There's some back story here...a little bit of chance, a little bit of fate, and certainly a little bit of randomness.
Erika and Eddy used to be just two people in love, walking around Ottawa, thinking about planning their wedding. And then Hot 899 announced a contest called Runaway Bride.
The contest:
2 brides-to-be would be dropped off at Parliament Hill in the morning, and they would have 7 hours to get as far away as possible (with rules like not being able to physically touch a phone, and a 10 minute time limit for riding in a car or on a bus, etc.). And the prize? A wedding package valued at over $55k, including everything you'd need, a dress, a venue, a planner, a photographer...everything.
Erika didn't waste any time filling out her application and bringing it down to the station, with crossed fingers and a vague feeling that their application would be chosen.
And she was right, Hot 899 narrowed it down to 50 couples, and treated them to brunch where 2 names would be drawn. And when Erika's name was called, she barely had enough time to put her game face on before the competition started. I remember that I had 4 shoots on the day of the contest, and everytime I got back into the car, I'd listen for the updates on Runaway Bride.
At 4:55pm, I pulled into my driveway, and stuck around so that I could hear the winner. For the whole day, I had been rooting for Erika because she sounded so sweet during all of her interviews (but she was also always out of breath!). I listened as they announced Kathleen as the winner, and waited for the part where they would tell Erika about her runner-up prize.
But that never really happened...
I ran inside and checked the Hot 899 Facebook page for updates, and saw that the last photo that was posted was of Erika running in the home stretch. So I made a simple little comment on the photo, something along the lines of:
The tweet
I figured Erika would never see my post because I assumed it would get buried by all of the posts about the winner, but I felt it was worth a shot. But something crazy happened...one of Erika's friends who follows me on Twitter saw my tweet, took a photo of it with her phone, and sent it to Erika.
About 3 hours later, I got a friend request from a certain Erika Osbourne. I got SO excited when I saw that, and immediately sent her a message letting her know I was serious about my offer. She sounded so grateful when she sent me back a novel (lol, Erika, you know you write a lot!).
The fate
I read about how she had such a great experience with the contest, but that their uncertain job security wouldn't allow them to be in a position to get married any time soon. I'm pretty sure she expected me to say aww, too bad!, but instead...I went home, paced around my kitchen for an hour, and decided to call the wedding guru.
I called Shannon at Kennedy Event Planning, and rambled for 10 minutes about how I had this crazy idea, but no clue how to start working on it. I thought she would call me crazy, tell me to let it go, but instead she said...
Since that day, we've made it our mission to get an amazing team together to sponsor a wedding for Erika and Eddy. And thanks to the girl I call the wedding guru, we did it.
So with the back story out of the way, check out a few of my favourites from Erika and Eddy's engagement session in the Glebe:
Erika and Eddy used to be just two people in love, walking around Ottawa, thinking about planning their wedding. And then Hot 899 announced a contest called Runaway Bride.
The contest:
2 brides-to-be would be dropped off at Parliament Hill in the morning, and they would have 7 hours to get as far away as possible (with rules like not being able to physically touch a phone, and a 10 minute time limit for riding in a car or on a bus, etc.). And the prize? A wedding package valued at over $55k, including everything you'd need, a dress, a venue, a planner, a photographer...everything.
Erika didn't waste any time filling out her application and bringing it down to the station, with crossed fingers and a vague feeling that their application would be chosen.
And she was right, Hot 899 narrowed it down to 50 couples, and treated them to brunch where 2 names would be drawn. And when Erika's name was called, she barely had enough time to put her game face on before the competition started. I remember that I had 4 shoots on the day of the contest, and everytime I got back into the car, I'd listen for the updates on Runaway Bride.
At 4:55pm, I pulled into my driveway, and stuck around so that I could hear the winner. For the whole day, I had been rooting for Erika because she sounded so sweet during all of her interviews (but she was also always out of breath!). I listened as they announced Kathleen as the winner, and waited for the part where they would tell Erika about her runner-up prize.
But that never really happened...
I ran inside and checked the Hot 899 Facebook page for updates, and saw that the last photo that was posted was of Erika running in the home stretch. So I made a simple little comment on the photo, something along the lines of:
ERIKA! You did so good!
Girl, call me up and I'll shoot your wedding for free,
we can just pretend that you won ♥
The tweet
I figured Erika would never see my post because I assumed it would get buried by all of the posts about the winner, but I felt it was worth a shot. But something crazy happened...one of Erika's friends who follows me on Twitter saw my tweet, took a photo of it with her phone, and sent it to Erika.
About 3 hours later, I got a friend request from a certain Erika Osbourne. I got SO excited when I saw that, and immediately sent her a message letting her know I was serious about my offer. She sounded so grateful when she sent me back a novel (lol, Erika, you know you write a lot!).
The fate
I read about how she had such a great experience with the contest, but that their uncertain job security wouldn't allow them to be in a position to get married any time soon. I'm pretty sure she expected me to say aww, too bad!, but instead...I went home, paced around my kitchen for an hour, and decided to call the wedding guru.
I called Shannon at Kennedy Event Planning, and rambled for 10 minutes about how I had this crazy idea, but no clue how to start working on it. I thought she would call me crazy, tell me to let it go, but instead she said...
I'm in.
Since that day, we've made it our mission to get an amazing team together to sponsor a wedding for Erika and Eddy. And thanks to the girl I call the wedding guru, we did it.
Erika and Eddy are getting married THIS SUNDAY!
Just you wait to see what our creative team has put together...
So with the back story out of the way, check out a few of my favourites from Erika and Eddy's engagement session in the Glebe:
This is SO them...
Erika, Eddy...I know it's been a whirlwind. There have been dress fittings, suit fittings, interviews to write, photos to take, and you've basically helped us create a wedding in under a month. I can't thank you both enough for your help, your support, your willingness to put your special day in the hands of our team.
We love you, and we can't wait to see you on Sunday ♥
Laura, good for you!
ReplyDeleteI was one of the top 50 finalists in this contest and I was rooting for BOTH of them that day.
So nice that Erika will get her dream wedding!
- Jess (your coworker of one day at Things Engraved, and Ryan's old HD coworker lol)
Wow Laura.
ReplyDeleteLaura, that was one of the sweetest things for you to do. They're lucky to have you for their special day.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great Act of Kindness!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to the pics after the wedding.
Is the Wedding Ceremony open to the public? Date, time and place?
wow that is amazing Laura what you did for this couple! I can't wait to see the photos and here all the details
ReplyDeleteEEPP! That's amazing, you and Shannon are awesome for doing this for them!!
ReplyDeleteSome of the wedding couples photography pictures shared was nice. Credit goes to the photographer for the great stills and wonderful pictures. Finding the vendors in near by area is easy with the help of the free wedding app and also helpful in wedding planning.
ReplyDelete