Can we just take a moment to appreciate the absolute perfection that is this bride’s dress? It is a beautiful, fluffy dream! Set against the backdrop of a grand estate, this classic, Great Gatsby-inspired wedding photographed by Joshua Zuckerman Photography just makes my inner romantic go all gooey. The full gallery has even more inspiration from this fine Connecticut affair!
My mother and I planned the wedding together, we wanted it to be simple but elegant, and feel like a classic at home wedding in Connecticut. We approached it like a a Gatsby affair, as we wanted big band music, the formal elegance of black tie, complimented by shades of ivory and creams that were carried through in the flower arrangements, groomsmen and bridesmaid attire, candle light, and ivory lanterns. Rather than incorporating complex details, we focused on making sure the core elements that made up the wedding were memorable. What helped make that easy was that we had great vendors and a wonderful venue, my parents house. The backdrop, couldn’t have been more beautiful with the rolling lawn and greenery of the trees. As a result, we didn’t have to add complex flower arrangements or bring in additional decor. Our vendors were wonderful to work with because they produced flawless work, especially the outstanding photography. The food was delicious, the music was wonderful, the tent and flowers were simply elegant, and we are so lucky to have great pictures to remember it all by!
What made all the difference in the planning process was maintaining our classic theme, and remembering that we wanted the wedding to feel intimate amongst our close friends and family. With around 125 guests, we were able to focus on our guests, and ensure they felt that were a special part of the event. We engaged a day of wedding coordinator, who helped make the day stress free, and ensure that the months of planning came to fruition!
Wedding Photography: Joshua Zuckerman / Florist: Greenwich Orchids / Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet / Caterer: Aux Delices / Band: Bob Merrill & His Orchestra / DJ: DJ Vinny Vulcano / Hair + Make up: Phillip Bruce Salon / Bridesmaids’ dresses: J Crew / Groomsmen tuxedos: Christian Dior / Day-of-Coordinator: Erin Mills
I don’t know what better way to introduce this wedding then to just come right out and say it. FAIRYTALE through and through. And as cliche as this may sound, one glimpse of Blairquhan Castle walls and I think you might agree. Scotland has the inner princess in me squealing with delight and the gorgeous images from Craig & Eva Sanders Photography? Beyond, beyond, beyond. Stopping by the gallery is an absolute must on this one folks.
Clare and Tony hail from Liverpool – the home of the fab four themselves, The Beatles. However having got engaged on holiday in Bonnie Scotland, they decided to complete the circle by having their wedding here as well. They got married at the stunning Blairquhan Castle, built in the 17th Century in the heart of the Ayrshire Countryside.
Tony and Clare’s relaxed and informal day was filled with so many beautiful touches. Highlights were an amazing cake made by her father and to top it off Tony sang a surprise song after their first dance. He might not sell as many records as the fab four but we think they make a fab twosome.
I am so happy to be sharing this Outer Banks wedding because it made me, well…so happy. The celebration was just as colorful and charismatic as the couple, and as much as it was fabulously styled – it also seemed like an absolute blast to attend! To make it even more adorable, the ceremony and reception were both hosted at the couple’s Outer Banks home (that also serves as an event space, 318 Griggs Acres). I’m starting to wonder if they would like an extra house guest! But perhaps instead of inviting myself over, I’ll just gawk over all the lovely images by Lauren Cowart Photography in the gallery.
My fiance and I have been together since 2003. In March of 2010 we set off on a 6 week adventure to Costa Rica. Our plan was to get married on the beach during our trip, just the two of us. We told our friends and family that we were getting married in Costa Rica and that we would have a small reception when we returned. While in Costa Rica we had silver wedding bands custom made by a local jewelry artist in Montezuma for $50.00 each. I had packed a simple linen sun dress. We me with an attorney to get our marriage license and set a date for the wedding at a local hotel. He informed us that in Costa Rica we had to have 2 witnesses and asked us when our family and friends would be arriving. Andy and I looked at each other and said that no it was just us. No family is coming? the attorney asked…. Um no. just us..romantic right? He looked kind of sorry for us for a minute and then said. No problem we can round up a maid and maybe a bus boy and they would stand in for our witnesses. We left feeling deflated. Andy looked at me and said.Honey is this what you want to do? Are you sure you don’t want your mom and best friend to be there? I realized that I did want those things and we decided to change our plans and have a small wedding when we got back to the states.
