LOVE this shot of Allison!

I’m serious, what a perfect place for a wedding ~ everyone LOVES Austin and this place looks fabulous! Not to mention Allison ~ how pretty is she?

… and a great time was had by all!

You can see and hear more about Allison & Ryan’s celebration on Stella & Leon’s blog! Thanks SO much for sharing ~ and Congratulations to Allison & Ryan!!

We hope y’all have enjoyed our little bit of Texas-love from the Alesi’s today! Have a great, great weekend!

Caterers: The Salt Lick (bbq), Venue: Mercury Hall, Desserts:Tiff’s Sweets and Amy’s ice cream

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Post tags: Austin, bouquet, Mercury Hall, Peacock Feathers, Stella Alesi Photography, Texas
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

Earlier today we told you that we were having a Texas-fest on the LBB Blog. Jenn & Dirk’s November wedding at One World Theatre is one more perfect example of why couples in Texas LOVE the Alesi’s!

Jenn grew up in Texas but Dirk hails from Switzerland. What better inspiration for favors !

Again … simply beautiful! You can see and read more about their wedding on Stella & Leon’s blog.

We have one more gorgeous Alesi wedding coming up this afternoon ~ so please check back.

Photography: Stella and Leon Alesi, Flowers: Floral Renaissance, Venue: One World Theater, Caterers: Word Of Mouth, Cake: Simon Lee

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Post tags: Austin, Floral Renaissance, One World Theatre, Simon Lee, Stella Alesi Photography, Texas, Word of Mouth
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

First up is Julie and Ryan’s San Antonio Riverwalk wedding from this past October. The best wedding month in Texas!

On the Alesi’s blog, Stella says she has a theory. Her theory is that part of being a great wedding photographer is having the ability to attract great clients. And that, my friends is what we are hoping to do with Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book Blog! Developing relationships between the LBB vendors and the SMP readers. That’s what it’s all about!

She goes on to tell us a little about Julie and Ryan ~ how fun loving and creative they are, how lovingly they treated each other that day.

They were married at the Southwest School of Art and Craft alongside the riverwalk.

Congratulations Julie & Ryan on a beautiful day!

More wedding from Stella and Leon Alesi coming up in a bit!

We JUST learned that one of our fantastic LBB members, Mika78 did the stationery for Julie and Ryan! We knew we loved it … now we know why!!

Just checked Mika78’s website … looks like this invitation is named The Quote. “We had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches, we found that we were one tree and not two.” ~ from de Bernieres’ novel, Corelli’s Mandolin

The entire Mika78 ready made letterpress design catalog is on their website. LOVE. You should totally take a look {twenty-two ink colors} LOVE!

Florist: RTC Floristry, Bakery: Seventh Heaven Cakes, Caterer: Fresh Horizons, Ceremony Music: Marshall Ford Swing Band, Reception Music: T Bird and the Breaks, Videographer: Michelle Millette, Photography: Stella & Leon Alesi, Venue: Southwest School of Art and Craft, Stationery: Mika78

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Post tags: Fresh Horizons, Mika78, Riverwalk, Rolls Royce, RTC Floristry, San Antonio, Seventh Heaven Cakes, Southwest School of Art and Craft, Stella Alesi, Texas
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, Wedding Photography

{click here to see the full, completely gorgeous wedding}

I guess you would call our wedding “down home meets downtown.” We were catering mainly to both a NYC and Nashville crowd. We chose Blue Hill because a.) we love the food and Dan Barber – Blue Hill is our favorite restaurant, b) we love that we could have a country setting that’s so close to Manhattan and c.) we wanted an intimate setting—we wanted it to feel like a dinner party with our closest friends, but taken up a notch because, hey, it’s a wedding! Also, it was nice to have “something blue” in Blue Hill (even though I later took the blue theme a little further with the shoes!).

The big question throughout the day was … the weather — we were planning to have an outdoor ceremony and, although it wasn’t raining, it was misting all day. People kept saying “oh i see the sun!” but I knew it was doomed. The event organizer at blue hill was so nice — she said we could do it outdoor and set up the space for both options but i didn’t want guests to be uncomfortable so we ended up having the ceremony indoors. It soon dried up (of course), and so we moved outside for the cocktail hour.

