Well, the time is finally here! The overall winners of the Photo of the Year contest are ready to be announced. After tons of photos and thousands of votes, here are your amazing 1st place photos!

1st place in the Engagement, and our overall vote leader in all three categories, is…

James Fry Photography! This photo of David and Cassandra from downtown Grand Rapids, is perfect. The lighting, the colors, the rain and that kiss! Love this one. Could it be any more romantic?

From James: We did their engagement session in March of 2010, so it was still a little cold…you know Michigan :)  We had spent the evening doing photos all around the downtown area with the threat of rain.  We stopped for some coffee and went out to do some night shots and it started to rain as we were shooting.  Instead of bailing, we kept going and ended up with this awesome shot. Who knew the rain would work in our favor? :)

Our next 1st place winner, in the Michigan category, is…

Heather J Photography! I have had the opportunity to get to know Heather over the past few months, and this photo is a really great representation of her art. I am in love with this candid shot of Katie Bonita on her wedding day in Wyandotte, MI, captures so much in just one quick shot.

From Heather: My main goal when I take a photo is for it to convey happiness.  I think this photo does the trick.

I think you are right, Heather. It definitely makes me happy just seeing it! As a special prize for being the top Michigan photo, Heather will be attending the Smarter Business Workshop on May 11th, hosted by one of my absolute favorite people in the world, Anne Ruthmann! If you are a photographer and haven’t signed up yet, you must head to the website now and do it! Anne has helped me in my business more than I could ever explain and you would be crazy not to attend.

The final 1st place winner, in the global category, goes to…

K. Holly Photography!

I have to admit that this photo of Pamela and Mark, taken on their wedding day in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, makes me crave warm, sunny, tropical weather and lots of palm trees. Not only is the location fantastic, but Kristen really captured it perfectly!

……….

All of our three 1st place winners are going to receive a prize package! Here is what they will get:

One of my new favorite things, a frame from The Vintage Crush. These frames are to die for and our winners will get an 8.5×11 in their choice of color and style. How lucky?

They will also receive a rockin’ Lens Bracelet from Adam Elmakias!

One full year of advertising on The Bliss Blog!

… and a brand spankin’ new digital copy of Paint Shop Pro Ultimate X3 from Corel Corporation!

Today’s Bliss Filled Feature is sure to warm you up on this snowy day (for most of the country, anyway!). The completely awesome Heather J. Photography sent these engagement shots of  Anne & Greg over and I couldn’t wait to share them with all of you. How appropriate is this shot for today?! Love. Love. Love.

One reason I am so excited to share this is because it shows all of you that you don’t need a fancy location, expensive clothes, or any of the frilly stuff to have an awesome shoot. I am a true believe that you should always be yourself in front of the camera. Less is always more! I mean, seriously, look at these two! They are so in love. The best accessory of them all.

Some Notes from Heather: We got together in late December for their engagement session in my hometown of Ruby. It was pretty cold that day, but luckily, they had furry hats and waterproof boots to keep them warm and dry.  Their whole session was a ton of fun, but if you ask me, I think they had a little too much fun throwing snow at one another at the end of the session.

These hats are my absolute favorite. Don’t they look cozy?

And I saved the BEST for last…. Snowball fight!!!

Thank you so much for sharing these Heather! Anne & Greg are sure to have a fantastic wedding. I can tell they are  a really great couple just by looking at these photos. Congrats, you two!

If you want more from this session, click HERE to head over to Heather’s blog.

This week’s Real Wedding was submitted by the fabulous Heather Jowett, of Heather J Photography. As soon as I saw the beautiful ceremony and loads of adorable flowers, I had to ask her for more!

Here is what Heather had to say about Katie & Adam’s Real Wedding.

Couple: Katie and Adam Hashimoto

Location: Independence Lake Community Park

About their wedding:

This is a wedding I photographed last summer.  What was so awesome about this wedding was that it was a completely church grown wedding.  Katie and Adam met at a campus church at the University of Michigan, where they were both in the worship band.  The wedding really was grown out of that church.  Myself, and Drew (who baked the awesome carrot cake) both met Katie and Adam through church.   The campus minister performed the ceremony, some other church members grilled hamburgers for their fun and casual reception, and Julie, the pastor’s wife, served as the coordinator.  One of Katie’s friends designed the beautiful invites.  I just loved that so many people from the church volunteered to make their wedding incredible, and the whole event was full of so much love between the couple, and for the couple.  And, luckily for all the guests, Katie and Adam topped the day off by treating us to a song.

I found out Katie and Adam had gotten engaged at a church function and I was so thrilled for the two of them.  It’s hard to express just how much this couple is perfect for one another.  I was so happy when Katie approached me shortly after they set a date to document her wedding day for her.

The cross on Katie’s bouquet belonged to her grandmother.  Katie is Irish, by heritage, so she wanted to include the Celtic cross with her bouquet. Katie has the inside of Adam’s ring inscribed.  It says “My dream boat” . The bridesmaids wore cinnamon dresses.  I love how they complimented everyone’s skin tones.  The arch was made by a friend.  The way the wind caught it on their wedding day was really beautiful.

(What an adorable story, Heather. Thank you so much for sharing!)

Quick Bio of Heather J. Photography:  Heather J specializes in documenting fun & awesome couples with fun & awesome photography.  She started her love affair with photography by photographing trees when she was 12 years old, and luckily, has gotten much better at taking pictures since then.  Website: www.heatherjphoto.com