We always love when our readers find inspiration and even vendors for their weddings on Style Me Pretty. When the result of such findings is a dream of an event like this Orlando celebration by Smitten Photography we could just burst with joy! A palette of blush and charcoal hues make this a romantic, modern and timeless affair and I’m sure some of our newly engaged Florida readers will find inspiration aplenty here! Click here to see even more!
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From the Bride… There are so many words to describe what we wanted our wedding day to be like, how we wanted it to feel, and most importantly how we wanted to remember it. I think back to the early days of our engagement, describing how we envisioned our wedding to family, friends, and vendors and the same words always came out of my mouth – personal, timeless, and fun! After a year of planning with my mom, our day came and exceeded our expectations. If I had to describe it in one word (Really one phrase!), I would say it was “Simply magic!”
Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins College is beyond gorgeous and was the perfect backdrop for our traditional Catholic mass. It’s nestled in the heart of Winter Park, Florida where I grew up and is a breathe of fresh air, especially since most people think Orlando revolves around Disney! Walking down the Chapel’s aisle with my dad to Mike is one of my favorite memories of the day.
I’m Filipino and to honor my heritage, we incorporated the symbolic traditions that take place during a Filipino wedding – Sponsors, the blessing and giving of the Arrhae (13 gold coins), and the Veil and Cord ceremony. These traditions have taken place at the weddings in my family for generations, so it was important for me to honor my family and to introduce Mike’s family and our friends to something they have never experienced. We carefully selected the music and readings for our mass – some hymns were childhood favorites and our readings really spoke to the ideals of love and marriage.
We chose the Orlando Museum of Art as our reception venue for a few of reasons. Whenever we travel to a new city, Mike and I make a point to visit the art museum. It’s a special “tradition” for us, so it seemed quite fitting! We wanted a venue that our guests could really enjoy; having the whole museum to ourselves, they were able to walk the grounds and view the exhibits. Finally, we wanted a place that we could come back to, even for years and years to come. We literally utilized the entire Museum for our reception. A refreshment reception took place in the Sculpture Plaza for guests who arrived early. Cocktail hour was in the Grand Gallery, whose focal point is a floor to ceiling Chihuly sculpture. Our dinner and reception took place in the Museum’s Rotunda and meeting rooms.
Many of my favorite elements of our reception were the fun, personal touches. We purchased our invitations and monogram from Betsy White and used our monogram on all of our DIY projects – info frames, seating chart, table numbers, place cards and the dinner menus. It was a great way to tie our guest’s first impression of our wedding and our wedding day. We had our favorite lawn games, washers and cornhole, laid out in the Sculpture Plaza for guests to enjoy – my brother surprised us by having our monogram made for the cornhole boards.
Obviously another favorite element was my dress! I actually found my dream dress while reading a wedding fashion post on Style Me Pretty. (If that wasn’t luck enough, we hired the event stylist of that photo shoot as our day of coordinator! And we also found our amazing photographer on SMP too!) Just by sight, I knew it was the one and when I finally tried it on, I was in love! My veil was custom made of lace, tulle, pearls and crystal. My mom has a wedding portrait of her parents at home, and my veil is reminiscent of my grandmother’s. My mom lent me her diamond tennis bracelet, given to her by my paternal grandmother, as my something borrowed. To have my veil and to be able to wear that bracelet was so special since both my grandmother’s had passed. It was my little tribute to such great women and was my way of having them present.
When our reception came to a close, we rode off in our trolley with family and friends and I was so grateful for a picture perfect day. No amount of planning could prepare us for how special and how wonderful every second of our day was! I remember when Mike and I gave a small speech to our guests; I said, “Today is a beautiful memory we will have forever. We are so happy that it’s a memory that we can share with you.” It’s such a true statement and we could not be happier that our wedding was perfectly us!
Wedding Photography: Sharon Clark of Smitten Photography / Floral Design: Ken Rosen of Encore Décor / Event Coordinator: Brittany Sobering of Tickled Pink Brides / Floral & Event Design: Designer Events by Suzanne Nichols / Wedding Ceremony Location: Knowles Memorial Chapel (Rollins College) / Wedding Reception Location: Orlando Museum of Art / Catering: Arthur’s Catering / Cupcakes: Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly / DJ: Soundwave Entertainment Systems / Draping: Quest Drape / Lighting: PTE Productions / Hair & Makeup: LeJeune Hair & Makeup Artistry / Wedding Dress: Marisa / Bride’s Veil: Custom / Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Pretty, pretty, pretty!
