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From the bride…From the day we got engaged we knew we wanted a small and intimate wedding.  Our motto for the day would be, “good food, good wine, good people=good times.” Our main challenge was finding a reception location for our 26 person guest list.  We also had moved to Ocala, FL but wanted to have the wedding in Orlando where we met and we knew there would be more options.  I spent a lot of time searching online and found almost all my items, vendors and ideas online.  Ideas especially came from Style Me Pretty; which has been a definite daily favorite site to look through even today! For reception locations we knew a restaurant might be a perfect fit for our type wedding and since we are self proclaimed “foodies” we looked into the private room at Luma on Park, one of our favorite restaurants, and we knew we had our reception location. The chapel we chose was in the back section of my previous church and it was beautiful.  Simple wooden pews, glass chandeliers with marble flooring which reflected the stained glass perfectly into the space.

Being that our wedding guest list was so small we did not want our guests and family to be running around during the day helping me out with tasks.   It was important to let them enjoy the day with us so we hired Trishia with Green Button Events for day of coordinating.  She was amazing and helped me in so many ways.

Flowers were so important to me as they help to set the overall feeling of a room.  Brian with Flourish Productions was able to capture the overall feel I was looking for perfectly with amazing florals and tons of candlelight that filled the room and single large table for the reception. Our budget was tight so a lot of DIY projects were in place but with the help of family and friends we happily managed to stay in budget of under $7000.  Out of that budget one of our favorite selections was our photographer, Lora Rodgers.  She did an amazing job in capturing us and all the special moments.

All our “vendors” were such a joy to work with that I wish I could do it all again and can’t thank them all enough.  We were so thrilled with our wedding day and couldn’t have made it any better.  We got to marry each other, share it with our friends and family, and had a blast! 

Photography: Lora Rodgers Photography / Hair: Jessie Yeager at Stella Luca Salon  / Make-Up: Bride / Brides Dress: Oleg Cassini / Shoes: Badgley Mischka  / Brides Flower headpiece: Till Death Designs / Veil: Preowned Wedding Dresses / Earrings: Swarovski / Maid of Honor dress: Macy’s / Grooms Suit: Jos A Bank / Flowers: Brian with Flourish Floral Productions / Church: Annunciation Catholic Church / Reception: The Cellar  / Day Of Coordination: Trishia with Green Button Events / Place Card Cork Holders: Etsy / Place Cards: Grooms Mother / Cake Topper: Lynns Little Creations / Cake: Stellas Modern Pantry / Cake Stand: (base-Grooms Father) Top piece-Roxy Heart Vintage  / Invitations: FedEx Office / Ceremony Music: Guitar and Violin by Kevin Kress / Reception Music: Bride’s iPod

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Post tags: Annunciation Catholic Church, Etsy, Fed Ex Office, Florida Wedding, Flourish Floral Productions, Green Button Events, Jos A Bank, Lora Rodgers Photography, Lynn's Little Creations, Macy's, Oleg Cassini, Roxy Heart Vintage, Stella Luca Salon, Stellas Modern bakery, Swarovski, The Cellar, Till Death Designs
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Florida Weddings

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From the Bride…We are happy to say that being on a tight budget did not keep us from having the perfect wedding day for the two of us. In fact, we think the budget was a blessing in disguise, as it allowed us to leave out the unnecessary and focus on what was truly important to us. Thus, every detail was carefully considered and we ended up with a great amount of personal, meaningful details. With the help of our good friend and wonderful designer Eleanor Kahn, we were able to infuse our celebration with bits of charm, elegance, and personality, while maintaining a simplicity perfectly matched by our backdrop of the lovely, historic town of Galena, IL. It was the perfect setting for our families and friends to come together and celebrate with us.