Upon returning home everyone, especially my mom, was so happy that we were now having a wedding and the planning took shape. Andy and wanted to be married right away so we set the date as July 25 2010, only 3 months away. We decided to have the ceremony on the dock at a home that we own and rent as a vacation and event home. Our family swirled around us and the details came together. I have worked as a wedding planner in the past and went to art school so I new I wanted a really colorful and unique wedding. i gathered inspiration pics and made a list of props and decor items I had in storage. I am on the board of directors for the Dare County Arts Council and my job for years has been event staging and decor for many of our fundraising events so I had crates of great stuff already. our family and friends are an artistic and creative group. They came to town in droves days before the wedding and spent hours constructing and assembing decor and props ( in 100 degree heat ) for the photo area of my dreams. We had vintage quilts instead of chairs for the ceremony. And hauled furniture from inside to the yard. My Aunt reccomended a local Florist Dorothy Morris of Bells and Whistles to help with the design. Dorothy comes from a family of flower growers and has a field less than 2 miles from our venue where she grows local flowers for her clients. I showed Dorothy my ideas and she came up with the some of the most amazing elements for the decor. Her artist husband actually custom made a dance floor from a patterned piece of paper on my inspiration board. A local second hand store and consignment shop rented many chairs and decor items to us for the day. My uncle Joe is a saxaphone player who played with Reba Macintire for years. He played during the ceremony and brought speakers for our ipod for the reception. My cousin Meredith owns Red Organics Salon in Richmond and she came early do do my hair. One of my bridesmaids drove from Charleston with her car packed with vintage costume items for the photo area and a trunk full of colorful jewelry and hair accesories for the bridesmaids who wore black. The cake was a gift from the owners of a local bakery where I once worked as a pastry chef. It was the most amazing day and when I saw the pictures I knew I had to submit them to style me pretty. The one place where I spent hours dreaming over all the lovely and creative wedding ideas.
This next wedding by Troy Grover Photographers is just plain awesome. This couple took their color inspiration and totally ran with it sticking to a crisp, Autumn-inspired palette. I love that they collected vintage pieces in their color scheme for the centerpieces and decor. On top of being wildly chic, the party looks like it was probably equally as fun. It’s not everyday that we share a wedding party with their pants down! Click here to see more wild beauty in the full gallery!
The bride, groom and a handful of family and friends put this stunning wedding together entirely themselves. It may be one of our favorite weddings to date! Ali and Jon were married in a forest tucked away in the Malibu hills. The reception was held outdoors and was decorated with rustic toys and treasures in yellow and brown tones. The sun cast its warm rays down on us all day creating some epic light through the trees!
I have a weak spot for gorgeous flowers so you better believe my knees were feeling a wee bit wobbly as I looked at this Utah wedding by Erin Kate Photography. I’m just in love with the bouquet full of dahlias, ranunculus and succulents and the vivid centerpieces are super fun and unexpected. Beyond the beauty of these mountain-side nuptials, a whole lot of heart and love went into this serene day and there is so much more to absorb in the full gallery!
Sam and I met years before we started dating while working together at an outdoor retailer store in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our friendship started with many winter seasons on the ski slopes and many turns of pedals on mountain bike trails in our big back yard – the Wasatch Mountains. After a little motivation from Sam’s sister, he finally asked me out on an “official” date. Sam and I were engaged six months after that first night out. We then waited almost two years to get married. The two year engagement was worth the time. We were able to spend those months creating a wedding that will last a lifetime of memories. Sam and I have a passion for playing in the mountains and the land that surrounds the area in which we live. After searching for a special place to be married, we found it, right under our noses. We have skied countless days at Solitude Mountain Resort and decided it was there that we wanted to start our married life together.
The colors for our wedding were a mix of my favorite – teal, and Sam’s favorite – green. The months of being engaged paid off and I was able to hand make our Save the Date Cards and Invitations. Our main goal and focus through the entire wedding process was to include the people that were the most important to us as well those that will be with us through our entire married journey. The day was not only the start of our married lives together but a celebration of joining families, as family means so much to me and Sam. Picking groomsmen and bridesmaids can be a daunting task, but we immediately decided to have only our siblings stand beside us as we took our vows. We also had a very special person officiate our ceremony, my brother-in-law Kevin. The beloved late Mr. C. Kevin Sondrup, Sam’s dad, passed away a number of years ago and we wanted to honor his presence, and all those that could not be with us, on this very special day by including the herb rosemary into all of our arrangements because it is the herb of remembrance.
Our florist and decorator did a fabulous job of incorporating the natural landscape of the mountains, succulents from our own garden, and the herb rosemary into the entire ceremony, boutonnières and bouquets, and the reception. We could not be more thankful for such a beautiful wedding and could not have done it without the help many family members and friends. Our family and friends traveled from many different parts of the world to celebrate and were very grateful for their presence.
If this North Carolina wedding had nothing else but those gorgeous country views, it would still be at the tip top of our Smitten List. But, it also happens to boast one perfectly gorgeous dress, a style that matches those views in ease and beauty and picture perfect photography by The Beautiful Mess so we’re thinking this is a total home run and there is even more of it in the gallery.
Chris and I didn’t want a typical wedding because we are far from typical. I also wanted a mix of vintage with an eco friendly twist yet budget friendly, so I decided the theme was eco-vintage and all my friends said “Eco-vintage, what?!” I didn’t really think this was a defined theme so I figured we could do whatever. Hence, a morning ceremony followed by a brunch reception with lots of do it yourself pieces. Who can resist champagne and Bloody Mary’s? Not us!
