I wanted to thank each & every one of you who entered I wish I could gift you all one, but sadly I can not.With the help of some vendors, past brides, family & friends I have narrowed the final three couples down.
HOW TO VOTE:
After reading over their stories VOTE on who you free deserves a free wedding.
You can only vote once per registered user.
In no particular order I give you the final three finalists for a free wedding!!!
Andrea & Justin
Their story was written by one of their bridesmaids….
Fourth grade was memorable for many reasons. There was the occasion where I decided to be a gymnast during recess, promptly fell off the jungle gym during a daring flip, and knocked myself unconscious for 5 minutes. Then there was my heated campaign to become secretary of the student council. That one ended in non-victory, perhaps due to the fact that I couldn’t promise a pop machine for the cafeteria. Of course, I could always mention my yearbook picture, in which for some reason I decided to wear my hair in Princess Leia-like buns, and actually thought I looked cool. With all of these awesome recollections, though, I can say, without a doubt, that the best thing about fourth grade was meeting my lifelong friend, Andrea.
Andrea and I have been friends for twenty-three years. I have known her through thick and thin, through blue eye shadow and obsession with the movie ‘Grease’, through heartbreak and triumphs. I admire her for so many things. She is tenacious and kind. She is determined and humorous. She is a true person and a true friend. For these reasons and many more, I think she deserves the gift of your wedding photography.
I was witness to Andrea’s first middle school crush. I’ve also known her through awkward high school romances, heart-wrenching college ‘true loves’, bums that were no good for her, and guys that just could not commit. So, when she met her fiancé, Justin, I could tell that she had found a lifelong partner. She practically glows with happiness now. All I have to do is mention his name and a smile lights up her whole countenance. They fit together like a couple should, with compromise, humor, and love. When they decided to become engaged, it was a natural step in their journey of life together.
With a wedding comes expenses, and Justin and Andrea have their share. Like many couples today, they are paying for their own wedding. They are hard working and very badly want to provide an elegant ceremony and reception for their family and friends. They have choose a unique location to get married a historic renovated building from the 1920’s and are having their ceremony by candlelight. Unfortunately, Andrea’s mother is not able to contribute much financially, and her father has not been a part of her life for some time. That situation presents it’s own difficulties, but Andrea and Justin have run into others along the way. The original photographer they hired has now backed out, leaving them in a precarious situation as far as wedding pictures are concerned. Also, Andrea’s dressmaker proved unreliable, resulting in Andrea having to dip further into their budget to buy her own wedding dress. All of these situations make wedding planning even more stressful than it already is. But Andrea remains patient and sweet through it all because she is so excited and proud to marry Justin.
A gift of wedding photography would be such help for my good-hearted friend. I prayed for Andrea to find and man who would treat her the way she deserves. Justin is a fantastic answer to that prayer. Now I pray that her wedding planning experience becomes less stressful and more joyous. She has certainly earned it. Your photography will give her lovely memories for years and years. As her lifelong friend, I plan to look at those pictures at their fiftieth wedding anniversary.
And, as a bridesmaid, I promise not to wear my hair in my fourth-grade-Princess Leia-like buns.
Grace & Scott
Hi Miranda,
Here is “our story.” Please know there are many details to stories I tell, but I kept it short today. Ha ha.
Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to win an amazing package. Your work is fabulously breathtaking!
We were acquaintances and never really talked at work.
One summer I left for an internship in New York, and upon my return, Scott opened his arms to hug me and picked my up off the ground, as if we were best friends and he had been missing me like crazy. I was shocked but excited that he was so thrilled to see me.
Weeks passed and our friendship grew.
One day I heard from a fellow co-worker that Scott had told her he was going to marry me. I giddily laughed it off.
However, another co-worker of ours also had an interest in me.
Scott and this co-worker decided to play a game to see who could go on a date with me first. They called it the “Amazing Grace Race.”
The co-worker got to me first and asked me on a date. On this date he decided to tell me about the “Race.” I think he knew Scott and I were meant to be together.
I asked the co-worker if he would mind playing a prank on Scott. He agreed, so on our date we proceeded to go to Scott’s home where we decorated his car with roses, cans tied to the bumper, and a large sign that read “Scott and Grace, Just Married!”