Will and I met doing summer stock theater, also in a small, historic, Midwestern town, so once we settled on Galena as a wedding location, the pieces started to come together. Galena has many wonderful bed and breakfasts, an amazing Main Street full of shops and local businesses, and much more making it a perfect weekend getaway for our guests. Eleanor’s design incorporated vintage touches such as antique books and trinkets, lace, and simple signage, which fitting for our personalities and the atmosphere of Galena.

We held our ceremony in a private, secluded garden in the hills of Galena and were married by the man who introduced us – our theater director and now a wonderful friend of both of ours. We worked together to write a ceremony that was meaningful for both of us. I went to grad school for vocal performance, so naturally had the perfect vocal ensemble of some of my best friends to provide stunning music during the ceremony, and Will’s father played classical guitar for our processional. I wore a dress made by my mother (who had sewn her own dress 30 years ago for her wedding day) and a garter embellished by the charm from her bridal necklace. My engagement ring is a family heirloom, passed down to Will from his grandmother. The earrings and bracelet I wore were hand made for me by a friend’s mother. My two sisters served as my co-maids of honor, and my two brothers the ushers, while two of Will’s close friends were his groomsmen.

Following the ceremony, rather than separating from our guests, we walked with them through the streets of Galena to our reception location, a historic theater in downtown Galena. Of course, this was an obvious choice due to both of our theater backgrounds and our own history together. It was a unique location that set an appropriate casual but creative tone for the evening. Before we knew it, we were dancing the night away with our family and friends, much thanks to Quain Tull of Rockstar DJs.

Last, but not least, our amazing photographer Megan Thiele-Lorenz of Megan Thiele Studios complemented our own style so beautifully with her creativity and talent. She captured so many amazing moments and was a warm, friendly face that we were so happy to include in our big day.

All in all, we feel so fortunate to have planned and experienced such a fantastic celebration of our love and the support of our friends and families.

Ceremony Location: Linmar Gardens / Reception Location: Turner Hall / Event Design, Floral Design + Invitations: Eleanor Kahn / Wedding Photography: Megan Thiele Studios / DJ: Quain Tull of Rockstar DJs / Rentals: Bel Aire Rentals + Inside Décor / Linens: Linen Tablecloth / Dinnerware: Greenfeet + Webstaurant / Flowers: Valley Perennials / Bridal Gown: Bride’s Mother / Bride’s Jewelry: Friend / Bride’s Shoes: Nine West / Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew / Bride’s Engagement Ring: passed down from The Groom’s grandmother / Wedding Rings: Eli’s Jewelry / Groom’s Attire: J.Crew / Officiant: Friend (and director of the theater in which they met) / Ceremony Music: Father of the Groom + Friend / Catering: Mary Ann Michel

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Post tags: Bel Arie Rentals, Eleanor Kahn, Eli's Jewelry, Green Feet, Illinois Weddings, Inside Decor, J. Crew, Linen Tablecloth, Linmar Gardens, Mary Ann Michel, Megan Thiele Studios, Nine West, Rockstar DJs, The Webstaurant Store, Turner Hall, Valley Perennials
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Illinois Weddings

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I always dreamed of having a southern plantation style wedding. Once I found the man of my dreams I knew exactly what I envisioned for our wedding. The ceremony was absolutely gorgeous. We got married at dusk, under massive live oaks with tea lights and beautiful peonies and hydrangeas with an ideal southern plantation as our backdrop. We wanted to keep it small and intimate. My husband was very understanding to what my dream was and did everything to make it come true. It was truly a day we will remember while growing old together.

