FREEPORT, Maine – Jenna Eagleton and Caroline Currie have been selected as winners of the 2013 Real Maine Wedding of the Year Contest. They are the first same-sex couple to enter the contest.
As grand prize winners, the Portland couple has won their dream wedding, which will be valued at up to $100,000. The announcement was made Sunday by Alyssa and Nick Planeta — winners of the 2012 wedding contest in Portland — during the final Maine Wedding Association Bridal Show at the Hilton Garden Inn in Freeport.
The couple met in the fall of 2008 in Portland. They had plans to marry in the fall of 2014. Caroline’s father, who has been sick with leukemia for about five years, told Caroline he wanted nothing more than to walk her down the aisle at her wedding and suggested they move the wedding forward. The couple discovered the wedding contest and it fit their plans for an earlier date, fulfilling Caroline’s father’s wishes, and submitted a video.
“We had so many great couples submit videos for this year’s contest and, as always, choosing a winner was really hard,” says Melanie Brooks, editor of the twice-annual publication. “We were happy to be able to open the contest to same-sex couples this year, thanks to legislation that passed last fall. We’re excited to start planning this amazing dream wedding with Jenna and Caroline.”
The Real Maine Wedding of the Year contest was announced in January. After receiving entries from across New England and hundreds of thousands of votes, a panel of judges and the general public narrowed the field of finalists down to three. Finalist voting took place for about a week to determine the grand prize winners.
The two other finalist couples were Logan Rich and Jake Reynolds of Bangor and Tiffany Vasquez and Patrick Jones of Kennebunk.
The wedding will be held Friday, Oct. 18, in Kennebunkport. Members of the public will be able to vote on aspects of Jenna and Caroline’s wedding at realmaineweddings.com starting in about a month.
The following is an alphabetical list of the vendors participating in the 2013 contest and what they are donating:
Andrea’s Bridal: wedding gown
Blooms Flower Shoppe: wedding day floral arrangements
Bridals by Sandy: bridesmaid gowns
Classic Tuxedo: tuxedos
Coastal Jewelers: wedding bands
Colony Hotel: wedding ceremony location and cocktail hour
Cross Jewelers: bridesmaid jewelry
Day’s Jewelers: bridal jewelry
Dean’s Sweets: rehearsal dinner dessert and gifts
Event Lighting Concepts: reception up lighting design
Flora-Ly: bouquet preservation
Fringe Hair Art: wedding day hair design for bridal party
Let Them Eat Cake: wedding cake
Maine Limousine Service: transportation
Ogunquit Trolley: transportation
On the Marsh Bistro: family reunion location
One Stop Party Shoppe: event rentals for wedding reception
Patrick McNamara Photography: photography
Russell Caron Wedding Photography: photography
Stonewall Kitchen: wedding favors and guest welcome baskets
Sweet T’s Confections: chocolate gifts for the rehearsal dinner
Sweetest Thing Weddings • Floral Design • Events: event planning and design
The Kennebunkport Resort Collection: wedding reception catering
The Music Man DJ Service: rehearsal dinner entertainment
The Nonantum Resort: rehearsal dinner location
Time Pilots: reception entertainment
Village Paperie: invitations and paper goods
Vows for You by Cynthia: wedding ceremony officiant
Wells Reserve at Laudholm: wedding reception location
Wicked Good Ice: ice sculpture for reception
For information, visit realmaineweddings.com.