Congratulations to our very own DQ, who got married 12/12/12, a date chosen because it’s the last date with three consecutive numbers and it will never repeat again in our lifetime. We thought we’d interview his lovely new wife, Jeanne, about their special day. I went to the wedding -she looked stunning and wore four dresses! I have never been to a wedding with such an amazing wardrobe. You can check out all of their wedding photos from the Kaptur they created of their special day here.

Interview with Jeanne, DQ’s gorgeous bride:

How did DQ pop the question?

It was a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon in August. We drove out for another one of those weekend road trips. This time he told me to dress up. I picked out a green cocktail dress and got all dolled up for the evening. He drove me to the middle of New Jersey saying he had a surprise in store for me. The roads felt unfamiliar to me and all I saw was farms and vast land, it was like a kidnap scenario in the movies. I wondered what the surprise was and was super excited—since I love surprises! When we arrived we parked the car by the parking lot and I saw a Spanish restaurant in sight. I had to use the bathroom and then saw a bunch of people chatting outside the bathroom window. I thought to myself and was wondering if he brought all our close friends to do a surprise party for me. But I was wrong, when I came out of the bathroom; he took my hand and walked me to the back of the restaurant. Low and behold, we were greeted by our host (a couple) that introduced themselves to us, they asked to sign the papers waiving our rights if anything happens and then I realized that I was signing to get on a hot air balloon. I was ecstatic, it was my first time on a hot air balloon ride and I was scared and excited at the same time—with heels on! Other people were going on a hot air balloon too! Except on a different one. We had a balloon all to ourselves in addition to the hot air balloon driver. We quickly filled up the balloon together with hot air, got into the basket and were the first team in the group to take off. I was very nervous and held on to anything I could grab my hands on because I’m afraid of heights. As we got up higher and higher, about 1,000 feet up in the air, he played Canon in D on his iPhone setting the mood of the ride. As we started admiring the view from the flight, the driver of the hot air balloon said there is a nicer view on the other side, and I step over to the other side to see and he told me to look down. I glimpsed down for a second and noticed that it’s a black banner with white letter and two pink hearts (one on each side of the banner). I finally read the question clearly and started blushing and smiling with joy. The banner read “Will you marry me?” I was silent and shocked for a moment. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a box and opened it. It was the engagement ring we had picked out months ago. I was expecting the proposal soon but not in such a thoughtful and unique way. It was flawless and felt like one of the themes from a Korean drama—something I would watch on television happened right before my eyes.

You had a lot of guests at the wedding, which was in a perfect wedding venue, The Grand Prospect Hall. Did your guests travel far? And why did you choose that venue?

A majority of our guests were close friends, co-workers, and family and relatives that lived in New York. We chose the wedding venue because it was big, beautiful and convenient for all our guests. I was watching television one day at a member firm I was regulating for work and noticed the commercial for The Grand Prospect Hall. The commercial looked so elegant and beautiful because they showed off the Victorian style ballroom with color lights and balcony. It’s like nothing I’d ever seen in my life. The Grand Prospect Hall is a historic site that used to be an opera house. We fell in love with the venue at first sight when we set foot there for a tour, and decided to go with this place for our big day. In addition, the wedding planner at The Grand Prospect Hall was experienced, understanding, patient and friendly. He listened to how we imagined our ideal wedding, catered to our needs and made it perfect from planning to execution on the actual day and customized everything the way we want it.

You wore four amazing dresses on your wedding day and DQ had two different suits. Is this tradition? What made you choose four dresses and how did you decide on the colors? More importantly, how did you manage all of the dress fittings?

The dresses were a tradition that we have in Chinese weddings instead of wearing a single dress like in American traditions. The dresses consist of a traditional red Chinese “Qua” that I wore for the tea ceremony pre-wedding, a white dress for the ceremony (walking down the aisle), a white dress with red contour outline the body’s curve for our first dance, a maroon evening gown I chose for the second half of the event (cake cutting and games), and a light blue gown for the cheers to each table and to greet the guests for departure. I chose from a variety of different dresses based on uniqueness of color and design. This was done to entertain the guest, and it represents the wealth of the bride in that she is able to afford so many dresses. This is very common for Asian weddings to reflect their status and it will create a wider variety of style and color composition for wedding photos.

