Monthly Archives: September 2009

Feed the Hungry Can Contest

THE CAN CONTEST HAS ENDED.

We will share the results and announce the winner here on the blog on Friday, October 23rd.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated!!


Mom Blogging:

Every week the boys and I drop off food as a donation to our local food pantry.  Especially with the hard times people have been facing in this economy, the need is great and the supply is often much too low.  We sat down for our family dinner a few nights ago and said our dinner prayer as usual.  We try to talk to our boys often about how blessed we are for all that we have and how we need to help others whenever we can.  At this dinner, we reminded the boys that it was a blessing for us to have the food that was there on the table because there were many people without enough to eat.  Our 4 year old listened, then looked at me and asked how we got our food when others didn’t have any.  I told him that we were blessed to have our business to support our family and put food on the table.  In a moment that filled my heart, he then asked why we didn’t use our business to help to give other people food too.  Through the simplicity of a child’s giving heart (we are so proud of him), we are introducing our Feed the Hungry Can Contest!

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For the next four weeks, we are collecting canned food items for our local food pantry.  For every can that you donate, you will receive a .40¢ credit toward any session or product.  The contest ends on Wednesday, October 21st.  At the end of this contest, the person who donates the most cans will receive a free session and a free 8×10 canvas gallery wrap from that session (a value of over $200!).  This can be any type of session:  engagement, boudoir, bridal, trash the dress, maternity, baby, family, or any other type that you choose.

An example of a gallery wrap, though it is a bit larger than an 8×10:

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Also, the profit from any print or products ordered from the winning session will be donated to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

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If your session is during the month October and you end up winning the contest at the end of the month, we will reimburse you for your session fee and donate all of the profits from any orders you may have placed. And of course you will still get your free canvas gallery wrap from the session.  Otherwise you win a free session and will have until February 1st, 2010 to use your free session.

You can donate your cans by contacting us to arrange a time to drop them off or, if you have a session before the contest ends, by bringing them to your session.  If you do not want to deal with actual cans, you can mail in gift cards for local grocery stores.  Every $1 on a gift card counts as one can and gets you the .40¢ credit.  All cans or gift cards must be received by Wednesday, October 21st, to be counted in the contest.

Of course, if you just want to drop off cans to be donated we would love that as well!  Any of our family members, or any other wedding professionals or vendors who are reading this, bring up your cans too!

Questions about the contest?  Just email us at jasonangelini@aol.com.  We cannot wait to collect TONS of cans and bring them to the food pantry in time for the holidays!  They can certainly use it.  Whether it is one can or one hundred, we can all share our blessings and contribute to help those in our community who are in need.  This is going to be an awesome contest and we are excited to get started!

Megan and Jesse at Maggiano’s

What a great wedding for an awesome couple!  Megan and Jesse were married on Saturday in a beautiful vintage style wedding in Tampa.  When dad talked to Megan before the wedding, he knew this was going to be a fun and memorable day.  There were lots of inside jokes and surprises planned that made the wedding special to the couple.

Megan and Jesse were legally married that morning…at McDonalds!  Dad met up with Megan that afternoon as she got ready for the reception in her hotel room at the Embassy Suites.  The fabulous Darla Stafford was there for Megan’s hair and makeup.  For those of you who tried to get Darla for your 2010 date, she is now booking 2010 again so be sure to contact her.  Megan kept to the vintage theme with her birdcage veil, feather hair accent, cameo pearl necklace, and long satin gloves.  She carried a cascading bouquet put together by Eufloria Blooms.  Jesse wore wing tip shoes and a fedora.  They both looked terrific!  They had their first sight at Westshore and took some family pictures before the rain started.  Their reception was being held at Maggiano’s Little Italy so dad took them inside there for a few more pictures before the reception started.

Guests were seated at their tables when the bride and groom were announced.  They thought they were just there for the reception so Megan and Jesse surprised everyone by having a ceremony as well.  As the ceremony ended, instead of a recessional the couple went right into their first dance.  Rob Sword of Sword Sounds was the DJ and he is always does an excellent job.  Dad looks forward to working with him.  Of course with the reception at Maggiano’s, the food was delicious.  Dad loved the calamari appetizers!  After dinner there was a dessert table with cheesecake, brownies, and lots of other yummy desserts.  The cake was made by Chantilly Cakes and had a vintage topper that was passed down to Megan.  As a surprise from Megan to Jesse, and to fit with the vintage theme, a cigar girl wearing a vintage dress was there handing out cigars as favors to the guests.  Many of the guests wore vintage-style outfits as well.

