Us Weekly Magazine - Celebrity News

Official Rules for the WeddingChannel.com/UsWeekly
Celebrity Wedding Contest

No Purchase Necesary

1. To Enter:

Click here and follow the entry instructions. Contest submissions will be accepted between 9:00:01 am E.T. on May 28, 2008 and 5:59:59 pm E.T. on June 12, 2008 (“Entry Period”). Only one entry per engaged couple is allowed. Entries become the property of Sponsors and will not be returned. By entering the Contest, contestants agree to abide by these rules, and represent and warrant that their entries are their own and original creations, do not violate or infringe the rights, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademark rights or rights of publicity or privacy, of any third party, and grant to Sponsor the right to edit, publish, copy, display and otherwise use their entries and their names, likenesses, and biographical information for purposes of this Contest or promotion without further permission, notice or compensation, except where prohibited by law. Entries must be suitable for publication (i.e. not obscene, offensive or indecent). Sponsors, in their sole discretion, reserve the right to disqualify any entry containing racial or ethnic slurs, explicit language or sexual content or otherwise offensive or illegal material.

2. Eligibility

The Contest is open to couples engaged to be married who are legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and aged 21 or older at the time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. Employees, and their immediate family members living in the same household, of Sponsors, their subsidiaries, affiliated or parent companies or the agencies of any of them are not eligible for this Contest. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Entrants are required to have been engaged prior to contemplating entry. Each applicant must not be subject to any travel restrictions and must agree to obtain the requisite immunizations (for the honeymoon), if necessary; each applicant must be of good moral character, must have never been convicted of a crime of any nature (other than moving violations of a misdemeanor type that did not involve personal injury, drugs or alcohol), and must have nothing in their background that would be an embarrassment to WeddingChannel.com or Us Weekly (as determined by WeddingChannel.com and Us Weekly, in its sole discretion); and neither of the applicants may be an elected official or may be currently running for any political office (local, state or federal).

3. Winner Selection

At the close of the entry period, a panel of judges selected by Sponsors will choose a maximum of 20 submissions as semi-finalists based upon the Skill Factors set forth below. These 20 submissions will be published here on or about June 16, 2008. The submissions of the selected semi-finalists will be available for voting here between 9:00:01 am E.T on June 16, 2008 and 5:59:59 pm E.T. on June 25, 2008 (“Semi-Finalist Contest Voting Period”). At the close of the Semi-Finalist Contest Voting Period, a panel of judges selected by Sponsors will choose a maximum of 3 semi-finalists as finalists based upon the Skill Factors set forth below. These 3 submissions will be published here on or about June 30, 2008. The submissions of the selected finalists will be available for voting here between 9:00:01 am E.T on June 30, 2008 and 5:59:59 pm E.T. on July 9, 2008 (“Finalist Contest Voting Period”). At the close of the Finalist Contest Voting Period, a panel of judges selected by Sponsors will choose one winner based upon the Skill Factors set forth below. During the Semi-Finalist Contest Voting Period and Finalist Contest Voting Period, visitors may vote for their favorite entry. Visitors may vote for a single entry a total of one time per day. Semi-finalists, finalists, and the winner will be selected by a panel of judges selected by Sponsors based on the Skill Factors, which are listed below, together with the weight accorded to them are: How Compelling is the Couples' Story (40%), Creativity of Celebrity Wedding Idea (40%) and Style of Entrants (20%). Visitor votes will be considered by the judges but are non-binding. Decisions of Sponsors are final on all matters relating to the contest. The winner will be published here on or about July 14, 2008.

4. Finalist Couples and Wedding Couple Obligations:

Applicants being considered for selection or actually selected as a Finalist Couple or the Wedding Couple must also be willing to agree, among other things, to undergo and authorize a background investigation conducted by Sponsors and agree to sign all documents necessary, and requested by Sponsor; to be interviewed by telephone or in person at a location designated by Sponsors and/or to either appear in a videotape produced by Us Weekly or to submit a videotape and/or photograph (if requested by Us Weekly) in which the applicant couple appears; if selected as a Finalist Couple or the Wedding Couple, to agree to make themselves exclusively available to Us Weekly and WeddingChannel.com for publicity and promotion, to travel to destination(s) of Sponsor's choice at various dates and times designated by Sponsors (including for appearances in Us Weekly and WeddingChannel.com), and to participate in various public appearances, activities, and/or competitions throughout and related to the process of selecting the Wedding Couple and the holding of the Contest, including without limitation, throughout and after the honeymoon; to acknowledge that Sponsors will have complete rights to all photos taken in relation to the contest for all media purposes in all media, whether currently existing or hereafter derived; to create a Personal Wedding Web Page, blog, and registry on WeddingChannel.com with WeddingChannel.com guidance; to ask friends and family to appear on Us Weekly and WeddingChannel.com and have them sign all necessary releases; if selected as one of three Finalists, be available for a photo shoot between the dates of June 26, 2008 and June 29, 2008;