One of Jeanne’s dresses:

Tell us a little bit more about the hosts and the games at the wedding:

We had two hosts, one male and one female at the event that spoke both Cantonese and English to entertain the crowd and to lead the event. One of the games at the wedding was a kissing game where couples imitated an intense kissing position shown on screen. Another was a version of musical chairs where guests passed a napkin around the table to win the centerpiece to take home as a prize. The hosts also danced hip-hop and sang a song to entertain the guests as well.

What other special touches did you incorporate into your special day?

Traditional Chinese-style banquet weddings are held at restaurants that have a golden dragon and phoenix statue on a red velvet backdrop wall. Since we decided to go with an American-style wedding, we decided to keep a small piece of the tradition by incorporating it into an ice-sculpture instead during the cocktail hour and a cute mini wedding topper of a married couple in an old-fashioned red traditional attire (the husband giving the wife a piggy back ride). To match the theme of our wedding, we gave traditional Chinese glass cups with dragon and phoenix as well as other traditional designs for party favors to add a touch of Chinese culture.

For our reception intro, we decided to do the Gangnam Style dance to loosen up the crowd and start the party with a bang! Even though the bridal party didn’t have that much dancing experience, we still managed to pull it off together by practicing the day before and by watching PSY’s Gangnam style music video (a very popular Korean hip hop song). We knew everyone probably knew the song, so we picked this song to get everyone pumping and in an upbeat mood.

The Kaptur Team at the Wedding:

Happy New Year to everyone! How are those New Year’s Resolutions coming along so far? Judging by the empty bag of Reese’s and Hershey’s Kisses sent to us as a holiday gift from Hershey’s, I’d say our resolutions aren’t going very well.

This is the time of year when most people are reflecting on 2012 and starting to look forward to 2013. We are excited that Deepak Chopra has created a Kaptur of his favorite photo memories from 2012, which wasn’t his average year. He had a very exciting time from India with Oprah to SXSW to writing and publishing Super Brain. You can see all of Deepak Chopra’s best memories at http://deepak.kaptur.com. Start creating your own photo memories of 2012 by clicking the link!

It’s the holiday season. Hanukkah has come to an end; Christmas and Kwanzaa are just around the corner, and then we kick off 2013! What better way to celebrate than to gather your family and friends and Kaptur some end-of-the-year festivities.

The holidays are also a time where people end up taking some embarrassing photos. We created a Kaptur with some awkward holiday photos we’ve come across. Check them out http://kptr.it/happyholidays and add some of your own, too.

All of us here at Kaptur would like to wish you a very happy holiday season and a prosperous 2013!

With everything that has been happening lately, particularly Hurricane Sandy, the Nor’easter that came shortly after, and the ongoing recovery efforts, many of us are starting to realize how lucky we really are.

As Thanksgiving is just a couple days away, we decided to take this opportunity to reflect on everything we have to be thankful for.

Here at Kaptur, we are thankful for a lot of things. I asked everyone on the team what they’re thankful for:

Tej - My family and my team – I am extremely thankful for each and every member of the Kaptur team.

Dimitri – I’m thankful for long stretches of uptime, successful database migrations, my friends and family, and the excellent judgment of the American electorate.

Sarah – I am thankful for Thanksgiving (I’m English and we don’t have it across the pond); I am thankful for our lovely Kaptur users who I communicate with on a daily basis; I’m thankful for the Kaptur team; and I am thankful for my New York family, and my family and friends who are spread all over the rest of the world (I wish they were closer though)!

Ian – I am thankful for my friends and family.

DQ – good food, a loving fiancé, loving parents who have sacrificed so much to get me to where I am today, a wonderful year at Kaptur and the amazing user and product growth we have achieved as a team.

Adam - I’m thankful for family, friends, eluding the Sandy superstorm, and the way my 2 year old son says, “More Pumpkin bread please daddy please!”

Vik – cheesy but amazing friends, amazing family, amazing team and product @ kaptur

A huge Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Kaptur!

