Style Me Pretty

Sonoma Wedding from Liz Lovi Photography + It’s A Date at The Powder Room

February 13th. 2012 by Mallory | 14 comments

Easy yet beautiful, sunny and casual. This Sonoma wedding has every element we love to see in a wedding. DIY projects handmade with love, gorgeous flowers that evoke a beyond happy feeling, a fantastic venue filled with personal décor, and – of course – a couple madly in love. Liz Lovi Photography captured our stunning bride, handsome groom, and their warm, heartfelt day to perfection. I know I’ll be spending my afternoon in the gallery – where will you be?

Hair & Makeup courtesy of It’s A Date at The Powder Room.

My vision for our wedding day was fun and travel. Tommy and I have been to over nine countries and one US road trip together. We love adventure, exploring, culture, food, music and the kindness of strangers all over the globe. I wanted the idea of us concurring and exploring this world together to come across at our wedding. Traveling is something that excites us, intrigues us, scares us and brings us closer together.

One of the main flowers that I wanted to incorporate throughout the day was sunflowers. I have loved sunflowers for as long as I could remember. They are so bright and cheerful and always make me smile. They fascinate me too because they are always reaching for the sun. If you put them in a window the sunflowers will actually turn and face the sun. I have always tried to be a positive, bright and a happy person much like a sunflower!

The venue was a no brainer the moment when I walked through the gates of that magical, secret garden. I only saw the venue one time in the dead of winter. No flowers, puddles of mud, repairs needed but I just knew it was the place where we were supposed to get married. It had a vintage feel to it, and it also made us feel like we had traveled somewhere else! It was the perfect venue for the most perfect day ever!

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, we decided to have donuts! Donuts and dancing were there to show off our fun side. Cake is good but who doesn’t LOVE donuts? I wanted our guests to feel our playful, different and adventurous side – and dance! For years Tommy and I have loved to dance not only with each other but just in general. Our DJ really made that party happen with all the lighting and high energy music. All in all, our wedding was a fabulous representation of our love! Romantic, bright, playful, joyful, exciting and full of love. It was hands down the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

Photography: Liz Lovi Photography / Venue: The Garden Pavilion / Wedding Dress: Wine Country Bride / Brides Shoes: TOMS Shoes / Groom’s Suit: Men’s Wearhouse / Groom’s Shoes: Converse / DJ: DJ Jon Moore / Florist: Divine Creations Floral Design / Caterer: Taste of Perfection Catering / Donuts: Harvey’s Gourmet Mini Donuts / Coordinator: Delia Nieto, delia@delianieto.com / Officiant: Jimmy Donaghy, jdonaghy@gmail.com / Hair & Makeup: It’s A Date at The Powder Room / DIY: Table ‘numbers’ picture signs, paper airplanes, seating chart, picture frame pictures for sign-in scrapbook / Travel passport holders: handmade from a friend

It's A Date at The Powder Room is a member of our Little Black Book. For more information on how members are chosen, click here.

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Northern Michigan Music Festival Wedding from bobbi+mike

February 13th. 2012 by Mallory | 8 comments

If we adored this couple, Bryan and Mae, before (they are some of our beloved LBB Vendors, afterall), after seeing their Michigan wedding, and hearing the fantastic story from Mae, we are head over heels in love now. You saw their beautiful engagement Friday, and this morning, thanks to another talented husband & wife team bobbi+mike, we’ve got front row seats to the big day. Click here to see the rest!

When Bryan and I started planning our wedding, we knew we wanted something low-key and relaxed. I remember the first time I started planning for our wedding. It was one or two months after we had gotten engaged and we were kayaking in Northern Michigan with two of our friends. We had been on Lake Michigan for hours it seemed, kayaking 4-5 miles across a bay from the small island where we had set up camp the night before. My arms were sore from the trip out the previous day and our friend Kate was paddling next to me. We were talking about music festivals and I decided that was it – that was what our reception would be like. Laid back, outdoors, and filled with live music played by our talented friends and family. Kate, my lovely friend and kayak buddy, is one of the front-women in the local band The Crane Wives, so that started the wheels turning for the line-up for our wedding. By the time our wedding day arrived, we had also enlisted my younger brother, Garrett, and his friend to play, as well as my cousin Katie and her boyfriend. Once we had decided on the music-focus for the party, we started searching for locations. We lucked out and found an awesome lodge at one of our city parks, a little place tucked away in the woods with a wrap-around porch perfect for hanging out on a September’s afternoon.

Pulling together our wedding plans was a relatively simple process for us. Our ceremony was held at our church and we were so glad to be married in the beautiful tradition of the Orthodox Church. For the reception, we knew we wanted music and we knew we wanted it to feel like a big party. We also wanted it to be supportive of the great local food, beer and wine culture that we have in Michigan. We choose beer and wine from small local companies, as well as a few hard ciders to celebrate the autumn season. For food, we chose our favorite restaurant to cater an all-vegan meal for our 160 guests. The restaurant, Marie Catrib’s, has a great relationship with local farms and they designed a great autumn-themed menu for us. The meal is the number one thing that guests were head-over-heels with at our wedding and we’re still getting compliments on it. We had a local baker make an array of cupcakes, muffins, chocolates and truffles, all vegan, and my mom added to the sweets table with her famous apple pie and a tasty vegan pumpkin cheesecake. Another easy decision for us was choosing our photographers. Bobbi and Mike had taken our engagement photos (which is where Bryan proposed– I thought we were taking promotional photos for our website!), and after getting to know them we knew we wanted them to be a part of our day. They have such wonderful personalities and their work is, of course, just stunning. We were so happy to have them on board with us.