Our programs were designed last minute by a former art director at Real Simple. (I was literally at Kinko’s on the morning of the wedding getting them printed and then corner-rounded them.) The programs were a play off of the invitations that we had created. We had so much fun making the invitations — I think that’s when the wedding became a real project for us — working with the letterpress co., the calligrapher, getting addresses, and designing the invites, all inspired by a design we saw on A Farm Fresh Wedding (they lent us the design). Our goal was to make the event sincere and intimate, but also light and whimsical. We didn’t do the traditional reply card, but instead asked people to check whether they “wouldn’t miss it for the world” or whether they would “be there in spirit.” I worked with the calligrapher to come up with a style that matched our invitations…the right mix of formal but whimsical. That was in keeping with our overall wedding vibe. We wanted something really nice and traditional, but not at all stuffy and hopefully the calligraphy reflected that.

Also, instead of using numbers for table cards, we asked the calligrapher to prepare cards that named tables for various cities that my husband and i visited together. So guests were asked to sit at “barcelona” or “mykonos” — the idea was that each table would have a photo of us in that city. Because blue hill had such a nice ambience all on its own, we really didn’t want to disrupt the scenery and had only a few ways to infuse our creative touches…

As for my favorite style detail…my shoes. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on ivory satin shoes that I might only wear once. Anyway I went to Christian Louboutin in search of baby blue satin d’orsays when I discovered the shoes I ended up wearing — they were just fun and a great way to get my “something blue.” I justified them by saying that they doubled as “wedding shoes” but, perhaps more importantly, as “anniversary shoes” — I plan to wear them each and every year when we celebrate the big day!

I wish I could say you don’t have to obsess about every little detail. It’s futile – of course you are going to obsess over every. little. detail. But at some point (for me, it was the morning of the wedding), it became important to just let it go and have fun. The most important thing is simply being surrounded by your friends and family. Follow your instincts and don’t do things just because you think you should or because someone else wants you to do it. For example, about four weeks before the wedding, I changed my mind about my dress (!!!). This reconsideration resulted in panicked last-minute appointments at Vera Wang and Kleinfeld’s. I was a nervous wreck even after purchasing the second dress because all I could do was think “is this IT? is it PERFECT?” Of course it’s hard to say whether something is “it” or “perfect,” but I am glad that I made sure to find a dress I really, really loved.

Wedding Gown by Amy Michelson / Shoes by Christian Louboutin / Hairstylist – Kerrie Urban / Ceremony Music by John Ragusa Music / Invitations based on a design by A Farm Fresh Wedding and with a letterpress company, Cour Noir (Brooklyn) / Flowers by Sandy Clothier / Programs by Michele Walthers / Calligraphy by Pretty Pen Jen (Austin, TX) / Favors by Lulu’s Bakery & Kate’s Paperie / Photography by Erik Ekroth

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Post tags: Amy Michelson, Blue Hill, Erik Ekroth, New York, Pretty Pen Jen, Sandy Clothier
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

(click here to see the full wedding by Tec Petaja}

Our bride, Lindsay tells the tale of how their day came to be:

Campbell is from Australia, I’m from Colorado, and we met and live in New York City. Any destination we picked for our wedding was going to be a trek for a number of our guests, so we decided on neutral territory in Sayulita, Mexico…kind of sort of in the middle!

Our theme was casual beach organic. We loved the idea of a happy, natural style wedding that celebrated our Mexico location in subtle ways, but that wasn’t the dominate theme of the day. We used a Mexican folk art heart Milagro as the “hook” on everything from the invitations to a hand stamped version on our welcome letters, muslin favor bags, and homemade banana bread send off gifts bags.

Lemon yellow was our main color as it expressed the happiness of the occasion as well as the bright and sunny beach location. We achieved an organic feel through Kraft paper printed materials, barnyard wooden frames, muslin favor bags and burlap table runners.

We loved planning our wedding, and spent many weekends together in our 250 square foot New York City apartment working on multiple DIY projects. And through the process, I’ve come to realize that perhaps Campbell, an accountant may be more creative than me, a marketer!

DIY Projects:

• Table numbers and signage
• Hand stamped wood guest seating cards
• Hand stamped muslin favor bags/place card tags
• Mexican tile magnet favors
• Homemade banana bread send off gifts (courtesy of the groom’s mother)
• Personalized canvas welcome totes and welcome letters

The day was perfect, and there is not one thing we would have changed about it. What we loved most was seeing our friends, from all parts of the world, come together during the course of the wedding week to form new friendships. We had a few side romances, and I think there will be some Americans visiting Australia soon!

