Our Friends Are Here'

"Everybody we know works at Walmart. It's pretty much like our family now and all of our friends are here," said bride Merissa Anderson

By Caitlin Keating

Published on September 29, 2017 10:30 AM

When a Michigan couple decided to get married, they immediately knew they’d exchange vows at the very place that brought them together: Walmart.

Merissa Anderson and Dave Medford first met when they were both employees at the Guilford, Connecticut, store about four years ago.

“I think we always just kind of clicked,” Anderson told M Live. “There was always something there.”

Walmart Wedding — Matt Weigand/The Ann Arbor News

But the start of their relationship was not without its complications.

Anderson, who was in asset protection, and Medford, who was the customer service manager, initially agreed that dating would create a work conflict. But after Medford transferred to unloading merchandise, the couple, both 37, became engaged and moved in together in Michigan to be closer to Anderson’s family.

Having their wedding ceremony at Walmart “was one of those things we joked about a lot,” said Anderson, who usually walks with crutches and has endured several surgeries.

“We didn’t know where we wanted to get married, and we didn’t have a lot of money to do anything big,” she added. “Everybody we know works at Walmart. It’s pretty much like our family now and all of our friends are here.”

On Sunday, the couple tied the knot at the store’s garden center patio while surrounded mainly with their friends from work. (Medford’s family primarily lives in North Carolina, and could not travel to attend.) The store manager, Julie Trejo, walked Anderson down the aisle, and the manager, William Anderson, performed the ceremony.

Naturally, the reception was in the employee break room, with a three-tier chocolate cake from the Walmart bakery.

“It’s one of those things where when you work together for so long and spend so much time together you get to know each other very well,” Anderson said of the relationships the couple has formed with their co-workers. “All of the venting through the day and sharing stories and being able to lean on each other really, really helps.”