Wow these are beautiful. Do you know where the bridesmaid dresses are from?
And another question if the beautiful bride looks at this: I'm Catholic too and I've heard a lot about not being able to have a Catholic Mass outside a Catholic church? Did you have to get special permission from the bishop of your diocese? I'm considering my options for my wedding! :) Thanks!
~Emily~
Soundwave Entertainment, djsoundwave.net, LOVED working with this couple! They were fun and enthusiastic and their number one priority was to have a rockin' night! They gave DJ Ray lots of room to have fun with the music and crowd. This was super fun party!
Love those bridesmaids dresses!!!
I had nothing to do with this wedding but I can answer the bridesmaid dress question b/c I wore that dress (but short version) to my rehearsal dinner! :) They are Vera Wang. Pretty wedding!
hi emily! thank you for the sweet compliment :)
to answer your questions...the bridesmaid's dresses are by vera wang. they are really just gorgeous in person and come in tons of colors!
i had heard the same thing about having a wedding mass, but i think it really depends on the diocese you plan on being married in and your circumstances. we had our mass at a christian chapel that has held many catholic weddings (the chapel is a christian house of worship). but in general, yes catholic wedding masses do take place in a catholic church that you are parishioner at. we didn't have a problem with having our wedding outside of our parish, but you will need to speak to your priest about the technicalities. also, once you begin the process you fill out paperwork that is sent to your diocese tribunal that is signed off on. if there are any concerns that come up, they will let you know.
my suggestion is you talk to your priest about options - for example, if you want a full mass (with communion) or a catholic wedding. your priest can tell you if he has performed weddings outside of the parish - at other catholic/non-catholic churches or in other venues like hotels,etc. don't be afraid because they will always be willing to work with you!
hope that helps!
Lily is the most beautiful bride! =) Elegant. Classy.Beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful! I am a Filipina-American bride (set to wed Oct. 28), in St. Louis but moved from Orlando. I am loving your veil - so I'm disappointed that it was custom made! That is really impressive, but do you have any leads on where I can find a similar veil? Did you have a design that you followed, or a designer that you could recommend?
Thank you for any help you can offer.
Michelle
hi michelle! thank you for the kind words!
i chose to have a mantilla style veil made which ended up looking almost exactly like my grandmothers. have you gone to any bridal stores to look for veils? many stores can make veils in-house or have a seamstress/pattern maker they work with create one for you. for example, if you like lace, they should have lace patterns on hand to show you and from there you decide which you like and how long you want your veil to be and if you want any other adornments.
i'd love to help you, so if you leave an email address i can message you with more info!
I am completely IN LOVE with your reception pictures!! Your centerpieces are GORGEOUS! And I really want to use chavari chairs now for my wedding! What color exactly is the chair? It looks like the pad color is white. . . I am using Tickled Pink for my wedding planner too! I'm using Terri and she is fabulous. Thank you for giving me inspiration for my October 2012 wedding!! :)
hey jleigh! thank you so much for the wedding love :)
aren't the ladies of tickled pink the best?! i worked with brittany, but terri was there to help out the day of and she is a doll.
we rented the chairs from suzanne nichols design group, specifically alisha. she is so great, and i highly recommend giving her a call, the quality for the chairs (they are called iced chiavari's) is amazing and you cannot beat the price. her number is 407.833.9651, give her a call and let her know i sent you!!! they also have a ton of great decorative rentals if you are looking for them. alisha and her team also helped with the set up of our flowers. my husband's uncle is an event designer out of washington dc and he was the designer for all of our arrangements, had his vendors ship the flowers to orlando, and worked with alisha and her team to execute everything since we were doing rentals with suzanne nichols design group and they do florals there too. so alisha definitely has knowledge about our exact design!
good luck planning your wedding!
@ Lily, THANK YOU so much for the vendor information, I will be sure to give her a call! I have one more request from you if possible? I see that your bridesmaid dresses are Vera Wang, do you know specifically the name of the dress or style number? I'm very interested in them for my wedding! THANK YOU!
Love the signs on the chairs. Where were those purchased from? Would love to have them made. Please let me know asap.
Thank you.
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