Thank you Lindsay and congrats!

xoxo Chantale from La Belle Bride

Wedding Coordinator and Design: Marweddings /Venue: Villa del Oso – Sayulita, Mexico / Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller / Shoes: Manolo Blahnik / Bridesmaid Dress: Banana Republic and J Crew / Groom’s Suite: Ralph Lauren / Caterer: Naef Cuisine / Invitations: Dizzy Wizzy Design / Florist: Detalles de Lujo / Entertainment: Guitarists: Zoe and Alfredo from Mango Trio Cuban Band: Sabor a Cuba / Bridal Hair flower: Oh My Deer / Photography: Tec Petaja

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Post tags: Banana Republic, Chantale Montgomery, Detalles de Lujo, Dizzy Wizzy Design, J. Crew, La Belle Bride, Mango Trio, Manolo Blahnik, Marweddings, Mexico, Naef Cuisine, Nicole Miller, Oh My Deer, Ralph Lauren, tec petaja, Villa Del Oso
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

{click here to see the full wedding, including shots of the bride and bridal party}

Held at the FAB Montage Laguna Beach (and I mean FAB), there are so many little tidbits to obsess over here. The horse motif (which I love), the silver urns at varying heights (so insanely chic), the beautiful and modern palette, the draping, the black gloss flooring, the pendant lamps, the tulips resting on each place setting. This is ballroom done WAY right. Here are a few words from the team at R. Jack Balthazar…

The ballroom at the beautiful Montage Resort is transformed into a warm and inviting setting for this chic wedding… cozy banquette sofas are used as seating at some tables, while others are set with upholstered slipper chairs… Daybed lounges are set in the corners of the room… differently shaped tables are all dressed in different luxe linens and tables abound with inspired containers overflowing with flowers in a palette of white and sunset orange and collected objets d’art.

Photography: Boutwell Studio / Flowers: R. Jack Balthazar / Event Design: R. Jack Balthazar & Details Details / Event Planning: Details Details / Ceremony Location: Montage Laguna Beach / Reception Location: Montage Laguna Beach

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Post tags: Ballroom, Boutwell Studio, California, Laguna Beach, Montage, Orange and Teal, R. Jack Balthazar
Post categories: Contemporary, Traditional Elegance

Here are a few of our favorite’s from Corinna Raznikov …

The result of months and months of planning! Our sincere congratulations to the Eilene & Jason on a spectacular day full of love and warmth ~ beauty and sheer gorgeousness …

From Corinna ~ A beautiful fern-themed wedding at the West Mountain Inn in Arlington, Vermont. {It was the same location where Michael J. Fox got married!}  The ceremony took place in the knot garden and the reception was held in the renovated barn on the property.

Eilene and Jason’s story …

A long time ago a friend asked what my dream wedding would be like. I told her I didn’t have one. I never even thought I would get married, but she made me tell her something. I came up with a small and beautiful Vermont wedding in the town I used to live. When Jason proposed I still had that vision in mind, and I couldn’t seem to stray from that. We tried looking at other venues but just felt like something was missing. That settled it! We booked our wedding at the West Mountain Inn in Arlington, Vermont. My first purchases were yellow Tuscan candle holders. They were rustic, with a pinch of the Italian romantic look. Instead of a candle I pictured them with big white flowers, hanging greens, and sparking light illuminating them. I bought them right on the spot. The florist took my vision and made it a reality. I never had a color theme picked out. I just knew what I liked. When I found something I wanted I would make it work with what I already had. I spent many hours researching on the internet to find little things that I thought would compliment not only our style, but also the style of the inn. We didn’t want to make the venue something it wasn’t. There were some challenges trying to visualize how everything would work together in the end, but once I saw that barn I knew it was the dream. It was more than just décor; it was the perfect atmosphere. The wedding turned out exactly how we wanted it, and our photographer captured the wedding like our hearts did. It was about love, family, friends, and the beautiful country. It felt like a work of art in the end. We will never forget those who contributed to that wonderful feeling.

… the rest of their story …

Sometimes we get caught up in all the pretty pictures. All the special touches that will make your wedding unique. But in the end, it’s all about you and the love of your life. Make it YOUR day! Our thanks to Corinna, Eilene and Jason for sharing this very special day!

See ALL their photographs here!

Wedding Credits ~

Coordination: Tricia from Simple Detail Events, Photographer: Raznikov Photography, Venue: West Mountain Inn, Arlington, Vermont, Gown: Pronovias, Florist: Nancy Bishop Floral Design – Arlington, Vermont, Cake: Irene’s Cakes by Design – Dorset, Vermont, Jewelry Designer – Malis Henderson, Linens – BBJ Linens, Make-up – Erin at  Antoine Cosmetics

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Post tags: Corina Raznikov, Irene's Cakes by Design, Nancy Bishop Floral Design, Pronovias, Vermont, West Mountain Inn
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

ps … for all you sneek-peakers … Corinna posted Eilene & Jason’s wedding on her Facebook page {here}.

