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When Amanda Cardana, 25, and Derick Tan, 28, were both laid off last year, the couple held each other and cried. They'd been through a lot in their two years of dating. Engagement seemed like the next thing, "but when we lost our jobs I got that out of my head," she said.

Tan lost more than that in January, when his family's home in Egg Harbor Township caught fire. The fire destroyed everything from his childhood.

"Especially after the fire, I didn't expect anything," she said.

Tan took Cardana to The Quarter in Tropicana Casino and Resort for her birthday in March. Tan's mother was there, and she and her son encouraged Cardana to toss coins into a fountain and make a wish.

When she turned around, Tan was on his knee.

"I was so surprised and happy, I couldn't even say 'yes' for the next day or so," she said.

She did say yes. And because of the lack of a job, and because of their story, and - what the heck - the Millville native decided to enter an Us Weekly and Weddingchannel.com competition called "Win your dream wedding!"

She wrote about how they met through work in 2006, and how they're now living with her mother in Brigantine. She wrote how her favorite celeb wedding is "Survivor: All-Stars" contestants Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano.

Cardana and Tan were selected as finalists in the contest, and they're ranked third in online voting with 87,365 votes. The leading couple had 302,368 votes Friday. The winning couple nets $100,000 toward a celebrity-inspired dream wedding.

"It would be nice to win, but being a part of a national competition is more than we ever could have imagined," she said.

There's no voting limits for the contest, so Cardana has spent a lot of time clicking "vote for us!" on www.usmagazine.com. So have the couple's friends and family. Voting ends at midnight Thursday, but don't expect the bride-to-be to contribute to a carpal tunnel diagnosis as the deadline passes.

"The last day of voting is the same day as a Jimmy Buffet concert, so I'll be multi-tasking that day," she said.

Cardana's lucky number is 10. Her birthday (and now, engagement) fall on March 10, so she wanted to get married on Oct. 10, 2010 - the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year.

If the couple wins the contest, they'll have to get married this fall instead.

"As long as we can get married, it doesn't have to be on 10/10/10," she said. "I'll get married on a Wednesday."

Cardana wants her dream wedding to take place in southern New Jersey, so all her friends and family can attend. For Cardana, it will be her dream come true no matter when it happens.

Staff Writer Juliet Fletcher contributed to this report.

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