N.E. Philly couple wins 50K Alex's Lemonade Stand wedding

DANA DOUGHERTY from Lawncrest met John Dean from Mayfair at a Northeast Philadelphia watering hole where Dean and one of Dougherty's friends were tending bar.

One night last fall, Dean took Dougherty to Villa Barone restaurant in Maple Shade, where, between dinner and dessert, he knelt down on one knee and popped the question.

There was more than the usual male tension riding on Dougherty's answer, because Dean had a secret.

He knew that Dougherty's favorite charity is Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer.

He knew that for five years, she had set up lemonade stands to celebrate her birthday in June, which is also Alex's Lemonade Days fundraising month. He hosted a stand with her in front of the Acme in Pennypack Circle where he now works. Acme donated the cups and lemonade.

"I saw my father go through radiation and chemotherapy before he died of brain cancer," Dean said. "Imagining a little kid going through that is heartbreaking. I understand why Dana's dedicated to raising money for Alex's Lemonade."

So months before he asked Dougherty to marry him, Dean went on eBay without telling her, bid three times on a $50,000 "Wedding for Alex," and won.

The auction, which benefits the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, is run by the Omni Hotel at Independence Park, which hosts the winner's all-expenses-paid wedding ceremony, a reception for 150 people at the hotel's Azalea restaurant, a wedding night in the penthouse suite and a honeymoon at the Omni Hotel and Resort in Cancun, Mexico.

"I saw I was losing, so I put my last bid in 20 seconds before the auction closed and, holy cow, I won!" Dean said.

The all-expenses-paid package includes centerpieces by Carl Alan Floral Design, hair and makeup by Marc Voci Salon and Colorbar, wedding bands by Barsky Diamonds, a Classic Cake Co. wedding cake, Sparks Photography wedding photos and DJ entertainment by Synergetic Sound & Lighting.

Of course, all of this is much more fun if a groom is accompanied by a bride.

"I figured if she said 'no,' I could have skipped the wedding and gone right to the reception," Dean said with a laugh.

But he wasn't laughing while down on one knee, awaiting Dougherty's answer. "That's the longest 10 seconds you'll ever live in your life, waiting for the woman you love to say 'yes,' " Dean said.

As soon as Dougherty said yes, even before the tiramisu dessert arrived, Dean took out his smartphone and showed her the $50,000 wedding he'd won.

"I was in shock," Dougherty said. "It was all so much at once, you know what I mean?"

They called their closest friends and met at the original Chickie's & Pete's on Robbins Avenue near Frankford Avenue to celebrate.

Dougherty, 30, and Dean, 41, will wed today. There will be sliced lemons in the centerpieces, sugar lemons on the wedding cake, white and yellow flowers, Alex's Lemonade bracelets and small bottles of Limoncello as favors for all the guests.

During the post-ceremony cocktail hour, Dougherty and Dean and the bridal party will work an Alex's Lemonade stand in front of the Omni Hotel.

And then it's off to Cancun for their honeymoon, the beginning of their lifelong commitment to each other and to the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation's fight to end childhood cancer.