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Post tags: Barn, Corinna Raznikov, Purple, Rustic, Vermont
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

{complete gallery here}

From Gena ~ Ryan and I love art deco design and were inspired by the classic and clean lines of the Bentley Reserve building, which we chose as the venue for our wedding. In keeping with this simple, yet elegant design, we chose silver, white and black as our color scheme.

I love calla lilies and our florist, Laura Little from Floramor, showed me a picture of white and black calla lilies in bullet vases. I thought it was beautiful and chose it to be the centerpiece for the dinner tables.

The planning process was somewhat stressful because of all the decisions Ryan and I had to make and anxiety about whether everything would come together. Amy Nichols helped so much by keeping us on track, and coordinating between our different vendors.

Our wedding day was absolutely perfect, thanks to Amy. It was the best day of our lives.

Gena’s stunning gown was designed by Jin Wang in San Francisco. Bridesmaids’ dresses were from the Dessy Collection.

What an absolutely gorgeous wedding celebration! Congratulations to Gena and Ryan and a big, big thank-you to Julie Mikos, Amy Nichols for sharing!

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Post tags: Amy Nichols, Ballroom, Bently Reserve, Calla Lillies, Centerpiece, Color Palette Black White, Dessy, Floramor, Jin Wang, Julie Mikos, McCall's, San Francisco
Post categories: Contemporary, Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography, Wedding Planners & Designers

{click here to see full wedding} / photography by Peter Van Beever

I loved how my wedding turned out– we diy-ed a gazillion details, incorporated both a traditional Western AND Korean ceremony, and incorporated some funky details (10 bridesmaids in all different dresses) while keeping to a sweet garden theme. Our photographer, Peter Van Beever, was AMAZING and he was much more affordable for his quality of pictures than most of the photogs I inquired with.

We planned the wedding with a lot of specific details and a general theme of “garden romantic” in mind. My friends and family have a ton of awesome talents and we DIYed so much of the wedding. My sister created all the invitations using paper from old sketchbooks and we had several “button parties” to cover plastic button hearts with yellow tissue paper. We got them printed at Kinkos and hand cut them, and they turned out beautiful and unique. I had 10 bridesmaids, and almost all of them each contributed a special DIY something– one hand-sewed signs for the ceremony, one decorated our getaway car, one handpainted wood signs, one made me 3 cake platters using vintage cups and plates, one played a violin solo during the ceremony, and we all worked the day before to handmake our programs and favors (individual succulents and cacti). There was so much that everyone contributed that it’s hard to describe it all here!

My colors were yellow and green, and it was really important to me that everyone look like themselves and could BE themselves. I had each of my 10 bridesmaids (I know that’s huge, but I had 5 family members and 5 best friends from college) choose their own dress, in either green or yellow. We pulled it together by all wearing a white rose in our hair. We weren’t sure how it would turn out but everyone looked beautiful! The groomsmen all wore grey suits (we bought them as the groomsmens’ gifts) with yellow or green ties and my husband stood out by wearing a plaid tie (he is Scottish, so the plaid was his family tartan). My own dress was a Vera Wang Atelier — retailing for $5000 and I got it for $800 at a sample sale!

For the ceremony, my favorite elements were my readings– we did one scripture reading and one reading from The Little Prince (my favorite passage with the fox who tells the little prince that he must forever be responsible for what he has tamed). We had them printed in our programs in both English and Korean for everyone to follow along. We did the same with our hymns and it was wonderful to hear the guests celebrating with us in both languages. My mother-in-law also wore a traditional Korean dress, which Korean mothers wear to weddings, and it meant so much to me to have my new family embrace my own, and my culture.

Right after our wedding ceremony, during cocktail hour, we had another traditional Korean ceremony to welcome the family. This was awesome– it is a bowing ceremony, where my husband and I bowed to our parents, grandparents, and families and they gave us advice, wisdom, and blessings. We also did some games like feeding each other dates and chestnuts and he gave me a piggy back ride to demonstrate his strength and commitment!

For the reception, we set up each table with a collection of jars filled with flowers, yellow and green glass votive jam jars, large metal table numbers, and a special reading. We are both great readers, so we had a different reading printed in a white frame for each table. So much of our own sweat and tears went into all of these details!! I collected old jam jars and pasta sauce jars for 9 months (along with all my bridesmaids), and my sister printed all the readings on the same sketchbook paper (and we found the frames at flea markets in Brooklyn).

