New England Marriott Hotels Announce Winners of Second Annual Wedding Giveaway Contest

Boston, MA – July 11, 2009 – Amanda Keady of Braintree, MA and Lance Mazzariello of Staten Island, NY are having a dream wedding on October 3, 2009, courtesy of the New England Marriott Hotels. The couple entered Marriott's second annual New England Wedding Giveaway this spring, and was selected as the winners of a free Marriott hotel wedding at the Boston Marriott Quincy Hotel. Their wedding contest prize is valued at $10,000.

Couples who booked a wedding reception at one of 10 participating New England Marriott hotels between November 1, 2008 and April 1, 2009 were invited to participate in the wedding giveaway contest. To enter, couples submitted a video essay. A third party panel of wedding experts judged the videos, based on originality, creativity, faithfulness to theme, and credibility. To see Amanda and Lance's winning wedding contest video, please visit http://www.easternmarriott.com/newenglandweddinggiveaway/ .

Participating New England Marriott hotels included:
- Boston Marriott Burlington Hotel.
- Boston Marriott Cambridge Hotel.
- Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel.
- Boston Marriott Long Wharf Hotel.
- Boston Marriott Newton Hotel.
- Boston Marriott Peabody Hotel.
- Boston Marriott Quincy Hotel.
- Newport Marriott Hotel.
- Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.
- Courtyard Boston Downtown/Tremont Hotel.

The Judging Committee:
In order to select a winning couple for the wedding contest, the New England Marriott Hotels went right to the experts, selecting a group of local wedding service purveyors who viewed each of the entries, relying on their areas of expertise to select the most deserving couple.
The judges were:
- Coleen O'Donnell, Coleen's Flower Shop; www.coleensflowershop.net
- Vladi Gorchev, The Perfect Image; www.PerfectImagePhoto.com
- Raffi Kebabjian, DJ Raffi Professional Music and Lighting Productions; www.djraffi.com

About the Winning Couple:
Amanda and Lance met eight years ago at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon graduation, Amanda was offered an executive management position with a major hotel chain in Portland, Oregon, and Lance accepted a job at a high volume restaurant in Times Square, NY. Three years later, Lance decided to "steal Amanda away." He made his intentions known to her family, gained their blessing on a marriage proposal, and then flew to Portland to pop the question. Amanda said yes, resigned from her job with two weeks notice, and then the newly engaged couple embarked on their pre-nuptial road trip across the country to New York.

"The judging panel loved this couple. Amanda and Lance were selected based on their story, as well as their sincerity and warmth as a couple, which they displayed throughout their video," said New England Marriott Hotels Marketing and eCommerce Manager Lynne McLaughlin

The Marriott Hotels of New England, along with over 2,400 Marriott-affiliated hotels worldwide, participates in the company's award-winning Marriott Rewards® frequent guest program. Members earn their choice of points toward free vacations or frequent flyer mileage for dollars spent at Marriott International branded hotels worldwide.