Remember our Win your wedding photography competition from a few months back, well these guys were the winners.

To say that all they won was photographs of their wedding wouldn't be completely true. Not long after posting the announcement here on the blog I received a phone call from Anika and Luke, they were so excited that I knew straight away this was going to make a positive impact on their wedding. We chatted about their plans and they told me all about the day and what it meant to them.
It was at that point I realised just what this day meant to them. Yes everyones wedding day is important but there was something more here, something deeper. This was a marriage of two people but also a marriage of two amazing families, a day where all 7 of them would be one.

To be a part of this union was amazing. I have never seen a family so bonded, so together, they all truly touched my heart. On the night Luke and Anika phoned me Luke made it clear that this day was about their family, it was a day for them to celebrate, to share their love and families with each other and I was honestly moved by how very real that was on the day.

The joy and happiness was contagious and it was hard not to get wrapped up in all the emotion. I was touched by their stories, their love and their day. I could not have spent my own special day (my birthday) surrounded by anything better.
I am happy that my small gesture made a fantastic group of people so happy.

Congratulations to you all, you are truly a wonderful family and I thank you for sharing your day with us.

Bxx











This makes me laugh.....



This also makes me laugh....

Ok, Im not part of the Biggest Loser or So you think you can dance, Im not about cliffhangers and suspense so I am just going to yell it out right now...

The winner is..................

Who, incidently are getting married on my birthday!

With an amazing 2305 votes and and incredible 50.6% of total votes they have, without a doubt won their wedding photography and a sweetheart session for free!

For those that didn't win this time, you all did an amazing amount of voting with a total of 4556 votes! The competition was close all the way through the week and there was a lot of position swapping throughout including a jump in the last few seconds!
Here is what the votes looked like:

I want to take this time to thank you all for entering and taking so much time to vote and take part. I also want to thank all the people who took the time to vote for their favorite couples, I am so glad the decision was not left to me, as it would have been so very hard. You all deserve this! Thank you to all those mums and dad who entered the competition for their children, that is just so lovely!

I wish you all the very best of days, with clear skies and sunshine! Please stop by to let us know how your day goes, we would love to share your love for the world to see! We will be posting about Anika and Luke's wedding in March!

Please feel free to leave comments for the lucky couple and for the runners up. Your support has been what made this possible.

If you missed out this year or are getting married next year, stick around and follow the blog as we may run this again next year. Its so important to us that people who ordinarily wouldn't be able to have great images can have the chance to.
We also put out casting calls here so there may be plenty of other chances to have your photos done by helping us out.
Thank you again to everyone who played a role in the competition.

Have a great weekend!

Bxx

WOOHOO, Wow!!

Well, thats it. Its all over! What an amazing week! We have had well over 4000 votes for our couples! All your friends and family have done an amazing job in helping you all and we thank you for taking the time to participate.

Stay tuned as the winner will be announced here on the blog at around 8pm tonight. Good luck to all of you, you have all put in a huge effort and I wish you all could win!

An email will also be sent to each of you to let you know how you have done.

Thank you and good luck!!!

bxx

UPDATE | 30 MINUTES LEFT!! THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED HERE AROUND 8PM TONIGHT!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Can you believe it's been four months since we first annouced this amazing competition? It's now officially February which means that our competition has come to a close and it is now your turn to help.

Its time to vote!!

All of our couples are listed below, you may know one of them or may just want to put in a vote for someone you feel deserves this fabulous prize.
What's that prize again?

The lucky winner will recieve:

A full engagement or sweetheart session including one 8x12 print
A full Pre-Wedding Consultation meeting
6 Hours of photography on your wedding day
All images professionally processed and edited
An online Gallery for one week
Full Digital Negatives

Fill in the voting form below to ensure your favorite couple walk away with $2700 worth of photography for free!
You can vote as many times as you like but you will have to wait a short time between each vote.

Good Luck and thank you for taking the time to vote.

We have been overwhelmed by the response we have had and are so happy to be giving this prize to one of our lucky couples. We wish you all the very best of luck.

Voting closes at 12pm Friday, February 5th, 2010 and the winner will be announced that evening.

Did you miss out this year? If so, don't panic, we may do this again next year! So stay tuned....

Well with only a matter of hours remaining in the competition, we have another entry! They have just scraped in but are now in the running to win their wedding photography along with our four other fabulous couples!

DON'T FORGET, VOTING STARTS TOMORROW!

So, unless we have one final, last minute entry, please meet all of our couples!


Introducing.....


Grace and Simon 2010

Why would it mean the world to Grace and Simon to win this prize?
They are just starting out, so $3000 is a LOT (on top of all the other wedding costs) and that could go towards a home of their own.

Any other relevant or interesting information we should know
Grace's mother has just been diagnosed with inoperable terminal cancer, and short of a miracle (which we are all praying for) the doctors give her twelve months to live. Simon & Grace had planned on a January 4th 2012 wedding, but that will now have to be drastically brought forward
so the mother of the Bride can give her lovely daughter away while she is still well enough to do so.