I was also pretty proud of our floral arrangements– we kept to a $1000 budget on flowers which included arrangements for 16 dinner tables, 4 cocktail tables, 10 bridesmaids bouquets, a bridal bouquet, boutenierres, corsages, AND our succulent favors for 150 guests! We were able to stay on budget by using more affordable flowers like babys breath, mini roses, and wildflowers but it all coordinated perfectly with our theme. We also had our florist arrange the big bouquets, but we also just bought a ton of loose flowers and my bridesmaids arranged the ceremony flowers, cocktail tables, and more, to help keep costs down. We also did all of our music using a laptop!! My brother acted as a DJ and everything went off without a hitch. I felt like we were able to do a good job in splurging in a few areas (venue/catering) and diy-ing in others (stationary, flowers, decor, music, and extras like the photobooth and cocktail food).

The best part of the wedding, however, was that we were able to enjoy it along with our guests! We had a photobooth set up for guests to take pictures with fun props like balloons and moustaches, and we had a great mix of music for young and old… it all just felt really fun and the entire day flew by. It was also particularly meaningful for me as my husband and I are both from different cultural backgrounds, and the event just felt like both of us, and not one or the other. To me, I never viewed it as being “my” wedding but it was always a family wedding that I was trying to plan… and I felt like we were able to accomplish it!

Dress: Vera Wang Atelier / Groom’s Suit: Jones NY (Men’s Wearhouse) / Caterer: Jeffrey Miller Catering / Flowers: Nature’s Gallery Florists, Philadelphia / Photographer: Peter Van Beever (DE) / Stationary/Invites: Annie Yi (sister) / Venue: Historic Waynesborough in Paoli, PA

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Post tags: Pennsylvania, peter van beever, Philadelphia
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Cultural Beauty, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

{click here to see the full wedding}

The couple’s names are Andrés Montoya and Natalia Molina, they have been dating for 11 years, they were high school sweethearts!! Andrés works for Noel, a candy company managing international affairs, and Natalia is a graphic designer with a Masters in fashion marketing. They got married in an old colonial house near El Retiro, a small town near Medellín (the second largest city in Colombia) called Fizebad.

The decor was focused on origami cranes that we made ourselves. Natalia, Andrés and myself worked for months on them, making them all sizes and colors. Natalia has always been great at making origami animals (as teenagers she used to send me messages with the paper folded as a frog or a pig). We also loved the Japanese tradition of making 1000 paper cranes before the wedding meant to signify as much love, patience and tolerance as a marriage requires. We thought that was beautiful.

We also used lots of white lighting, so there were christmas lights tangled all over the place. For centerpieces, Natalia ordered the Ikea serving platters and in them she placed cupcakes made of different flavors: lemon, chocolate, strawberry, coffee (we are in Colombia after all) made by a local Medellín bakery called Como Pez en el agua.

Natalia also made the bouquet She bought the roses from one of the many exporters in our country and assembled it herself the day of the wedding. The bottoniers were comissioned by me as a surprise and were made by Paulina Valencia from Maria Fermina Accesorios who found a way to treat fabric in order to be able to fold it like origami.

The dress was designed by Natalia and a local tailor made it for her. The headpiece by made by local designer Carolina Malabet Tocados ( she has no website, you can see some of her works on my flickr) whom you can contact here. The shoes were custom made for Natalia by Tamara Bazdys also a local designer.

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Post tags: Colombia Wedding, Valeria Duque
Post categories: Casual Elegance

To see all of the wedding images, click here.

{click here to see the full wedding by Jamie Grenough}

Our wedding was all about rustic, raw beauty. Durham Ranch is a stunning property that is so well-suited to the rolling hills and farms of that part of Napa, and we wanted our wedding decor to integrate seamlessly. We picked a fairly neutral palette — mostly white, natural beige, gray and sage — to match the surroundings, with a few pops of red to mimic some of Durham Ranch’s own red accents.

We had a number of DIY projects — the biggest of which was making the chandeliers for the barn. We bought wood planks from a reclaimed barn, had a woodworker saw holes into them, glued mason jars in, dropped candles into the jars and strung them up with sailor’s rope. We also bought vintage grain sacks from a seller in Austria via Etsy and turned them into table runners. We used Ikea curtains to make pillows for the outdoor furniture. We stuck flip cams on the tables and asked our guests to serve as videographers. (And I want to note that, while we executed them, the ideas for the chandeliers and table runners came from our amazing designers at Atelier Joya).