The ceremony was held on the expansive lawn with a breathtaking view of the mountains. The fog had just lifted before the ceremony and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, a beautiful crisp fall morning! A harpist played before, during, and after the ceremony which added a simple vintage touch. Chris and I wrote our own vows and our friend that set us up on our blind date married us. After our very (emphasis on the very) quick ceremony, guests retreated to the barn area for morning cocktails. The vendor allowed us to purchase all the alcohol which saved a lot of money! We chose to include a local wine and champagne from Ashevilla Wines as well as a local beer, Highland Gaelic. Unfortunately, no local vodka was available for the Bloody Marys! The barn was decorated simply, with local flowers from the Enchanted Florist, Granny Smith apples from the local farmers’ market, decorations made by Chris’ mom, favors made by my matron of honor (chocolate covered pretzels, Shilling Chocolatier) and our lovely cupcake table. I had my brother find a felled tree on his property and cut it into several pieces of varying heights to hold our cupcakes and mini cheesecakes. He thought I was crazy but he didn’t argue. The florist added her touch and it resulted in a very “eco-vintage” look. Oh, and that tree was from Pennsylvania, brought down by my parents on their drive to Asheville! The flowers were taken to a nursery home after the wedding and the apples were either eaten by the guests or given to the farm animals. It was important to us not to have a lot of waste and use local where possible.
We had a dance floor outside and frisbees, footballs, and horseshoes on the lawn. Our guests enjoyed the casual feel and found themselves laughing, running, and dancing through the late morning early afternoon. Chris and I made our own iPod mix for music which was a mix of Katy Perry to Sugarland to Johnny Cash. Every song was picked for a reason which took some time but resulted in a very personal mix which I cannot stop listening to even now! A friend mixed it up by being a guest and our MC. It made everything much more personal since I’ve known him for 15 years. The food at the reception was beyond deliciousness, stuffed fresh toast (I could eat this every day!), omelet station, cheese grits, fresh fruits and pastries. Miniature ponies were in the pasture and cows grazed on the nearby hillside. An old tractor next to the barn turned out to be a fantastic spot for pictures. Lastly, our photographers, The Beautiful Mess, could not have been more perfect. They listened to what we wanted and put it with what they know. Candice and Daniel captured our day as I remember it, a fun, and casual gorgeous day with our friends and family which oozed love from all sides. Ahhhhh, to be a bride again…
Another brilliantly colorful wedding ~ today! From A Garden Party, Kari and Dave were married this past summer in her parents’ back yard. The day was filled with love as they said their I Do’s alongside their pretty pup!
Kari and Dave were married this past August at Kari’s family home. They were a fun loving couple that wanted their wedding to be full of bright colors and fun details. This is a couple that chose to get married with their dog by their side (dressed for the day with a brand new bandanna that said ‘I do too’), how much more fun can you get than that?!?!
Kari carried a bouquet of orange mini gerbers, yellow tulips, orange calla lilies, protea, hot pink spray roses and gorgeous pink dahlias (hand selected by a local grower). A dazzling rhinestone brooch was added to bring in the little bit of bling! The bridesmaids carried bouquets of similar flowers with multi colored ribbon wrap and beaded fringe – so cute!
We grew up with Kari, so seeing her looking so stunning on her wedding day was that much more special to us. It was important to us that Kari’s ceremony site really be eye catching. We did swirls of rose petals down the aisle, hung bi-colored gerber daisies from the chairs, and covered the arbor in a floral arch. Orange and pink were the colors of the day, and they sure did stand out!
It can be steamy in August here in South Jersey, so each guest was given a little fan and a beer cozy. Under the tent were centerpieces of tropical flowers. On each table a picture of the couple was attached. Instead of being numbered the tables were named to describe the picture on the table. Their was a table showing their first date, and many places that they had vacationed together.
Kari and Dave’s was a wedding to remember and we hope you enjoy all the fun details as much as we do!
Oh how we love Wednesdays! Double the gorgeous, awe inspiring weddings – double the excuse to hang out with us all day! We have some absolutely stunning soirees on the agenda to get you through the midweek slump, so get comfy and remember you can see even more of these beauties in their full galleries.
Let’s start this day off with an absolutely glamorous San Francisco wedding by Gladys Jem Photography, shall we? An elegant, ballroom wedding with a combination of darling personal touches results in a drool-worthy wedding for sure. I love when couples hosting even the most elegant of weddings incorporate little nods to keep the celebration close to home, and there are so many of those little details in the gallery.
After five months of planning, September 25th was blue skies and 80 degrees which was the perfect backdrop for our San Francisco celebration. As it was some of my relatives’ first time leaving Japan, and many were coming from LA, New York, and the Midwest, we wanted our classy, elegant wedding to showcase the city we met at and love exquisitely . What better place than for the hotel where Tony Bennett first sang his “I left my heart in San Francisco” song? Not only was the Fairmont San Francisco a historical building, but it was at the Fairmont in Hawaii where we had exchanged our first ‘I love you’s, and had a room that had the most magnificent 270 view of the city. Because of our love for food and restaurants, we decided to do table seating with restaurant business cards inside each name card. We chose restaurants where we frequent for date nights, ones we went to celebrate joyous moments like our engagement, purchase of the new home, birthdays, and some were just plain favorites of ours. With every restaurant name we included a zagat rating (because we live and die with zagat and yelp reviews), and had a story to why that specific restaurant was so special to us. It was so much fun doing this, especially when after the wedding, out of towners were coming back to try the restaurant they were seated at!
