2010 Engagement Contest { Palm Beach Photography}

A few weeks back we announced our yearly engagement give away! It went like this any couple,family or friends could nominate and provide us with their story of any hurdles they over came in 2009 it could be sad,funny or just down right romantic! After having my inbox blow up with nominations I cut it down to two awesome couples with two complete different stories that you will read below!
Now how the winner is chosen is for you the readers to vote in the comment box below the post with just the number 1 or number 2 on which couple you would like to see win the give away!

                                                              {:::::Drum Roll:::::}

Couple # 1
Meet Jennifer and Ryan

Jennifer wrote in and this is their story:

2009 started off for us kind of rough for us. My fiance Ryan had just moved back toFlorida after being in NY apart from me and our son for almost 5 months. We had intentions of moving up there but the economy had other plans for us! He came back down to Florida and began looking for a job again, in the midst of what the US began to call an economic depression. In the meanwhile, I was the sole provider for our family of 3 and on not the biggest income. This hard time really showed us what family is about, being able to come together and be there for one another when it seems like it will never get any better.
We are now planning a wedding for April 2010 on our own and would really love to have engagement pictures but we really just cannot afford it. This would be such a great opportunity for us when we realize we wouldn't be able to have this any other way.
Thanks for letting me share our story with you!


Couple # 2
Ayren and Jon

Jon wrote in on his journey to Ayren:
{All I can say is all props to Jon for writing this}

Meeting Ayren was something that I could have never foreseen nor imagined. As a marine engineer, I am away for months at a time out to sea working. This is a large reason why my last relationship failed in early January 2009. A couple of weeks afterward, some of my guy friends were meeting in Tampa, FL for the 2009 Super Bowl. They said that I needed to get away from CA and stop being upset over my last break up. A good boys’ weekend was what I needed. So, after a quick flight, I landed in Tampa from California at 8:30pm on January 31^st. Three hours later we were at an Irish bar and it was my turn to buy the round of drinks. So, as I ordered 6 or 7 drinks, I heard this girl say “Wow, that’s quite a lot of drinks there!”. I looked up to see a gorgeous blond with amazing blue eyes and a smile to stop the Earth’s rotation. I was amazed… I replied back with “Well, I’ll make you a deal, help me carry a couple of these over to my friends, and I’ll buy you one too”… I ended up buying her and her friend a drink, but it worked, and we started to chat. A couple perfect kisses sealed the deal for that night, and I was hooked. I didn’t let on to it, but I couldn’t get her off my mind. So, we made plans for her and her girlfriends and the guys and I to all meet up on Sunday for the big game. We met in downtown Tampa at an outdoor block party of sorts. We instantly started to chat and get to know each other. Everything was too perfect, except for the small detail that the next day she was leaving back to West Palm Beach, and on Wednesday I would go home to California.

As weeks went by, we emailed and talked on the phone a lot, getting to know the real person. We talked of the chance of our meeting. So many small details that would have led to us never meeting. But we were glad that we did. When my younger brother went to visit a school in Florida, I told our folks that I wanted to go with him, and they agreed. Good brother time, and we were both engineering fields. Well, even though it was a 3 hour drive in each direction, I took off from our hotel at night to drive down to see Ayren. I was only able to stay with her for 6 hours before going back up to be with my brother, but it was enough. A night of cuddling and wine on the couch. I had to see her, and so glad I did. As we lay in bed curled up, I whispered into her ear, “I think I’m falling in love with you…” It was a complete lie though, I was already so madly in love that I was ready to do anything for that girl. She was the dream girl that I had started to lose faith in actually existing.

 Then the next blow came. March 1^st and I was going back to sea. But, we kept talking and staying close and hoped to see each other again. I had other plans though, and we made them work. Working on a cruise ship in Hawaii allowed me a lot of opportunities to “have fun”, but my only thoughts were to have Ayren instead. So, mid April and she was getting on a plane. A week on the ship with me, our first REAL amount of time together, and her first trip to Hawaii. Exciting and scary all at the same time, as we had only been ‘together’ for 3 days, and we were now spending a full week together, with no chance of getting away if it didn’t work. The week went buy too fast though having fun and making memories, and she was gone again already. But, it was enough for me and I resigned 2 days later and flew home. A stop in California to pack as many clothes as I could carry, and another stop to visit my brother in college. Then I boarded the plane with a one way ticket to West Palm Beach, FL. Once again we were together and started to adjust to being together for real. Of course, only 6 weeks of time, and then I was leaving again to go out to sea on a new ship. Another 4 months of long distance communication before I finally came home. This time I drove my car full of stuff from California. We had already done my address change though, so this time, I was “home”… in Florida. We officially lived together. It was only October 1^st. We both already planned on a life together, talking of homes, families, children, and our future. Although both amazed at how fast things went, neither of us could deny that it was perfect. We had both found “the one”.

 With Christmas upon us, we started to plan for the holidays together. I was scheduled to leave again on December 22^nd, but there was no way I could miss our first holiday season together. So I delayed my return to work because I knew there was one gift that she had to get. A couple weeks of diamond shopping and I finally found the perfect ring. Ayren had always mentioned wanting to use her grandmother’s diamond, so after asking her Dad to marry his little girl (and only child!) I was able to get the ring from Ayren’s Mom. The jeweler set the diamond into our setting and it fit absolutely perfectly. Two pieces of jewelry from two completely different places went together to form a perfect unity, much like Ayren and I.

We spent Christmas at her parents’ house, and on Christmas Eve, after all of our gifts, I told Ayren that I had just one more gift. Something of little value, but still sentimental. She always said she loved my writing, so I put together a poem of our story. What she didn’t know was that the last two lines read

 “So with this ring I ask

Ayren, will you marry me?”

 Just as I got to this part, I got down on one knee and pulled out the ring. As I read the last line, she stared at me, almost in disbelief, but as tears of happiness rolled down my face, she knew, and she smiled as she said yes. That same smile that caught my eye back in Tampa.

 Not even eleven full months and we went from first sight to engaged, and we couldn’t be happier. 

Now everyone you know what to do! VOTE FOR THE COUPLE YOU THINK SHALL WIN A ENGAGEMENT SHOOT you can only vote one time + place a name under the vote or intial! & Good Luck to the couples! Winner will be announced on Feb 15th!