Photography: Stevie Ramos Photography / Ceremony & Reception: Nottoway Plantation / Event Planning & Coordination: Nottoway Plantation / Florist: Billy Heromans / Gown: David’s Bridal / Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal

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Post tags: Billy Heromans, Budget Beautiful, Casual Elegance, Color Palette White Teal, David's Bridal, Flower girls, Louisiana, Nottoway Plantation, Outdoor Ceremony, Outdoor Wedding, Peonies, Plantation Wedding, Stevie Ramos Photography, White Castle
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Little Black Book Blog

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From Bridal Blueprints…The bride’s color palette was navy, mustard/gold, lavender and ivory. Since we were working on a budget, we had to get creative when it came to decor items.  We wanted to bring in a lot of personal details to the wedding – primarily the couple’s love story.  The groom had been in the Middle East since early last year, met his bride on a brief trip back home here, they kept in touch through letters, email and Skype – he sent her flowers on a weekly basis.  He proposed to her ‘unofficially’ over the summer when he sent her to Genesis Diamonds under the premise of picking up a watch he had ordered.  When she got there, the salesman told her to pick out which ring she wanted.  The groom came home for a week of leave in October, where he went home with her to meet her family.  During a family photo session, the groom proposed to her in front of her whole family.  Because of the dangerous situation the groom is in (his job is basically what the guys in the movie the Hurt Locker did with bombs), they went ahead and got married at the courthouse. Their real wedding was the one at Carnton in June.  We wanted to share their story, and did so by using the letters they sent to each other as part of the decor.

I tried to ‘upcycle’ as many things as I could do bringing in a green, environmentally conscious element as well.  All of the fabric flowers and pennants were made from old sheets purchased from Good Will.  The window was taken from an old house in Franklin.  Rather than using a ton of flowers, we went with fabric flowers for centerpieces and attached them to twigs from dead branches in my yard.  The glass vases were all old jelly, spaghetti sauce, pickle, salsa jars.  Rather than renting new dishes, the bride collected vintage china plates from yard and estate sales and thrift stores. The guests were also invited to sign these plates & will serve as the couple’s Guest Book.   The bride’s bouquet was made primarily from her grandmother’s vintage brooches – they served as her ‘something old’.   All of the drinking glasses were mason jars that were fitted with tags for guests to write their names on and claim for the evening.  The suitcases used as the altar were from the bride’s family and supported memorial candles in honor of the bride’s grandmother and the groom’s sister.

Wedding Photography: Ulmer Studios / Wedding Coordination: Meredith Zeller of Bridal Blueprints / Caterer: Bacon & Caviar / Ceremony + Reception Venue: Carnton Plantation / Entertainment + Lighting: Ross Hill / Event Rentals: Music City Tents & Events / Floral Design: Melissa Marie Floral Designs / Hair: Bryan Wood of Salon Capelli / Linens: Connie Duglin / Make-up: Andrew Pentecost

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Post tags: Andrew Pentecost, Bacon & Caviar, Bridal Blueprints, Carnton Plantation, Connie Duglin, Franklin, Melissa Marie Floral Design, Music City Tents & Events, Ross Hill, Salon Capelli, Tennessee, Ulmer Studios, Vintage Chic
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Casual Elegance

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From the bride… After my fiance and I got engaged, we started planning a large-scale rustic fall wedding in the Washington, DC area.  After about 9 months into the planning, we decided that we were way over our budget due to some unexpected financial issues that came up.  We drastically scaled back the wedding’s size and moved the date up from the Fall to the Spring of 2011.  Lucky for us, my fiance’s mother lives in Westport, CT, just one block from the Long Island Sound.  She has a beautiful and quaint back yard right on the canal, which also looks out towards the Sound.  She graciously agreed to host the wedding (for free!) at her home and our planning began in earnest.

Now that we were on a tight budget, we had to reassess the themes and cost of our wedding.  One of the things we had always planned to do, which certainly made the wedding more cost effective, was to have an entire wedding with absolutely no flowers!  Because we were in a beautiful back yard with lots of natural greenery, it made it really easy to do.  We chose very neutral colors — ivory and natural browns and beiges with pops of green.  Instead of floral arrangements at the dining tables, we had small potted herbs.  Instead of real flowers, we had the dining tables sprinkled with very small birch wood sculpted roses painted in multiple colors.  The overall effect of the muted design contrasted nicely with the lush greenery of the back yard.

