It?s been nearly a month in the making, but my engagement session competition has finally ended. Two weeks and more than 2,700 votes (WOW!) after voting began, it has all drawn to a close.
As I?ve said from the beginning, voting was only a portion of the overall deciding factors. I took several things into account when choosing both my finalists, as well as my overall winner.
1) Originality of their idea : I loved the ideas all my finalists had. That?s exactly why I chose them. But in the end, I wanted to choose the idea that required the most complexity, the most overall planning and attention to detail? that would supply the most interesting detail shots and overall storyline. I wanted more than a ?cute shot??. I wanted an entire dialogue. A story that could play out with a beginning, middle, and end. And to be honest, I wanted to showcase a shoot that had layers. Some cute, some sexy, some romantic. A shoot that could showcase both my love for weddings, as well as for fashion.
2) Overall Effort : Voting and the Pinterest boards show me one very important thing, that these couples genuinely believed in and were passionate about having fun with their idea and putting in the time and effort to bring it to life. They were willing to gather their ideas, share them with me? reach out to family and friends, gather their support, and have them rally together. After all, the goal of this shoot is to give away one amazing session (as well as an album). It?s easy for people to submit for a free competition, but in the end, who wants to give away something for free unless they know everyone involved genuinely appreciates it, and wants to do their part to make it amazing? These couples did not let me down.
3) Voting : Seeing how much support was lent to these couples, and especially these brides? showed me how well loved they are. What lucky women to have so many people willing to give their time to band together and vote again and again. To gain this much support day after day, week after week, you must be well loved. There was a vast outpouring of votes and comments left on the blog? you don?t gain that much love and respect without being amazing people. And who wouldn?t want to give away such a great prize knowing it?s going to wonderful and deserving people?!
In the end, choosing a winner was no easy task. Each of these couples had hundreds, if not thousands of votes. Pretty impressive. Each of them had an idea that showed their individuality as a couple. Each had a unique story that really shows how beautiful love can be, especially when tested. Each had some pretty amazing inspiration photos on their Pinterest boards (not to mention at least 85 followers each!!) Each? was flat out amazing as a couple.
But, a choice had to be made. In the end, there was one session theme that really resonated for me. Partially for its classic nature that was both romantic and sophisticated, and partially for all the amazing details that could be incorporated into it. Jessica and Chris have a wonderful love story that incorporates the complexity of missed connections, a relationship years in the making, long distances, and the evolution of friendship. It?s a personal story that I think many of us can find relatable. I loved the vintage styling of her idea and all the possibilities that opened up. When I saw her amazing blog ?My Baking Heart? I loved how her passion could be incorporated into the styling of the shoot. And when I saw her pin an image of my biggest girl crush, Monica Bellucci on her Pinterest, well? she had me. Truth be told, I felt their theme stepped beyond the comfort levels of what most local brides strive for in their engagement sessions, and that?s what I loved. ?That was a big goal for me with this competition?
For all of those amazing friends and family that voted? don?t feel too bad for our other finalists!! They all had such wonderful ideas and did such a fantastic job gathering your support, I couldn?t let anyone walk away empty handed. Honestly, they all deserved to win something!
So, as the runner up, Emily & Eric will also have the chance to bring their idea to life with an engagement session, and a complimentary large format print.
Malia & Luis won?t miss out either? they?ll receive a mini engagement session.
Thank you so much to all of my finalists. I can?t tell you how much I?ve enjoyed perusing your inspiration boards. I can?t wait to take all those ideas I?ve seen you working on and pull them together for three amazing shoots.
Thank you to all of our voters? don?t forget to subscribe to the blog so you can be the first to see when the sneak peeks from these sessions are posted.
Annnnnd? you know how I feel about a post without a photo?
Dallas destination wedding photographer Jessica D?Onofrio creates timeless, romantic, vintage, high fashion, contemporary wedding photography to brides in Dallas, Austin, Houston.
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