Kelly Goss has always loved the color teal and never been crazy about wedding favors.

So today at her wedding, her bridesmaids' dresses will be teal, but there'll be an added meaning for the ovarian cancer survivor. And in forgoing wedding favors for 300 guests, Ms. Goss has instead decided to donate to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

Like any other bride, Ms. Goss plans on spending her day celebrating her marriage to Shaun Swearingen, whom she has been with for 51/2 years. But Ms. Goss also hopes her wedding can spread awareness about a cancer that is often called "the silent disease" for its subtle symptoms and is often unknown to young women because it's most commonly diagnosed to those in their 60s.

The colors of Ms. Goss' wedding are dark silver and, in poetic fashion, teal, which is not only her favorite color but the nationally recognized color for ovarian cancer awareness.

And the wedding -- today at Parkwood United Presbyterian Church in Hampton at 3:30 p.m. -- marks a large milestone for Ms. Goss, who finished cancer treatment last month, said Dotty Goss, her mother.

"There's probably not going to be a dry eye [at the wedding], knowing what she's gone through," Dotty, 57, said. "It's a joyous day, but also emotional."

Mr. Swearingen, 25, said "it's been a long year and a half" since Kelly's diagnosis, in part because the two were in a long-distance relationship during her surgery and treatment. Nevertheless, Mr. Swearingen drove the four hours from Ohio to visit her whenever he could, Kelly said. Their willingness to face these kinds of obstacles was a testament to their relationship, Mr. Swearingen said.

"Throughout this, it's made Kelly and me a lot closer," he said. "If there's a positive thing we can take from this, it's that."

Kelly, who was diagnosed when she was 23 -- 40 years before the median age for diagnosis -- said that there is a "lack of knowledge" for young women about ovarian cancer.

"You don't hear young people my age talking about [ovarian cancer]," Kelly said. "It may not happen a lot, but it does happen. And that's all that needs to be known."

Kelly knew since she was 18 that she had a benign ovarian cyst but said doctors never warned her about ovarian cancer. "The only thing I was told was, 'If it's causing you pain, let us know,' " Kelly said.

Early last year, she needed surgery after the cyst -- then the size of a grapefruit -- ruptured. Doctors found after the surgery that the cyst was malignant, and Kelly was diagnosed in February 2009 with Stage IC ovarian cancer. Though this is an early stage of diagnosis, Kelly still underwent three rounds of chemotherapy last year because the cyst "leaked" slightly, she said. For five months during her treatment, Ms. Goss stayed with her parents, who live in Allison Park.

At the end of May this year, Ms. Goss finished her treatment and now calls herself "cancer free."

Dotty said "there weren't days without tears" when she and her husband took care of Kelly. It was particularly hard to see Kelly lose her long, blonde hair as a result of the chemotherapy, she added.

Kelly also noted her hair loss as a hard time, but she said Mr. Swearingen reassured her by telling her, "I love you for you."

"He really kept my emotions under control," Kelly said. "[The cancer] wasn't something he could understand ... but he would do the best to reassure me."

In addition to her wedding donations, Kelly and her loved ones participated as Team OvarCome in last September's "Walk to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer," raising $5,400. She hopes to do the walk this year and continue her involvement in cancer awareness.

Ovarian cancer has subtle symptoms that often go undetected, said Ronni Arno Blaisdell, director of communications for the NOCC. If the cancer is caught in Stage I -- meaning it is confined to the ovary or ovaries -- then there is a 90 percent survival rate, Ms. Blaisdell said. But only 19 percent of cases are found at this point. If caught at stage III or higher, survival rate is as low as 30 percent.

The four main symptoms are bloating, abdominal pain, frequency of urination and difficulty eating or a feeling of getting full quickly. Women should consult their doctors if these symptoms are new to them and persist longer than two weeks, Ms. Blaisdell said.

Kelly's willingness to integrate cancer awareness into her wedding illustrates that she believes "strongly" in the cause, she said. And, Ms. Blaisdell added, Kelly's path to recovery is reason enough to celebrate.

"It's not too often in the ovarian cancer community that we can celebrate good news," she said. "This is a happy story."

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