In the spirit of not-quite Christmas, and the fact that I love my job and the chance it gives me to meet awesome people, I’m giving away a free engagement photo shoot to one lucky couple!

The prize includes a 2 hour engagement photo session, and a DVD with high res files, a value of $1000. Oooh!

Here’s the details, rules, how to enter, and all of that important stuff.

- You must be getting married in 2010 or 2011 to qualify.

- I’ll be the primary contest judge, but I’m also going to open this up to online voting for the 3 couples who are finalists. Woo!

- To enter, please email me with the following details by NOVEMBER 15, 2009 at midnight:

a) a clear photo of you two lovebirds together taken within the last year. It should be under 500kb in size. (If you don’t know how to re-size a photo, please click here for some information.)

b) your planned wedding date

c) a story (around 500 words or thereabouts) about you both, and what makes your relationship unique and awesome and/or quirky. Why should I choose you to be a finalist and not someone else? Why are you undoubtedly the coolest couple on the planet? What makes you tick? Maybe you met in some crazy way, or are having a wacky theme wedding – C’mon folks, I need you to sell it! If you go over the word count, no worries, as long as it’s an exciting story, I’ll keep on reading!

(and please note that my pet project is volunteering as an editor for a creative writing magazine, so I’ll award extra points for things like good grammar, captivating storytelling, etc. Unique and/or hilarious = awesome.)

- Also, if you’ve already had engagement photos taken by your wedding photographer, sorry, but you don’t qualify – this is for couples who haven’t yet had the opportunity for engagement photos, or whose wedding budget didn’t allow for them, etc.

- if you live outside of Edmonton, not a problem, you can still enter, but please note this prize doesn’t include travel expenses.

Any questions, please comment and let me know.

Also, I’ll be announcing the winners on my facebook group a few hours before I put ‘em up here on the blog, so if you’re a facebooky type, join the group here!

My WPJA winning image of Joti and Shawn’s wedding got published in Brides magazine this month as a winner in the dancing category! Hooray! Click through the gallery for some amazing shots! And here is a screencap:

I will try my best not to excitedly buy up all of the newsstand copies of Brides in Edmonton this month, so y’all can check it out yourselves in line at the grocery store! Woo!

The magazine only published the first places wins in each category, but I also had one of my photos chosen in the top ten for the “Kids” category!

Chris and Tiffanie had a fun-filled (and at times totally hilarious) wedding!

Groomsmen hanging out looking all cool:

And only minutes later!

At Chinese weddings, the groom has to play all sorts of embarrassing games to get to his bride. This is probably the funniest one I’ve ever seen, definitely awesome for all sorts of great photos. I’d love to see the facebook comments on these!

And, of course, after you eat a raw smokie, you might want to brush your teeth. The girls kindly provided toothbrushes, but for some reason, I don’t think the brushing experience was as pleasant as expected. To see the aftermath of wasabi as toothpaste, and for a ton of other awesome photos, take a peek at their slideshow.

Tiffanie knows the importance of comfy shoes!

These two are SO cute!

Tiffanie and Chris had one of the most action-packed and funnest receptions ever!

Tiffanie’s awesome 4th dress – again, refer to the slideshow for more details!

These next two are by my talented and awesome second shooter Amy:

Thanks to Chris and Tiffanie for an absolutely amazing day!

Grace and Dennis’ wedding day was completely beautiful from start to finish (You can see the entire slideshow of the day here!) These are some of my favorite ‘bride getting ready shots’ ever, such soft, pretty natural light.

The next one is by my lovely and talented second shooter, Amy:

Boys hands versus girls hands, taken at the same time by two different people in two different rooms in the same hotel – pretty neat!

So cute and excited! Whee!

This is the must-have photo for weddings at the Basilica – haha! Such an incredible building.

This next one by Amy:

Also by Amy:

These were all taken at the Devonian Gardens. I think the next one is super pretty:

At the reception!

Phillipino weddings have this awesome tradition where you have to pay to cut in and have a dance with the bride or groom by pinning money to them. Super fun!

Grace and Dennis played a hilarious game. Grace had to guess which bum was her new hubby’s bum:

And Dennis had to guess which shoulder rub was Grace’s!

Indecisive…

He got the right answer, but admittedly he had some help from these guys!

Thanks to Dennis and Grace, and their families and loved ones, for the awesome time!

Also, you might notice the “Sneak Peek” posts dropping off a bit, as last weekend marked my last wedding until December. But not to worry, the blog will still be busy as I finish all the editing I’ve got on my plate right now – there are still several more summer weddings to post! And other exciting news! Yay!