Elizabeth Manley & Brent Theobald

Figure skater Elizabeth Manley and OHL player Brent Theobald--Story Album

Photographing this married couple was quite an adventure. They made front page of the Toronto Sun months before the wedding but every wedding detail was hush hush for Lizzy and Brent. Fans that knew I was photographing the wedding were trying soak me for info on location and such. This bride has a huge fan club here in our own area. It was great all the questions I was asked but I never gave in :)

Gerri from Belle Balloons decorated the reception. Amazing work as always you can see her work here: http://www.belleballoons.com/ She has a link on the right side of the page that will take you to the Manley wedding. It was by far the most beautiful I have ever seen the reception location.

I see a lot of girls from a figure skating forum checking in here to view the Manley wedding photos and even asking for more. So, here is the book to share. Photos will be published in the International Figure Skating magazine.

I have to say I feel like a celebrity!!!

Since the results of the contest have been posted I've received some really great thank-you notes with some very, very kind words. The couples have emailed me to thank me, a mother of the bride and even friends and others involved in the wedding party of these couples.

Thanks to everyone for all your emails! You're all awesome!!!

It's about time, ah?!!

It hasn't taken me so long to get to this today because I've been busy. It was a pretty slow day. I sent out Christmas cards this morning while my boyfriend was at work and then researched more on this really cool new program I'm thinking about buying that will be totally great for About Image Brides.

I know your thinking--"just get to the results"!!!

So here's what I've decided on with the number of votes and what each couple will receive:

1. Tracce & Jason - 235 votes
Free Wedding Photography

2. Natalie & Stephen - 190 votes
Big $$$ off

3. Crystal & Terry - 153 votes
Free coverage of ceremony and park photos
Digital images included

4. Lisa & Michael - 132 votes
Savings off your package
$$$ off

I'll email the couples now with more details.

Sorry it took me all day to make up my mind on everything for everyone envolved.

Wedding Photo Contest Guilt.....

In starting out in this wedding photo contest I thought it would be a great way to give to give to a truly deserving couple. Furthermore, I thought what better day to announce the winner then Christmas day because -- free wedding photography -- what a great gift, I was thinking. However, now I have this guilt weighing on me of disappointing the other couples who now maybe have their hopes up. I know I would. And, now I'm thinking that Christmas is a horrible ending date to this competition because it's Christmas that I disappoint 3 other couples. Since day two of the competition when the votes started coming in and I was receiving so many great email's from friends and family of the couples, my own friends, family and photo friends have been taking part in the competition and others as well that both the couples and I don't know but the voters come across my blog or check here often. A large number of votes came from the Trenton Air Base, overseas, other brides from a few bridal boards, co-workers, as well as other clubs. The comments I received from the voters as to who and even why they think the couple they voted for should win are truly touching. There are stories of how the voters relate or how the couples stories remind them their relatives situations.

I have counted up the number of votes for each couple. The total amount of votes I received by email is 710. I think this is such a huge response to our competition and the numbers are very close. The most amount of votes received for the couple with the most votes is 235.

I had no idea this competiton would turn into such mixed emotions for me. I'm going to sleep on what the the other three couples will receive who came in as runner's up.

I'll be back tomorrow with the results.

Merry Christmas

Just sharing

Just sharing two of my Christmas cards....

This morning I received a very sweet message in a Christmas card I received from a family I just recently photographed. There was a gift and card tied to the tree by ribbon encase the family wasn't home when I delivered their disk of digital images. The message in the card was May you be blessed this coming year with the joy of being a family." -- I thought that was really nice.

Another card I just recently received came from a photographer I work with that included two Henry's gift cards. Henry's is a store that sells photography equipment. Most of my close friends and family know I was thinking about buying a $5000 camera but I'm going to wait to buy the upgrade now. Here's what was in that card:

They say gift cards are now the thing to do
To bring you Christmas cheer,
Here are two from Henry's
To help buy that camera gear!

This year has seen your business grow,
Ideas flow like sweet honey.
As Belleville's premier photographer
It's time to make some money!

I thought the poem was very thoughtful and humorous.

