Congrats to Joe and Becky!
These two tied the knot on Saturday the
27th of June. It was a very simple and private setting in their own home with only family there to witness it. These two people are two of the most sweet people I have ever meet and I wish them the best of luck in their future together.
Second...and I know you have all been waiting for this announcement!
Drum Roll Please...
First Place winner is Mrs. Allison M Case-Beasley! Her heart breaking story is below. (Get you Kleenex, you will need it)
Hi, I would like to tell you my story and why I feel being a winner in your contest would be a great thing for me. I am a 44 year old mother who has raised 4 daughters on my own for many years, sometimes even not getting items for my self or food. Just to put them first, they have now grown, their ages are; 25 years a teacher in Jacksonville Public schools, 22 year old in the US Army in Intelligence, and a 19 year old Beauty School attendee, and finally a 8 year old daughter who is the light of my life.
I was married to a very abusive husband many years ago until I got the guts in myself and put my girls first and left in the middle of the night for Jacksonville, Fl. I did my best and raised my girls with proper morals and understanding to give back to your world for what you take, none of my girls have ever been arrested , gotten pregnant, or done drugs and have all turned out great. To have that under my belt as a mother is a great thing I feel. I have dedicated my entire life to those girls , and now that 3 of 4 have grown and moved on, at this point in my life I feel it is time for me to move forward in my life.
Five years ago I meet the love of my life, not in the normal way but by online dating, he is 15 years older then me, but he has always been there for me. I have battled cancer (lymphoma Hodgkin) in the last 15 years with two re occurrences and he has been there for me throught it all. Just when I thought I had lived all I could and could not go any further, I decided to move forward and create a new outlook on life. We had lived together for four years, then finally while battling my last occurrence of cancer, he finally popped the question, at first I did not think it was the right thing for me but after time, I came on board and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. However, after giving my all to my girls I wanted something I never had before in my life, a real celebration of life and my new life with my new to be husband.
But funds were tight, and we come from different religious backgrounds, my family is strict Orthodox Jewish and he is adopted with no knowledge if his past, I wanted my dream wedding, something I always dreamed of as a little girl but never had, nor has my husband to be ever had one. We carefully planned each step, and on December 31st, 2008 the event was to take place. But on December 3rd, an unexpected tradegy happened, my new husband to be started to become ill, and people were giving me grief stating that he was to old for me, and I would be settling again for less then I deserved, so we eloped, in Kingsland, Ga at "The Wedding Chapel" giving up my dream once again. We kept the wedding happening a secret from everyone and played the story line and had the ceremony for our family and friends, who I do have to tell you, to only 10 out of 50 people came due to protesting our committing to each other. We planned so much the gown, the bridal party, and the ceremony, but it was lacking much to say.
The photographer we hired took horrible shoots and missed all the special moments we wanted to capture, I feel like I lost my dream that day. The day also was rainy and drab and this was a outdoor ceremony, so it was less then desired and after all the drama involved, it was not my dream after all.I wanted a outdoor ceremony at midnight (New Years Eve) with all the candle light and special lighting and great effects all girls dream of when they are a child, after all I had given all my life to my girls as I was to do,(I will never regret this) they are the most important thing to me, but this was to be my moment, to be wild to be sassy, to stand out in the limelight even for that evening, to have every ones eyes on me for a change. You watch TV as a child or even an adult and dream to have your moment in the spotlight, to have everyone oh and ah over your dream to have this taken away from me.
After the wedding when the photos we delivered I was so upset the shots were horrible! To have a great location and none of the great shots I expected, I cried many nights, thinking this was my one shots and it was over. I would love to do a trash the dress, to do that one extra special moment in lights. Finances have never worked my way, and now I have been diagnosed with fibromyalasia, and my husband of six months had a heart attack on June 1st, my dream may never come about. I would like win your re shoot, to live that dream or to have those photos to keep with me for the rest of my life, to know I had given my all to everyone else and it was my turn in life. I am very open to do any style of shots, like to live the moment with pictures that can be extraordinary and exciting to look at. I would like to take my wedding gown and not preserve in a box , but to use it to show the world how beautiful and happy I am in my new life and that I have overcome everything thrown my direction.
Thank you very much in advance for listening to my story and given the chance to explain my dream to you. I am attaching a photo from our wedding show the kind of photos we received and the family I have brought up in this world. I just in ending like to relive that special day once more with photo memories to last me a lifetime.
Thank you
Allison M Case-Beasley
This is the only photo she got that had her whole dress in it
Just about every person in this photo has redeye!
-<>-
Second Place is Mrs Cheryl (aka PinBallPrincess)
(P.S. We need you contact Info!)
And here is her story that we can all relate to!
Ok...so here is my story. It's not really funny and not really a tear jerker but I would like to be considered in your contest anyway...
I was married on April 25, 2009...I am still a newlywed at least that is what everyone is saying..lol! My husband really wanted a big wedding in front of all his friends and family. I on the other hand was wanting a small intimate affair with family and only very close friends. Well, my husband won that fight because I am such a softee. I told him he could have whatever he wanted as long as he was paying for it and he agreed. As our wedding day grew closer and closer he was still procrastinating on all of the expenses that a big (not really big, but decent size) wedding costs.
Finally we were down to the wire...and of course he had not saved and planned ahead for HIS big day. I ended up spending some money out of my own savings to help put it all together since invitations had already gone out with all of the specifics.