We handmade all of our programs, rose petal bags, and even down to the gold embossing on the name cards which held a note we wanted to personalize to each and every attendant. For the favors, we provided cookies with our initials, because I am all about dessert overkill. This was complimented with an original artwork my grandma had created for each of the 95 guests that expressed in Japanese “thank you” and had a different picture on each. We had Simon, James’ (my husband) brother be our officiant, as he is a pastor. “Falling in love at a coffee shop” played while the bridesmaids walked out, as it was truly at the coffee shop 3 blocks away from work that I started realizing my true feelings for James. I walked out to “somewhere over the Rainbow” as I truly felt like it captured the romantic and dreamlike feel of that moment.
Anna Costa of Michael and Anna Costa Photographers has done it once again…wowed us with her ever so lovely picture taking skills. And that dreamy, soft light that exudes from every single image is the perfect compliment to this romantic Santa Barbara wedding. Held at a breathtaking family villa with the prettiest florals by Nico Designs and a couple that is totally head over heels in love, this wedding is soaring on cloud 9 and lucky us, we get to come along for the ride. See more of the romance in the gallery.
When Patrick asked me to marry him, I was over the moon! I immediately, like most brides, grabbed the first wedding magazine I could get my hands on. I knew I wanted to be married in our hometown of Santa Barbara, and in the month of September. Being a local, we have always enjoyed Septembers in Santa Barbara. The weather is usually sunny and gorgeous and the busy summer season has come to an end. I drew most of my inspiration for our wedding right from the web pages of Style Me Pretty. I had my venue set as it would be the home of my fiancé’s parents in Santa Barbara, a villa called Villa Verano. We were also lucky enough to be married at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church, which was my dream. As a little girl, we would always pass by in the car, and I would think to myself, that’s where I want to marry. After I bought my dress, my vision started to come to light. I love romantic soft colors so the latte, cream and blush dahlias and garden roses were perfect and complimented the scenery just perfectly. We also fell in love with Anna Costa from Michael + Anna Costa Photography because of her use of film and digital. Her dreamy photos will be cherished for a lifetime.
According to the superstition, a little rain on your wedding day is supposedly good luck. Well, I don’t know about rain but sometimes a few clouds can make an already stunning wedding that much more gorgeous. The pretty pinks and bold blues throughout this wedding by Callaway Gable just pop and the green of the Martha’s Vineyard countryside glistens under those gray skies. No matter the weather, this wedding glows with so much sweetness and style it lights up the whole island! Check out the full gallery for even more inspiration!
These two New Yorkers chose Martha’s Vineyard as the perfect place to be married. It’s no wonder – Lindsay’s family has a summer home where they have been vacationing her entire life. It is also where Russ proposed.
The wedding took place up island on the Allen Farm, a working sheep farm founded in 1762. The 100-acre property is located next to the ocean, overlooking a lagoon and Lucy Vincent beach. The bridal party stayed in the main house at the farm during the entire weekend. The wedding took place outside, overlooking the lagoon, and the reception was held under a big tent. At the bottom of the hill, at the lagoon, there stands a little cabin with a wood burning stove. This is where they signed their ketubah with family, and this is where they spent their first night together as husband and wife. The ceremony took place under a chuppah handmade by Lindsay’s aunt. As you can see from the photos, the view was breathtaking.
Wedding Photography: Brian and Allison Callaway of Callaway Gable / Wedding Planner: Patrie Grace of With Grace / Caterer: V. Jaime Hamlin and Sons / Florals: Island Ambiance / Venue: Allen Farm in Chilmark / Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Priscilla’s of Boston / Groom’s Suit: Jos A. Bank / Hair: Pure Touch Salon / Makeup: Makeup Artistry by Tamika Patrice / Band: Jerry Bennett Entertainment / Cake: Cakes by Liz
Looking at these bright, cheerful and airy images by Rowell Photography, one would never know that it rained on this couple’s wedding day…or that we are in the middle of a frigid New England winter. For a moment while gawking at these delightful, yellow-infused, detailed-filled images I could almost smell the sweet summer rain. Which might explain why I spent the entire day getting lost in the gallery, which fully suggest (and recommend) doing.
Kelly & Lee were married on September 4th 2010 at Windermere House in Muskoka, Canada. Windereme House is a legendary resort that over looks Lake Rousseau. Built in the mid 1800’s , a giant white estate with boat docks surrounding the exterior and a turn of the century cobblestone walkway that lead to a small pub. On Kelly & lee’s wedding day It rained and the ceremony was moved from the back yard which over looked the lake to the main dining room. Guests crowded in and surrounded the couple in a very intimate setting with guests sitting, and standing wherever they could. Kelly walked down the aisle to a cover of “Forever Young” by Youth Group. Their colour scheme was yellow and cream with hints of gold here and there, from the bridesmaids gold shoes, to the mini pale yellow deserts, table napkins and even the ring bearers little bow tie.