Krista & Ken

Krista and Ken came to the studio today for their engagement session. The wedding date is set for August of 2007. They actually drove to my old house for the photo session. Whoops! I guess I missed to tell them I moved. When they arrived they were still in great spirits for photos. Ken won't smile unless it's natural and thankfully I'm in a cheekish mood today to keep the smiles rolling, but you can see I failed in this first photo. You know....I can't be perfect all the time ;)

'I Do.....Let's eat!!!' -- The Food Network

Venessa & Matt were married on the show 'I Do...Lets Eat' that is aired on the Food Netwrok. I've never seen the show or even heard of it until I was photographing this wedding, but once I started asking around to friends and family about the show I realized I was one of very few who had never heard of the show.

Working with the crew was an incredible experience. It was extremely interesting watching them direct, interview and run the day on a tight schedule. Retakes were quite the experience for the wedding party. The bridal party did a 3 retakes on entering the Limo. The groom--two retakes on pulling out the wedding bands.

From what I know the whole point of the show is about the food. It will be interesting to see what kind of drama happened in the kitchen for the show. There were 72 caterers preparing the food. It was incredible watching the whole display of the food and how they serve. It was like assembly lines of servers in a synchronized order.

Overall the day for Venessa and Matt was great fun and with out a flaw. The show will air in May but when i know more details I'll post.

The Church

The couple

The Bride

All About the food

Here is the menu from Venessa & Matt's Wedding

Mixed Mushroom Ragout

on a cumin spaghetti squash.

Served with a peach-horseradish salsa.

--this was sooooo good

Rice Paper Spring Roll

with smoked salmon, argula, and oriental vegetables.

Served with sweet chili sauce, and cilantro.

-- also yummy but not as great as the mushrooms

Supreme of Chicken
Stuffed with pancetta, roasted apples, and gouda.
Served with apple cider demi glace, boulangere potatoes

-- I'm a vegetarian, but I heard this dish was excellent

Vegetarian Meal
No idea what some of this is as it wasn't on the menu.

--pretty yummy

Cream Cheese Brownie
With white chocolate and ginger mousse.
Served with crisps, and fresh fruit

--of course this was delicious

Breakfast with Santa

Global Credit & Collection Inc in Markham held there annual Christmas party for the staffs children. How nice! There was face painting, magic, Santa and me on camera duty. The day was a lot of fun and photographing the children with Santa was a blast. Some kids cried because they found Santa scary while others couldn't take their eyes off him. We brought printers on site with us and printed the photos right away of the children and Santa and made them into Christmas cards for families to tkae home.

Here are a couple of pics:

Vote numbers--just 2 more days to vote!

I just counted up the votes which took over an hour and while doing so 17 more votes came in.

The numbers are pretty close.

One couple has 171 votes
Another couple has 154 votes
Another has 115
and the last couple has 125 votes

Plus the 17 more to add that makes 582 votes.

Now I've got a head start on the counting of the votes. Keep them coming in. Closing date is this Saturday.

What kids do when I don't direct on set

Blah Blah Blog

Free wedding photography contest
- Get your votes in! I'm close the voting on December 23rd and the couple to win the photography will be announced Christmas day. This gives me a few days to count all the votes.

Christmas Fun
I think this is hilarious!!! You can take a photo of someone and make then dance like an elf. Or use your own photo. Check out this link:
http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=517c087c7b3b9d7333a689cG06121810
This elf is my sister Janet. Some of you may have met her as she is a great candid shooter and sometimes works as a walk around candid shooter.
Also on the site is a link to a lot of other great holiday activities. Just click on the yellow 'Office Max' Tab on the right bottom corner.
Try these links:
http://www.savethesnowman.com/
http://www.myholidaysweater.com/ (another great Christmas Card)
http://www.shaketheglobe.com/

Birthday
My son had his 9th birthday party last weekend. We had a sleep over of five children. It was a blast! I was only joking when I said they couldn't use forks but I think they had fun with it. Here are a few photos:

Cluster Maps

I'm loving the cluster map! I just added this map--I think Dec. 3rd. It's on the right side if you haven't noticed. It's updated daily and it's amazing to see how wide spread the blog world gets. Since Dec. 3rd I have had over 900 hits! According from the size of the dots I'm attracting over 1000 hits from my own area--very cool!!!

