It is our very exciting task to present to you the winner of the 1st Annual Wedding Games. It was by no means an easy task and it wasn't a unanimous vote from the judges either. The standard was incredibly high from all our Tributes and we have been very impressed by the motivation and effort put in by all competitors.

As you know 12 Tributes went into the Arena but only 1 can come out as the Victor. We narrowed it down to 5 Finalists that went through to the final round and faced the judges. At this point we would like to thank all of our contestants for embracing this competition so whole heartedly and showing us some amazing creativity. We are honored to have had you all on board. The finalists were as follows:

The two who received the most Public Votes:

• District 2 - Lighting - Niki Lannigan
• District 10 - Accessories - Agnes Achetraritei

The two Wildcards chosen by Christine Kerr from The Wedding Design Institute:

• District 1 - Color - Hayley Blakiston
• District 12 - Hair and Makeup - Donella Machen

Finally the Facebook Choice Tribute

• District 7 - Centerpieces - Lara Bloom

So without further ado let us introduce you to the winner of the 1st Annual Wedding Games:

• District 7 - Lara Bloom

Congratulations Lara. The odds were definitely in your favor and against very strong competition you came out the victor.

Here is what our panel of judges had to say about Lara's board:

- This district’s board was about the subject at hand, centerpieces, and each piece was guided in that direction. It wasn't literal with including any of the well-known symbols of The Hunger Games either.  She also gave a full color spectrum of what to expect from her design.

- The color and details really appeal to me.  She also captured her assignment of "Centerpieces" for her district, providing a variety options inspired by The Hunger Games.

- It was all in the color and details – a fiery bride!

- There was something about this board that kept me going back to it time and time again.

- A very deserving winner

A full interview with Lara will be available soon so stay tuned for more information on how this Tribute became the first victor of the Wedding Games. Please see the winning board below:

Recently the Hunger Games has been creating a media storm for a variety of reasons. Whenever a big blockbuster like this is released it causes a stir in our industry, as many themes used within weddings and events are film based. As usual the Hunger Games is doing the same as many films before it such as Titanic and Twilight – fans are hungry to use elements from the film within their wedding or event. We have already seen an array of styled wedding shoots using the Hunger Games as their inspiration and this in itself has caused some controversy. But what is life without a little bit of excitement?

One of the main jobs of a wedding planner, stylist or designer is to come up with concepts and designs based on the requirements of our clients, however unusual they might be. Our own personal taste shouldn’t come into it. And this can sometimes be a challenge.

As educators in the wedding and event industry this is something we come against all the time within WEI (The Wedding and Event Institute). All too often it is tempting to put our own tastes into what we design for others rather than remembering that it isn’t about us. This got us thinking.  What if we created our own Hunger Games inspired competition that would see planners, stylists and designers from across the world compete against each other to produce a mood board and concept for a fictitious bridal couple who have requested the Hunger Games as their theme?

We already know and understand that this is a dark movie with a variety of underlying meanings, but that is not our focus. Neither is the plot, which sees 24 kids aged between 12-18 fighting to the death for entertainment value. We are not here to judge. However, we do know that we will see Hunger Games inspired weddings in 2012-2013 and there are many inspirations that can be drawn from it. The question is who is up for the challenge?

We are looking for 12 tributes from across the globe to compete in the Wedding Games. Each tribute will be assigned to a district as follows:

• District 1 – Color
• District 2 – Lighting
• District 3 – Music
• District 4 – Venues
• District 5 – Catering
• District 6 – Bridal Attire
• District 7 – Centerpieces
• District 8 – Linen
• District 9 - Floral
• District 10 – Accessories
• District 11 – Transport
• District 12 – Hair and Make-up

Their mission is to design an Inspiration Board and write a concept for a Hunger Games inspired wedding. Each tribute needs to ensure that their district’s industry is featured within their board and concept in some way. From the start of the Games each Tribute has one week to put their design together. Once the designs have been submitted they will be profiled across our three blogs, www.thespecialeventexperts.com www.eventexperts.com.au and www.weddingindustrypros.com, along with a profile picture and full interview with each Tribute. They will also be featured on our Facebook Page, receive publicity via our Twitter feed and receive their own Board on our Pinterest account.  To help and inspire we have produced a mood board of our own in conjunction with Lindye Galloway, one of our esteemed judges, who produced a Hunger Games inspired Styled Wedding Shoot with photographer: Ashley Photographer // designer & planner: Lindye Galloway Events // florals: The Vine’s Leaf // rentals: Found Vintage Rentals // hair + makeup: A Lovely Bride

From the moment the entries go live across our platforms the voting will open to the public via a Poll both on our blog and here on the site. Just as in the games the Tributes will need to do their bit to gain awareness and get support from the public in whatever way they can. You will have just one week to rally sponsors/supporters and get votes. At the end of that week the two Tributes with the highest number of public votes will be put through to our judging panel, so we can find out who the Victor of the 1st Annual Wedding Games will be.

Our expert Judging Panel will be made up of Sasha Souza, a celebrity wedding designer and mastermind, Kylie Carlson, the Wedding and Event Institute, Ann Turner, Editor of Event Solutions Magazine, and Lindye Galloway, event designer of the featured Hunger Game Styled Wedding Shoot. The prize received by the victor will include:

• Course of your choice from the Wedding and Event Institute
• Signed copy of the book Signature Sasha - Magnificent Weddings by Design
• One year membership to WIPA (Wedding Industry Professional Association)
• iPad 2 16GB 
• One year subscription to WedLock Magazine - the marketing magazine for wedding professionals

Competition Timeline

• Friday April 13 – entry for the Wedding Games open
• Thursday April 19 – entry closes
• Friday April 20 – the 12 Tributes will be announced and details of each tribute with a headshot and interview will go live over the weekend.
• Monday April 23 – competition goes live and the games begin. The Tributes will be given access to a Pinterest Board where they can pin things to keep their audience interested in what they are doing. Voting opens as the competition opens so the more that each Tribute shares on the Pinterest Board allocated to them the better and the more info they send us to put up on the blogs, FB & Twitter the better too. Voting will be via a Poll hosted on www.thespecialeventexperts.com and also right here on our website.
• Friday April 28 – final board and concept must be submitted by each Tribute.
• Monday April 30 – voting closes
• Tuesday May 1 – the winner is announced

How to Enter:

If you want your name to go in the Reaping for this 1st Annual Wedding Games then all you need to do is fill out the registration form and tell us in 25 words or less why you should be considered as a Tribute.  May the odds be ever in your favor.