The other details of our day, all the smaller, frilly things – colors, decorations, flowers – were chosen rather easily. I am obsessed with the color mustard (my friends call me mustard mae), and well, purple just looked nice with it. I made most of the decorations in the last few weeks before the wedding, and it was a welcome excuse to get together with my closest friends and have a good time. The bouquets came from a local florist who grows flowers in her backyard and sells them at a local farmer’s market. I had found her through the recommendation of one of our past brides and I loved working with her. Since Bryan and I are wedding photographers, we were lucky enough to have a lot of support from our couples, and to even have one couple who shared their thrifted plate collection with us and another who shared mason jars with us. What a blessing!

So the day-of came, and it was beautiful. Sunny skies and warm for late September. I got ready with my friends, saw Bryan for our first look, and then we got married. And then it started raining. Right before our reception, which was supposed to be both indoors and outdoors. When we arrived at our reception, we were happy to see The Crane Wives, our cocktail band, playing on the wrap-around porch as rain beat down on the roof, with all of our guests on the porch as well. When we first arrived, we wove our way through the crowd and had the opportunity to greet all of our guests for the first time. It was such a wonderful experience. No one minded the rain, nor did they mind when the power went out because of the storm! When it went out, my brothers and our friend Matthew rushed to a local store and came back with hundreds of tea lights, which they lined the tables with. Some of our dear guests contacted folks they knew with generators and before we knew it, the party was back up and running, just in time for dinner and more live music. After dinner, the skies cleared, we snuck outside for a few more photos, and our guests were able to enjoy the lovely landscape and games that we’d set up. We danced into the night to a great mix by our awesome DJ. My favorite moment of the entire evening was after the party, when we ran out through sparklers. Bryan and I got to our car but before we drove off, we held each other and watched all of our crazy friends running around the lawn with the sparklers, yelling and having so much fun. It was beautiful and the best way to finish such a lovely day.

Photographer: bobbi+mike / Floral Designer: The Flower Garden / Invitation Designer: Hitch Design Studio / Desserts: Wednesday Evening Cookies / Wedding Gown Designer: Watters / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Lulu’s / Rings: Touchwood Rings / Groom’s Suit: Topman / Caterer: Marie Catrib’s / Beer: Founder’s Brewing / Wine: Leelanau Cellars / Cider: Tandem Ciders / Veil: DIY / Fabric Flower Headpieces: Darci’s Doodads / Bride’s Hair: Hair by Kayley Heeringa / Cocktail Band: The Crane Wives

bobbi+mike and Bryan and Mae are members of our Little Black Book. For more information on how members are chosen, click here.
Watters is a member of our Look Book. For more information on how members are chosen, click here.

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Fripp Island Wedding Highlight Film from Life Stage Films

February 11th. 2012 by Mallory | 3 comments

We couldn’t help but fall in love with this couple. After watching the Highlight Film from Life Stage Films, we know they formed a very special family at this Fripp Island Wedding, and I for one feel so privileged for being allowed to share, in this small way, in their big day. You’re going to love them. Happy Saturday, LBBers!

“The Big Kahuna” & “Delic” & Braedon – Wedding Highlights with Super 8mm from Life Stage Films

I’m from South Carolina originally and the low-country has a special place in my heart. There’s no other place quite like it – from the smell of the pluff mud to the egrets flying overhead to the Spanish moss blowing in the wind. When Andy and I got engaged we had to decide where to get married – and we had some great options. His family is a Partner in Lambert Bridge Winery in Northern Sonoma – so we could have had a wine country wedding or we could have chosen Atlanta where I was currently living. But after much debate we decided we wanted to share Fripp Island, South Carolina with all our friends and family.

It turned out better than we could have ever imagined. Our goal was to surround ourselves with all the people we loved and create memories that would last a life time. The time was filled with magical sunsets, dolphins, seashell hunting, low-country boils, oysters and bbq, cruising around on golf carts and bikes, cocktails …. all cumulatting with a sunset wedding overlooking the marsh. The sun broke through the clouds as we said our vows and then we all moved on to the reception at the Beach Club where the entire crew danced the night away to the sounds of GrooveTown!

It was a week we’ll never forget – made all the more special by the people that were standing by our sides. My Aunt and Uncle that live on Fripp surprised us with a guest appearance by author Pat Conroy at our rehearsal dinner . I’m still in shock… I cherish his books and go to them when I’m missing that special part of the world. Here’s the toast he presented us with:

“I would like to propose a toast to the bride, Paige Price and her very carefully selected groom, Andy Wilcox. I first came to Fripp Island in the summer of 1961 on a fishing trip with a Marine Colonel as his son. I had no idea by coming to this island before it had a bridge or a single house that I was stepping into my own fate. Five generations of Conroys have walked on this magic island which has always seemed a portion of paradise to me and a Hog Heaven to the Price family. Who could know that Paige Price, a woman who was extremely picky about men, would find her man waiting for her at the Lambert Bridge Winery in the other wing of paradise in Sonoma Valley, California. A love that spent her girl-hood on the beaches of Fripp and finds her bliss working among the grapes and the vines of one of the splendidly beautiful vineyard of Sonoma is a lucky love indeed. What story book ending is better than a southern belle hooking up with a man who spends his life making superb California wines – who could doubt such a vintage. Paige and Andy, tonight you are embarking on a new fate and a new beginning. All of us present tonight are part of your fate. I’m now part of your fate and you are the owners of the first written toast I’ve ever given on Fripp Island. Be happy for the rest of your lives.”

Cinematography: Life Stage Films / Ceremony Location: Ocean Creek Golf Course / Ceremony Coordinator: Becca McCoy / Reception Location: Fripp Island Beach Club / Entertainment: Groovetown / Catering: Proof of the Pudding / Floral Design: Laura’s Carolina Florist

Life Stage Films is a member of our Little Black Book. For more information on how members are chosen, click here.

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