I wish you both the best of luck!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Michelle & Brad November 27th, 2010

Why would it mean the world to Michelle and Brad to win this prize?
What can you say about a couple who work hard, care for their children, love their parents, treat their friends well, help others and look very good in photographs. A very special day for a very special couple, captured in very special photographs taken by a very special photographer...............it would mean so much to them....memories to share forever........

Is there any other information we should know?
Brad and Michelle met by accident, he didn't hear her sneaking up behind him and when he regained conciousness, she was leaning over him smiling.
There is no truth in the rumour that when Michelle said "I want to be a Princess for the day", Brad's answer was 'Riddip, Riddip!!"

____________________________________________________________________
Robert & Alison October 2 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
It would mean the world to us because we are so excited about our wedding and we can't wait to share our life together. We would love beautiful photos of our special day to show our kids one day. Also weddings are super expensive so getting amazing photographs and not having to spend a fortune would be unbelievable!

Is there any other information we should know?
My fiance and I have been together for almost 9 years and we are going to get married down in Batemans Bay which is very special to us because my fiance grew up there and all our family live there. We love Batemans Bay and can't wait to be married there.

Good Luck!!! ____________________________________________________________________
Nicole and Adam November 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
"We are unable to book a wedding date at this stage as we do not have any funds to do so. We are trying to save to book a reception venue ASAP. We realize that Photography is one thing you really need to remember your special day but we have accepted that we will not be able to afford it as it is just too expensive. It would mean the world to us to win this competition as we are getting married on McKenzie's Beach where a friends memorial lies, to capture this with Professional Photography would just be amazing."

Is there any other information we should know?
"We got engaged a month ago after being together for 7 years. My fiance only 2 weeks ago had a bad accident. After being in a Sydney hospital for 1 week he has now amazingly nearly recovered & to win such a fantastic prize would just make us so happy. We've been saying that we have the worst luck & to win this competition would definitely prove us wrong & put a big smile on our faces"

Good Luck!!! ____________________________________________________________________
Anika and Luke March 27 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
"Luke and I are having a really low key wedding with family and friends. I would love to have a professional photographer but it just isn't in our budget. Instead my dad is going to take pictures....

Is there any other information we should know?
Luke and I have 5 kids! We met 4 years ago online. Luke has two girls and I have two boys. We now all live together in Canberra and Luke and I had a little boy 16 months ago who we named Tai as he Ties our family together.

Good Luck guys! ___________________________________________________________________

Feel free to leave comments as support for our couples, official voting will commence from February 1st here on the blog! Good luck to everyone!

Dont forget that these guys need your help to win so stay tuned to ensure you are around to support the couple you think should win this prize!

With only 12 days left to enter we have another couple in the running to win their photography and its all thanks to Michelles father, Peter who has taken the time to enter them.

Thank you to everyone who has entered, there are still 12 days left to enter so if you are planning on trying your luck you need to be quick. Its all very exciting!

Introducing .........

Michelle & Brad November 27th, 2010



Why would it mean the world to these guys to win this prize?
What can you say about a couple who work hard, care for their children, love their parents, treat their friends well, help others and look very good in photographs. A very special day for a very special couple, captured in very special photographs taken by a very special photographer...............it would mean so much to them....memories to share forever........

Is there any other information we should know?
Brad and Michelle met by accident, he didn't hear her sneaking up behind him and when he regained conciousness, she was leaning over him smiling.
There is no truth in the rumour that when Michelle said "I want to be a Princess for the day", Brad's answer was 'Riddip, Riddip!!"

____________________________________________________________________
Robert & Alison October 2 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
It would mean the world to us because we are so excited about our wedding and we can't wait to share our life together. We would love beautiful photos of our special day to show our kids one day. Also weddings are super expensive so getting amazing photographs and not having to spend a fortune would be unbelievable!

Is there any other information we should know?
My fiance and I have been together for almost 9 years and we are going to get married down in Batemans Bay which is very special to us because my fiance grew up there and all our family live there. We love Batemans Bay and can't wait to be married there.

Good Luck!!! ____________________________________________________________________
Nicole and Adam November 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
"We are unable to book a wedding date at this stage as we do not have any funds to do so. We are trying to save to book a reception venue ASAP. We realize that Photography is one thing you really need to remember your special day but we have accepted that we will not be able to afford it as it is just too expensive. It would mean the world to us to win this competition as we are getting married on McKenzie's Beach where a friends memorial lies, to capture this with Professional Photography would just be amazing."