Earlier int he morning the bridesmaids woke up and had a yoga instructor brought in to relax them all before the big event. Lee had his best man bring Kelly a surprise wedding gift for her to open before she left the Windermere cottages. He bought her a pair of earrings and sent her a note asking if she would wear them today. At the reception instead of having just a guest book for people to sign, Kelly and Lee bought a Fuji Instax mini camera and a bunch of polaroids and let the guests go crazy taking their own photos. Later in the evening guests enjoyed cupcakes and dancing.
Eddie and Michelle were married in Cincinnati and asked the fellows at 31 FILMS to fly out and shoot their wedding. According to Aaron, from the beginning ~ Michelle was totally up front about what she wanted in their wedding film. “She wanted something fresh and unique … she loved the dreamy look and nostalgia of vintage super-8mm film. But she also loved the crisp, ultra-real look of HD video – so we merged the two! Michelle and Eddie were a pleasure to work with! Even though the wedding day clearly revolved around them, they wanted to be sure that their friends and family were highlighted throughout the day as well.
from the beautiful bride … Having lived in cities like Paris and NYC, the search for the right venue in the city of Cincinnati was somewhat challenging, not to mention it was a long distance wedding location. At the time of planning our wedding, the groom-to-be lived in Detroit, MI. I lived in New York City and my family is from Philadelphia, PA. The sole reason for choosing Cincinnati, OH as our wedding destination was because of my future parents-in-law. With Eddie being the only son it was important for his parents to have the big party in their hometown and I wanted to make them happy because they are fascinating people and amazing parents. After several months of relentlessly searching both online and whenever we were able to be on site in the city, we finally found an amazing historic building occupied by the Hilton Netherland Plaza hotel.
My first choice was more of a contemporary and trendy ‘MoMA’ type of place, but since I couldn’t have that to the exact specs in a smaller city, I decided to go for something with romance and character, something that would remind me of my fond memories of my days living in Paris. The Hall of Mirrors (the grand ballroom of the hotel) immediately brought me back in time to a place I loved and cherished during my stay in France, château de Versailles. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating or daydreaming just a bit, but it’s all about your imagination, right? And it’s all about your hopes and dreams when it comes to planning the biggest event of your life! And then my hopes and dreams just came together perfectly when my long lost blood father showed up in my life just 9 months before my wedding day, and walked me down the aisle.
To twist it up a bit more, he and his entire family are practically neighbors of my future parents-in-laws residing in Columbus, OH. This is a very long story with full of twists and turns and fate that perhaps you will find in a memoir, and hopefully in a motion picture, someday…stay tuned! The event came together just as I have imagined and dreamed of all my life. It started out with finding the perfect wedding planner who was able to figure me out very quickly. She was the key to the success of the event, who was patient, beautiful, kind-hearted, and very bright. She basically carried out the vision I had, but with the added details I failed to imagine, being the big-picture “don’t sweat the small stuff” kind of person that I am. She also came equipped with an A-list of vendors that all contributed to the great success of the event.
The list of my favorite vendors and key contributors – Dora Manuel, wedding planner & event designer of Viva Bella Events – responsible for how I found the Hall of Mirrors, which was featured on her website, and the breathtaking design of the entire event, along with all the other fabulous vendor recommendations. Robyn Adinamis, event manager of the Hilton – responsible for running the terrific staff that executed Dora’s visions perfectly, and for being fabulous and the cutest pregnant little lady I’ve ever met! Amy Owens, owner and designer of Amo-Ink Custom Stationery – responsible for creating the theme colors of the entire event and the invitations that everyone adored, and for being a wonderful and pleasant companion throughout the entire process. Kelly & Kelly, designers of Eden Floral Boutique – responsible for creating the most amazing pieces of work that took everyone’s breath away when they entered the room, and for being brilliant enough to capture my imaginations in just 90 minutes of face-to-face encounter. Clay & Lisa Justice of Red Gallery Photography – responsible for creating amazing ideas that came together in beautiful images for our engagement session, the bridal couture, and of course the big day. They are one of cutest couples I’ve met who are full of magical talents and a pleasure to work with. Aaron & Rachel Tharpe of 31films – responsible for capturing all the best moments of the event. Aaron’s talent is unmatched and he is one of the best decisions I’ve made during the wedding planning process, as demonstrated here in the wedding film highlight! Indira Rivera of Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier NYC – responsible for choosing the perfect bridal dress with her very first recommendation as soon as I walked into her door. She took a good look at me and said “I have the perfect dress for you, it’s the same Very Wang dress that Carrie Bradshaw wore in the SATC movie”. It was indeed love at first sight and Indira made it a memorable experience with her beauty and elegance. Crystal Henize-Rieger of Eye-Do Makeup and Eyelash Design – responsible for making me a beautiful bride and for recommending a great hair stylist Valerie Blackburn of Reveal Salon. You two make the perfect team in every way. Thank you all for contributing your amazing talents and your relentless efforts in making our day a day we will forever remember and cherish.
A huge part of our love for all things wedding includes our absolute adoration over THE wedding dress and with so many styles, designers and choices on the market, the Style Me Pretty Look Book is a great way to see some of the latest and greatest collections from our absolute favorite designers. Which brings us to Modern Trousseau and their new 2011 collection that is completely rocking our socks off…
Whether you are looking for a sleek and modern silhouette or a tulle and ruffled number takes your breath away, there is something for you in this newest bridal collection. Modern Trousseau has a way of taking the finest french lace, the prettiest silk, the most delicate beadwork and crafting it into total perfection for your big day.