Now let me say, I totally wanted to marry my husband I just didn't want some huge shin dig, where everyone else is having a blast and I am worrying about all these details and being the hostess with the most-est.To make a really long story shorter...we had a beautiful wedding! We were married outside at Memorial Park in Riverside. We had the chairs placed right by the river so we would be in the shade and have a breeze. (it was 85 degrees that day and the sun was beating down on the area I really wanted to be in) Our reception was held at Friday Musiacle and was very simple and elegant and was a good time...should have known it would be since my husband and I had to wait about 20 mins for the line at the open bar to die down so we could make our BIG entrance. When it came down to it...a photographer was the one thing I REALLY wanted and he had not put money back for. I had already spent money I had allotted for MORE important things so I could not help with that expense. We ended up using a very good friend who is an aspiring photographer. He takes really good photo's of animals and nature. He even takes beautiful pictures of people, but on our wedding day he was nervous. He had not done a wedding in the past and wanted to do a great job. Of course the fact that we nor he knew just what to capture we really don't have much to show for our wedding day. There is two pictures of me...the Bride, and 2 or 3 good pictures of my Husband and I. No pictures at all of the wedding party. There are lots of pictures of his girlfriend and other close friends at the wedding and reception. Even a great picture of our friends doing shots at the bar...heck there are even pictures of him...the photog. I am a pretty easy to get along with kind of person and would NEVER tell him I didn't get exactly what I wanted. After all it wasn't his fault we didn't hire an experienced photographer, plus we were in real time...no time to think things through and really get what we wanted.
I am a fairly photogenic person, I have a dress to wear, and am willing to try ALMOST anything. I am a traditional girl who also likes to have fun and get funky, so I can fit into any style. I hope you all will consider me for your contest. I would love to have some beautiful pictures to enjoy of the "time" I was a blushing Bride. BTW...I have added the best picture I ended up with of myself.
Thanks, Cheryl
-<>-
And last but certainly not least...
Our third place winner is Kristina Obenza.
This is her story...
Hello Kristina (great name) and Rae-
I saw your post on Craigslist and decided to give it a shot. I have attached a couple of pictures of Mike and myself. We are actually getting married in a couple of weeks in Rome, Italy. We decided to get married there because...well let me start at the beginning....
Lesson #1 when first meeting your future wife: Act cool. Don’t do anything stupid. When Mike and I first met, it was 1997 and en route to Europe on an international flight serving alcohol to minors. Mike settled up in his seat, ordered a beer and afterwards closed his eyes to take a nap. When he awoke there were several beer cans (Heinekens) strewn about his down tray. Either he had a rather advanced drinking problem, for a 16 year old, or someone was playing tricks on him. Then he saw me grinning from across the aisle, but he didn’t let on. Mike leaned over and explained how strange it was that he had consumed so much beer without recognizing! We both laughed.
The time we spent getting to know one another on that little trip was amazing to me. Whether it was irreverently mocking the unscrupulous street vendors in Lourdes, who peddled cheap icons at cut throat rates, or when we walked down endless rows of perfectly trimmed hedges together at the palace of Versailles, every moment seemed to be suspended out of time. Flying back to America was difficult. It was a return to reality; back to high school and back to the uncertainty of two teens, years apart in age who ran in separate social circles.
After months of talking on the phone and little actual hanging out (because Mike had no car), I asked Mike to go to my prom with me. Now remember, this was a senior in high school asking a sophomore (yes he was younger than me) to go to a dance–but Mike says he wasn’t nervous because his best friend as his wingman. We double dated with a friend of mine and it was an excellent ice breaker for everyone. After that, we continued to see each other and that summer we dated exclusively and pretty much fell in love. For the next three years we stayed with each other despite living in different cities and having to drive back & forth to see one another. Eventually we did break up, and it was probably a good thing because we were able to grow apart and really develop into our own persons.
Mike tells this part best.... "I for one was miserable–just like most adolescent males in love–I took the separation harshly and for the first few months thought life was over. Slowly the pain went away though, the earth stayed right on its axis, the sun continued to rise and fall right on time and life, in fact, was not through with me.When I graduated college I was 100% cured from Kristina. I had been there, done that and no single person could really have that much of an affect upon me ever again…that is of course, until we started e-mailing each other 4 years ago, and then we met up one holiday evening for a bite to eat and fell madly in love again."
Well that is pretty much the general idea of how the latter part of relationship came about. Just two kids with similar minds, telling crude jokes and laughing about it out loud.
We decided to get married in Europe, since that is how our relationship began and our total traveling cost to get married over there is actually less than what we would have paid to have a local wedding. Unfortunately, many of our family members and close friends cannot make it over there. Mike's parents decided to have a small gathering at their house in Neptune Beach a few weeks after we get back. We would love to get some great pictures take by some great photographers with our family and friends who were not able to make it. So pick us! We have a great story, we'll have our wedding attire on, and we know how to have a great time!
Happy Picking,
Kristina Obenza
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUBMISSIONS!
Okay keep checking back over the next couple of months for all winners new photos. We had a great turn out for this and are already thinking about doing it again next year so if you missed out or just didn't win this time Please try again.
uck!
We followed her to the Bamboo Garden Salon where she and her girls got their hair, makeup and nails done. The guys ate pizza, cut-up telling all there crazy 
stories and of course drinking beer! (They have it so easy!)
and then...
Yes! That's right their wedding was at the Jacksonville Zoo!
They wanted to be traditional and did not want to see each other before the ceremony. The both of them are so much in love, the excitement of the day lead to anticipation and a little touch nervousness that maded for some really great photo opps. The 
location was beautiful, the food was outstanding, the salsa dancing was awesome and the bride was stunning! This wedding was so much fun and we had a blast. 
