Wedding Photography Giveaway Essay Contest Finalists
UPDATE: We’re starting to see a lot of people voting by commenting on this blog post so we are going to turn off commenting for this post and ask that you please place your vote by e-mailing contest@genevievenisly.com with the couple’s name in the subject line. I’ll go ahead and migrate the comment votes over, but if we keep doing it this way, it’s going to get really hard to keep track of things.
It has been a tough decision to choose the finalists for this wedding photography giveaway based on essays. One factor that eliminated most contestants was the simple fact that dates were already booked. The other part was the financial need as well as the touching aspect of the relationship. In the end, we’ve ended up with 4 finalists. I will be sharing their stories bellow.
You can vote for the most deserving couple by emailing us at contest@genevievenisly.com . One vote per person please. Just tell us in the email who you think should win. Voting will start today and end on February 13th. The two couples who win (unfortunately not all four) will be announced Valentine’s Day or shortly after.
Couple #1: Maureen & Adam
Hudson Ohio (ceremony) and Akron Ohio (reception)
When I first met my fiance we were both working at a local restaurant. I had a boyfriend at the time but couldn’t resist harmlessly flirting with Adam. When things ended with my boyfriend at the time Adam didn’t waste any time in asking me out. A couple of milkshakes and a walk around the park later and we’ve been together ever since. I had just finished my first year at college and Adam was about to leave for college out of state. We knew that we had no choice but to stay together so for 4 years we did the long distance thing seeing each other every few weekends and whenever possible. It was really hard doing long distance for so long but we also knew how important it was to finish our degrees and that we remain together.
After putting himself through college and finally graduating, Adam moved home to be closer to me and his family. After months of searching Adam finally found a job in his field. 6 months later I finally finished my degree, obtained my nursing license and began working. After 5 years at a private college I finished school with more debt than I ever imagined. I wasn’t fortunate enough to be blessed with financial assistance from my parents so I had to put myself through school. I come from a large family and each of us has had to take on our own financial responsibilities from about the age of 16.
After Adam and I started working he was able to save up enough money for a ring and the man of my dreams, my best friend, asked me to marry him. I of course said yes and couldn’t wait to marry him. Both still living at home with our parents we have been trying desperately to save up for a down payment on a house and plan a wedding. We are doing everything we can to save money (from having a Friday night wedding to prioritizing everything we can). The biggest struggle for us has been balancing cost and our ever growing guest list. Coming from such a big family it has been hard to really restrict the important people in our lives that we want to share our special day with. Let me explain. I have 5 sisters as well as 6 step sisters and 1 step brother. Three of my sisters are happily married with children and I am so excited to be the next. Genevieve was actually the photographer for my sister Mandi’s wedding and has since taken amazing pictures of my niece Avery.
So with 3 weddings down and 9 to go (some, such as my own, sooner than others) you can imagine the incredible cost of 12 weddings!! My parents are doing their best to help us financially but again….12 weddings!! We really want to be able to share our wedding with all of the people who have supported us through the last 5 years. God has really helped us in so many ways as Adam and I grew and matured in our relationship and we have been incredibly blessed along the way. We have had our trials and tribulations (from losing grandparents, heart attacks, and cancer treatments to unemployment and student loans) but we have been blessed to have each other to support each other throughout everything. I am sure everyone can relate to us and the financial hardship the world is experiencing and I think it’s amazing that these talented photographers are doing their part to help a deserving couple.
I hope that you all can appreciate our situation and if you feel that we are deserving of this package that you will vote for us. Even if this essay doesn’t make it any further than the inbox and I want to say thanks for giving back! All 3 of you are amazingly talented photographers and the most deserving couple will be very lucky to have you capture their special day. Thank you and God bless!
Couple #2: Sarah and Jeremiah
Location: Akron OH
Our names are Shannon and Serena Barr. We are writing this essay for our older sister Sarah Barr who is engaged to our soon to be brother-in-law Jeremiah, or as we like to call him, Jerry. You could not pick a better and more deserving couple to win this contest. We know that you have probably heard that from everyone, but just give us a chance to tell you why we sincerely believe that they deserve this.
They met on March 6, 2004 and have been together ever since. That is why they want to be married on March 6, because that day is very special to them. They have been through many ups and downs while being a couple. They have grown spiritually as a couple and Sarah encouraged Jerry to grow closer with God. He was baptized a year after they started dating. After they both graduated from The University of Akron, Sarah and Jerry packed up and moved to North Carolina because that is where Sarah received her first teaching job offer. Sarah and Jerry are both very family oriented, so packing up and leaving their families behind was not an easy task for them. It was also hard for us to see our sister move eight hours away, but we knew that it was for the best. Sarah’s first year was anything but easy.
