Newly Engaged Delivery Driver Leaves A Sweet Note On His Customer’s Food Asking For Help Paying For His Wedding — ‘Thank You All For Changing Our Lives’
“We’ve been doing this together for the last 15 months.”
People Images Yuri A / Shutterstock.com Weddings are expensive. There's no two ways around it. Many couples spend years saving what NerdWallet estimates to be around 30 grand just to celebrate their love with friends and family, and a newly engaged delivery driver was no exception.
Delivering for Chipotle outside of his normal 9-to-5 to save for his wedding, the driver, later identified as Paul on TikTok, found a unique way to up the ante, so to speak, when it came to his tips. He added personalized notes to his orders, including his Venmo and details about their wedding, in the hopes that he might get a little extra from generous customers.
A woman named Erica Cristal happened to be one of those customers, and she was so moved by Paul's story that she shared it on TikTok. “Thank you for your order,” the note read. I’m driving for love on the side to give my fiancée the wedding she deserves. Any additional tip or Venmo is greatly appreciated.”
A customer shared the heartwarming note a newly engaged delivery driver attached to her order, asking for help paying for his wedding.
After receiving her Chipotle delivery, Cristal felt compelled to share Paul's note with the world. The note from her delivery driver revealed he’d picked up the second job DoorDashing to help fund his upcoming wedding.
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“If he wanted to, he would,” she wrote over the video, celebrating Paul's devotion to his fiancée. “I don’t have a lot of followers, but hopefully, this reaches the right people.”
And reach the right people, Cristal did. Not only did Paul's story take off on social media, but the donations also started pouring in.
The delivery driver’s note revealed that he’d picked up a second job to help finance the wedding his fiancée ‘deserved.’
“You don’t have a lot of followers,” a commenter on the original video wrote, “but you changed someone’s life. Never underestimate yourself.”
That’s exactly what Cristal's TikTok did — it changed someone’s life. As her video continued to grow — now boasting over 22 million views and 3.8 million likes — Paul came out of the woodwork.
In his first video since Cristal's post, he tearfully thanked his new followers and supporters who’ve made his and his fiancée's wedding dreams come true.
After crediting his soon-to-be wife, who’d also picked up a second job to help fund their wedding, he thanked Chipotle. The popular chain donated $500 to his Venmo after seeing Cristal's video.
“Chipotle did, in fact, slide into my Venmo,” Paul said over a screenshot of the restaurant chain’s message, which read, “Hey, you dropped this,” with a crown emoji.
Thanks to the kindness of strangers, the couple met their wedding savings goal and quit their second jobs.
“My fiancée, Aly, and I have been overwhelmed in the best way possible,” Paul said in a follow-up TikTok. “To start, I just want to say thank you so so much to everyone who has watched that video, liked it, left a comment, shared it… it truly means a lot.”
“We decided last year that we did want to have a wedding… and we realized how much it was going to cost to have the night we truly wanted,” he said. “And I’m not the only one who has been driving. Aly has also been working... sometimes 7 days a week.”
Now, with a wedding date set, Paul and Aly have been able to take a step back from their side hustles to focus on each other.
“Just within the last 24 hours, we have earned enough to stop driving and we’ll be able to reclaim that time to spend together in our engagement. I don’t know how to express my gratitude… it’s truly changed our lives.”
As the couple and commenters can wholeheartedly agree, their story is a heartwarming reminder of the good still left in our chaotic world.
“Home for me is anywhere where Aly is,” Paul said. “I can’t wait for a night to celebrate the love that we have.”
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories.