Brides magazine asked members of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA) to enter their work in their first-ever photo contest. The entries were first screened by WPJA (a Pulitizer-prize winning panel of photojournalists and photo editors) and then sent to the Brides photo editors, who selected the winning images.

According to Brides, “Pictures were divided up into 10 categories, and after poring over hundreds of submissions, we chose the work in each category that best captured the magic and memories of this day of days…

From hipster groomsmen to precious little attendants, these photographers were able to capture the unique feeling of these couple’s wedding days with an especially artistic eye.”

The winning photographs in each category are published in the November/ December Brides, which is available at newstands nationwide. But I’ll save you a trip and will post the first place photograph below.

One nice surprise was seeing my winning photograph at Brides.com as the featured “cover” image in not one, but two different places.  

Cake Dreams - 1st Place - Cake category (image link)

Judges’ comments:
“Though the sumptuous wedding cake and colorful bouquets take up more than half the frame, Moseley’s composition directs the eye to the most interesting subject in the shot: the sugar-besotted flower girl gazing dreamily ahead.”

“The girl’s expression is just so intent. She seems like she does not just want to eat the cake but to contemplate its existence.” 

“I laughed when I saw this image. Who doesn’t relate to the longing of cake when you are a child? There it is before you, tempting you to reach out and scrape a taste of the icing. Instead, this proper young lady merely waits in desire of what she hopes will come later.”  

  
7th Place - Food & Decoration - from Erika & Edward’s wedding in San Antonio. Judges’ Comments:
“The use of ‘light bubbles’ here gives these appetizers all the fizz of a champagne cocktail, signaling a party is underway!”“Wonderful design and symmetry make this one a winner.”  You can see the rest of the winning images at www.brides.com/wpja.