Is there any other information we should know?
"We got engaged a month ago after being together for 7 years. My fiance only 2 weeks ago had a bad accident. After being in a Sydney hospital for 1 week he has now amazingly nearly recovered & to win such a fantastic prize would just make us so happy. We've been saying that we have the worst luck & to win this competition would definitely prove us wrong & put a big smile on our faces"

Good Luck!!! ____________________________________________________________________
Anika and Luke March 27 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
"Luke and I are having a really low key wedding with family and friends. I would love to have a professional photographer but it just isn't in our budget. Instead my dad is going to take pictures....

Is there any other information we should know?
Luke and I have 5 kids! We met 4 years ago online. Luke has two girls and I have two boys. We now all live together in Canberra and Luke and I had a little boy 16 months ago who we named Tai as he Ties our family together.

Good Luck guys! ___________________________________________________________________

Feel free to leave comments as support for our couples, official voting will commence from February 1st here on the blog! Good luck to everyone!

Dont forget that these guys need your help to win so stay tuned to ensure you are around to support the couple you think should win this prize!

Meet the couples below!

We are looking for one lucky couple to win a complete wedding photography package!


Photography is such an important part of any wedding and something that should
be valued, yet that value is often overlooked or easily let go when planning your day.

So, we have decided that we would love to offer an amazing photography package to
one couple who really want to have fabulous images to remember their day by but may not be able to afford it.

Are you, or do you know someone who you think deserves this special prize?
We want people who would truly love to have this opportunity and who otherwise may not have included photography in their budget because of financial reasons. We don't want people who just want free photos, we want people who it would mean the world to!

The Prize:

A full engagement or sweetheart session including one 8x12 print
A full Pre-Wedding Consultation meeting
6 Hours of photography on your wedding day
All images professionally processed and edited
An online Gallery for one week
Full Digital Negatives

All valued at $2700

You can see all our entries below!

If you would like to enter:
HERE to open entry form.
Save your completed form and attach it to an email with a photo of the special couple along with your form to biancadopson@bigpond.com with the subject ‘Competition Entry’, oh and be sure to read the terms and conditions below first

We need your help as well! The winner will be decided by public vote,
you can help someone’s dream come true, so be sure to vote for your favourite couple!

You can track the full competition, and watch all our updates here on the blog and if you bookmark the blog or subscribe you wont miss a thing!

Entries close on Sunday, January 31 2010 and the wedding must be held before March 2011

Terms & Conditions:
Winners will be chosen by public vote, based on information provided by nominee.
All valid entries will be uploaded to the blog .
Entrants must be willing to have all related images blogged.
Winners will agree to all images taken as part of this competition to be used by Bianca Dopson Photography for promotion and advertising purposes.
Only geniune entries will be considered and should there be any questions about the validy of the entry or their eligability they will be removed from the competition.
The prize is not transferable to any other session or person .
Should the winning couple not wish to take advantage of their prize a runner up may be chosen as the winner.
If Bianca is already booked on your wedding date we will let you know immediately and you will not be eligable to enter
Couples which have current bookings with Bianca Dopson can not enter .
Couple must be getting married in the ACT, Surrounding NSW areas or on the NSW South Coast, should the winning couples wedding be elsewhere they will agree to pay travel costs.
Bianca Dopson will endeavour to ensure the E-session is held, however if it cannot be, due to timing constraints the session will be forfeited.
The couple must agree to have their story published to the blog.Entries received after January 31, 2010 will not be eligable to enter or win
The winning Wedding must be held before March 2011.
Should there be an overwhelming response, entries may be shortlisted before voting comences. This will be indipendently decided and will be based on entry and circumstances

Well we already have our first entires, I wish these guys all the best, they both are very deserving. Im glad Im not judging this, it would be very hard!

Nicole and Adam November 2010

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
"We are unable to book a wedding date at this stage as we do not have any funds to do so. We are trying to save to book a reception venue ASAP. We realize that Photography is one thing you really need to remember your special day but we have accepted that we will not be able to afford it as it is just too expensive. It would mean the world to us to win this competition as we are getting married on McKenzie's Beach where a friends memorial lies, to capture this with Professional Photography would just be amazing."

Is there any other information we should know?
"We got engaged a month ago after being together for 7 years. My fiance only 2 weeks ago had a bad accident. After being in a Sydney hospital for 1 week he has now amazingly nearly recovered & to win such a fantastic prize would just make us so happy. We've been saying that we have the worst luck & to win this competition would definitely prove us wrong & put a big smile on our faces"

Good Luck!!!

____________________________________________________________________

Anika and Luke March 27

Why would it mean the world to you to win this prize?
"Luke and I are having a really low key wedding with family and friends. I would love to have a professional photographer but it just isn't in our budget. Instead my dad is going to take pictures....

Is there any other information we should know?
Luke and I have 5 kids! We met 4 years ago online. Luke has two girls and I have two boys. We now all live together in Canberra and Luke and I had a little boy 16 months ago who we named Tai as he Ties our family together.

Good Luck guys!

Feel free to leave comments as support for our couples, official voting will commence from February 1st here on the blog! Good luck to everyone!