We also integrated a few of our local favorite things into the event. My husband’s a pizza chef in San Francisco and has a lot of strong relationships in the city. His friends at Humphrey Slocombe created a custom Muscat-Peach sorbet for us and his friend Kiri Mah, the pastry chef at Pizzaiolo (where he used to work), made us an incredible coconut-passionfruit-blackberry cake. My husband also spent months meeting up with small wine makers before we settled on Peay Vineyard’s Scallop Shelf Pinot Noir, Stony Hill’s Chardonnay, Volker-Eisele’s Gemini White Wine and Robert Sinksy’s Vin Gris. And, lastly, because my husband is also a candy freak, we gave guests’ San Francisco’s Sweet Revolution caramels (a big hit).

During the cocktail hour, people milled around the pool and we served a full bar including a signature drink of “Lavender Mojitos.” The flower girl, my adorable niece, also tossed lavender when she walked down the aisle and we included it in all the bouquets and boutonnieres. We also used a lot of gardenias in the bouquets and table arrangements and, between them and the lavender, the place smelled amazing. We also set out picnic blankets and pillows during the cocktail hour so people could relax on the grass and watch the sun start to set (and pass out later in the evening!).

We also DIY-ed our huppah. The tallis belonged to my husband’s father, who passed away a little over 10 years ago. We tied it to birch branches we bought at the SF Flower Market. We also bought cheap fake birch flower pots, which Lisa Boone, at Atelier Joya, painted white for us. We then bought PVC pipe from our local hardware store, stuck it in the middle of the pots and poured cement around the pipe to make it stand straight. We then stuck the birch branches into the pipes. We did this all in our apartment’s breezeway.

The entire wedding was inspired by the book “The Giving Tree,” which was one of my favorites growing up and something my stepfather referenced in a toast shortly after we got engaged. Our invitations, which I must say were absolutely beautiful, had the light imprint of tree bark, which carried through all the paper pieces, and a sketch of a tree with our initials carved in a heart (you see that logo on a lot of things) designed by our friend, Michelle Beilner for Jot Creates. Part of what we loved about the symbolism of a tree is how old their roots are, how gracefully they mark the passing of time, how seemingly permanent they are and so on. We really wanted to pay respect to our own roots at our wedding, hence being married by our parents, being married under Jon’s father’s tallis and the family photos, going back generations, in the barn.

There’s so much more I can share — like dancing to She & Him’s phenomenal version of “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” walking down the aisle to Goh Nakamura (a local musician who I discovered via YouTube, where I work) singing his incredible rendition of “Just Like Heaven” (available on YouTube!) — but I’ll stop for now. Here are the vendors who helped make our day so beautiful…

Wedding Flowers & Design: Lisa Boone and Priska Kaspar of Atelier Joya / Venue: The Durham Ranch, Mint Locations / Catering: Living Room Events / Wedding Photography: Jamie Grenough / Wedding Cake: Kiri Mah / Coordinating: Elissa Thorp of Delysium / Lighting: Ben Davis of Refraction / Ceremony Music: Goh Nakamura /  DJ: Thomas Golubic (a great friend, former KCRW DJ in LA, music supervisor extraordinaire) / Wedding Hair: Ashley Smith from Oxenrose / Wedding Make-up: Alexia Ogle of Shu Uemura / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier / Wedding Invitations ad Paper Goods by Michelle Beilner for Jot Creates

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Post tags: Atelier Joya, California, Delysium, Durham Ranch, Goh Nakamura, Jamie Grenough, Jot Creates, Kiri Mah, Living Room Events, Monique Lhuillier, Napa Valley, Oxenrose, refraction, Shu Uemura, St. Helena, thomas Golubic
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog

We have tons of gorgeous shots from the day. We’ve combined the beautiful images from Holger Thoss Photography along with some great detail shots from Kakki at Romance of Flowers.  We’ve combined all of the photos in their photo gallery. Enjoy the “romance” of the day!

from the bride …

Although we live in New York City, both of us grew up in Baltimore, where most of our family still lives, so having our wedding in our beloved hometown proper was a no-brainer. We decided to have our wedding at the American Visionary Art Museum because it is such a unique place in Baltimore.

The look and feel of our wedding was an amalgamation of different sources. We wanted a whimsical yet elegant feel for our wedding. For the color palette, we took inspiration from the groom’s collection of vintage Hawaiian shirts to reflect his love of color. We paired the colors tangerine orange with fuchsia based on an Indian sari of mine. Finally, the mirrored garlands and accents came from the AVAM itself, which has a mosaic made of pieces of mirrors and mirrored garlands outside the museum.

