Second Chance Wedding Contest!

I am so excited about this contest! I have gotten so much feedback from people who said their photos were so bad, but assumed there were worse out there so they weren't going to enter. This makes me so sad! It just goes to show how important wedding photography is! After all is said and done, it truly is the most important purchase of the day you will make. Now that DSLR's are so affordable, anyone can claim they are a photographer and take pictures but when you are choosing a photographer, you are truly choosing an artist to capture your day. You are paying for their competence and their artistic eye. A lifetime of regret is a horrible thing to carry and I'm sure that anyone who wasn't happy with their wedding photos can tell you that they wish they would have paid the extra money or done some extra research.

This is why I am so excited to do this! I know the feeling firsthand and I would love to give someone a "re-do" now that they know better! Now onto the contest!

Voting will be open for two weeks. The poll will be closed on May 15th so contestants, make sure to tell all of your friends and family to vote for you!

Couple #1: Jeannette and Kevin

Attached is my wedding photo. I'm sure there are a lot worse out there but our pictures were so bad that this is one of the few ones of us together that we actually bought. I should have been clued into the fact that the photographer was not going to be up to par. When we were discussing our engagement pictures on the phone I was asked if I was a blonde or a brunette. When I said that I was African-American and my fiancé was Caucasian, it was suggested that my husband-to-be tan up to get our skin tones a bit closer....Nice!


Couple #2: Megan and Tom

My husband, Tom, and I got married last June and it was everything and more. It was small with no detail overlooked...my grandma made my dress and bridesmaid dresses, my aunt designed our invites, and our whole family was involved. I loved everything about it, but the one thing I really wanted we never got...really fun and playful photos of just the two of us. All of our photos from the day of the two of us are formal and Tom and I are spontaneous, crazy, and totally in love and that is what I wanted captured. I know Olivia can do that for us... so please give us a second chance to capture what was lost from our special day. *Sadly this is the last photo I have of the two of us.



Couple #3: LaChelle and Jesse

My husband and I have been happily married for 5 ½ years. Our wedding was October 25, 2003. We paid out of pocket for our entire wedding (with a little bit of help from our families). Because of this, we “did-it-ourselves” with many of our arrangements. We made our own invitations, had a friend DJ at the reception and a friend as our photographer. We are very proud of this accomplishment and that we were able to have a beautiful wedding day without “breaking the bank.” I am a HUGE photography fan, and studied photography myself a little, as a college student. When we were planning for our wedding day, the most important thing to me was to have a great photographer. I imagined having black and white candid’s and artsy pics of my husband and myself with a beautiful fall background. We met with three photographers in person and reviewed a ton of websites, only to find that what I wanted was going to cost at least $2000, and in most cases, more! As much as I wanted my dream photos, we couldn’t afford that on our DIY budget. We didn’t want to rack up credit card bills from our wedding either, so we went with what we could afford. And of course, you get what you pay for! Our friend was an amateur photographer, working at David Banks Studios, and was happy to do our gig on the side. His photography experience was pretty much exclusively taking group photos of school sports teams. He meant well, but the pics were nothing like I imagined. All pictures from our wedding were posed with family members, the wedding party and each other standing at the altar. The most “candid” photo taken was when our “photographer” friend said, “Pick her up and look like you are laughing!” So, my husband lifted me up and we pretended to laugh and smile, and you can totally see how staged it is!! I’ve always dreamed of re-doing our wedding pics, but thought people would think I was silly to do this AFTER our wedding had come and gone. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before!

My husband and I met in junior high, and dated a bit in high school, where we became high school sweethearts. We went our separate ways after high school and fate brought us back together in our early 20’s. We are just regular folks with a two year old son whom we adore, and spent nearly two years with a fertility specialist to get him here! I’m also a step-mom to my husband’s 14 year old daughter. My husband says to me often, “I can’t believe how in love I am with you after more than 10 years together!” And it’s true. We are still crazy about each other and I would love, love, love to have a second chance at our wedding pictures! (I think I can still fit into my dress – ha-ha). One more thing – even after all these years, I still dream about having more weddings (to the same man, of course!). I wish I could go back and have a summer wedding, a farmhouse wedding, a winter wedding, and more! I am so envious of couples who have dream photos to brag about. I would love to hang a beautiful photo canvas of our “wedding day” on the wall to replace the one we have hanging up now. I would be so proud!! Thank you for the opportunity to be nominees!




Couple #4: Nicole and Devin

I have to start with saying that I was a consummate bride. I clung to my Martha Stewart Bride magazines (that was before her fall, you know!) & had a clear vision of what I wanted, including for the pictures. We got married in 2001, the early age of the style of photography that has become everything I wanted for my pics. I wanted crisp, black & white, ethereal shots that captured the moments, big & small of our day. I'm so glad that the wedding is separate from the marriage. Luckily, I got the best husband for me and pictures don't make the marriage (or we'd be in trouble!)! I know you probably feel the same! It's also sad that we never have good pics of the two of us (my parents are practically blind looking into the camera lens, as is his mom!)! We have great pictures of each other, but none of just the two of us! What a great idea to offer second-chance shots!



You read all of the entries, you've seen the photos, now it's time to vote! Who would you like to see receive a second chance?