Megan and Jesse’s wedding was a ton of laughs, from “Jorge” making his appearance in the wedding gown to antique risque playing cards hiding in places throughout the reception.  Dad had a blast!  Megan and Jesse are just awesome and we are so happy we got to be a part of their day.  Thanks so much Megan and Jesse!  We wish you tons of happiness in your lives together and you better keep in touch!

Yes, location of marriage is listed as McDonalds:)

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“Jorge” showing off the gown:

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First Sight:

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Mom loved the sweater that Megan wore at the reception:

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GORGEOUS!

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Rachel and Chris at the Rusty Pelican

Rachel and Chris were married on Friday at the Rusty Pelican in Tampa.  Dad photographed their engagement session in February and was happy to see them again on their wedding day.  The weather started out fine and the ceremony began outside by the water.  After the parents and wedding party made it down the aisle, Chris was anxiously awaiting his bride coming down the aisle…then the rain began.  The ceremony was quickly moved inside but Rachel and Chris were great sports and kept their smiles.

Nicole and Matthew were guests at the wedding and dad will see them again at their own wedding in just a couple weeks!  Congratulations Rachel and Chris, and enjoy your honeymoon!

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The cake by Chantilly Cakes:

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Bambi and Mark at the Lutheran Church of the Cross

On Sunday, Bambi and Mark had an awesome wedding in St. Petersburg.  Mark is a Pastor at the church that Stacy of Meant to Be Wed attends.  She got them in touch with dad and he had a great time photographing both their engagement session last month and the wedding!

Over a year ago, dad got to share in a very special day for Stacy and her husband.  He was there for a First Breath session, capturing the emotion of the day their daughter was born!  Dad had not seen their little girl since that day and was happy to see her at the wedding with Stacy.  She was of course so much bigger, and so adorable!

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Bambi’s day started at the Number 9 Salon where her sister styled her hair.  Mom thinks it is really sweet that even Bambi’s getting ready on her wedding day was made more personal and meaningful by having her sister as the stylist.  Keeping the day special and meaningful, the ceremony took place at the Lutheran Church of the Cross in St. Petersburg where Mark is a Pastor.  The church was packed!  The couple invited everyone to join them in the Fellowship Hall after the ceremony for dancing and cake and dad said there had to have been several hundred people there to celebrate with Bambi and Mark.  How wonderful to be surrounded by so much love!  Rob Sword of Sword Sounds did a great job as always as the DJ for the cake reception.

After the Fellowship Hall, dad headed outside with Bambi, Mark, and their wedding party for pictures before heading to Mark’s house where the group relaxed and had some really yummy pizza.  That evening it was back to partying as they headed to Studio @ 620 in St. Petersburg for hors d’oeuvres and drinks.  There was also an ice cream bar there that dad can not stop talking about!  He keeps raving about their mint chocolate chip!  Dad brought home a couple of the homemade cookies that Bambi and Mark gave out as favors and those were delicious too.

It was a laid-back day filled with the love of family and friends.  Congratulations Bambi and Mark, and many blessings in your life together!

Mom loves Bambi’s shoes!

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The flowers came from Publix in St. Petersburg:

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Bambi and Mark had some truly kind people with them on their day.  During the party at Studio @ 620, dad was talking to a mom there who had bought toy boats for her kids.  After dad talked about his own boys at home, she left and came back with boats for dad to bring home to us!  How nice is that?!!  We hope she reads this because we want to send her a big THANK YOU!  We love the boats and have already played with them lots!

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Ruth and Gregory at the Rusty Pelican

Mom and dad are so jealous of Ruth and Greg.  Not only did they have a beautiful wedding on Saturday, but they are going to Italy for their honeymoon!  We hope they have a wonderful trip.

Their wedding took place at the Rusty Pelican in Tampa and the couple had Beth of Flawless Occasions as their coordinator.  We’d like to send a special thanks Chris from Erin and Chris Photography for shooting with dad at the wedding!  Ruth and Greg’s other vendors included Debbie of The Bride’s Bouquet, Jodi from Grant Hemond, and Chantilly Cakes.

Ruth and Greg had a wedding party which had 25 people plus the bride and groom!  It still doesn’t break dad’s record for largest wedding party (34 people total), but it comes close.  Though the ceremony was supposed to be outside at the gazebo, the weather pushed things inside.  However, things cleared up in time for dad to bring the couple out for sunset pictures.  Ruth and Greg also added extra coverage time so that they could go to downtown Tampa for more bride and groom pictures when the wedding was over.

It was a terrific wedding with pretty details, a yummy candy bar, and of course lots of love and fun.  Congratulations Ruth and Greg, and dad says if you need a photographer in Italy he’d be happy to go with you:).

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