So be sure to carve out a little time to peruse the Modern Trousseau Look Book. Not only is their Fall 2011 collection knock you out of your seat gorgeous but we have a feeling some of you brides-to-be are mere seconds away from meeting your dream gown.
We definitely have a little soft spot around here for beautiful details but when those beautiful details are also eco-friendly, well, let’s just say the result is way beyond your everyday gorgeous wedding. With a limited budget, an eye for crafty projects and a desire to make their event as green as possible, this earth-minded couple crafted one pretty fantastic party all caught on film by Shannon Leith. It’s green, it’s gorgeous and there’s a whole lot more of it in the gallery.
Our inspiration was earth-friendly rustic elegance meets fun. With good food. I love nature (my educational background is in environmental issues and I work for a nature NGO), so going as green as we could was imperative. Therefore our colors were green and white, with brown and gold accents (in honor of autumn when we got married- we were a 10.10.10 couple!). We also had a strict budget, so we really worked and researched for weeks to find venders that could give us what we wanted within our price range. We knew early on that we’d be spending a little more of our budget on the photographer and venue/food, so we really looked at ways to cut our costs but didn’t sacrifice our style. So, lots of DIY!
Although Megan at MaeMae Paperie did the invitation design (They turned out so well!), it was a very fun DIY process. My husband took over the role of printing the invitations, as doing it ourselves decreased our costs and cut down any emissions inevitably created by having Megan print everything out and then mail it to us from LA. The cutting and putting together of the invitation suite became a fun bonding event for us and it allowed us to really put our own stamp on everything. I also learned calligraphy for the event, which cut down on costs as I did our Save the Dates, place cards, and invitation envelopes by hand, thereby avoiding printing or professional calligrapher costs. I had someone create custom rubber stamps that I used for our Save the Dates, RSVP cards, and envelope flaps. Creating our Save the Dates was a really fun project. Using an example we saw in a Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, we found an old postcard of Healdsburg from the early 1920’s, made enough copies to send out to our guests, stamped a message on the front, and then used calligraphy in the back to display the important wedding information. It was a very time consuming project, but the end product turned out beautifully.
For our wedding reception, we created a photo booth with a sheet hung on painted PVC pipes, pirate and clown costume props, and a tripod with a small camera. The pictures turn out really nice, and it was a great way to have guests bond. Whoever came up with this trend, a big thank you! We also gave as our wedding favors succulents that were grown from my stepmom’s garden in San Francisco, so each guest got to take home a piece of California with them. Doing the favors ourselves cut down on costs enormously! As well, my husbands father is very handy and actually made our table signs by cutting the names out of sheet metal. Since our wedding reception was at night and outside, the candlelight glowed through the signs and made them really easy to see. We plan on hanging them in our house.
Oh how I would love to see this pink, teal and gold photo shoot by Jubilee Events at the lovely Ocean House come to life in a real wedding. Summer brides, take note! The perfectly paired paper by Coral Pheasant, stunning styling from The White Dress by the Shore and the note worthy floral design from Datura: A Modern Garden fill each gorgeous image from Carla Ten Eyck to the brim with delightful details. I personally would love to see the floral chandelier make an appearance in my life sometime soon – I mean can you really beat that? Be sure to check out the gallery for even more steal worthy ideas.
From Candice of Jubilee Events…This was a fun photo shoot to design and play around with– we started off with a quirky, colorful inspiration board and brought in a lot of patterns and rich colors. The tablescape was one of my all time favorites– a long, wooden family style harvest table with bright teal chiavari chairs and an amazing floral chandelier by Datura: A Modern Garden. We used vintage napkins to dress up the colorful runner, silver polka dotted plates, vintage silverware found at a flea market, and mix-matched plates. Tony created gorgeous arrangements in vintage green glass containers spilling with vibrant flowers and branches. Mirrors hang from the back of each hair in varying heights and locations– tied with rough twine.
We wanted to take a few minutes out from our day of wedding bliss to talk about bliss of another kind…that would be Honeymoons! Our friends at Traveler’s Joy happen to be experts in this field. They are the best of the best when it comes to online honeymoon registries and we happen to think their motto says it all… “skip the blender. Create lifelong memories with your honeymoon registry.” Because, lets face it, long after all of the housewares and gifts have gone, the memories from your dream honeymoon will remain. Their online tools allow you to easily set up an account and start planning the trip of a lifetime and your friends and family can be part of the action by giving you the ultimate wedding gift – a contribution to all the fabulous experiences you will have on your honeymoon. It is a total win-win!
Traveler’s Joy has absolutely perfected the registering process, which will have your honeymoon wish list up and running in just minutes. And did we mention that it is super duper easy to set up? The new Instant Registry feature allows couples to choose from pre-made themes (think beach, cruise, mountains) when setting up their gift inventory or more specific location registries like Italy and St. Lucia. With one click you can instantly add items and experiences to your registry specific to your theme or destination or even add personal customized items of your own. With over 40 of the top honeymoon destinations in the world, Traveler’s Joy has made it so very easy to quickly build the foundation of your honeymoon registry.
