meet the finalists...

Happy Friday, friends!! Hooray for the weekend!!  I'm heading out of town next week for work and I need to pick up some last minute stuff for my trip.  Don't worry, I have some great posts scheduled but enough about me let's get to the good stuff.  I know that these three lucky couples are super excited today because they are this year's finalist for 13:13 Photography Giveaway.  Ashley, Philip and I had a great time reading all the entries and now it's your turn to vote for your fave.  The poll will open until Friday, February 10, 2012 at 5:00 pm. Good luck to the finalists!! 

{ Meghan + Jeremy's story } 

My fiancé and I grew up as next door neighbors…literally. His grandparents lived one house up from the house my family moved into! My parents moved a couple streets down, but growing up we were randomly a part of each others lives, in middle school he dated my friend and he, his friend and the two of us spent the summer riding (the boys were on bikes, my friend and I on horses). In high school ran with two VERY different crowds and didn't have much to do with each other. His mom married one of my high school best friends dads and he became her step-brother but still, we would only see each other randomly and weren't interested in each other. Fast forward a couple years (and a few broken hearts) later and we managed to reconnect while he was home from boot camp. When he left again we wrote to each other every day, when he got home we were inseparable, and the rest is history. We were hoping to wait until I was out of school and we had saved some money before getting married, but a few months ago after losing his grandma decided to push the wedding forward…way forward to this July. Everyday I spend the afternoon with his grandpa, he means so much to both of us, we want his grandpa to be able to enjoy and be a part of our wedding. We’re having our intimate, vintage, rustic wedding in Jeremy’s grandparents garden on Bainbridge Island, with our closest friends and family.  I’m very fortunate to have some awesomely crafty bridesmaids, and an extremely talented mom to help make our day beautiful and special despite our $2000 budget. Besides promising to be together forever, photography is the most important part of the wedding to us. I absolutely ADORE Ashley and Phillips work. (Plus, we will do ANYTHING to get a great shot...whatever it takes!) To have 13:13 Photography be there to enjoy the most important day of our lives with us would mean the world to us! We are both bleeding heart animal lovers, if I could take in every dog, cat, horse, or other animal that needed a loving home I would. Since that is not an option for us we often donate food, supplies, and sponsor adoptions fees for our local humane society and do everything we can to help find homes for animals. Although we will register at a few places, we are asking our wedding guests to make donations to either the ASPCA or to our local animals shelter instead of buying us wedding gifts, every little bit helps!

{ DIY vision } 

Pretty much everything about our wedding is going to be DIY due to our budget, but what makes our wedding unique is that we will be asking guests to donate to our local humane society instead of purchasing us wedding gifts. 

{ Caroline + Tom's story } 

Caroline and Tom met as neighbors attending UCSB and were friends for many years. It wasn't until Caroline graduated and began working at the State Assemblymember's office and Tom returned to get his Masters in Santa Barbara that they began dating. They did long distance for years as Tom moved to find work. He chose a job in San Francisco near where Caroline grew up. She followed him FINALLY and they have lived together for 2.5 years and are finally ready to tie the knot. His proposal was a complete surprise - he rented out a winery they love and proposed in a redwood grove with a ring he had designed secretly for months with her two best friends (complete with an orange sapphire hidden inside the band) then had Caroline's parents arrive for a picnic lunch. During this past year the couple has gone through a lot - Tom lost his father and his cousin (Erin was 30, Tom and Erin grew up as brother/sister) - so the wedding is even more important for the families to come together in joy and celebration. 

{ DIY vision }

I purchased my dress at Priscilla's of Boston's going out of business sale for 70% off. It was the first time I had ever tried on dresses and I walked out with a dress! It is a strapless silk charmeuse gown (pic attached). Old St Hillarys is a beautiful historic landmark on the hill looking down on Sausalito, the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. It's beauty is in it's simplicity so we want to keep with that and let the setting speak for itself. The reception will be outside in the middle of hills at the base of Mt Tamalpais in a green valley. My favorite color is orange so I want that color to "pop"! I am thinking navy for the bridesmaid dresses and I would like to give the girls the options for different styles. We want the food to be simple, farmers market staples that are seasonal and for August and our area - thinking lots of stone fruit, fresh corn, tomato salad, etc. The veranda has a labyrinth that will serve as our dance floor. We traveled to Europe for Thanksgiving this year and we LOVE the white light strands that line the streets. We would like to recreate that lighting outside as night falls. Orange lights would be fun too! We are wine club members and love Santa Barbara and Sonoma County wine so will be purchasing wine for the next year. Another fun element I would like to incorporate would be - bears. Tom has grown a beard and as a joke we call each other Papa and Mama Bear - could be bear toppers on the cupcake tower (instead of traditional cake) or maybe a dancing bear at the ceremony!? We have many photos of the past 7 years and our childhood and would like to creatively display them at the reception as well. My big DIY project will be the escort cards that we want to write on flat stones that guests can take home and display in their gardens or window sills!

{ Megan + Tyler's story } 

We work in Marketing and Advertising and we both obsess over details. We love well thought out design and want our wedding to be a reflection of our creative personalities. A few months back, we were asked to "model" as a bride and groom for an inspirational photo shoot. So, we have had practice being "bride and groom" once before, but this time it's for real! You can view photos of us and the shoot here. {Photography} Erica Ann Photography

{ DIY vision } 

My fiance and I plan to get married in Portland, OR in the fall of 2012, we're looking at October 20th to be exact, but we're still narrowing down our venue options. We're looking for a venue that is a little offbeat (like us) we'd like a lofty space maybe with exposed brick and details that set it apart. My vision is a little nontraditional as well. I would like a neutral color palette wedding that has an organic, yet vintage feel to it. I'm thinking a lot of creams, rustic browns and some green succulents to break it up. Since we don't have a color per say, I want to focus on a "tweed theme" The men will wear tweed attire and the girls will have tweed accents that help pull it all together. Maybe we can even brand it as "tweed do". 

The winning couple will be announced on Monday, February 13, 2012.