If your interested in your own cluster map just click on mine that's located at the right side of my blog and it will direct you.

2007 Free Wedding Photography Contestants

You have four couples to chose from as to who you think deserves the free wedding photography for 2007. Feel free to leave comments in any section but voting must be done through email.

Please email myself at aboutimagephotography@bellnet.ca
The subject line must read vote.
You can only vote once.

The contest winner will be posted on December 25th

The stories are posted below seperatly because this blog would not allow the room for the stories and the photos.

Good luck to all!


Meet our contestants....

Crystal & Terry

Lisa & Michael

Tracee & Jason

Jack and Charlie

Stephen & Natalie

Stephen & Natalie

Our story began over two years ago just before I moved to Calgary and Natalie stayed in Ottawa, beginning a relationship that has brought many hardships and joys. Meeting only 5 weeks before starting a long distance relationship was not expected, as most of the greatest things in life begin. However, as students, we had little money to spend on each other, and seeing as flying home was not realistic, the little money that we did have we pooled together to see one another. While getting to know each other we would talk for hours, phone conversations lasting from 4 to 5 hours a night and racking up impressive phone bill statements.

As time went by we grew towards each other in how we felt, but not in the distance that separated us. It was decided before the end of my program that I would finish my thesis in Ottawa so that we could be together. During this period I also worked full time to make ends meet. While things were tough, our zany lives and the fact that we were together kept our spirits up.

This past September Natalie and I flew out to Calgary where I successfully defend my thesis. With pure excitement I asked Natalie to marry me on the Bow River. You wouldn’t have met a happier couple in the world that day. While we could have waited even longer to get married, Natalie’s opportunity to attend post-graduate school next fall would have prolonged this an additional 4 years. It was after much deliberation that we decided that in October 2007 we would get married. This left little time to save money for the biggest day of our lives.

Up to this point we have managed to do everything thus far by ourselves and having free wedding photography would allow us to spend money where we need it elsewhere. We are keeping the wedding small to keep it intimate and the costs down. I had no idea a wedding cost this much if any guy reads this they will know what I mean. At this point Natalie and I are happy just to have a wedding day, but the opportunity that Jenna has provided would make the following year even more exciting having one less thing to worry about(and one great one to look forward to).

Another complication that we face is that Natalie and I are very close to our families and many of them live far away (Natalie’s family lives in Belgium on a military posting, some of my siblings are in Jerusalem, and Bangladesh); as such, the photos that Jenna will take are the only means by which some of them can remember the day by (as we see some of them as infrequently as once a year). We thought for a long time about capturing the day ourselves with personal cameras but then realized the true value of these photos to these long distance family members.

As Natalie and I start our lives together we want to be able to look back at our wedding pictures and remember the joy of that day, and not to feel the guilt associated with the things in our lives that we could not afford to have. With this opportunity we would be able to capture the happiness that everyone will be able to share when they return to their respective homes for generations to come. We would be forever grateful.

Stephen

Tracee & Jason

Our StoryJason and I both grew up in Pickering, Ontario and have known of each other since high school. We had mutual friends and even dragonboated together, but were never really close. It wasn't until after university that we got together. After dating for 2 1/2 years, we decided to buy a house and move in together (eeek!). So, since June of 2005 we have been living in Whitby. Last January we adopted 2 brother cats, Jack and Charlie. (I attached a picture of them too - now you've seen our "family"!). On July 1, 2006, Jay proposed while we were out for a hike in a nearby conservation area - double eeek!!

Since before we got together, Jason has been working as a police officer. Jay absolutely loves what he does and nobody can imagine him doing anything else for a living. However, with a job like he has, some days are better than others and more often than not he sees people at their worst.

On our wedding day, everyone and everything will be at it's best. The photos of the wedding will forever remind us of the best day of our lives. I would love nothing more than for Jason to be able to come home from work after one of those bad days of seeing someone at their worst and be able to see photos of us at our best, and smile.

This is a poem that my maid of honour's mother wrote for us, for your contest. She is known to write poems for special occassions, so I am honoured that she has written this for us:

What can be said
About Tracee and Jay,
They're getting married soon
And they'd rather not pay!

