On August 22, Stacy sent Emily an email with the subject line "should we enter this?" - with a link to "Get Hitched in Georgetown", a contest being sponsored by the Georgetown Business Improvement District, offering "an epic wedding giveaway" for one lucky couple.* With a quick reply of "sure, why not ;)" we were off and running - and on September 2, we found out that we'd been one of the first 50 couples to enter, and thus had been selected for the competition. The email inviting us to compete didn't offer many hints about what the competition would entail, only the suggestion that we assemble a team of four (Stacy, Emily, and two friends) and that we wear colorful (and fashionable!) shoes.
The evening of September 8 was rainy and windy (the remnants of Hurricane Lee ultimately dropped over a foot of rain on DC that week), but Stacy, Emily, and our carefully-chosen team of Betsy (Emily's friend who was in town for the Nation's Triathlon) and Adrienne (Stacy's law school roommate) were ready for the challenge. After fueling up with a delicious dinner at Tonic in Foggy Bottom, we headed out to Georgetown.
The contestants consisted of 49 eager brides and one very brave groom (his fiancee was out of town for business). When we arrived, Stacy was handed a camo bandanna and told to move to one side of a cordoned-off area. Emily, Adrienne, and Betsy were left to cheer from the sidelines as Stacy set forth on the challenges.
First up: Bouquet toss! There is nothing like random chance to whittle a field of 50 down to a much more manageable 25. Contest organizers threw 50 bouquets to the bustle of brides and the flowers were quickly scooped up. When everything calmed down, the MC announced that everyone with a black ribbon on their bouquet had made it to the second round. Stacy waved her ebony-tied bouquet, and she was on to round two.
Earlier in the evening, Stacy had commented that, if one of the competitions was cupcake eating, she'd be very excited. So, when round two was announced as cupcake eating, she was pumped:
The task: eat as many cupcakes as possible in one minute. All of the contestants bent to their task with gusto. When the buzzer sounded, Stacy had downed three cupcakes and was not feeling quite so pumped:
However, she had managed to eat enough cupcakes to make it through to round three - the TRIVIA ROUND!
At this point, you'd think that a Jeopardy! champion would pass the trivia round with flying colors, right? Well, let's just say that wedding dress designers weren't a strong suit for either of us.
Question #1: Who designed Carrie Bradshaw's dress in the Sex and the City movie?
Several brides-to-be quickly penciled in the answer, but it stumped Stacy. (The answer: Vivienne Westwood.) However, there were still a few spots in the final round to be filled, so the competition continued with...
Question #2: Who designed Kate Middleton's dress?
Another stumper. (Answer: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.) However, there was still one more spot in the final round to fill. Surely it wouldn't be the trivia round that would prove to be our undoing...right?
Question #3: Which princess' dress was designed by an MGM Studios costume designer?
Finally! A Jeopardy!-worthy trivia question! Emily looked at Stacy and both broke out into huge smiles. Of course we both knew this one - it seemed so easy. Stacy scribbled down her answer and waited for the announcer to give the answer. And with "Princess Grace Kelly" Stacy grabbed the last slot in the championship round.
And so it all came down to this. Each bride-to-be called her team to the floor, and as we lined up along the stage the materials for the team competition were brought forward: dozens of rolls of toilet paper. You'd probably seen this coming (Emily had guessed that it would be one of the rounds) - the teams had to create a cutting-edge dress for the bride-to-be, who would then model it on the runway. With only five minutes to dress Stacy, Emily, Adrienne, and Betsy dived in...and came up with a retro flapper-esque mini-dress and matching headband:
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| Stacy and Emily are ready for the competition! |
The contestants consisted of 49 eager brides and one very brave groom (his fiancee was out of town for business). When we arrived, Stacy was handed a camo bandanna and told to move to one side of a cordoned-off area. Emily, Adrienne, and Betsy were left to cheer from the sidelines as Stacy set forth on the challenges.
First up: Bouquet toss! There is nothing like random chance to whittle a field of 50 down to a much more manageable 25. Contest organizers threw 50 bouquets to the bustle of brides and the flowers were quickly scooped up. When everything calmed down, the MC announced that everyone with a black ribbon on their bouquet had made it to the second round. Stacy waved her ebony-tied bouquet, and she was on to round two.
Earlier in the evening, Stacy had commented that, if one of the competitions was cupcake eating, she'd be very excited. So, when round two was announced as cupcake eating, she was pumped:
The task: eat as many cupcakes as possible in one minute. All of the contestants bent to their task with gusto. When the buzzer sounded, Stacy had downed three cupcakes and was not feeling quite so pumped:
However, she had managed to eat enough cupcakes to make it through to round three - the TRIVIA ROUND!
At this point, you'd think that a Jeopardy! champion would pass the trivia round with flying colors, right? Well, let's just say that wedding dress designers weren't a strong suit for either of us.
Question #1: Who designed Carrie Bradshaw's dress in the Sex and the City movie?
Several brides-to-be quickly penciled in the answer, but it stumped Stacy. (The answer: Vivienne Westwood.) However, there were still a few spots in the final round to be filled, so the competition continued with...
Question #2: Who designed Kate Middleton's dress?
Another stumper. (Answer: Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.) However, there was still one more spot in the final round to fill. Surely it wouldn't be the trivia round that would prove to be our undoing...right?
Question #3: Which princess' dress was designed by an MGM Studios costume designer?
Finally! A Jeopardy!-worthy trivia question! Emily looked at Stacy and both broke out into huge smiles. Of course we both knew this one - it seemed so easy. Stacy scribbled down her answer and waited for the announcer to give the answer. And with "Princess Grace Kelly" Stacy grabbed the last slot in the championship round.
And so it all came down to this. Each bride-to-be called her team to the floor, and as we lined up along the stage the materials for the team competition were brought forward: dozens of rolls of toilet paper. You'd probably seen this coming (Emily had guessed that it would be one of the rounds) - the teams had to create a cutting-edge dress for the bride-to-be, who would then model it on the runway. With only five minutes to dress Stacy, Emily, Adrienne, and Betsy dived in...and came up with a retro flapper-esque mini-dress and matching headband:
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| Stacy's couture |
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| Several of the other contestants. The winner is in the center of the photo in the blue shirt. |
So, we made it to the final round, but the design wasn't quite good enough to win a free Georgetown wedding. On the one hand, it would have been a pretty awesome prize package. On the other hand, winning the wedding might have taken away from us the ability to make our own decisions (large and small) about several aspects of the wedding. We had lots of fun at the competition, though - and in the end, both of us are winners, because we're getting married to each other.
*Prizes for the lucky couple included:
- Bridal gown (up to $4500, including alterations)
- Reception ($15,000 for a 100 guest reception)
- Tuxedo (custom tuxedo and fitting)
- Invitations ($1000 toward custom invites)
- Honeymoon wardrobe ($500 for the bride)
- Bridal suite (one night, including parking)
- Wedding day beauty (hair, nails, make-up, waxing)
- Bridesmaid gifts (up to $500 toward five pairs of earrings)
- Wine tasting (up to 10 people)
- Wedding cake (100 servings, delivery not included)
- Flower girl outfit
- Guest favors (100 four-piece boxes of chocolates)
- Post-wedding brunch (up to 8 people)
- Bridal shower cupcakes (five dozen cupcakes)
- Something old ($100 toward vintage accessories)
- Bachelor / Bachelorette party (up to 7 people)
- Rehearsal dress ($50 gift card)
- Honeymoon lingerie (bra and panties - sample size only!)
- Welcome gifts for out-of-town guests (100 individually-boxed cupcakes)
- Champagne and bouquet for winner of the contest
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