I have been completely in awe of all of the couples that have entered our 2014 Annual Wedding Giveaway this year! For our grand entry round, we had a total of 295 entries. YES, TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE ENTRIES! It was so nerve racking sitting down to Rafflecopters random generator to pick JUST FIVE couples who would proceed on as our Semi-Finalist. I wish I could get the chance to sit down with every couple that entered and get to know who they are. I want to know how they met, I want to know about their wedding plans. This is my very favorite part of being a wedding photographer.

As each couple was pulled, I was getting more and more excited! I feel like picking winners for a contest could be as addicting as playing slots! You just want to get one more just to see who’s name is on it! The couples below are this years Semi-Finalist and have the chance to win:

• 4 hour wedding day coverage from Breanna McKendrick Photography
• 1 hr engagement or formal session from Breanna McKendrick Photography
• DVD/Flash Drive of images
• Personalized wedding website for the couple
• 2 hour wedding day videography coverage from Krissi Cook Films*
• DVD of videography film
• Customized hanger from weddinghangershop.com

 

SO: What happens from here?!?! Each of the couples have so graciously put together a little bit about their story so we can get to know them.  Read through their stories and cast your vote for your favorite Semi-Finalist couple!

TO VOTE:
COMMENT ON  THIS BLOG POST WHICH COUPLE YOU THINK DESERVES TO WIN!  

Feel free to share this page with friends and family to rally around your favorites!  If you want to follow along and see who wins, feel free to Like Breanna McKendrick Photography  or Krissi Cook Films on Facebook.

So without further ado, (and in no particular order)…… OUR 2014 SEMI-FINALIST!

In October of 2012, I agreed to be set up on a blind date with a guy I had never seen before so I could double with a friend to a dance concert I really wanted to see. Josh had just returned home from his two year mission and was scared to go on his first date since being back. When he greeted me with a big smile and a firm handshake! I wasn’t too sure it was still worth the dance tickets. Surprisingly enough, throughout the concert and the rest of the night his nervous charm really was contagious. It was impossible not to be happy around him! From then on Josh got really good at finding ways for us to spend time together. He would surprise me between classes and take me out to lunch, or just happen to “forget” his jacket at my apartment so he could come back to pick it up. I saw right through his little tricks but I willingly fell for all of it. I loved being around him and the times when we weren’t together, I was wishing we were.

After 7 months of dating, meeting each others’ families, road trips, another semester of school, and creating many memories together, it was time for me to leave on a three month long internship. I was headed to Romania to work in an orphanage while Josh stayed in Provo for school and work. All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS for technology! Our Skype sessions and emails were always something to look forward to. Although it was hard while we were apart, it was a needed time in our relationship to better ourselves and find what we both really wanted in life.

After coming home we both knew we never wanted to be apart again. We had already been through so much and we had truly become each other’s best friend.  No matter what life was going to throw at us, we knew if we were in it together then it would all be ok.  It was that realization that led us each to know that we wanted to be together forever. We are so excited to be married in the Salt Lake City Temple on August 8^th 2014!

Five years ago I started working at Jamba Juice. One of my friends that I worked with told me she had a man she wanted to introduce me to. We met, we talked, and we clicked. We went to two different High Schools and made it hard to see each other. I even doubted that we would work out.

September 26, 2009 we went on a date up to Salt Lake, had some dinner, went on a carriage ride and Matai asked me to be his girlfriend, of course I said yes. He wasn’t just a boyfriend to me, he was more than that. He was someone that could understand me, someone that I could talk to, and really was my best friend. There were several people that did not want us to be together and did everything possible to break us apart, and prevent us from seeing each other. We went weeks without being able to talk or see each other, but the love that we share has made us stronger to overcome any obstacle.

Throughout the four and a half years we have been together, we have never given up on our relationship and knew that we will be together. March 8, 2014 Matai knelt down on one knee telling me that we have been through so much together and that we have so much in our future. Lucky for me I am going to be a wifey to my best friend. We are going to say our “I do’s” and our vows on September 20, 2014 in the American Fork Amphitheater, and we loved to able to win this giveaway and have our special day captured by Breanna McKendrick Photography.

Trevor and I met in Nov of 2012, at a lumberjack themed party Trevor was throwing. But without realizing it, met him again on a different day while hanging out with friends.  Trevor was joking about how he could tell where people went to college, and I,  in complete faith said he couldn’t. Then he whips out the comment, “Well you went to BYU-Idaho” with reasons why he could tell I went there. (I was astounded to say the least because, I did in fact go to BYU-I). A few days later I found out that he and I had a conversation at the lumberjack party where I had told him where I went to school and what I did, and all that normal small talk you do at parties in SLC. So I was right in the end and he was in fact pulling my leg about how he could tell where people attended college.