Start collecting your Thanksgiving photos by going to www.kaptur.com

What are you thankful for? Leave a comment below and have a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving!

]]> http://blog.kaptur.com/2012/11/20/happy-thanksgiving-from-the-kaptur-team/feed/ 1364 http://blog.kaptur.com/2012/11/07/help-hurricane-sandy-victims/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=help-hurricane-sandy-victims http://blog.kaptur.com/2012/11/07/help-hurricane-sandy-victims/#comments Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:35:06 +0000 Sarah http://blog.kaptur.com/?p=1907 Continue reading →]]>

Although we were without power and had bad internet connections, the team at Kaptur got off lightly from the devastation that Hurricane Sandy caused last week. We’ve created a Kaptur with some of the photos highlighting the destruction – visit www.kptr.it/hurricanesandy to see them.

(Image from Associated Press)

There are millions of people who still need your help, especially with the Nor’easter hitting! Check out how you can lend a hand:

DONATE

Text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation to Hurricane Sandy relief

Donate blood! The storm created a blood shortage for 200 hospitals in NYC, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. Locations for blood drives near you can be found via New York Blood Center

Non-perishable, dry and ready-to-eat food (cereal, granola bars etc.), vegetables, and meat (chicken, ground beef) are being collected at:

• St. Jacobi Church at 5406 4th Avenue
• Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew at 520 Clinton Avenue

Both locations are in Brooklyn, New York

Toys for children age 1-5, diapers and baby wipes, children books, art supplies, plastic storage bins, and cleaning supplies are being collected at The CPC Jacob Riis Child Care Center in the Lower East Side.

• 108 Avenue D, New York, NY 10009

Contact volunteer@cpc-nyc.org or 212-941-0920 ext.155 for more information

Non-perishable food items and clothing are being collected at the following locations in Long Island (information via Long Island Press)

• 2138 Deer Park Ave., Deer Park
• 770-14 Grand Blvd., Deer Park
• 246 Smithtown Blvd., Nesconset
• 1102 Route 110, Farmingdale
• 2667 Merrick Rd., Bellmore
• 448 Union Blvd., West Islip
• 5135 Merrick Rd., Massapequa Park
• 3899 Hempstead Tpke., Bethpage
• 1518 Union Turnpike, New Hyde Park
• 3965 Long Beach Rd., Island Park
• 2120 Middle Country Rd., Centerreach
• 1330 Hicksville Road, No. Massapequa
• 822 Fort Salonga Rd,. Northport
• 515 Montauk Hwy., West Babylon
• 2323 Jericho Tpke., Garden City Park
• 52 E. Main St., Smithtown
• 15 W. Main St., East Islip
• 360 Route 25A, Rocky Point
• 518 Middle Neck Rd., Great Neck

VOLUNTEER

• Join Sandy Baggers, an organization helping in relief and recovery efforts in Staten Island.
• Visit Rockaway Relief, which is dedicated to helping the Rockaways, Breezy Point and surrounding areas in Queens.
• Or, check Occupy Sandy Relief for a location to volunteer near you!

For real-time updates you can search for the hashtag #HurricaneSandyHelp and #HurricaneSandyVolunteer on Twitter too.

Thanks for all the support and well wishes sent to the Kaptur team! We’d love it if you could show your support to all the people still in need of help.

Meghan McMahon was kind enough to tell us the story of her wedding and how she Kaptur’d every moment when she got married in Williamsburg, VA.

How did your husband propose?
My family was having a birthday party for my brother-in-law then having more friends over later for swimming, dancing and drinks on our back deck. My husband used this opportunity to pull me aside and pop the question. When we came back, the DJ (my brother-in-law) was playing Beyoncé‘s “Single Ladies”!

Did anything unexpected happen on the day?
We had more time than we thought we would. I’m a planner, so I baked in an hour between the wedding and cocktail hour – but pictures didn’t last too long and our guests arrived early. So we entered the reception early!

Were there any unusual themes or special touches for the wedding?
We both went to James Madison University and we had the traveling Duke Dog (mascot) attend – which was just a small statue named Road Dawg. We really wanted our wedding to be simple and elegant, so our small touches were there.

