The contest is ON!
Mariann May 13th, 2008
I am so excited! I got amazing couples who responded to my little contest where I am giving away an after wedding portrait session and some other goodies. Please scroll all the way to the bottom of this post to vote.
Meet the couples!
1. Caroline+Rob
Caroline & Rob live just outside of Newport, RI with their 1 year old daughter, Ella. Caroline, a native New Yorker, works in private equity and Rob owns his own business. The fabulous Mariann photographed their June 2007 wedding at Atlantica in Westhampton Beach, NY.
Fun facts: Caroline & Rob met in the summer of 2005 when Caroline was singing on stage at a beach club in Newport, RI. Rob was an admirer in the crowd & the rest is, as they say, history. The next year, Rob proposed to Caroline on that very same beach.
The couple welcomed daughter Ella Faye into the world just 3 months before their beachfront wedding on Long Island. Baby Ella was her mother’s maid of honor. J
Caroline has finally lost that pesky baby weight that she carried on her wedding day (and Rob’s dieting too!) and would love a second chance at wearing her gown and taking some romantic photos with her dashing husband.
2. Jeanette+Steve
My name is Jeanette and my fiance is Steve…our wedding is May 25, 2008. We’ve been engaged for over a year and I can’t believe it’s finally here! We started dating 10 years ago, had a few break ups, but I always felt a connection to him, like we were meant to be…lucky for me we BOTH grew up and matured into two people who not only want to be together, but are exactly who each other needs. We’ve come a long way from where we started and we tell each other every day how lucky and blessed we feel that it all worked out and we get to have an amazing life together forever.
Fun facts…hmmm…well I’m 27, Steve is going to be 28 next week. We both got into playing golf over the past few years and LOVE it…we originally booked the WRONG wedding hall and i was upset about it for a year, but lucky for us THEY cancelled…so we re-booked and now we’re getting married ON a golf course! I guess the best part about us is that we’re both extremely down to earth people…we’re pretty low key. Basically we totally rock. Ha ha…so we should win!
3. Laila+Roy
I was so excited to see your blog posting about this contest! I am a huge fan of your work.
A little bit of background about Roy and I - I’m from Brooklyn, born and raised, and he is from Holbrook. We have been together for almost 10 years, met in college, and have made it through mostly a long distance relationship while Roy was completing his graduate and medical degree in Boston. He is super talented, aside from being a doctor, he does construction, carpentry, and auto mechanical/body on the side - he’s always challenging himself with new projects (he likes to remind me that he’s a ’scientist’). I am a project manager in Manhattan for a contract furniture distributor, and work with architects and design firms building out new office space (right now I’m doing a new MTV bldg). I am your typical city girl - metrocard in hand, love happy hour, brunch, shopping - Roy hates everything Manhattan, prefers big open spaces, has to drive everywhere, and is happiest in his 5 yr old torn work jeans and t-shirt. Though we have many differences, we share our love for family, each other, and a great sense of humor. We are ecstatic that things are finally coming together for us in May - between the wedding (5/2) and his graduation. Winning this contest would certainly be the icing on the cake!
I’m not sure if your facts are considered ‘fun’ 
but it’s our story. We are crossing our fingers and look forward to the vote!
4. Lisa+Greg
I hope this e-mail finds you well. I want to first thank you for the opportunity to enter to win a photo session with You!!!(you are better than Oprah)
Some background: My husband and I got married on September 14, 2007 and unfortunately our photographer did not deliver what they said they would. We were truly disappointed in our photos from our wedding and realized we can never get this day back…My husband and I have decided to get new ones done for our year anniversary!! This contest could not have happened at a better time J we are willing to try anything just once, but the good things we plan to do over and over again!
