Lucky Couple Wins a Honeymoon Trip to Jamaica: Watch the Video

March 31, 2009 — -- Holly Howard, a 25-year-old high school English teacher, thought it was a joke when she got a call on March 20 that she and her fiance had won a honeymoon to Royal Plantation Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

"I said, 'I'm too tired to have a joke played on me,'" Howard told ABCNews.com.

ABCNews.com and Unique Vacations, Inc., asked people to submit videos between Feb. 26 and March 9, 2009, explaining how the economy had negatively affected their honeymoon plans.

Thanks to the video Howard made, she and David Sraze, 25, won a five-day, four-night honeymoon at the Royal Plantation Ocho Rios, Jamaica -- including roundtrip coach class airfare for two from Miami to Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Click here to watch the video.

Ironically, Howard and Sraze, who works as a nurse, had planned a honeymoon and put down a deposit to stay at a resort in Jamaica affiliated with Royal Plantation Ochos Rios. But she said she was just about to cancel the reservation because they couldn't afford it.

March 20 was a particularly lucky day for the Arkansas couple -- they also closed on a new house that day.

Howard and Sraze have a June 6, 2009, wedding planned, but haven't nailed down the dates for the honeymoon.

What Holly Howard wrote to ABCNews.com:

"This is insanely ironic that I found this contest today. This is a black cloud over what I planned to be a 'perfect wedding.' David and I have been engaged for eight months; for three months we have been stressed about money. We are getting married in June of this year.

"Soon after we were engaged, we began looking for a home. We were shocked to find how difficult this process would become and how expensive it would be upfront. As a 3rd year teacher, I make $35,000 a year, and as an RN, David makes little more. We work very hard and are applying for second jobs to make very little. We are cash strapped and scrambling to make payments on a pile of undergraduate school loans.

Couple Can't Afford Honeymoon

"David plans to enter CRNA school in August of 2010 and we will be forced to take out a $40,000 plus loan to cover the costs. We have purchased a home for $118,200, but we had to finance our closing costs and prepaids just to make a deal. We will be out $4,000 for a down payment and every dime we make must be saved. Our estimated house payment changed when the interest rates jumped a point a few weeks ago.

"When he attends school, we will be forced down to just my income of little more than $35,000 a year with an $830 house payment and unpaid student loan bills and high insurance costs. He has drained his savings account to help us prepare for our new lives together. We have scheduled a honeymoon, but the day for the final payment looms closer. We've only been able to come up with $400 and we are constantly arguing over canceling it.

"This contest would be a way for me and David to make peace with our attempt at relaxation. We want a honeymoon so badly, but the truth of how much it will affect us financially is a constant burden. Please help us."