Brides Compete For The Ultimate Prize At NEA Bride Wars

Wedding and Party Network recently had the opportunity to support and attend NEA Bride Wars, a competition hosted by Houston’s, a local event venue. At the event, each bride and their team were competing for the ultimate prize—a luxury wedding!

After a day full of fun and games, one lucky bride, Summer Gardner, won a exclusive wedding package that included an 8-hour wedding accommodation for 100 guests at Houston’s event venue, the DJ Silver Package from Suspence Entertainment, 6-hour wedding coverage and mini engagement session from Emilee Gill Photography, and so much more!

“I was shocked! My fiance Tristian and I hadn’t done much to plan for our spring 2020 wedding because I kept telling him ‘well what if something crazy happens and I win this wedding?’”

Before the competition started, the brides and their guests were treated to an open house at Houston’s and could check out the venue and a few of the other vendors. Once everyone arrived, it was time for the competition to start!

Each team competed in a three-legged race, a balloon-popping competition, a relay race, a cornhole contest, a Lifesaver pass, an arm-wrestling tournament, and a pie-eating contest. “My favorite activity was finding the ring in the pie,” Summer says. “The pie was chocolate pudding and cool whip (YUM!) and when they told us we had to find the ring to move on to the final round, I went for it! I blew cool whip and chocolate pudding out of my nose for 2 days after that.”

After each event, one team was eliminated, until only two teams were left. The remaining teams had to face-off in a HUGE Jenga competition. This went on for an unbelievably tense 45-minutes until Summer’s team claimed victory.

Summer competed in the event with her maid of honor and sister, Haley, and her bridesmaid and cousin, Raya. “My team and I were not the most athletic, but we were the most competitive!”

Summer and her fiancé Tristian are very excited about their upcoming nuptials. “It’s been a long time coming and everything fell into place so perfectly. We are praying for good weather for an outside rustic/boho wedding. We are so in love and we just can’t wait to be husband and wife, finally!”

“As a graduate student at Arkansas State University, wedding planning can be stressful and overwhelming on top of everything else I have going on. Thank you so much to all the vendors and Houston’s for being such a dream to work with! I’m so grateful to get to work with all of them. They are all so sweet and friendly! Also, thanks to Weddings by Melissa E. She is making everything a breeze!”

In addition to the first-place prize, the second-place winner received a full bridal photography session and 20% off select services. All teams who stayed until the end of the event were gifted a free engagement photo session.

Thanks to Houston’s for hosting this amazing event. We loved helping out and can’t wait for more to come!