From Victoria at Romance of Flowers …

We loved, loved loved working on this wedding! All of the ingredients were there for a very special event! The venue, the amazing American Visionary Art Museum, provided an intriguing background. There are only a couple of museums in the world like this, a place where the fresh looks of self taught artists imbue the space with sheer delight, a perfect spot for a celebration of love.

Add to this an adorable couple who wanted to share this special place with their family and friends and also wanted the elements of their wedding to celebrate the unique vision of the museum. Wow, does it get any better for a floral designer? We were able to let our creative juices run.

The ceremony site was in a two-story high exhibit space that houses oversized and highly decorated peddle cars, a hot air balloon, a suspended bi-plane and replicas of the Baltimore row house. We wanted the trees that defined the ceremony space to be appropriate for a wedding but to also reflect the spirit of the room. The orchid covered branches were then festooned with garlands of crystals and mirrored glass. The bride’s bouquet was a cascading group of mostly purple orchids adorned with pearls and silver grass. The bridesmaids’ orange and purple bouquets were seated in cones covered in beads and orange string. And the groom? His bit of bling came from his crutches. He broke his ankle playing rugby during his bachelor party (wasn’t there a movie about that?)!

Like the artists in the museum, we wanted to do the unexpected for the reception. The very talented Chef’s Expressions prepared a masterpiece which rivaled the art in the gallery. When you look at the containers for the table arrangements your eyes are not fooling you, that is galvanized duct work dressed up with silver wire bent to resemble handles or feet to create these unusual tureens. Others containers are that slinky-looking stuff that is used to vent dryers. Home Depot is there when you need them! Instead of an escort table, we had an escort wall where brightly colored letters dangled from the ceiling with seat assignments attached. Ribbon streamers, lines of Gerber daisies, votives, garlands of crystals, and strings of miniature disco balls hung from the ceiling for a festive feeling. And of course we couldn’t resist a disco ball (actually a big ball and a dozen others connected by mirrored garlands) over the dance floor.

Wow! Talk about creativity. Romance of Flowers ~ amazing! See all the photos here!

* * *

Our thanks to Holger Thoss Photography and Romance of Flowers for sharing these moments with us!

More incredible vendors from the day …

Ceremony and Reception Venue: American Visionary Art Museum, Event design and flowers: Romance of Flowers, Photography: Holger Thoss, Caterer: Chef’s Expressions, Lighting: Perkins Event Productions, String Quartet: St. Charles Quartet, Makeup: Debbie Federico, Hair: Padma Salon, Dress: Jenny Packham, Groom’s Attire: Brooks Brothers, Bridesmaid Dresses: Anthropologie, Veil: Bridal Veil Falls, NYC, Invitations: Cheree Berry Stationery, Rentals: Party Rentals, Additional detail photos: Kakki at Romance of Flowers

* * *

Another wedding from Romance of Flowers coming up!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: American Visionary Art Museum, Anthropologie, Baltimore, Bridal Veil Falls, Cheree Berry, Holger Thoss, Jenny Packham, Maryland, Romance of Flowers
Post categories: Bouquets, Casual Elegance, Centerpieces, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Planners & Designers, Whimsical

Here is one last bit of Aaron Delesie goodness before we all tune in for the big wedding tonight! To see the full wedding, click here.

{click here to see the full wedding}

From the wonderful coordinator, Brooke Keegan…

Adena and Kevin wanted two things for their wedding: 1. a newer venue that many people haven’t heard of or experienced, and 2. a shabby chic, all white wedding. When they found the perfect location, The Grand Del Mar, it didn’t really fit with the Shabby Chic look. It has a very Mediterranean feel so we had to get creative. What we did was create several spaces within the property that we could play off of the existing décor and also bring in a bit of the Shabby Chic look. The ceremony took place in La Cappella, a beautiful chapel on property. We enhanced the look with a lot of candlelight and white florals. Cocktails were out on the terrace over looking the dinner reception and teatro. Here we were able to bring in a more Shabby Chic look. The dinner was out on the lawn and we incorporated white florals, lanterns, adirondack chairs, oversized pillows and a lot of candlelight. There was a Jazz band under the teatro for guests to enjoy during dinner, and that is where Adena and Kevin shared their first dance. It was so beautiful. Following dinner, everyone moved up to the Manchester Salon for the after party and dancing. We transformed the room into a chic lounge in gold’s and burgundy’s with a dessert and candy bar for the guests to enjoy. DJ Peter had the guests dancing all night. We ended up extending the party 90 minutes because no one wanted to leave such a fabulous event!