We dated for a little while, then I told him I just wanted to be friends. In my defense I needed to figure out what I wanted. So we remained friends for 6 or so months. During that time we remained friends I began to develop a deeper friendship, and more feelings towards Trevor. Once I had figured out this, with a few bumps in the road I flat out asked him if he wanted to start dating again. He was being a little elusive in answering me for a couple of months but finally, he took me to Gilgo Gardens after my birthday celebration in August. After walking around for a bit, we climbed into a small little cave where the thunder and rain sounds were magnified. This is where he told me he wanted to start taking me out on dates and spending more time with me. And the rest is history.

Our wedding date is June 13th in the LDS Las Vegas Temple. Our reception is outside on June 21st at the Creekside Park Pavilion. I am keeping the decorations simple, rustic and a little western. My favorite description is “a little old world with a modern twist.”  Our refreshments will include a popcorn bar with various seasonings, or a s’mores bar with table pots for roasting. Most importantly the atmosphere I hope to bring to this wedding will be fun, and casual. Please help us bring in that atmosphere and vote for us! THANKS!

Kai: “Our story? Well, it started our freshman year at BYU. What was that…7 years ago?”
Kaela:“Eight.”

Kai: “Right. Eight. What would I do without you Kaela?”
Kaela: “Still be single?”

Kai: “True. Anyways…we kinda knew each other freshman year. And by ‘kinda’, I mean that I saw her around my dorm a lot because she dated like five guys who lived there.”
Kaela: “I did not date five guys there!”

Kai: “Ok, how many?”
Kaela: “Three.”

Kai: “Ok three. But yeah, she was always around. We had mutual friends and saw each other around but we never actually talked, did we?”
Kaela: “No, I don’t think so. At least, I don’t remember it if we did.”

Kai: “Yeah, me neither. And I’m pretty sure I would’ve remembered that.”
Kaela: “Yeah? Why’s that?”

Kai: “Because you’re way cute, that’s why! I know you say you remember me…”
Kaela: “I do!”

Kai: “Well, okay. But I’m sure that back then, to you, I was just some guy who lived in your boyfriends’ dorm.”
Kaela: “Well, isn’t that what I was to you? Some girl you saw at your dorm?”

Kai: “No. You were the really cute girl who I wished I could get to know, but I didn’t know how to because you were always there with other guys.”
Kaela: “Oh….”

Kai: “So yeah, we knew of each other, and I wished I could’ve taken her out back then, but nothing ever happened.”
Kaela: “And then we both went on our missions.”

Kai: “Right. Then it was…five years before we saw each other again.”
Kaela: “Yeah. We were both home from our missions and working at the MTC. I remember seeing you walking into a building there and recognized you. You looked over and we made eye contact for a second.”

Kai: “I think I saw you two or three more times too, before I built up the nerve to talk to you.”
Kaela: “Talk to me?”

Kai: “Okay…message you on Facebook. Ha…close enough.”
Kaela: “So he messaged me and we chatted for a bit, but nothing happened.”

Kai: “Even though I was really interested in her.”
Kaela: “Then we saw each other again about a year later.”

Kai: “And this time I made sure I got your number and asked you out!”
Kaela: “You did. And it was an awesome first date.”

Kai: “Especially the part where you drooled on yourself.”
Kaela: “Shh!”

Kai: “Haha.”
Kaela: “Anyways…we started dating a week later. I was shocked at how quickly I fell for him, but he’s pretty amazing!”

Kai: “A couple weeks after that, you flew out to meet my fam.”
Kaela: “Right after that, we talked about getting married.”

Kai: “Haha yeah, things went pretty quick for us!”
Kaela: “But it’s been sooo good! And felt so right!”

Kai: “It really has been. I couldn’t be happier.”
Kaela: “I couldn’t be happier!”
Kai: “We couldn’t be happier.”

Jon and I met 3 and 1/2 years ago in our freshman ward at BYU. He was quiet; I was not. He didn’t want to date anyone seriously before his mission, but I had the 18-year old intuition we were meant to be together. So… I spent months working my hardest to win his heart. And eventually, it worked! 6 very short months later, he left to serve an LDS mission and I stayed here. I wrote him every single day in the MTC (thank heavens he didn’t get sick of me!) and every week in the field. As time went on, I drifted. I thought that I moved on.

By the time he got home, I was no longer sure what I wanted. So after dating and epically failing, I somehow stumbled back into his life, and waiting arms and a heart that had never completely lost hope and faith in me. It didn’t take me long at all to realize that he is everything I could ask for and more than I could ever hope for.

Though we are opposite in many ways (I love spending hours with my sewing machine; he loves taking off and getting muddy on a bike ride. He’s a chemistry nerd; I prefer keeping the science in the science of cooking), the things we love each other for are more important than anything. He teaches me patience and understanding and the joy of trying new things. He is my light and I cannot wait to start forever with him.