She is a first grade teacher at an inner city school in one of the worst areas of Charlotte. She has met more challenges then she would have ever expected to have met, but her faith in God and Jerry’s faith in her, keep her going. She sees children come to school hungry, in tattered clothing, just needing someone to care for and love them. She’s had desks thrown at her, had to break up fights, and in her first year she saw a child’s world turned upside down after his mother was murdered. She really has seen it all. She is one of the strongest people you will ever meet and we have no idea how she keeps on going back to that school everyday.
Jerry is just as strong as Sarah and just as dedicated to their relationship. He moved down to North Carolina without a job and searched every single day since they moved to find one. He found a job that would help them out until he would be able to find a better job that actually put his engineering degree to use. It took him two years to find a job, but he finally did. However, there was one problem with the job that he found, it is in Ohio.
In November 2008, Jerry moved back to Ohio by himself. Sarah had the option to go with him, but that would mean leaving her students before the school year was over. She couldn’t let them down and decided to stay because she truly loves them and knows they need someone consistent in their lives. This really proves how incredibly strong their relationship is because being eight hours away from each other is anything but a simple task, but every single day they make it work and every single day their relationship just grows stronger.
We really do see Sarah and Jerry as the perfect couple and they deserve to have beautiful and amazing pictures of their wedding to look back on one day. You will not regret choosing them for this contest because they really do deserve to have something great happen for them, especially on one of the most important days of their life together.
Couple #3: Rachel and James
If you remember the cookout you had at your home a few years ago with several local photographers, then you may remember me. I attended the get together and at the time, I was just starting out as a part-time photographer. Since then, so many things have changed, and I am now planning my day on the other end of the lens. I was so excited to read about your contest, here is our story…
I met my fiance, James (Jamy), three years ago when I went to work for a landscape company. Jamy had been with the company for a while and was the last of MANY men I was introduced to on my first day, November 7, 2005. Stuck in a work trailer together day after day, Jamy and I quickly learned we had a lot in common. From the simple things like our taste in music and art, to the more substantial issues of politics and the importance of family. A month after meeting, Jamy asked me out on our first date and we’ve avoided being a part from each other ever since!
After a couple months of dating, I was sure I knew all there was to know about the new man in my life, but there was one last piece of himself Jamy hadn’t shared. Three years earlier, Jamy had had a kidney transplant. I was shocked – I didn’t know anyone who had had a transplant and didn’t expect someone who had to seem so healthy and “normal.”
After almost a year of multiple trips a week to a dialysis center, James finally got his life back – on December 23, 2003, when his mother gave him one of her kidneys.
In early 2007, we booked a trip to the Bahamas; Jamy, my daughter and myself were all set for a sunny vacation! Then, while with me on a business trip in Philadelphia, the transplant began to fail. He spent the week in a Philadelphia hospital, returned to Cleveland and was admitted to the Clinic. Unfortunately, the transplant could not be saved and James had to return to dialysis treatments and our sunny vaca was cancelled.
Last year in April on my 27th birthday (with my daughter’s blessing) Jamy proposed and I, of course, said yes! Because of his condition, Jamy has been unable to work for almost two years and I have given up my photography for a regular 9-5, for now. But we’re lucky, one of Jamy’s four sisters is a match and he will undergo another transplant this summer.
Needless to say, the funds for our day are limited, but we still want to have beautiful memories! I can’t think of a person more deserving of a perfect day than my fiance. Although many grooms aren’t overly concerned with the wedding day details, I know Jamy would be beside himself if we were to win this amazing gift! (Even if it’s just to see me happy!). He is the perfect friend and lover to me, and the greatest stepdad my daughter could have.
We are planning our wedding for May 23; however, because of our unique location (a warehouse loft we are renting) we do have the ability to move our date – which we would be more than willing to do, should we win! And if we do not, we are still blessed to begin our happily ever after, side by side!
Couple #4: Rachael & Jonny
My fiance Jon and I, Rachael, met on a blind date two and a half years ago. At the time I was working at a mom and pop bakery (Osman’s Pies), and Jonny was working for the same family in their masonry company. Jonny’s boss,Doug, had it in his head that we should meet, but we were both very reluctant. Jonny had already been set up on a disastrous blind date courtesy of his boss before, and from the way Doug talked about Jonny I though that he would be a prude.
The date did happen, and it was incredibly… awkward… I’m shy and Jonny ran out of things to talk about. I wasn’t sure he would call me again after that date, but two days later we went out again. I invited him to my little sisters dance recital ( which, I understand is completely random), and was shocked when he actually came.
We were engaged last June and are getting married May 30th in a little church in Highland Square and our reception is in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We’ve been very blessed with generous friends that have been willing to help us with various aspects of the wedding. I am a student at Kent and Jonny was recently laid off. Because of this, he plans to go back to school in the fall. With the loss of his income, we’ve had to find more creative ways to make our wedding beautiful. In an effort to keep cost down, we were planning on having a friend take our photos. It would be more then we could hope for to have a professional photographer capture our day!
[...] Wedding Photography Giveaway Essay Contest Finalists [...]