They shared the same high school
But couldn't care less,
Passing in the hall
Neither one was impressed

In a big dragonboat
Way out on the lake,
Lots of panting and sweating
But still love didn't take

A friend brought them together
One date - what's the harm?
The rest is history,
Third time's a charm

Their wedding photography
Will be a big hit
Jay's shiny bald head
And Tracee's smile that won't quit

Please consider their plea
From Tracee and Jay,
They're getting married soon
And would rather not pay!

Jenna, thanks for proposing this contest. It has made for some very funny discussions between Jay, myself, our parents and the entire wedding party. Regardless, I hope that you will be able to photograph our wedding next year!

Thanks again,Tracee

Lisa & Michael

Before I met Michael I was 28 years of age, had a great career started, and was living on my own. I was single. I had been single for quite a while,several years. I had been on a few dates, but nothing seemed to work out. I had eventually come to the conclusion that I would probably never marry or have children and that was ok, although it saddened me. One day a coworker of mine had mentioned she wanted to introduce me to a friend of hers that was going through divorce and has three kids. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to meet this friend, he wasn’t my idea of a “Dream Man”, but it couldn’t have been further from the truth. I mentioned to my sister about going on a date with a divorcee and my hesitation. She laughed and told me to go on the date, “It’s not like you’re going to marry the guy”. She couldn’t have been more wrong. He is the most fantastic man I have ever met. I kept looking for his flaw but never found one. He was (and still is) confident, caring, intelligent and thoughtful. He loves his kids so much; just talking to him about them makes his face light up with joy. The day he proposed was one of the happiest days in my life. He truly makes me happy.

The reason I am applying to win the free wedding pictures is because I know Michael would love to give me the wedding of my dreams, however our current situation is not one that would allow us to do the wedding I was hoping for. Needless to say our wedding budget has been tight. Because of this, we have had to make many changes and sacrifices.

Both Michael and I have a large extended family. While we would love to invite them all, our budget does not allow us to do so. We have had to cut our guest list back to 60 people, which has made deciding whom to invite rather difficult. Also, to help with reducing our wedding costs, we rearranged our wedding from an evening event to a luncheon. With our families’ help we are making the invitations, centre pieces, my wedding dress, the flower girl’s dress and the wedding cake. Yes, these changes have
helped us to stay on track financially, but they alone cannot bring our budget down enough.

The advice I have received from close friends is that “your wedding day goes by so fast. Try to enjoy it because it’s over before you know it. A great photographer will help you preserve the memory.” I’m sure this day will pass me by quickly, but knowing I will have these pictures to look back on will make it last forever.

Crystal & Terry

My name is Crystal and my Fiancée is Terry. We have known each other since we were twelve years old. I met him when I moved next door to him. Ever since I have met Terry I knew we would be in eachothers lives forever.

He asked me to "go out with him" the first year I knew him. We were in grade six so it was just this silly thing. We dated again in High school this time it was a little more serious. This time we dated for close to a year and a half, until I broke it off with him. From what his family tells me, he was absolutely heart broken. I couldn’t tell you what my reasoning was for breaking it off with him, but I am the kind of person who didn’t want to go back to him and tell him it was the wrong thing to do. So we dated other people.

I ended up dating another guy and having a baby with him. We only stayed together for a couple of years. Throughout this time, I didn’t really talk to Terry much because I was I guess ashamed of what I had done. Not necessarily ashamed of the baby, but ashamed because I had missed him sooo much and really thought that he would never be interested again because of this.

I finally broke off from my previous relationship and I wanted to start talking to Terry again. Well, it didn’t even get to be a couple of weeks. The week after I had broken off my previous relationship, Terry's sister was looking for a roommate because she had just gone through a Divorce, so Terry was helping us move into a new apartment. This is when I worked up the courage to ask him to hang out. He said he would love to and that he would pick me up later that night and we could hang out.

It turned out that he had wanted to talk to me just as much as I wanted to talk to him, we just didn't know how to go about it. Instantly, we knew we wanted to be with each other again. He has been with me while I completed high school, as well as college, and raised my daughter. He has been an excellent support system.

Now he acts as an excellent father figure to my daughter and he treats her like she is his own.