Scott had no idea that I had decorated his car, but when he finally found out, he asked me to go on our first date. I happily said yes, and we went out on September 17, 2003.
The rest is history.
We moved in together after 2 months of dating. Traveled the world together, graduated college, then graduate school together, and built a wonderful life, together.
Scott proposed this past May 2009, and we will be getting married in Michigan on September XX, 2010.
Good thing he saved that sign I made for him!
I feel we deserve free wedding photography because ….in May we both graduated from Graduate school, and are $300K in student loan debt. Scott and I luckily found jobs in Arizona but we both make very little. I sold my car, and we can’t afford another, so we struggle, but make it on time to work every day. Our families live in Michigan, so we have had to plan everything from afar. We plan to pay for the wedding ourselves, as my Mother does not speak to me and my Father passed away unexpectedly, 5 years ago. Scott is all I have and I will make this wedding happen no matter the situation. Scott is doing his best to support us. To win this contest, gosh, it would help us tremendously. I know that most people are in financial trouble, especially in Michigan. I can only ask that you see we are a couple that truly deserves this HOPE package.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we have.
We can’t wait to make it official!
Danielle & Chad
Our Story
November 11, 2009 while taking our dog for a walk on the pier I turned around to see my best friend down on one knee. With the sun setting over Lake Michigan Chad had a ring in one hand and our black lab in the other. I couldn’t have asked for a better six year anniversary!
Chad and I dated briefly in eighth grade when we discovered that we were actually in the same preschool class! We had fun watching our preschool circus on tape together. We went our separate ways for a while, but fate brought us back together again a few years later. In high school Chad was the soccer star, and I couldn’t even make the team! I was student council president and homecoming queen, while Chad never liked to socialize.
High school came to an end, which meant deciding on a college. Although it seemed like the hardest decision ever, we knew we had to end up together and I couldn’t have been happier that we did. Although it did create its own trials, we have been so lucky to have been able to share the complete college experience together! Once we moved into Ferris we were two doors away from each other in the dorms and met a lot of really great people, but Chad was always my rock.
Chad has always been busy with hunting, fishing, and hockey which has been perfect for me being involved with organizations. I was highly involved in Zeta Tau Alpha and our philanthropy of breast cancer awareness and education. We both graduated in May 2009 and moved back to Muskegon.
Since graduation we have moved into my grandmother’s house (she moved into a senior apartment center) while we update it. I am working as a Kindergarten Enrichment teacher and Chad has been job searching since his summer job ended.
We plan to be married on August XX, 2010 in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church built in 1873. I have grown up in St. Paul’s, this is where my parents were married and my grandmother has been a loyal member for over 60 years since she moved here from France. It is a very old church full of original stained glass windows and character. Our reception will be held at the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in a newly renovated room on the third floor. The Frauenthal used to be an old movie theater with an old fashioned wrap around marquee in the front. The marquee will announce wedding and our names on the big day, this is my favorite part of the location!
One day Chad surprised me with a horse drawn sleigh ride at the Double JJ resort, this was when I discovered how important it is to have a photographer who knows how to capture a special moment. I didn’t have my camera and had to rely on a disposable. When I got the pictures developed, they were all completely black. We can never relive our first sleigh ride together, nor could we ever relive our wedding day! Please help us remember the most important day of our lives together with your artistic talent and amazing pictures!
We deserve this incredible free wedding package because we have been waiting so long for “the right time” to get married. We have already grown so much together and our love has only gotten stronger. Now that we have gotten our bachelor degrees and started our adult lives together, the time is right. It’s the economy that is just not working out in our favor for planning our dream wedding! I am doing a teacher’s job, loving every second of it, but with no benefits and a fraction of the pay. Chad has been looking for a job for the past few months, and interviewed without success. Your photography package would be a dream come true.
Thank you for you consideration!
Voting ends December 31st 11:59 pm
The winner will be announced January 1st, 2010
Pass the word around about voting!!
CONTEST UPDATE: The couples were notified yesterday that the contest voting would be changing due to unfair voting. The rules stated you could only vote once per day & some people were not following the rules. So now in order to vote you will have to register as a user. You can only vote once per registed user.
Congrats to Danielle, Chad, Andrea, Justin, Grace & Scott!!!!
Just a note, I will be out of the office starting December 20th thru December 29th.
Miranda
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by Miranda
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