Fun Facts about us as a couple: I’ve known Greg longer than he “truly” knows me. It all started in 7th grade when I had a major crush on a 9th grader. He was tall, dark and handsome and best of all an athlete! As any young girl would do (or so I think) I would go to all his baseball and football games. He had a girlfriend during the time so I would just go to the games and watch him and hopefully one day catch his eye. Well, I never caught his eye in Junior High or High School – I moved further out in Long Island and stopped going to his games. Miles apart and four years later, he finally noticed me, it was February 12th 2000 when we met through his best friend who I had become friends with. After February 12th 2000, we have been inseparable and now married 8 years later. Truly amazing that what’s meant to be will be, whether it is today or years later…
Our motto is: Before you leave the house, put your best foot forward…
5. Jessica+Nate
In 2003, Nate and I met through a Christian group for singles that I heard of through my mother meeting my step-dad that way as well. Miles in between us (ALASKA TO PA!!), we were both just looking to meet and share fellowship with other Christians our age. That was a void in my life that I knew would change everything for me….and it did, in the most amazing way! We kept in touch as long-distance friends for a couple of years until we began to feel that we were supposed to meet in person. So in early 2005, he flew all the way from Alaska to meet me in person and our relationship grew from there. He proposed on Christmas 2005 and we married on August 12, 2007. I would have never guessed that we would marry on Long Island. But after my dad, who lived on LI for years, passed away, it became a place of special memories for us. I stumbled across and fell in love with our venue, the Old Field Club, through pictures online, never realizing that it was just down the road from one of my dad’s favorite places, one that he took my sister and I to- Port Jeff. I knew it was meant to be.
I’m currently studying Clinical Psychology in a doctoral program. My husband, Nate, enjoys being a special education teacher, but also has a passion for writing. He is currently finishing up his first book- fantasy genre.
Mariann’s photographs of our wedding day, and her unique style in particular, made a lasting impression on us and our loved ones, forever commemorating our special day. We were definitely rushing on our wedding day, like most couples. But that, combined with my mobility issues, made it difficult to set up all of the types of pictures that most brides are able to easily pose for on that special day. So this would give us the opportunity to have some more of those special moments captured by Mariann.
6. Leslie+Mike
We met during college at RIT, in Rochester NY almost 6 years ago. Since then we have moved to Long Island, where Mike works as a Manufacturing Engineer and I am the Photo Editor at leading men’s magazine in Manhattan. Planning our wedding has consumed us for the last year, but we are so excited to start a new chapter in our lives together!
7. Danielle+Chris
It started back in high school chasing her through the halls. After much persistence we went from being best friends to dating. After 5 years of dating and then another three apart our lives crossed paths once again. We finally tied the knot April 4, 2008 and we couldn’t be happier! Here is a photo from our Honeymoon in Dominican Republic (April 08).
8. Janice+Jack
We are back from the honeymoon! Secret location: Tahiti/Moorea! It was great!
Hope you are doing well and that you weren’t driven crazy by us during the wedding!
We actually couldn’t pick a favorite photo from these batch of photos that we took during our honeymoon. We figured we would make a story out of these pictures because they are so fun. We must’ve taken 100+ of these self portraits. We hope you get a kick out of them. Our story:
- Janice & Jack love to have fun and goof around.
- But despite Jack’s goofy side, he is very sweet and romantic. For 8+ months Jack hid the secret honeymoon spot from Janice and finally revealed it in the airport. Janice was ecstatic.
- They had many wonderful moments, kayaking, swimming, snorkelling and playing tennis and moments of peace
( & moments of revelation. 
- Janice was scared of the stingrays and sharks.
But Jack was always there to support her.
- Though they would bicker now and then at each other now and then over silly things,
- They would get over it quickly because they loved each other.
I think Jack definitely wins on being the most expressive one of all.
9. Tatiana+Jonathan
We met on these steps! Can you believe it? One summer afternoon, 3 years ago, two neighbors started to get to know each other right there, and the rest, well here it is: Tatiana is from Brazil, I’m from LI, and we both have the same LI accent! She arrived here about 8 years ago (first stop Long Island), and just about that time, I was on my way out to Astoria, to be closer to the city that I love. With her abundant energy, she was eventually on the move as well, and settled in the same town, 2 doors down. We have been planning the wedding since our engagement on June 1st 2007… Pictures are our main focus for the wedding, we’re both hobby photographers and have seen so many great shots that we would love to be the subjects of, especially the offbeat ones. We’ve always admired the photographers that are willing to create “outside the box” photo sessions, which tend to lead to images that are so much more fun to share and talk about.
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This is it. 9 fabulous couple and you (dear blog readers) get to decide who wins!
The couple with the most votes wins the portrait session. So friends, families, coworkers vote for your couple - it’s simple, quick and painless.
Anyone can vote for any couple by posting a comment under this post with the couple’s names.
One person can only vote once during the contest and only for one couple.
Please do not e-mail me your vote as it won’t count. Only votes left as comments will count toward the results. And yes, couples can vote for themselves.
All the votes will be counted at the end of the contest and the winning couple will be revealed!
You can vote until May 31st, 2008 midnight EST.
I can’t wait to see who wins the session!! Good luck to all the couples.