Canadian couple wins Bradenton Blues Festival wedding contest
BRADENTON -- They live way up in the Northern Rockies, in British Columbia. They're having their wedding in Bradenton, and you're invited.
Pamela Gay and Dale Miller sent in the winning video in the Bradenton Blues Festival's "Say I Do at the Blues" wedding contest. They'll get a prize package worth about $6,200, and they'll get married on the stage of the blues festival in December at the Riverwalk.
Dozens of couples from the United States and Canada entered the contest and judges -- including this year's blues festival headliner, Janiva Magness, and last year's headliner, Marcia Ball -- picked the winner.
In the video, Gay and Miller appear against a backdrop of a Canadian forest. It looked beautiful at the time they shot it, but they point out that in December it could be 40 degrees below zero there and the snow could be several feet high.
They're also blues lovers -- Miller plays a couple of blues riffs on his acoustic guitar in the video -- and they know and love Bradenton.
"It's our favorite city in the whole world," Gay says in the video. "To go to the blues festival would be awesome. My parents will be there. We could have a visit."
The video itself -- which you can see at Bradenton.com --- was just one reason the judges chose Gay and Miller. Their story was another reason.
They have been together for 18 years, since they met at a New Year's Eve Party in 1997. They first bonded over their mutual love for the blues. They have spoken about marrying several times over the years, but the blues festival contest was what really pushed them to tie the knot.
Gay likes the Bradenton area so much that she follows local media to keep tabs on the area happenings. When she spotted news about the wedding contest, she told Miller, "We're getting married."
They'll wed on stage, with circuit court Judge Ed Nicholas officiating. Festival performer Larry Garner will sing a song for especially for them.
Their prize package includes vouchers from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport to help with airfare, four VIP tickets to the Bradenton Blues Festival, four VIP passes to the Pavilion for a wedding reception, lunch, dinner with full bar and private table for two at Pier 22, four nights lodging at Seaside Inn on Anna Maria Island, wedding concierge services courtesy of Realize Bradenton, a blue wedding cake created especially for the occasion by Sugar Cubed in Village of the Arts, a blue bridal bouquet arranged by Bradenton's Flowers by Edie, wedding photography by Real Deal Wedding Photography, chauffeured limousine transport to the Bradenton Blues Festival by Longboat Limousine & Suncoast Sedan and styling, hair and nail services by BC Cutters Hair Design in Bradenton.
The 2015 Bradenton Blues Festival is scheduled for 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec. 5. Beside Magness and garner, the lineup includes Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, Joanna Connor, Mike Zito and the Wheel, James "Super Chikan" Johnson, "Girls With Guitars" and In Layman Terms.
Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 at the gate. Tickets are available at bradentonbluesfestival.com.
Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.
This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Canadian couple wins Bradenton Blues Festival wedding contest ."