So I guess to sum it up - He gets to marry the girl next door, and I get to marry the boy next door :)

When I saw the ad for this on Canadian bride, I knew that it was the perfect opportunity. Origionally we looked for a photography, but we found that alot of the prices just weren't in our budget - unfortunatly. Terry's sister has offered to photograph our wedding, she takes excellent pictures - but has little experience with weddings. I would also like her to enjoy and celebrate this special day with us.

Thank you for offering this opportunity to future brides - it very generous of you!
And thanks for your consideration.

Miscellaneous Chat

Wedding Contest
-342 votes have been placed so far
-you can only vote once. I'm pretty sure this is obvious but some voters have voted up to five times. Only one vote will count.
-just b/c one couple has more comments does not mean that are ahead in votes.
-yes the couples can vote for themselves once as a couple

Christmas Orders
Everything ordered for Christmas up to date will be to you by Christmas. Well, unless there are border problems but I've never had any.
Bates, Maley & Gertsma Story albums are on the way
I think I'm finished with Christmas cards for everyone except C&C and they are uploaded to you today

School Photos
Anyone who ordered Package C was to receive 4-5x7 and my lab only printed 2. This is being fixed and I'll pick up the prints on Saturday. However, my lab is great and I'm very happy with them but everyone makes mistakes.

Oh, I never did post anything here about the studio being complete but by the studio photos I've been posting I guess it was obvious. I'll get to posting a photo as well as the last three wedding I photographed eventually.

I have three upcoming bridal shows Melissa & Iwill be in from Jan-Feb that I'll post about later.

And to keep the wedding competition up I'll keep bumping it to the top of the blog every now and then.

A few from today's session

Free Bridal Show Tickets

I have 3 free bridal show tickets to:

The Wedding Show Spring 2007
Brought to you by Lily's Bridal
& The Banquet Centre
Sunday, January 7, 2007
12:00-3:30PM

Fashion Show 1:30-3:00 with Intermission
Alhambra Square, Belleville

Anyone who wants them just let me know and they are yours.

Otherwise it's $8.00 in advance or $10.00 at the door

I'll be a vendor there.

A few new...

Just picked up a few new thank-you cards and hoping my good friend Jenna (aka the other jenna as I am the other jenna to her) can help me change the colour of the templates when needed. These cards will be made into post cards when I'm finished with the design.

Bolduc Christmas Card

Comments from the Voters

I just opened my email and I have 148 new emails and 136 of the emails were voters!I wonder how long it's going to take me to count all these votes???

Here are some of the comments:

Tracee and Jason are just wacky yet cute enough to make their wedding photos not only beautiful but funfilled too! I cant believe she used THAT picture, but then again, it says it all about who they really are!!Go Tracee and Jason!
-Anonymous

I vote for Steve and Natalie, 'cause Steve is really tall and he has a cool leather jacket
-Kyle

My vote is for Stephen and Natalie.Stephen and Natalie's young love story reminds me of my parents' romance that started 50 years ago and my parents still are romantically in love! My parents, Joanne and Don met and quickly fell in love. Unfortunately, the Korean War almost immediately separated them. However, my parents wrote each other a lot while my father was away in the Navy. Grandmother Florence attributed their lasting marriage to my parents starting a romance using correspondence. She thinks they knew each other in a deeper more meaningful way because the distance limited connecting to correspondence. Stephen and Natalie's romance story is equally promising for similar reasons. I heartily cast my vote for Stephen and Natalie!
-Kim

I'm voting for Crystal Farkas & Terry Weese.
From her friend Heather

It's Tracee and Jason all the way. Great smiles and great personality! Love the poem! When the wedding party and friends get into it this much, it makes for great photos! :)

I want to vote for Lisa and Michael.
-Beverly

I would like to vote for Crystal and Terry....please place a vote for them

I would like to Vote for Terry Weese & Crystal Farkas for the free wedding photography!
Thanks, Karen

Crystal Farkas and Terry Weese
Please choose them!!!

