As a former stockbroker and financial professional, my first goal would be to make the contest sustainable, so in my opinion the first ten writers should be rewarded financially, and all other qualified entries should be rewarded with upvotes and resteems, as appropriate.
I've only read one other comment that took sustainability into account, and upvoted her for her efforts.
Minimal standards should be clearly stated and maintained, such as word count, subject matter and contest formatting, so that spam comments hit the dustbin where they belong, but worthy entries from those who read and followed the rules are given the chance of further exposure.
The bottom line is that, in any popular contest, it is not reasonable to expect that every entry will be rewarded, and frankly a lot are likely not to deserve any reward.
Resteeming worthy entries both conserves the prize pool and exposes worthy posts to the possibility of further rewards and recognition from the community.
If he wants to blow out his prize pool in one go, you have more than enough suggestions on how to go about doing so.
But if he wants to make this contest regular thing, conserving the capital should come first, the prizes should be smaller, and many of the rewards should be non-financial in nature.
Congratulations and Best Wishes for your upcoming wedding!
I hope that you and your bride will build a happy and successful life together for the long term. My best wishes for you both. ;-)
hi @crescendoofpeace
I just had a chance to read your excellent feedback. Thank you very much for your time and effort to share your view. And for your kind wishes :)
yours
piotr
Proszę bardzo, Piotr. ;-)