We had over 70 entries to the 3D Printed Wedding contest and with so many fantastic designs it was really hard for us to chose winners among the entries. With the help of Kelly Phillips Badal, senior editor and in-house crafter at Country Living magazine, we were able to narrow it down and are very excited to announce the winners of our 3D Printed Wedding contest!

From cake toppers to table settings, we’ve gathered all of the entries for decor, party favors/gifts and bridal accessories and with help have selected the winners for each category. See Kelly's picks below!

Decor: The ball and chain wine glass charm. "This clever little charm made me laugh out loud -- and instantly covet it. And would I use it post-wedding as a sly statement? Absolutely."

We wanted to make sure each item was actually fit for a that special day, so naturally, we threw a wedding! Additional images from the shoot can be found here.

We had some really spectacular submissions and want to thank all who participated as well as highlight a few more of our favorites!

Flamingo Cake Toppers, these two lovers are nothing short of precious.

Skully and Murrder cake toppers, the Tim Burton fan in us is squealing!

Have ideas for the theme of our next contest? Let us know!

We're also eager to update everyone on the progress of the build out of our factory in Long Island City! We continue to get new machines (over 10 and counting!) and are seeing dry wall go up daily (see below). We currently have 18 full time employees based in the factory and we're hiring for more! Once fully built out, our Factory of the Future will become the largest consumer facing 3D Printing manufacturing facility in the world. It will have the capacity to 3D Print 3 to 5 million objects annually.

We'll be conducting monthly tours once the factory is fully up and running so that everyone can check out the magic in person! Stay tuned.

Our mission is to enable anyone to make anything they want. Today's launch is a huge step towards that goal and we're hoping that you will join and celebrate with us and our community about Shapeways' revolutionary marketplace and manufacturing platform.

Our marketplace of 3D printed products is a new economic engine for product designers. Now we introduce the endless possibilities of Shapeways apps. Think about it: Just as new materials at Shapeways have created new product categories, this API creates the opportunity for developers all over the world to make apps that make products.  In 2012, 8,000 Shapeways Shop Owners earned nearly $500,000 in profits, and many of these Shop Owners were app developers who took advantage of our tools for mass customization.  We are bringing the power of digital fabrication to the masses, and Shapeways' mission is becoming reality.

API FEATURES

This first release of our API focuses on our marketplace and manufacturing. We've tried to make life easy for developers to upload 3D models, sell to others, and 3D print in over 30 materials and finishes including our newest material Premium Silver.  

The functionality available via the 3D Printing API is continually growing, so if you are coding with us, you should regularly check our docs or the browse the JSON discovery (get JSON View).  We have also developed several reference clients that showcase the API functionality and can help you get started right away!

API EXAMPLES

While our new API was in private beta, we worked closely with several users to test and refine the features. Here are a couple examples of the possibilities.

Mixee Me

Mixee Me enables you to create your own army of little people. Each character is created using a collection of clipart that the user can choose from.

TinkerCad

Tinkercad is an easy to use, web-based CAD app designed specifically for 3D Printing. Users can create their own 3D models with no previous CAD experience and print directly to Shapeways by clicking 'Order 3D Print' within the app.

Creators Project

The Creators Project in collaboration with Softlab, Sosolimited and Sticky Monster Lab, accesses your Facebook profile to create a 3D Printed visualization of your interaction with family and friends, your likes and sharing patterns, so you can see yourself as others might see you, abstracted though the lens of the three artists and their applications.

Nu Bracelet

Nu uses audio analysis to transform music into a unique piece of wearable art.

API PHILOSOPHY

"Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand."

--Martin Fowler

We're a passionate and creative team spread over 3 time zones in 2 continents. We listen to each other and prefer to add and improve ideas rather than point out why something will fail.  We strive to enable intuitive leaps of understanding and readable code.  To make sure that we were hearing you, we offer direct contact via email (api@shapeways.com), IRC (#shapeways on freenode.net), and dedicated Skype chatrooms.  We want to ensure frequent and open communication with everyone using our APIs. It is extremely important for us to maintain an extremely low barrier to entry for anyone who wants to create real-life products from digital 3D objects.

We hope you'll join us in making the future. We're here to help you create!

Love,

Shapeways

We're so excited to be heading down to Austin, TX for what's sure to be another eventful SXSW! If you're heading down as well, here's where we'll be when not eating copious amounts of burritos.

Saturday, March 9th:

NY Tech Meetup- 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM (CST)

Location: AMOA-Arthouse - #FEED powered by Twitter- 700 Congress Avenue 

We're exhibiting with over 40 New York tech startups, stop by our booth to meet the team and see some awesome 3D Printed products! Don't forget to RSVP.

Sunday, March 10th:

Industrial Revolution 3.0 and the Future of 3-D Printing- 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CST)

Location: Omni Downtown Capital Ballroom-700 San Jacinto Boulevard

Mike Senese, senior editor at Wired, and our CEO Peter Weijmarshausen will be discussing the limitations of mass manufacturing and explaining why digital fabrication enables individuals to find and make products that truly meet their unique needs. 

Sunday, March 10th:

3D Printing Happy Hour with Makerbot,  6:00- 7:00 p.m. (CST) 

Location: Craft Pride- 61 Rainey Street

Join Shapeways & Makerbot as we indulge in Texan craft beers and talk 3D Printing.  Don't forget to RSVP!

Can't wait to see y'all! 

Although it delayed us, New York weather can't stop us! We're excited to share that our 3D Printing event in collaboration with Ace Hotel has been rescheduled to March 2, from 1-5pm.

Join local designers including In God We Trust, Chris Habana and Ten Thousand Things, and CAD modelers to create new designs exclusive to the event. At 2pm, we'll be kicking off a 3D Printing symposium with talks from Fashion designer Michael Schmidt — creator of wardrobes for luminaries like Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Deborah Harry and Madonna, Brooks Hagan, textile artist and Acting Head of the Textile Department at RISD, and 3D design evangelists Duann Scott and Michael Curry from Shapeways and Makerbot, respectively. Hope to see you there!

Additionally, we'll be joined by Michael Schmidt — creator of wardrobes for Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Deborah Harry and Madonna — along with Material ConneXion and others on Saturday night for the unveiling of a 3D-printed metallic gown, designed in collaboration with Francis Bitonti, for model Dita Von Teese.

Fashion Week events at Ace are open to all. Space is limited, however so be sure to check Ace's events page for RSVP information!!