Jay & Tracee. Hope they win
-BJ

Hi, I'm voting for Tracee and Jason, what a fantastic couple they make! Also, the picture of Jack and Charlie is soooooo cute!
-Love the Mother of the Bride

I want to vote for Lisa and Michael.
-Linda

I'd like to vote for Stephen and Natalie.
Thanks,
Alexandra

Hi there,
I am making my vote for Lisa and Michael. I work with Lisa and she is truly a happy go lucky kind of person. You just never know what’s around the corner for the “one” you will fall in love with and sometimes it’s usually somebody you would least expect. Lisa, you better thank your sister for making you go on the first date….
Lucky for Lisa she has met the man of her dreams and the memories I agree are what it is all about as the Wedding day does flash by. Lisa and Michael’s new chapter starts next year and what better keep sake to have then pictures of their happy day to look back on and smile and remember…..
Thank you
Sandy


Jason and Tracee. The cutest couple of the bunch for sure...except maybe the cats might have them beat.
-Arthur

I vote for Tracee and Jason, free or not the pictures will be wonderful as they are a wonderful couple
-Judy

Hi,
We would like to vote for Tracee Nemeth and Jason Fisher to win your wedding photography contest. They are an amazing couple and definitely deserve to win. Jason and I have been friends for the past 23 years (since the 1st grade) and since Tracee has come into his life he is a different person!!!! She is amazing.
We hope they win.
Sincerely,
Claudia

I want to vote for Lisa and Michael.
-Glen

C’mon Lisa….!!!!
Good Luck
BB

Hi Jenna,
I totally vote for Natalie and Steve. They told me all about you and how
exciting it is that you're going to take their pictures, what a bonus for
them if it could be free!
You sound really cool and I'm looking forward to meeting you next October!
Bradlee

I would like to vote for stephen and natalie.
...To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also beleive!!!

I vote for Stephen Dykstra and Natalie Godwin - they are an amazing young couple who deserve a break!
-Andrea

I vote for Natalie and Stephen!

They are the cutest couple I know, and Natalie is one of my most favourite people in the world. I miss her more than anything, and am so excited for the wedding. I know that the Photos mean a lot to her, and she has been very excited to be working with you, Jenna! She had lots of good things to sayJ
Sincerely,
Kelly

I would like to place my vote for Tracee and Jay, they look like a really
sweet couple
-Kathy

I would like to vote for Stephen and Natalie. Not only do they look like a
ridiculously happy couple, they are one. They've been through so much and
it would help them a lot to have free photography for their wedding.
Best of luck to them.

I vote for Stephen and Natalie. There story was best. Touching.
Thanks
Sandy

I want to vote for Lisa and Michael. I liked their story and can relate to it. Holly

My vote is definately for Tracee and Jay, they look like a really fun couple
and I think that you could shoot some fun and unique shots of them.
Heather

Please pick Tracee Nemeth and Jay Fisher as your lucky
winner.
Thanks,
Their Friend, Melissa and Darren

Closing day for Free Wedding Photography Contset!

We have a good collection of great stories and I know viewers of the blog are interested in the soon to come stories. In one story we have a poem written by the maid of honours mother. It's nice to see everyone involved in participating in our contest. A few of my friends have asked for a sneak peek of the stories but I have informed them they need to wait like everyone else. The stories are very worth the wait.

However, now that all the stories are in it's going to be difficult to for me to have one contest winner. I'm so glad I have nothing to do with the voting as it's all up to the viewers.

A few who entered forgot a few things like their story, wedding date and one couple forgot to attach their photo. I have sent you an mail to let you know this. Everyone else who entered that has not received an email--your entry is fine.

I'll close the contest at midnight and post the entries tomorrow morning and we will let the voting begin. Instructions on voting will also be posted. The winner of the contest will be posted on Christmas day.

2 from 2day!

I meet this cutie at a daycare I just recently photographed. His older brother was being photographed but this cutie didn't attend the day care to be included in the photos. His mom decided to come to the studio for his own photo session. We have some great ones but here are my fav. two.

In the bellow photo he was just starting to crawl off the set.

Neal Family Christmas Card

First snow fall in Belleville

Barry Family Photos

I met dad of the family for a portrait session, and weeks later I was meeting the family for the yearly family photo/Christmas card. The family was a lot of fun and we had fun working together. I love family photos.