Winners Announced! | Same Sex Wedding Giveaway | San Francisco & New York City
I am so thrilled to announce the winners of our for both San Francisco and New York City. I was so touched by the stories these couples shared, and I also want to give a big thank you to all of the couples who emailed us but didn’t win.
And now, meet our giveaway winners!
Tasha & Janay
We are so extremely excited that we can hardly contain ourselves. Janay and I are from San Antonio, Texas, and we have been engaged for about 5 years. Visiting San Francisco to get legally married has been our goal ever since we found out that it had been legalized. We have three beautiful children together, ages 12, 9 and 4. Unfortunately, our children and family will not be able to be there with us in San Francisco, which really saddens both of us.
Janay and I met about nine years ago. I was a teacher, and her little brother happened to be in my class. About five years later Janay unexpectedly began to work at the same school where I taught. I was coming out of a bad relationship and she was there for me every moment of the way. At the time I had just had a beautiful baby girl. Janay came in to our lives at one of our most darkest moments. She has been the light at the end of the tunnel for us. She is the most amazing person I have ever known. And there is nothing that I want more than to spend the rest of eternity with her as her wife. We have wanted to get married for a while now. Please help us capture the most important day in both of our lives. I know that Janay, our children, and I will cherish these pictures forever.
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Congratulations to Tasha & Janay! They will be wed in San Francisco later this week and have already been so gracious and wonderful to work with. We’ll be sharing their wedding soon!
Here is what we are gifting Tasha & Janay:
- Two hours of photography from Anna Wu Photography
- Two bouquets from Natalie Bowen Designs
- Hair & makeup from Ann Ho of A-List Makeup
- A pair of custom hangers from Wedding Hanger Shop.
- Their wedding featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs
Neil & Tom
Tom and I met 23 years ago here in Cincinnati… We dated for only a few months before deciding that we had found our soul mates. We purchased a house together and moved in during the Spring of 1993. It was not an easy time, however, to be a gay couple. We were in love but felt uncomfortable sharing it with anyone, other than very close friends. I remember many Monday mornings at work when colleagues would ask what I did over the weekend. My response was always that I went to a movie with “a friend”, or that I went to dinner with “some friends”. I kept thinking how crazy it was that everyone else was talking about their wife or husband, and using actual names and I only referred to my partner as a friend and never gave him a name. I felt I didn’t have another option, as I was fearful of losing my job, since I worked for a conservative organization in a conservative city.
Tom was not so lucky. He didn’t even have a chance to tell stories about anonymous friends. Shortly after we moved into our house, a jealous colleague at school informed his principal that Tom had purchased a house with another man. Tom promptly lost his job.
We were devastated and afraid that with the loss of income we might also lose our home. It was an incredibly stressful time for us. The pain of the situation was compounded by the fact that I couldn’t tell anyone at work what happened, because then I would be outing myself and risk both of us being unemployed. Fortunately we made it through and were able to continue building our life together.
When we look back on those days, it is so hard for us to believe that we now find ourselves in a world where we no longer have to hide who we are and who we love. We could have never imagined 23 years ago that we would be able to not only talk about our love and life, but that we will actually be able to legally marry and publicly declare our love. We have been so touched by the number of colleagues at both our workplaces who plan to celebrate with us in New York – people who 23 years ago would not have known of our partner’s existence.
Tom and I are thankful to have had such a loving relationship for so many years. We look forward to publicly professing our love this May, to continuing to deepen our relationship and to introducing each other as “my husband”.
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Neil’s email was the very first entry I received for the giveaway, and their story has continued to linger with me. Not only have they been through the toughest of times together, but they continue to move forward with a sense of optimism. I am humbled and honored to be a small part of their New York City wedding this May.
Here is what we are gifting Neil & Tom:
- Two hours of photography from Anna Wu Photography
- Two boutonnieres from Peartree Flowers
- A custom wedding banner from Nikki of Akula Kreative
- A pair of custom hangers from Wedding Hanger Shop
- Their wedding featured on Equally Wed
Thank you to all of the wonderful vendors who are co-sponsoring the giveaway, and congratulations again to Tasha & Janay and Neil & Tom! We are so happy to be a part of your celebrations. Hooray for marriage equality!
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She combines a “fine art” aesthetic, with a photojournalistic approach to beautifully and intuitively capture the moments of a wedding day. View more of her work at annawu.com.