Thanks to vendors on Etsy, we were able to purchase many lovely details to enhance our overall design scheme such as: mason jars with chalk board fronts, quaint table numbers, wood heart escort cards, wedding signs and arrows, personalized jars of honey for favors, and silk clutches for me and my bridesmaids to carry in lieu of bouquets.  My good friend and designer, Melanie Karlins, was responsible for helping me to articulate my vision and creating our beautifully rustic invitations, programs, and menus. AMG Catering provided the catering services for our wedding.  To start out, they served guests upon their arrival fresh squeezed lemonade and fresh brewed iced tea.  After the ceremony, the staff served up a deliciously long and gluten-free cocktail hour with beautiful plates of anti-pasta, delicious hors d’ oeuvres such as mini lamb burgers served with yogurt sauce on cucumber slices and and pulled barbecue pork served on sweet potato crisps.  The cocktail hour was was followed by a simple and delicious family style meal of grilled flank steak, rosemary chicken, grilled asparagus, and a beautiful mixed green salad with goat cheese, beats, and candied pecans.  In lieu of a wedding cake we had an over-the-top dessert buffet with multiple cakes, cupcakes, pastries, bars, and pies, about 1/3 of which were gluten-free!

Photographer: Lisa Boggs Photography / Wedding Dress: BHLDN / Hair & Makeup: Faces Beautiful / Desserts: Baked & Wired, Cherry Blossom Cakes, Angela Mia, Mariposa, AMG Catering / Catering: AMG Catering / Wedding Coordinator: AMG Catering / Paper Goods & Design: Melanie Karlins / Rentals: Abbey Tent & Party Rentals / Transportation: Teddy’s Limo / AV Equipment: A/V Davey

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Post tags: A/V Davey, Abbey Tent & Party Rentals, AMG Catering, Angela Mia, Baked & Wired, BHLDN, Cherry Blossom Cakes, Connecticut, Faces Beautiful, Lisa Boggs Photography, Mariposa, Melanie Karlins, Outdoor, Teddy's Limo, Westport
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Real Weddings

I am through and through a California Girl. However, I chose a college in Texas and it was during grad school that I met my husband, a Texan. Our relationship developed in Texas, but I knew I wanted to have my wedding in California with all of the sunshine, the ocean air, and lifelong friends and family.

For colors I wanted everything to be black (what can I say, it’s the signature color of my wardrobe) but added white, because it is a wedding after all. It was suggested to me to have an accent color by my event planner. I love sunshine and thought yellow was a perfect California color. I insisted on the flowers girls wearing dresses that they could wear again and picked out beautiful black satin bubble-hemmed dresses that I felt were a sophisticated touch at the wedding.

Because of my family situation – my father passed away from lung cancer when I was in college, and my mother was not in a position to pay for a wedding – expenses for the wedding fell to my husband and myself. We worked really hard to find a unique and beautiful location that would not require a ton of decor to feel “finished” and thanks to my good friend and event planner, Kimberly Downey, we were able to do just that. Our friends own the barn we were married outside of and held the reception in.

So much of our wedding was a “family affair” but with my good friends that are like family. Everyone from the photographer, to the venue owners, florist, baker, and planner are close friends that happen to have skills suited for a wedding. My husband and I felt supremely blessed for such connections. One of our favorite personal touches was that instead of a groom’s cake, we had a friend make “oreo cake balls” to compliment the cake that were white and black and suited the look of our wedding as well as our taste buds. Additionally, I wore my sister’s Vera Wang wedding gown and couldn’t have been happier to be married in such a divine garment that was borrowed! I also had my jewelry custom made by my friend and jewelry designer Summer Ellis. My earrings were found vintage pieces that she made into earrings. I gave my bridesmaids each a pair of earrings that Summer and I designed together.