What Meghan had to say about Kaptur:
I love being able to see all my photos and friends’ photos from our big day in one place. I know my friends have enjoyed seeing them all together and have created albums of their own. I am excited to incorporate this into other events in the future!

Thanks Meghan! It sounds like you had an amazing day.

This weekend you can Kaptur your best pop ‘n’ pose with popchips for a chance to win a $200 shopping spree!

This weekend – Saturday, September 22nd and Sunday, September 23rd – popchips will be at the Simon Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City for a pop ‘n’ pose event.

Kaptur is partnering with popchips so you and your friends can pop ‘n’ pose your way to a $200 mall shopping spree. Head down to the event this weekend and all you have to do is:

Snap your own popstar pic at the pop ‘n’ pose event and email it to popchips@kaptur.com
OR
Tweet your own popstar pic at the pop ‘n’ pose event with: “Check out my best pop ‘n’ pose @popchipsny & @KapturIt #popnposeny”

You can see all of the photos at http://popchips.kaptur.com. One winner will be selected via Twitter and Email.

Just bring your friends along, dress up like a popstar, and head to the snackers lounge in front of Dick’s Sporting Goods on the first floor of the mall. We’ll be partying like popstars 11am – 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.

92.3 Now FM will also be onsite with giveaways from 11-1pm.  Follow them @923NowFM and @popchipsny for details.

At the event you will also have the chance to enter to win popchips national sweepstakes…a trip to meet Katy Perry in Los Angeles!

We’ve had some amazing Birthright Kaptur entries flood into our inbox over the past few weeks! Not only did we love each and every entry, but here at the office we have decided that we in fact need a vacation, and a place that has made it onto my list is…you guessed it, Israel!

The Kapturs that have been created are absolutely awesome, and include photos from many of the top sites and locations across Israel. Over 75,000 photos were collected from thousands of participants who traveled throughout Israel on different trips. I am a huge fan of sunsets, so here is one of my personal favorites:

As you know, thousands of photos were viewed over the competition, but only one person can be the grand prize winner! So here are the results…drum roll please:

3rd place – Jared Tangir

2nd place – Brandon Russ

1st place – Kevin Cowan

Even though the competition is over, Kaptur is a great way to relive all of your memories, not just for Birthright. Kaptur can collect everyone’s photos for weddings, graduations, proms, and other life milestones.

Also, please stay tuned for more Kaptur photo competitions in the upcoming months.

The Birthright competition has been open for just over two weeks and the entries are great! There are Kapturs containing photos of many amazing events such as camel riding, Western Wall tunnels, Jaffa, Med Sea (my personal favorite), and the Mega Event.

Kapturs are pouring in from all over the country, but we are still hoping to receive entries from Arielle Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Aly Raisman, Olympic medalist, who will both have been on Birthright trips by the end of the summer.

For anyone else who has yet to submit, please do so by visiting the contest page and entering for your chance to win an iPad, Grove of Trees in Israel, and a Kaptur Photo Album, and to have your album featured on our blog posts.

Check out the amazing albums below and I guarantee you will feel as if you are actually in the land of Israel!

1. Kevin Cowan

2. Brandon Russ

3.Jared Tangir

The Kaptur Birthright Photo Contest launched last week with great entries from all over the United States, including from colleges such as the University of Maryland, Florida State University, and Arizona State University. It looks like they had an AWESOME time on their Birthright/Israel trips!

Although our contestants are from all over the country and were taking photos thousands of miles from each of their respective schools, there is one common thread to all of their pictures: the State of Israel. Many of them have taken pictures of the exact same locations: the Western Wall, Tel Aviv, and the Old City.

Now it’s your turn to help determine a winner. The Kaptur with the most views by August 15th wins a grove of trees in Israel, an iPad, and a photo album. Be sure to enter the Kaptur Photo Contest to have a chance to win these awesome prizes, too!

Here is the leader board as it stands right now (you can click on the names to check out the contestant’s Kaptur):

1. Kevin Cowan
2. Dylan Abrams
3. Rachel Mahler

We also had some new partners come on board this week, and would like to thank them: