1. Entry Materials. To enter the Upon A Star ("Contest") sponsored by Jorge Manuel, Inc. and Hitched, LLC (“Sponsors”) please visit the website ( "jorgemanuelweddings.com") at any time during the Contest Period (as defined below) and follow the instructions for submitting each of the following as one entry (collectively, the “Entries”) through the designer’s website (“jorgemauelweddings.com”) only:
a. One (1) photo of the future bride and/or one (1) photo of the future couple
b. One (1) six hundred (600 word essay describing the contestant’s definition of love, the theme (décor details) of her wedding, and why this gown is ideal for her wedding. All three questions must be answered to qualify as entry.
c. One (1) completed entry form

Contestants must submit their Entry Materials online. Any incomplete, inaccurate, or illegible entries are void and will not be considered. Entry Materials will not be returned to the contestant and will become the property of the Sponsors. Only the first two hundred and fifty (250) entries will be considered as part of the Contest. The Gown Winner must be available to attend the Upon a Star Party at Hitched on Friday, May 18th, 2012 to claim their prize.

2. Official Timeline. The Contest will begin at 12:00:01 AM (ET) on February 17, 2012 and all entries must be received by 11:59:59 P.M. (ET) on March 17, 2012 (“Entry Period"). Finalists will be notified no later than March 26, 2012. The Gown Winner must commit to being present for the Upon a Star Party at Hitched on Friday, May 18, 2012. Finalists will be posted on the Jorge Manuel Inc. website for public voting from April 9, 2012 – April 30, 2012. The Winners of the contest will be determined by a scoring system that is determined in part by public online votes as well as the scoring of the Sponsor. Voting will end on April 30, 2012 at 11:59:59 PM (ET). The gown will be awarded to the winner on May 18, 2012. The Gown Winner must be present at the Upon a Star Party at Hitched on Friday, May 18th to claim their prize. All dates and times are subject to change at the discretion of Sponsors.

3. Eligibility and Restrictions on Contestants. The Contest is open only to those with a verifiable wedding date between June 30, 2012 and May 30, 2013. The Gown Winner must be present at the Upon a Star Party at Hitched on Friday, May 18th to claim their prize. Any and all travel arrangements are the responsibility of the Finalists. Alterations are the responsibility of the bride, although Jorge Manuel reserves the right to make free of charge alterations to the gown at its discretion. All contestants must be US citizens and older than eighteen (18) years of age as of the date their entry is received. Eligibility of any contestant, Finalist or Prize Winner is subject to verification by Sponsors and their agents, and Jorge Manuel Inc. may require a copy of the relevant passport, driver’s license or birth certificate as proof of age and state of residence and require the Winners to sign additional agreements regarding the prize awarded as well as representations, disclaimers and rights granted to publicize the Finalists and Winners and reprint their submissions. Employees of Sponsors or of their respective corporate affiliates are not eligible, nor are persons living in the same household as, or who are immediate family members of such persons. Contestants from outside of Washington D.C. acknowledge that the Contest is governed by the laws of Washington D.C. and agree to bear sole responsibility for any inconsistency between such laws and those in other jurisdictions. Ineligibility or provision of false, incomplete or inaccurate information may result in immediate disqualification.

4. Essays. Each essay must be submitted in the English language and must be the contestant's original work. Essays may have multiple writers, but one name only must be designated on the entry form, and the named contestant must own or control 100% of the essay and the underlying composition(s) or must have the express consent of each co-writer to enter the Essay in the Contest in accordance with these Official Rules & Regulations. Essays may not exceed six-hundred (600) words in length. Submissions must not contain obscenity, defamatory or libelous material, or anything else that could be considered inappropriate, unsuitable or offensive, as determined solely by the Sponsors. Submissions must not include any unauthorized copyrighted material, viruses, corrupted files or other harmful software elements.
Contestants may submit only one (1) entry. Each entry requires submission of Entry Materials and may only be made in accordance with the terms of these Official Rules & Regulations. Sponsors are not responsible for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, stolen, corrupted or misappropriated entries, or for Internet delay or failure, outages or overload of the Website, faulty file uploads accompanying online entries, or other occurrences beyond its reasonable control.
1. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS/CLEARANCES: All of the below requirements and criteria are collectively referred to herein as the "Requirements & Clearances."
1. Automatic Disqualification: In the event an Entry does not effectively meet the Requirements & Clearances, the Sponsor will disqualify and discard the Entry either immediately or at any time during the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to remove any Entry that does not meet these Official Rules and the Requirements & Clearances.
2. Publicity Release: By entering the Contest, the Entrant (and each member of such Entrant) consents to the use of all information in the Entry, including, without limitation, each member's name, likeness, city of residence and other information, for any and all publicity or promotional purposes as Sponsor may select in its discretion.
3. No Infringement: The content of the Entry must not infringe any person's or entity's rights (including, without limitation, intellectual property rights) in any way, including without limitation, any copyrights, trademarks, logos, company names, labels, symbols, store or building facades, music, photographs, works of art, or images that have been created, distributed, aired or published in any media.
4. No Names and Likenesses Without Permission: Unless Entrant has received express prior written permission (and retains and is willing and able to produce to Sponsor upon request a copy of such permission) for use in connection with the Contest, an Entry must not include any individual's name (other than that of Entrant and Engaged), in whole or in part, refer to public figures, or contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs or other identifying elements of any person, living or dead.
5. Obtain Third-Party Releases: If the Entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by Entrant and/or are subject to any rights of any third parties, Entrant is responsible for obtaining any and all releases and consents in writing necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Entry by Sponsor in the manner set forth in these Official Rules, including, without limitation, name and likeness releases for any person who appears in or is identifiable in the Entry, prior to submission of the Entry.
6. No Illegal, Offensive or Inappropriate Content: The Entry must not include any content which, in the discretion of Sponsor, constitutes or contains (1) any words, images or statements that are or could be considered offensive to individuals on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability status, veteran status or any other class or characteristic protected from discrimination by the laws of the United States or any individual state within the United States, or that promote bigotry, racism, hatred, harm or discrimination against any such individuals; (2) any threats (real or perceived) to any person, place, business, group or entity; (3) any materials that depict illegal acts or that are sexually explicit, libelous, obscene, violent, hateful, slanderous or defamatory; (4) any other inappropriate content that includes, but is not limited to, any display of smoking, alcohol, illegal drugs, firearms, harming of animals, nudity (including, without limitation, bare chests or naked babies), or provocative/suggestive outfits or poses; or (5) any content not in keeping with Sponsor's reputation and image.

5. Judging. THE ODDS OF BEING CHOSEN AS A FINALIST, AWARD RECIPIENT OR PRIZE WINNER ARE DEPENDENT UPON THE NUMBER OF ESSAY ENTRIES RECEIVED FROM ALL ELIGIBLE CONTESTANTS.

1. SELECTING FINALISTS: A panel made up of (6) Judges selected by the Sponsors will select six (6) Finalists from among all eligible contestant entries based on the Judging Criteria and procedures determined by Jorge Manuel, Inc. The decisions of the Judges are final and binding on all matters relating to the selection of Finalists. The Gown Winner must commit to being present for the Upon a Star Party at Hitched on Friday, March 18, 2012. In the event that the chosen Finalist is not available to attend the Upon a Star Party at Hitched on Friday, March 18, 2012, the Entrant with the next highest score will be invited as a Winner/Finalist. The selection of Finalists will take place no later than March 26, 2012. The entries will be judged on the following criteria in the Judges' sole and unfettered discretion:
1. Originality of entrant's essay, content and story of love (1-5 points),
2. Originality and creativity of Entrant's dream wedding plans, theme and concept(1-5 points);
3. Originality of photo uploaded (1-5 points).

2. PUBLIC VOTING TO SELECT WINNER: Each Finalist will be featured on the Jorge Manuel, Inc. Website. Visitors to the website will vote on their preferred Finalist. Each visitor to the website will have only one (1) vote. Visitors to the Entry Site will be given the opportunity to vote on eligible Entries from April 10, 2012 through April 25, 2012. Anyone may vote, and an Entrant may vote for his/her own Entry; provided, however, that (a) electronic or automatically generated voting is not allowed, and (b) only one vote per person (meaning one vote per email address), per entry allowed. Multiple votes cast for the same entry by the same person will be determined and disallowed. Sponsor encourages voters to judge entries based on the criteria for winning set forth in these Official Rules.
Entry's ranking in public voting will earn the Entrant points (5-15 points) as follows: 1st-place in public voting will receive 15 points; 2nd place will receive 13 points; 3rd place will receive 11 points; 4th place will receive 9 points; 5th place will receive 7 points; 6th place will receive 5 points.
3. SCORING: Each Entry will be given a score by the Judges and a score based on the public voting. The Entry with the highest combined score will be deemed the Grand Prize Winner; the Entries with the next-highest scores (2nd-3rd places) will be deemed the Second and Third Prize winners and the (4th-6th places) Honorable Mention Prize winners, in order of highest to lowest scores. In the event of a tie, the Entry with the highest score in first bullet point above (Originality of Entrant's love story) will be deemed the winner from among the tying Entries with the highest total score. If ties still remain, the Entry with the highest score in the second bullet point (Originality and creativity of Entrant's dream wedding plans, theme and concept) will be deemed the winner from among the tying Entries with the same score in the first bullet point above. If ties still remain, the tying Entries with the same total score and the same score in the first and second bullet points above will be re-judged using the same criteria. All Entries and scores will be retained until eligible winners are chosen for all prizes. Once an Entry or an Entrant is deemed ineligible, however, the Entry will be discarded and not further considered.

6. Finalists, Winners, Award Recipients and Prizes. Travel, shipping, and alteration expenses incurred in accepting any prize are the sole responsibility of the Winner or Award recipient.

Prizes will be awarded to the contestant named on the entry. Prizes are non-transferable and all taxes are the sole responsibility of each respective Award recipient and Winner, who must each submit necessary tax information and will receive a U.S. 1099 tax form for receipt of any prize(s) valued at Six Hundred U.S. Dollars ($600) or more.
One (1) Finalist will be the Grand Prize Winner and will receive a Jorge Manuel wedding gown (MSRP $4730). The Grand Prize Winner is not able to resell the gown within two (2) years of the award date. The Grand Prize Winner will also receive a one (1) night stay at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC to be used on the night of Friday, May 18th as part of the Upon A Star Party.
All other five (5) Finalists will receive a custom made Jorge Manuel veil (MSRP $200-$450).

7. Rights Granted to Sponsors. For good and valuable consideration, including the Sponsors review and consideration of Entry Materials, each contestant grants the Sponsors the following rights: Each contestant (including all Finalists and Prize Winners) irrevocably grants permission to Jorge Manuel and its affiliates, sponsors and licensees to use the contestant’s name, address (city and state), likeness, and the submitted essay(s) for Contest and Website advertising and promotional purposes without compensation, worldwide and in perpetuity, in any and all forms of media, now known or hereafter devised, including, without limitation, on websites belonging to the Sponsors and on partner and affiliate websites or for reprint in any physical or digital medium.

8. Miscellaneous. This Contest is subject to all applicable laws, including, without limitation, U.S. federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Any person attempting to defraud or in any way tamper with this Contest, or who does not fully comply with these Official Rules & Regulations, will be ineligible for prizes and may be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. All contestants, regardless of any participation in any prior year’s contest or other affiliation with Sponsors, must submit to all rules, regulations, terms and conditions for this Contest and complete a new submission for each Contest Essay entry. If, for reasons beyond the Sponsors’ control, the Contest is not capable of running as originally planned, the Sponsors, at their sole discretion, reserve the right to postpone or modify or cancel the Contest, without liability, in which case notice will be posted on websites of the Sponsors. All interpretations of these rules and regulations and decisions by the Sponsors are final. Contestants may not assign, delegate or otherwise transfer any or all of their rights or responsibilities hereunder. The Sponsor may assign, delegate or otherwise transfer any or all of its rights and/or responsibilities hereunder. Contestant represents and warrants to the Sponsors that their Entry Materials and all other information and materials provided to the Sponsors are true, complete and correct in all material respects. The Sponsors and licensees will have no liability for, and each contestant releases and agrees to defend, indemnify and hold the Sponsors and licensees harmless from and against, any and all damage, loss and/or liability resulting from or associated with his or her Entry Materials, participation in the Contest, breach of these Official Rules & Regulations, or any use, misuse, acceptance or possession of any prize. The liability of the Sponsors is limited to a contestant’s entry and, if applicable, the value of any prize to which such contestant may be entitled hereunder.

9. Governing Law and Forum. THE LAWS OF WASHINGTON D.C. SHALL GOVERN THE CONTEST WITHOUT REGARD TO CONFLICT OF LAWS PRINCIPLES, AND THE STATE AND FEDERAL COURTS LOCATED IN WASHINGTON D.C., U.S.A. SHALL HAVE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OVER ANY CONTROVERSIES REGARDING THE CONTEST. EACH CONTESTANT WAIVES ANY AND ALL OBJECTIONS TO JURISDICTION AND VENUE IN THOSE COURTS AND HEREBY SUBMITS TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THOSE COURTS.

10. Contest Sponsor. This Contest is sponsored by Jorge Manuel, Inc. and Hitched, LLC. Each sponsor may be contacted using the contact information listed on their respective websites. All questions about the Contest should be directed to contest@jorgemanuelweddings.com.

11. Winners’ and Award Recipients’ Names. For a copy of the names of each Winner and Award Recipient, please see the Website after May 18th, 2012.
© 2012 Jorge Manuel, Inc.
January, 2012