Q: Why do I have to be 21 or older to enter the contest? Do both my fiancé and I need to be 21?
A: While many states allow contestants to be 18 years old to sign the necessary documents for contests such as this one, some require that they be older than that, some even as old as 21. So to make it an even playing field in all states, we have a cut-off age of 21 for all contestants. And, yes, that goes for both members of the couple.
Q: We’re from Vermont. Why can’t we enter the Ultimate Wedding Contest?
A: The short answer is that Vermont has legal regulations in place that exclude its residents from participating in contests such as this one.
Q: We’re from North Dakota. Why can’t we enter the Ultimate Wedding Contest?
A: Same answer as for Vermont residents. North Dakota has legal regulations in place that exclude its residents from participating in contests such as this one.
Q: I’m not from Vermont or North Dakota. Can I enter?
A: Yes, so long as you and your fiancée (or intended) are U.S. residents. Residents of any of the other 48 states—that includes Hawaii, Alaska, and D.C.—are eligible to enter the contest.
Q: Do my fiancé and I have to be U.S. citizens?
A: No, neither of you needs to be a U.S. citizen. You both, however, have to be U.S. residents. For more information, click here for full rules.
Q: We created our Crate and Barrel Wedding & Gift Registry last year. Can we still enter the contest?
A: Absolutely. As long as your registry is active and meets the contest criteria (50 Line Item minimum and $2,000 minimum merchandise value), you are eligible. It doesn’t matter when your registry was created.
Q: Why isn’t my photo uploaded right?
A: While some photos may appear to be cropped in the thumbnails, all photos should appear properly as full images. For best results, we recommend using a landscape/horizontal photo—in a jpeg format, of course. If your picture still doesn’t look right, click here to email us and we’ll do our best to help.
Q: I made a mistake on my entry. Can I go back and make a correction?
A: If you have a typo or your photo quality is not up to par, click here to contact us about making those corrections. Unfortunately, due to the voting involved in the contest, we cannot allow any material changes after you’ve submitted your entry. You can, however, revise your gift registry as often as you’d like, so long as you have the minimum number of registry Line Items and dollar value as of the date the contest ends.
Q: I’m experiencing problems with voting or didn’t receive a voter verification email. What do I do?
A: Ensuring the validity and accuracy of votes is a top priority, and hence the email verification requirement. However, we realize that some people have experienced difficulties with voting. We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration.
We are aware that there have been some issues with emails being blocked by certain mail providers. Those issues should now be resolved, though it is possible that some email systems will still flag the verification email as “spam” so please check your spam folder first. Because of the issue we have manually verified all legitimate email addresses (as of February 15). If you were manually verified you may not have received a confirmation email but are now eligible to vote. Please return to your favorite entry and cast your vote. Once you click “Vote” you should receive a vote confirmation message on the screen. If at this point you still receive a message to verify your email please click here or click the “Help” link at the bottom of the page so we may assist you.
Please note that once you receive the vote confirmation message your vote has been registered and the vote count should update if you refresh your browser. It will not update automatically.
Q: Can our wedding take place in another country?
A: Unfortunately, we can arrange only weddings held within the United States. You can count on our wedding coordinator, however, to infuse your wedding with foreign flair if that’s what you’re after.
Q: Can I get a cash equivalent to the grand prize, or the difference in price if my wedding doesn’t end up costing $100,000?
A: No, no cash equivalents or balances will be issued. In keeping with the spirit of the contest, the full grand prize award will go toward the cost of the actual wedding.
Q: What if I’ve already booked and paid a deposit for a venue, florist, photographer, etc.? Do we have to change our wedding location and other plans? Will we get reimbursed for these deposits?
A: We will, of course, do our best to accommodate any plans you desire, as our goal is to make this your dream day. However, if you choose to go with a different venue, florist, photographer, etc., after winning—or those already-booked/paid items do not work out for whatever reason—we cannot reimburse you for any deposits already paid.
Q: I joined late. Can I catch up on the voting?
A: Absolutely. Many of the highest current total vote-getters received a lot of their votes within the first few days of entering. You can do the same. Just get the word out about your entry, and you can catch up in no time. If you do, you might just make it to the final round for your chance to win your Ultimate Wedding.
Q: I’m getting all my family and friends to vote for me, but I see some people with thousands of votes. Are those all legitimate votes?
A: Some people are running aggressive marketing campaigns. That said, we do have sophisticated monitoring software that flags unusual voting activity, and if we suspect any set of votes to be fraudulent, they will not be counted in this contest. Our software providers do regular checks and eliminate any duplicate or fraudulent votes that are cast. All voters must verify that they are using a legitimate email address by clicking a verification link they receive in their email. Several filters are in place to recognize illegitimate votes, and these votes will be eliminated on a regular basis during the contest.
For further assistance, click on “Help” at the bottom of this page and email your specific question. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible. And, thanks for participating. Our hearts are aglow with all your fantastic love stories.