The day could not have been more perfect. The guys started the day with a straight razor shave at the Montecito Barber. We chose to see each other before hand so we could enjoy the entirety of our reception and honor all of our out of town guests by being as present as possible. I was escorted to the aisle by my two guy friends that were like brothers to me growing up. My mother then walked me down the aisle and I carried my father’s bible. It truly was as special as I had hoped. Dinner consisted of gourmet burgers made by “The Ranch” – a long time fav of mine. The bar outside the barn and tall tables for guests to enjoy cocktail hour drinks while the burgers were made to order got friends old and new to mingle and enjoy the evening.

At the end of the evening we exited to special sparklers obtained by Kimberly (her father works in special effects for films and knew some pyro technics guys) and at the end of the tunnel of guests I was overwhelmed to see my father’s VW Van waiting as our get-a-way car. One of my best friends had got the Van up and running again and others had washed, cleaned, and waxed the vehicle. The “Just Married” sign on the back brought everything together in such a special way.

Photography: Kathryn Krueger Photography / Cinematography: Brian Sadler / Flowers: Jessica Raymond / Event Planning & Design: Kimberly Brook Downey / Ceremony Location: The Barn, Eucalyptus Lane / Reception Location: The Barn, Eucalyptus Lane / Invitations: Hole in the Roof / Shoes: Seychelles / Earrings: Summer Ellis / Caterer: The Ranch / Cake Balls: Sarah Nazarian

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Post tags: Barn Wedding, Bible, Brian Sadler, Budget Beautiful, Cake Balls, California, Chandeliers, Color Palette Black White, DIY Inspired, Eucalyptus Lane, Hole in the Roof, Jessica Raymond, Kathryn Kruegar Photography, Kimberly Brook Downey, Outdoor Ceremony, Outdoor Wedding, Sarah Nazarian, Seychelles, Summer Ellis, The Barn Eucalyptus Lane, The Ranch, Vineyard Wedding, Winery Wedding
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Little Black Book Blog

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From the Bride…My husband and I both wanted a simple, affordable wedding, something “no fuss and no muss” that represented our personalities. When we sat down to talk about our wedding, three priorities were set: stay within our $10,000 budget, a small enough wedding that would focus on family and community rather than on ourselves, and a wedding full of pretty handmade details that not only represented our personalities but told a story as well. We managed to keep those goals, except for maybe the “no fuss,” bit.

Choosing our location was easy enough. I had always wanted to get married on a desert island with very few people around. Since the desert island was most certainly out of our $10,000 wedding budget, I compromised when Ben suggested the Greater Yellowstone Area. Both Ben and I grew up out West. His parents live in West Yellowstone for the summer and most of Ben’s fondest childhood memories are from his summers up there. The decision was really a no brainer. West Yellowstone was far enough away to feel reclusive like a desert island and it was most certainly beautiful, but I still had the added benefit of a wedding near a small-town home. We lucked into our location at Harriman State Park with its absolutely stunning views and shockingly affordable prices. With Harriman, we were able to not only invite our nearest and dearest to come spend the day celebrating with us, but we were able to invite them to come spend a whole holiday weekend with us. We got to see all of our 45 guests the day of our wedding, and we got to spend the two days leading up to the wedding sitting down and catching up with those family and friends. We tried out best to make the weekend an unforgettable and fun vacation for our guests. We even did away with having the caterer or a buffet serve our guests dinner and took on the job ourselves. They were our guests after all, why wouldn’t we take the time to serve each and every one of them their dinner?

The rest of our other major planning components, the caterer, the flowers, the minister, the chairs, all came from my mother-in-law’s friends and acquaintances in town. The small town of West Yellowstone—population of about 1,511—really came through for us. It seemed like every time I turned around someone asked about our wedding or was offering to help in some fashion.  People loaned us towels, sheets, and pillows (one of the houses at the ranch didn’t have any). A few friends offered up their houses for any guests who planned on coming early or staying after the wedding weekend. One friend even offered to take care of anyone who got sick during the weekend (thankfully no one did). Our caterer gave us an excellent deal and cooked some of the best food I’ve ever had. And our small town florist created arrangements that rivaled those of big time city florists for probably half the price. Without the help of the community of West Yellowstone, we more than likely would have blown our budget. Their support gave us yet another reason to appreciate the importance of community.