Wedding Coordinator: Brooke Keegan Weddings and Events / Wedding Photography: Aaron Delesie. / Video: Jennifer Anne Films / Floral/Decor: Elegant by Design / Ceremony/Cocktail/Reception Music: Vive Entertainment / Lighting: PSAV / Chairs: Chiavari Chair Rentals / Linens: La Tavola Fine Linens

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 34 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

First up ~ we have Lexy and Steve’s New Mexico wedding from Kitty & Craig at Twin Lens. The depth and the emotion that Kitty and Craig capture in each and every one of their weddings is unparalleled.

You can see, from this first shot just why Lexi and Steve wanted Kitty & Craig to capture their wedding weekend … AND why they decided to hold their wedding in Lexy’s parents’ Albuquerque backyard!

From Lexy …

I know I stand with a countless number of people in saying that my wedding day was the happiest day of my life, but I really don’t know how else to describe it. With all of our amazing vendors and the breathtaking landscape combined with the presence of our beloved friends and family, there was little left to ask for.

The only thing that seemed certain about our wedding was that we wanted to have fun and be relaxed enough to be able to laugh. Beyond that, my fiance and I started with very little.

Location came first. We wanted something a bit out of the ordinary and were hoping for a location with some sentimental value. We started to look at a few locations in Southern California (where we live), when it dawned on us that my parents’ house in Albuquerque, New Mexico backs up to the beautiful Sandia Mountains and has a fantastic multi-level backyard.  New Mexico is definitely out of the ordinary, considering all of our Southern California possibilities, and the sentimental value of my parents’ house seemed obvious. My mother’s excitement for our backyard ceremony idea was contingent upon only one requirement… a wedding planner. My sister suggested that I call Rebeca Reategui. All I can say is that there are not enough words to describe Rebecca’s brilliance as a wedding planner. She was there every step of the way to ensure that every last detail was perfectly in place.

When asking for help finding our wedding vendors in the Albuquerque area, we received some great recommendations from a San Francisco based photographer who spent fifteen years shooting weddings in New Mexico. He only gave us one name for our photographers … Kitty & Craig ~ Twin Lens …

After one look at their website, and one in person conversation, we knew why he only bothered with one recommendation. Craig and Kitty are creative photojournalists with eyes for capturing the moment, exactly what we wanted. They are also two of the most enjoyable people to be with, above and beyond what we expected.

Once we had these delightful people in place, and got to start working on the details, we knew we could embrace our location. One of my favorite things about Albuquerque is the beautiful sunsets ~ they cast an incredibly brilliant glow on the Sandia Mountains.

With this in mind I let my bridesmaids choose any dress they wanted as long as it was somewhere on the color wheel between yellow and red, which actually turned out better than I expected. In the same vein, the groomsmen wore orange ties with tan suits.

Our wonderfully creative florist, Andrea Soorikian, put together fantastic centerpieces. I wanted depth of color and texture which Andrea created from flowers I didn’t know existed before I met her.

Angela Reece, and her crew at Walter Burke Catering, put together the perfect menu with a little southwestern flare. We also had a dessert bar that had even those without a sweet tooth going back for seconds. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

{more of the sweets and florals in their gallery}

Their invitations and accompanying wedding pieces were designed by Elizabeth Hubbell …

Calligraphy by Papineau Calligraphy

This is one of those weddings that we’d love to keep on going and going and going with the photos sent to us by Kitty and Craig. But ~ now that we are able to share the whole gallery with you, we’ll let you check out all the pics right here: Lexy & Steve’s gallery

In the gallery, you’ll see a few shots from the rehearsal dinner as well …

Lexy and Steve’s Wedding Vendors: Photography: Twin Lens ,Wedding Coordinator: Rebecca Reategui, Florist: Andrea Soorikian Design, Caterer: Walter Burke Catering, Invitations: Elizabeth Hubbell Studio, Calligrapher: Papineau Calligraphy, D.J.: Matt Mizell ~ Lighthouse Entertainment, Rehearsal Dinner: Casa Rodena, Gown: Vera Wang

LOVE!!

So ~ if you’re as awed by Kitty and Craig’s work as we are, here are some links to see more …

Lexy & Steve’s Wedding {a fantastic slideshow from Twin Lens}

Twin Lens Website

Twin Lens Facebook page

Style Me Pretty Gallery: Steve and Lexy’s wedding

Style Me Pretty Gallery: More Twin Lens weddings previously published on Style Me Pretty! {23 pages of stunning weddings}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Albuquerque, Elizabeth Hubbell, New Mexico, Twin Lens
Post categories: Bouquets, Casual Elegance, Centerpieces, Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Invitations and Stationery, Wedding Photography