And lets not forget about all of the great little gifts you might need on your trip. Traveler’s Joy has started to see an increase in couples registering for honeymoon related items such as travel guidebooks, cameras, luggage, even newlywed flip flops. So smart! Plus, the Traveler’s Joy registry system makes it really easy to divide the cost of expensive items (like that fabulous new camera you’ve been eying) into manageable gift pieces so a camera that may cost $500 is actually spit up into four smaller gifts of $125. They really have thought of everything, which leaves you more time for other things, like planning that big wedding coming up!
From airfare, to a snorkeling excursion and all of the sunscreen in between, Traveler’s Joy will have you registered for complete honeymoon bliss with just a few easy steps.
The brilliant colors of Sam and Sasha’s Maine wedding is just one of the things that will catch your eye in today’s Little Black Blog feature from the always fabulous Michelle Turner and Amber Small at Sweetest Thing Weddings! As you’ll read below, they were married at the Asticou Inn near Acadia National Park. They incorporated a very special blessing of the rings ceremony that is definitely steal-worthy!
from the beautiful bride … Sam and I met in 2006 while I was apprenticing on an organic farm and he was working as a timber frame carpenter. We became friends, fell in love, and started dating. In 2009, we bought a farm in Milbridge, Maine that we called Salty Dog Farm. Nowadays, Sam is the full-time farmer while I help in the summers (during the rest of the year, I am a teacher a local high school). We grow a diverse crop of organic vegetables that we sell at local farmers’ markets, restaurants, and within the local community.
We were engaged for a long while before we started planning the wedding. We both wanted a wedding that reflected our values – a strong commitment to the environment, family, and community. The thought of planning a wedding that would fulfill those values while also being fun, relaxed, and elegant was overwhelming. And yet time was passing quickly. Luckily, we hired Amber Small of Sweetest Thing Weddings in November of 2009. I described what we looking for and she organized the entire thing. She had a design sense that fit what we looking for – casual elegance with lots of color and individuality. She also connected with us all the amazing vendors that we worked with including the Asticou Inn and Michelle Turner Photography.
Our wedding began at the heart of that important day – the marriage ceremony. Our ceremony reflected our strong beliefs in family and community. Our dear friend who married us, Stephanie Morgan, suggested a ribbon tradition as part of the ceremony. We had a gold ribbon woven through the audience as way of uniting the separate families and communities. It symbolically ties everyone together. We then placed our rings on the ribbon and the rings followed the ribbon so that everyone had a chance to bless the rings, and our marriage, before we placed them on each other’s hands. At the end of the ceremony, our friends and family raised the ribbon and we walked underneath of it. It felt like such a uniting of our different worlds as we became a married couple.
After the ceremony, we wanted the reception to reflect our support of local, organic food. The Asticou Inn connected with four different, local and organic farms that supplied the ingredients for our dinner. In terms of decorations, Amber found a supplier of local dahlias and she collected an amazing amount of driftwood and antique glass bottles to decorate the tables. The beautiful Sperry tents were made from recycled sails and even the chandeliers were vintage. We loved that Amber was able to use so many local and recycled decorations at our reception.
The only thing that we “imported” was the band. Slavic Soul Party is a brass band from New York City and they were amazing! They kept everyone on the dance floor for the entire night.
I loved our wedding. Amber helped create an event that was beautiful, unique to us as a couple, reflected our “farming” values, and helped tie together our families and friends. We couldn’t have asked for a more special day.
To see and hear lots more about the day, take a look at Michelle’s blog ~ here
We thought we would start off the week by whisking away to Cartagena, Colombia to this whimsical wedding captured by efeunodos fotografia. How does a week long getaway in a charming colonial city sound? Top it all off with one deliciously detailed wedding, a raging carnival and all-night extravaganza. Can it really get much better than that? The full gallery is packed with more inspiration from this adorable couple and their destination nuptials!
From the moment we decided to get married, Kuba and I knew we wanted to have a small and intimate wedding with the word FUN written all over it. Kuba is Polish (he grew up in Poland and Botswana, Africa and went to boarding school in England) and I am half Colombian, half Ecuadorian (lived in both countries). We met in Canada in 2002 at university and had the opportunity to live in different Canadian cities. After several years living like gypsies, we settled down in Toronto and had our son Mateusz. This particular lifestyle has allowed us to meet many wonderful people from around the world. Our wedding list included people from 32 different countries and we invited only 75 people! From these 75 guests, 50 made it to our wedding (from 15 different countries).
We chose to get married in Cartagena, Colombia because it is one of the most romantic and charming cities in the world. We knew all our guests would fall in love with it the moment they got off the plane. Cartagena is a city which maintains and its colonial roots very much alive and is unbelievably breathtaking. Its Caribbean warmth and its imposing architecture make it a very special setting to the small, unique and intimate wedding we had in mind. Our guests started arriving one week before the big day and we felt really lucky to have a wedding that lasted longer than most weddings (that is how it felt!). We celebrated each night of the week in a different venue of the city and counted down the days to the big day with our family and friends. Having everyone we love with us for a week was the best wedding gift we could ask for and made for a beautiful wedding experience.
