We are taking Jo, Sara, & Luke to the dentist today.  maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to film one of my own kids in this happy state of mind.

First off I wanted to thank everyone who entered and made this contest so much for for me.  I loved getting to read your stories and “get to know” so many of you.  I had a ton of great entries and narrowed it down to 5 finalist last week.  I sent them all a second set of questions and a few photo requests.  One of the photo requests was a new photo of them that included the 1.00 they would be using to pay for their wedding photography.  Once I got them all back in I knew I would not be able to just pick one winner so I broke the rules a bit and picked 2 winners.  (I hope that’s OK.)

A quick note for the 3 of you who did not win.
I had a few other wedding photographers look at the entries and each of them pick one of you to be the winner if they had the final say.  So you were all very close.  Like I said, you are great couples and I would LOVE to be able to share in the wedding process with all of you.  I really wish I could have given each of you the grand prize, but as you know, my wife and I keep making babies so someone has to pay the bills.  As a “consolation” prize for not winning, you will be getting FREE a Engagements and Bridal Session so it’s not a complete loss.  

Below are a few excerpts from the two winning couples.  They both had me cracking up with their answers and drew me into their story.  I can’t wait to meet you guys and take some amazing pictures.  One more thing.  A 25% deposit is required to book the date so you better get that contract and .25 cent check in the mail. ;)

Jade & Justin

What “chick flick” does the groom secretly like?  What “guy movie” does the girl secretly like?:
Justin loves the TV show Sex And The City so he was really excited when the movie came out (he got it for me for Christmas so we could watch it together).

Why do you want wedding pictures?:I think picking a photographer and getting excellent pictures is the most important part of planning a wedding.  I want to be able to have wonderful, great quality pictures to show my children and my grandchildren someday. I want to be able to say to them “Look how handsome your father was and look how pretty I was in my dress” and show them the style because we all know it will be completely different by then.
 

If you were stranded on an island with someone of the opposite sex, other than your fiancé, who would you choose? (Both of you must answer)

Justin: I would choose to be stranded on an island with Rosie O’Donnell.

Let me explain first before you think I’m crazy…If I have to be stranded on an island, I might as well try and help out the rest of the world.  I am doing this for the good of society, and taking one for the team and removing one of the most annoying, women that pretty much everyone can’t stand.  Also, I figure that this way I would not be the slightest bit tempted to cheat on Jade just in case I am rescued (and God I pray that I would be!) and get to see her again. 

What is your favorite thing about each other?

When I’m sad or upset about something, he always knows the perfect thing to say to make me forget my worries.  He doesn’t just crack jokes until I finally start smiling, he talks to me and knows exactly how to calm me down and make me happy again.  So I guess I really love his ability to make me smile…whether he has me on the ground laughing so hard I’m about to cry, or if he is wiping away my tears, holding me tight and getting me to even smile just a little. :)

What was your favorite breakfast cereal growing up?

Justin: Fruity Pebbles because it was basically just colored sugar, and as a kid how can you resist sugar?!
Jade: I totally loved Honey Nut Cheerios.  And it was my dog’s favorite too.  I would always put a scoop on the floor for Molly so we could eat breakfast together.

Who was your favorite “boy band”?

Jade: I loved me some N’Sync and not just because of Justin Timberlake (even though he didn’t hurt)… Come on now, you know you loved “Bye Bye Bye” too! Even in my first year of college, we would get a big group of girls in our dorm room and try and learn their dances!

Which one of the Disney Princesses do you most identify with?

Belle… I think it would be great to have dishes that sang and cooked my meals for me!

eriKa & Phillip 

What “chick flick” does the groom secretly like?  What “guy movie” does the girl secretly like?

Phil likes Clueless. Erika loves Bloodsport.

Why do you want wedding pictures?

In these economic times, it isn’t feasible for us to have a large wedding, so we are having an intimate immediate-family-only wedding. We have so many friends and extended family members who will not be able to share the day with us, so we have to rely upon imagery that will truly allow them to witness the celebration without actually being there.

What will you do with the 3,649 dollars you are saving by not booking a photographer?

We’ll probably put it toward a down payment on a house.

Which of you typically takes longer to get ready?

ERIKA: 2 hours…a day
PHIL: 2 hours…a month

Who was your favorite “boy band”?

ERIKA & PHIL: Queen (Maybe we misunderstood the question.)

Brad & Jen or Brad & Angelina?

Nice try, trick question. We’re too cool to answer this one.

(ALEX’S NOTE: This really was a trick question.  I decided as I was typing it that ANY couple who refused to answer it was someone I wanted to hang out with.)

What is one inanimate object in your life you could not live without and why?

I thought it was my scooter, but it was stolen yesterday, and because I’m still alive today, I guess I was wrong.

That’s my E-mail inbox.  17 inquiries in the past week or so.  What happened?
I guess everyone had the talk about the birds and bees over Christmas break.  Anyway, keep em coming!

Tune in tomorrow for when I’ll be announcing the winner to my wedding photography giveaway contest!

Quick.  What do all of my 2009 brides have in common with Barack Obama?

Give up?

Well as it turns out, last week he had his first official portrait taken and I have two cool facts to let you in on.

1.  This is the first time that an official presidential portrait was taken with a digital camera.

2.  The camera that was used is the same one I shoot with. (Canon 5D Mark II)

So whether you voted for him or not, agree with him or not, or look like him or not,
you can tell all your friends your photographer is just as fancy as his. :)

So I typically don’t work or post on Monday’s but one of my Facebook peeps (friend me up) just wrote that today was Dolly Parton’s birthday.  The opportunity was too good to pass up.  I hunted around my hard drive and dug this up.  A friend of mine took of it in an LA airport back around 1999 or so.