Amanda Blythe Photography » {We are engraven in His palms}

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone….. so the big announcement is finally here!!!

Today we are going to make one lucky couples Valentine’s Day even better!  We are announcing the winner of the Destination Beach Wedding PHOTOGRAPHY PACKAGE Giveaway! This particular couple’s story bought tears to our eyes and chills down our spines…. we will let you read their story for yourselves below but for now, after much consideration, we have decided that this couple is very deserving of this giveaway and with that being said….

THE WINNER IS…………….

Congratualtions, Matthew and Angelica!  Your story was amazing and we are honored to be a part of your BIG DAY!  Check out Matthew and Angelica’s story submissions below.

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{ANGELICA’S SUBMISSION}

“Matthew and I met through mutual friends during 3 birthday celebrations in which everyone knew one another. That night Matt was sitting next to my best college friend and when I walked over to her, she and her husband introduced us since they’ve been talking to him for awhile. As for the rest of the night our friends had been trying to play cupid. It wasn’t hard since Matthew and I were interested…between you and me, he was very interested that when he needed to go to the men’s room, he wanted to ensure no one else sat next to me so he left me his phone and keys “to watch over” until he returned. It worked since when someone else sat next to me, Matt was able to ask him to move aside since his things were with me. . Matt’s words of that night “It was a night when fate was on our side.  I was a guy out for some fun and she was a girl out for the one.  We attended a party of mutual acquaintances.  Our attendance unlikely.  Despite our resistance I won her number and she won my heart.” Yes, he’s the writer in the relationship.

 Since we’ve met we have been to so many places we haven’t gone to, done so many things we’ve been wanting to do, and accumulated so much happy memories…which we are still doing til this day.We have been through so much sorrow and sadness before we met, but with him by my side and me by his, we have almost forgotten the ache due to the wonderful support and love we have for one another. To think a few years ago I was a pedestrian that was hit by a cab crossing Fifth Ave in New York. To this day I go through doctors, lawyers, headaches, and heartache. A year later my father passed away and months later the man I thought I could be with wasn’t truly meant to be. He on the other hand found out a deep family secret that had rocked the foundation of his relationship with his family, and the girl he was with for years was also not meant to be.  Being with him, I truly know I have met the one person that will stand by my side, as I will stand by his side.

We have decided to have a destination wedding in Punta Cana on November 13, 2010. For practical reasons, I’m Catholic and he’s Lutheran so the pressure has been on him to go through a Catholic church wedding. Since this is OUR wedding, we opted for something we both would enjoy, not what our families wanted. Some better reasons why we wanted to do a destination wedding was that since the Philippines where I’m from is so far away, we wanted to still have that tropical feel in which we also wanted something carefree, relaxing, and would be enjoyed by everyone as a group vacation. We also wanted to continue our travels and one way to take everyone with us while traveling is having our families and friends come to a beautiful island and be a part of what we believe to be a beautiful start to a new life.”

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{ MATTHEW’S SUBMISSION –

by the way, the subject line in Matthew’s entry stated “SHE IS MY MIRACLE”  ***MY HEART IS SMILING*** }

“On November 25, 2005 the most amazing person in my life was given a second chance to live.  And my life was destined to be joined with hers from that day on.  You see, not only is Angelica everything someone can hope for in a friend and partner.  She is the woman who almost didn’t make it into my life because of a distracted taxi driver.  Thrown on to the hood only to fall under the wheel and be dragged for two NYC city blocks.  That dramatic event has given her a view of the world and a perspective on life that I have fallen in love with.  I am the luckiest man.

 My good fortune to meet Angelica for the first time was quite unlikely.  We were both invited to and talked into attending a birthday party full of many acquaintances and few friends. A party neither of us would typically attend.  Meeting person after person she stood out to me. She was so beautiful and quite out of my league.  Stand-off’ish, but friendly, not giving away an ounce of her inner thoughts to my advances.  However, I was persistent and the evening ended with her number in my hand.

 That phone number has lead her and I on the most adventurous year and a half we’ve ever had.  Filled with ups and downs, lefts and rights, smiles and tears.  We wouldn’t trade one second of it for anything different.  Our first six months was filled with weddings, birthdays, christenings and weddings.  A schedule that would have challenged the most season of couples.  But not us.  We flowed through all those events without even a quibble.  We couldn’t stop smiling, or holding hands, or hugging or giving each other pecks on the cheek.  We made others gag, but we didn’t care.  The great thing is that we still don’t care about being silly and romantic in public.  We still make people gag and we love it.

Angelica and I could easily have never been in so many ways for so many reasons.  Life did all it could to keep us from meeting, but fate fought for us.  We met at the perfect place at the perfect time and have never looked back.  We are excited for the life and adventures ahead of us..

We are excited to begin the next chapter of our lives and plan to do so in Punta Cana, DR on November 13th, 2010.  We have chosen to do a destination wedding because the idea fits us.  We love the sun, the beach, the beauty of a tropical setting.  It fits our love of life, our love of adventure and most importantly our love of each other.

We would be honored to have Amanda Blythe photograph our destination wedding.

Angelica Ybanez & Matthew Criscuolo”

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I know that was a good bit to read, but I really hope all of you faithful blog followers out there enjoyed reading their love story.  I didn’t expect a second entry from Matthew, but was thouroughly pleased that he sent it over.  I can’t wait to meet these stunning New Yorkers in the most beautiful place on earth, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic!  Oh and another plus for Amy and I, is that our birthdays are the week of their wedding, so hooray for a double celebration!  ;o)  This will be hard work, but boy will it be fun hard work.

And in the spirit of the island, here is a refreshing preview of where we’ll be staying!

*****Just remember everyone, we are blessed to be a blessing!*****

Talk to you all very soon,