And to abide and be bound by the Win Your Dream Wedding Official Event Rules that will be provided by WeddingChannel.com to, and must be read and signed by, each applicant couple designated by Us Weekly and WeddingChannel.com, in its sole discretion, as a semifinalist couple eligible for consideration to be selected as a Finalist Couple.

5. Prizes

The winning couple will receive a celebrity-style wedding for up to 150 guests. This wedding will be entirely planned for by Sponsors. For this wedding, Sponsors will provide wedding bands, designer wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses, a wedding location, cake, entertainment, florist, photographer, caterer and a honeymoon trip. The winning couple is responsible for any expenses not expressly included in the prize description, such as supplemental transportation expenses, incidentals, meals, beverages, and any other expenses. Approximate Retail Prize Value: up to $100,000, dependent on wedding vendor availability. The approximate retail value of the prizes represents Sponsor's good faith determination. That determination is final and binding and cannot be appealed. If the actual value of the prizes turns out to be less than the stated approximate retail value, the difference will not be awarded in cash. The prizes may not be exchanged for cash, are non-transferrable, non-refundable, non-saleable and must be accepted “as awarded.” All expenses, including taxes, on receipt and use of prizes are the sole responsibility of the winning couple. The prize value will be equally apportioned between the engaged couple for tax purposes.

The Wedding Couple must agree to be legally married in a wedding to be covered in Us Weekly and Usmagazine.com and organized by WeddingChannel.com at a venue to be selected by WeddingChannel.com and Us Weekly (in its sole discretion, including without limitation, an outdoor wedding) on a date chosen by WeddingChannel.com and Us Weekly, which is currently scheduled to take place (subject to change in the sole discretion of Sponsors) during the month of September 2008. The Wedding Couple must accept choices made by Sponsors as to significant elements of the wedding, such as the following: nature and length of ceremony, choice of couple's wedding attire and wedding party attire, cake, flowers, music, wedding rings, honeymoon itinerary, wedding venue and scheduling, and other elements to be furnished by and in the sole discretion of WeddingChannel.com.

6. General:

a. No cash substitution, transfers or assignments of prizes allowed. In event of unavailability, Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value.
b. The winning couple will be notified by email or phone on or about July 14, 2008. If a winning couple is unreachable after three (3) days, an alternate winner may be selected by Sponsors. The winning couple will be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release. The affidavit must be returned within three (3) days of notification or another winner may be selected.
c. By accepting a prize the winners grant to Sponsor the right to use their names, likenesses, and biographical information in advertising and promotional materials, without further compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law.
d. By participating in the Contest and/or accepting the prize, contestants release Sponsor, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates and parent companies from any liability, injuries, damages, cost or expense, including reasonable attorney's fees, arising out of or connected to participation in this Contest or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prizes.
e. Entries are void if they are in whole or in part incomplete or damaged. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified. No responsibility is assumed for late, lost, damaged, incomplete, or misdirected entries. Sponsor and its parent, subsidiaries or affiliated companies are not responsible for technical, hardware, software or telephone malfunctions of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, incomplete, inaccurate, garbled or delayed electronic communications caused by the sender, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Contest which may limit the ability to play or participate, or by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries. If for any reason the Contest is not capable of being conducted as described in these rules, Sponsors shall have the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest.
f. Sponsors may collect personal information from you when you enter the contest. The information collected is subject to the separate privacy policies of weddingchannel.com and usmagazine.com. WeddingChannel.com privacy policy link - http://www.weddingchannel.com/ui/buildArticle.action?assetUID=42591
g. Any dispute arising from this Contest will be determined according to the laws of the State of New York, without reference to its conflict of law principles, and the entrants consent to the personal jurisdiction of the State and Federal courts located in New York County and agree that such courts have exclusive jurisdiction over all such disputes.

7. Winner's List:

To find out who the winning couple is, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by February 1, 2008 marked ATTN: WeddingChannel.com/UsWeekly Celebrity Wedding Contest Winner Name Request to UsWeekly's address listed below.