There were so many small and large details that went into our wedding weekend. Each small part of our wedding has a special memory or story attached to it. The strings of cranes and water bombs would never have been completed if our girlfriends hadn’t come together to help us string them at the last-minute. The escort cards would never have been finished if our maid of honor’s sister didn’t sit up into the wee hours of the morning with me learning how to fold cranes, and they would have never been displayed or handed out if our groomsman’s family didn’t pitch in to help put everything together the day of the wedding.  As I look back now, what I remember most is not the breathtaking scenery of the countryside that surrounded us or the flowers or decorations or any of the other components that went in to the actual wedding. What I remember most is the loving community that surrounded us that weekend.  We ended up getting exactly the kind of wedding we wanted. We came in within our wedding budget. We had a small intimate wedding with 45 guests. And our guests were involved in pretty much every small detail and memory that made our wedding the special event that it was.

Wedding Photography: Jodi and Kurt of Jodi Miller Photography / Venue: Harriman Ranch State Park / Florist: Sagebrush Floral / Caterer: High Altitude Catering / Wedding Cake: Bonnnie Hansen (Family Friend) / Reception Dress: Bygones Vintage Clothing / Hairpiece: Fiber & Stone / Groom’s Attire: Brooks Brothers / Groomsmen Attire: J.Crew / Bow Ties: Divine Domestication / Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew / Bridesmaid Necklaces: Margiezbeadz (Stephanie’s Grandma) / Officiant:  Rev. Benn McCracken / Invitations, Origami + Flower Pots: The Bride + Groom / Centerpiece Dish Towels: Anthropologie

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Post tags: Anthropologie, Brooks Brothers, Bygones Vintage Clothing, Divine Domestication, Fiber & Stone, Harriman Ranch State Park, High Altitude Catering, J. Crew, Jodi Miller Photography, Margiezbeadz, Rev. Benn McCracken, Sagebrush Floral
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

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From Love By Serena…Everything about this wedding blew us away. The mind-blowing location (200 acres of pure goodness), the beautiful couple, the adorable DIY details…

We first met Samantha at her bridesmaid’s (Lindsay) wedding last year.  At the time, her and Anthony had recently gotten engaged. When they asked us about photographing their engagement and wedding, we were thrilled! We ventured out to Grasonville, MD (over the Bay Bridge – towards the Eastern Shore) for this beautiful affair at a Private Residence. Every part of this wedding was put together by someone close to the bride and groom (a very budget-friendly wedding). Samantha’s father hand-built the wedding arch, her mother handmade the roses (that would toss the rice), her aunt & uncle made the wooden wedding signs, and the entire property was being set up and decorated the whole week prior to the big day!  Oh – and Samantha found her wedding dress NEW on eBay for less than $200!  How amazing is that?!

Arch: Father of the Bride / Bridal Gown: eBay / Bridesmaid Dresses: Alfred Angelo / Catering: Anchor’s Aweigh / Ceremony Music: Nika Nauman / DJ: Kenneth White (DJ K Rock) / Floral: Rose Harrell + Jess Cotton / Hair: Sandra Young-Baker / Men’s Attire: Men’s Wearhouse / Wedding Photography + Cinematography: Love By Serena / Rice Roses: Mother of the Bride / Bride’s Shoes: Steve Madden / Transportation: Rod Harrell / Wooden Signs: Bride’s Aunt + Uncle / Venue: Private Residence

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Post tags: Alfred Angelo, Anchor’s Aweigh, Barn, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Ebay, Grasonville, Kenneth White (DJ K Rock), Men’s Wearhouse, Nika Nauman, Rod Harrell, Rustic Chic, Sandra Young-Baker, Steve Madden
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Casual Elegance