Orangerie Events

There’s bad news and there’s great news.  Bad news – We didn’t receive as many entries as we had hoped for the contest.  Great news – we’ve selected a receipient for Blessed with a Dress.  Just because our plans didn’t pan out the way we had imagined doesn’t mean that there isn’t a bride-to-be still deserving of an amazing wedding package.

We decided that instead of embarking on a voting process, we would let the anonymous donor read the entries and select which bride she’d like to see receive the wedding dress.  From the beginning, the entire contest has been based around the donor’s incredible donation and her desire to help and inspire another bride.  I’m thrilled to annouce that Allison has won the dress, the photography and the wedding coordination.  Allison’s entry story is posted below and the donor couldn’t have possibly selected a more deserving and genuine recipient.

We’ll definitely keep up with Allison and her wedding planning journey throughout the next few months. Congratulations Allison and we’re so excited to help you create your fairytale wedding!

“I’m a helpless romantic and often times feel like my love story belongs in a movie.  It feels surreal most of the time and then I’ll take a step back and realize this is my life! I spent the majority of the last 3 years wondering “will I ever be blessed with another great love?”  On May 2^nd, 2008 I lost my first love.  When he passed away, I felt hopeless. I just knew that was it and I would never feel that way toward anyone again. I felt like I was going through the motions of life with no purpose. Then it happened! On Feb 7, 2010 by sheer luck he came walking into my life! I was having lunch with my late fiancé’s mother and sister and there he was. We were introduced and since that day we have been inseparable. He gave me hope when I had none, he gave me a reason, he gave me his all and he helped me to love again. I want for our day to be the most memorable day of our lives! I want to overshadow all the bad days with this one amazing day. I feel like winning this contest would make that day even more of a fairytale!”

I’ve teamed up with A.J. Dunlap from A.J. Dunlap Photography to present one amazing contest.  This thing has been in the works for quite some time and I am so excited to finally reveal it to you! As you can see from above we are giving away the pictured brand new wedding gown, a one hour bridal portrait session, a 16 x 20 canvas portrait & wedding day-of coordination services!  What’s better than that?  This contest isn’t limited to Raleigh, NC but available to anywhere in the continental US!

Here are the 3 Easy Steps to Enter:

1.  Send an email to Priscilla@orangerieevents.com or dunlap.aj@gmail.com with a photo of yourself and a short story (200 words or less) describing why you or someone you know should be blessed with a dress.

2. “Like” both our pages on Facebook.  Click here for Orangerie Events and here for A.J. Dunlap Photography.

3. Post as your status on Facebook “I want to be blessed with a dress from Orangerie Events & A.J. Dunlap Photography!” Now the kicker with this one is you have to tag us in the status by pressing the @ symbol before typing our name.  Pressing the @ symbol will pop up a box and allow you to select our pages and tag us.  You can ONLY do this after you’ve liked each of our pages.

Entries will be accepted until Sunday, August 21 at midnight.  You’ll be notified once you have successfully entered the contest.  The gracious donor of the dress will then select the top 10 finalists based on who she thinks should be blessed with a dress…so make those stories good!

The 10 finalists will be posted on our blogs on Tuesday, August 23 at 10am and the winner will be selected by who receives the most votes.  We’ll post instructions on how to vote for the winner when we post the finalists on August 22.  Voting will remain open until Monday, August 29 at midnight.

We will announce the winner on Thursday, September 1 at 10am!  Good luck and I can’t wait to read your story!

And now for the fancy fine print:

• By entering the contest you give both A.J. Dunlap Photography & Orangerie Events permission to use your photo and story for any purpose related to this contest
• Only one entry per person. All steps must be completed by 12am EST on Sunday, August 21, 2011
• Only submissions to priscilla@orangerieevents.com or dunlap.aj@gmail.com will be accepted
• Only entries following all the steps listed above will be accepted
• Stories with more than 200 words will be shortened to fit the contest rules
• Wedding dress is a size 14 and can be altered to fit a smaller size. The dress has never been worn and is valued at $600
• Orangerie Events & A.J. Dunlap Photography are not responsible for alterations on the dress
• Wedding Day-of Coordination is valid until Dec 31, 2012 and must be booked at least 2 months in advance
• Bridal Session must be booked at least 2 months in advance and completed by April 30, 2012
• Canvas Portrait must be selected from the bridal portrait session photos by June 31, 2012
• Winner must be willing to sign a model release for use of the images from their portrait session for both Orangerie Events & A.J. Dunlap Photography
• Orangerie Events & A.J. Dunlap Photography will be responsible for shipping the dress if winner is further than 1 hour from Raleigh, NC.  If the winner is within 1 hour of Raleigh, it will be the responsibility of the winner to pick up the dress by Sept 30, 2011
• Prizes not redeemable for cash