Couple gets married at White Castle to thank burger chain that fed the bride when she was a homeless teen

When Jamie West was a homeless teen in the 1990s, she did not dare to think beyond “getting through just one more day.” Hungry and lost in hope, West found a pair of loving arms in an employee at a White Castle restaurant, who handed her bags of free hamburger sliders after she asked for a glass of water. From that day onwards, whenever West was hungry, she knew where to go, and almost every White Caste had treated her the same way. “It was a kindness I’ll never forget,” she told The Washington Post. Fast forward to 25 years later, with a fiancee to get married to, West said she knew exactly where she wanted their wedding: a White Castle in Scottsdale, about 20 miles from where they reside.

West and her husband, Drew Schmitt, said their “I do’s” at a medieval-theme ceremony that included sliders for 150 guests, a giant burger-shaped cake, and flower girls who threw dehydrated onions instead of flower petals. “We’ve eaten here at least twice a month since they opened,” West said of the 2019 launch of the burger chain in Scottsdale, adding that White Castle allowed them to use the restaurant for their wedding free of charge. The duo maintained the royalty theme as West wore a bright blue and gold ball gown with a full skirt, and Schmitt suited up in a kilt topped with custom-made leather armor. The happy couple wore crowns, and a tattoo artist put Celtic tattoos on the ring fingers instead of traditional wedding rings.

“We’re so thankful that we found each other and have become each other’s partners and best friends,” said Schmitt, 57. “Jamie has been through tough challenges in her life, so it is wonderful that she’s now in this happy place." West, who grew up in Arizona, was put in foster care at age 4, and was in and out of 94 foster homes, claimed she endured sexual and physical abuse at many of the homes. “When I was 12-and-a-half, I finally climbed out a bathroom window to run away, and I got good at hiding.” She lived at a homeless camp near Arizona State University in Tempe with other teens, then hitchhiked to Southern California and lived in beach communities with counterculture members of the Rainbow Family.

West was tired of hitchhiking all over the country and was left alone and starved. “It was pretty rough," West said. "I was abusing alcohol and drugs, and I was truly on my own." At 16, she stumbled upon a White Castle in a nameless town and asked for a glass of water. “This woman working there said, ‘Oh, Sugar, you poor thing — go get yourself cleaned up in the bathroom,’” West recalled. "I went in there and cried, then washed up. When I came out, these big sacks filled with slider hamburgers were waiting for me.” She added, “The lady told me they were cleaning the grill and were going to throw everything away, and she wanted me to have them." West was so overwhelmed she recounted hugging the woman, grabbing the food, and running away.

West said various White Castles across the country treated her the same way, no matter how rough-looking she looked. “I was always so grateful to them for treating me like a human being," West said. "It was a shiny spot at a very bad time.” In 2019, when the fast food chain opened up a new location near her home in Scottsdale, Arizona, West and Schmitt camped out in the parking lot to be the first in line to go inside. In March 2020, the couple got engaged, and in 2023, Schmitt and West happily married. “I want other girls out there who are going through what I went through to know that it’s going to get better, and they can find hope,” West said. “I was able to break free of the pain and be happy, and they can too.”