We had our wedding at a 500 year old colonial mansion in the old city called “Casa Don Sancho”. The house has a gorgeous salon on the second floor where we held our civil ceremony and a stunning pool area on the main floor where we had our reception. The house is full of history and has an air of colonial romanticism throughout the space. Kuba and I are fans of The Beatles and feel many of their songs represent our life together and our dreams and hopes for the future. For that reason, The Beatles were a salient element throughout the wedding. Our first song was “And I love Her”, our tables were named after Beatles songs and our altar had a banner that read: “Stand By Me”. These personal touches made us feel like our wedding was really ours, like we were making ourselves felt in sublet and delicate ways in every aspect of the ceremony and the reception.
Our wedding was a small, intimate and fun. Our main priority was to have as many of our friends and family that day with us. We wanted everyone to feel welcome and feel how much we appreciated all the effort they made to be there. That is why we came up with the idea of welcoming them with goodie bags. The day of the wedding, we welcomed the ladies with some adorable paper fans (in turquoise and pale pink) which we decorated ourselves with stamps (fish and our initials in each fan). We also crafted the flags for the ceremony ourselves and put them together a couple of days before the wedding as well as the big banners. I designed them myself even though I have no background whatsoever in graphic design… let’s just say it took a lot of trial and error (and a lot of sleepless nights) before I got the desired results! We made the letters for the altar (“Stand by Me”) with gorgeous crafting paper we found at Michael’s and stringed the letters to form a banner. We had some paper hearts and circles hanging from the small bench we used during the ceremony. We bought these hand-punched hearts in Etsy (seller: theCandyShoppe) and they are from a 1920’s world atlas. They symbolized our love for travel and our dream of traveling the world as a family. They were also a way to express our gratitude for having people come from all over the world to be with us that day. We also made the cards that went in the frames at each table. I got the frames custom made by a designer I met in a design fair in Colombia’s capital, Bogota. All these little D.I.Y. details added a little bit of a personal touch to the whole day.
Wedding Photography: efeunodos / Flowers: Gladys /Event Design: William Banea / Event Planning: Caribe Cordial / Wedding Venue: Casa Don Sancho – La Heroica / Invitations: D.I.Y / Shoes: Forever21 / Dress: Tailor-made / Music (DJ, violinist and carnival): Grupo Manhattan / Hair and Makeup: Diego Moya / Wedding Suit: Paul Smith
Wedding dresses… oh pretty, pretty wedding dresses. Yep, we are major fans around here but we know all too well just how time-comsuming finding the perfect dress can be. Not to mention stressing over budget constraints and whether your dream dress fits into that budget. Well, PreOwned Wedding Dresses is coming to your rescue. Not only does this amazing site have over 6,500 gowns from more than 150 different designers but all of them are at great discounted prices. Plus, they have made it super easy to find “the one” with searches by designer, size, price, neckline, silhouette – even zip code! Intrigued? Check out a small sampling of dresses currently for sale…
Now for the reallly good news – PreOwned Wedding Dresses is starting the New Year off with an amazing giveaway. They will be gifting one lucky bride a $2000 wedding dress and that bride could be you! The contest is open through January 31, 2011 with a winner selected on February 4, so time is a ticking. Head over to PreOwned Wedding dresses for all of the fabulous details and the online entry form.
Whether you are bride to be in search of the perfect wedding dress or you’ve already skipped down the aisle and are ready to pass along that dream gown, PreOwned Wedding Dresses is the place to be. With so many gorgeous dresses and all at insanely awesome prices, we think finding your wedding day attire will be the easiest part of your to-do list. So skedaddle on over to PreOwned Wedding Dresses and start shopping today!
As a blog dedicated to all things wedding, it is a given that we lean towards posting real weddings filled with image after image of gorgeous inspiration for all of you soon to be brides and grooms to relish in and this week was no exception. But, we also happen to have a soft spot for adorable showers, style-savvy rehearsal dinners, even beautifully captured engagement shoots and when one as gorgeous as this shoot photographed by Studio Thisis falls in our laps, well, we just have to share…
Enjoy these pretty posts and we look forward to seeing you on Monday!
a magical fairytale wedding in Florence
cool and ever so stylish nuptials at the Marvimon
a colorful photo shoot inspired by Frida
hand-crafted and beautifully eclectic in Georgia
a beautiful apple orchard wedding in Wine Country
a mid week extravaganza with tons of gorgeous weddings all day long
an easy, breezy beautiful wedding in Los Barriles
a Santa Barbara fiesta full of spunk and an adorable film to match
Fun links from around the web:
adorable letterpress clocks for all you kids at heart via Crow and Canary
fun favors for your littlest guests via Grey likes Weddings
the prettiest linen save the dates via Oh So Beautiful Paper
We’d also like to extend a very warm welcome to our newest Little Black Book Members…
From all of us at SMP, we are wishing you a fun-filled weekend and we will see you back here bright and early next week for more inspiration of the wedding kind. xoxo
