In honor of Kathleen’s first DIY project as contributing editor, we are featuring more brilliant DIY projects from around the web today! The first, a gorgeous strand of DIY flower garland, featured on one of my favorite blogs, Creature Comforts…

Here are the step-by-step pictures…

Remember that when you are looking at a DIY project, the design is just a starting off point. You can bring in your own colors, styles and textures and completely change the look…using only the concept as your inspiration!

For complete instructions on these pretty flower garlands, check out Creature Comforts post right here!

I get emails ALL the time from readers looking to create a special gift for their bridesmaids, their mothers, their grandmothers, their fiances. Well here you go! The perfect gift. Gather all of those [beautiful] (insert your own word…fun, crazy, embarrassing) pictures of you and your loved ones and make them an Inkubook that they can treasure forever. LOVE!

I am SO SO SO (say that really loud and throw your hands up in the air with spirit sprinkles) excited about today’s post. Remember Kathleen, our DIY winner who crafted those amazing hot chocolate wedding favors? Well, we’ve asked her to become a contributing DIY editor for Style Me Pretty. And today, she is debuting her first completely adorable project!

How cute are these DIY Picnic Inspired Favor Bags…

Inspired by a quirky, red and white color palette, what a fun and totally relaxed approach to a wedding. Fill with a gourmet sandwich, a bag of potato chips and the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet…and voila! Lunch and favor can be scratched off the list!

Materials

Ink Jet Printer
Canvas or Cotton Lunch Bag
Iron-on Ink Jet Transfer Paper
Heavy Card stock
Glassine Bags
Cupcake Wrappers
Salt & Pepper Packets
Bamboo Utensils
Napkin or Moist Towelette
Bottled Water

Instructions

1. Begin by creating the art work for the bag. This could be from photos, clip art or even a custom design using your computers   creative software (Illustrator was used to create this particular design). Because the printed side of the transfer goes on the bag, you will need to flip the design so that it reads correctly. Print your design onto an 8.5″x11″ sheet of ink-jet transfer paper. To avoid the shiny edge that iron-on transfers tend to leave, cut them as close to the edge as possible.

2. A positioning template makes it easier to place the design in the same spot each time. Trim out a hole from a standard sheet of paper where you want the art to go and align the template to the top and sides of the bag. Once the art is positioned correctly, iron on your design following the instructions that come with the transfer paper.

3. To help make the bag stand up on it’s own, cut a piece of heavy card stock to the same dimensions of the bottom of the bag and place flat on the inside.

4. Fill the bag with picnic basics: Individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies, salt and pepper packets, bamboo utensils tied with baker’s twine, a bottle of water and a moist towelette for sticky fingers!

Supplies can be found here:

Canvas Lunch Bags – $4.49 at Bagworks
Glassine Bags – Wedclix – $2.97 for 25 at Wedclix.net
Cupcake Wrappers and Moist Towelette: Daiso
Bamboo Utensils – 8 placesettings for $10 at Branch (also sold in bulk)

Thank you SO much to Kathleen for this first DIY installment…we are so excited for all of those great projects that are on their way! And, lucky for us, Kathleen has launched a brand spanking new blog that will absolutely make you smile. Definitely check out Twig and Thistle!!

Most of the photographs that we feature on SMP are full color…they just seem to “pop” more than the black and whites. With that said, these black and whites, shot by Tammy and Jenny at Red Loft Studios, are STUNNING. Simply stunning.

One last tidbit from the lovely, lovely, lovely bride…

Micheal and I were barefoot (we each had seashell-like jewels decorating our feet) the whole time. We planned for a year and truly trusted Jeanne Kolander, our LA travel agent and the resort to make our day come true. And when all was said and done, we were left in awe.

Even as we celebrate our first year anniversary, we still find ourselves in awe.

It was the absolute best decision we could have ever made. What an extreme blessing!

Thank you so much to Chandra, Michael and Red Loft Studios for inspiring us to no end…and for reminding us in the midst of planning frenzies, what really is the most important part of a wedding. Each Other.

Here are more beautiful photos and details from today’s featured wedding…

all photos by Tammy Horton and Jenny Stafford of Red Loft Studios

From the bride…

Immediately following the ceremony, an outside reception was set up on the beach. It was such an intimate moment — all of our guests sat at a beautifully decorated square table with us. Micheal and I sat in these oversized “king” and “queen”-type woven chairs. A five-course meal was served and enjoyed. Along with wedding cake, their was also pastries arranged on tiers. The resort printed and wrapped a transparent menu in raffia – such a simple but dramatic touch. I also created fans for the wedding and reception.

More to come!

Here is what I have decided about today’s featured wedding…if I am ever annoyed with my husband, if we are ever fighting or not getting along, or worse yet, if we are ever simply bored with each other, I am going to come back to this wedding and drink in the beauty of this couple. The pure joy that is poring out of the photographs. The love that seems filled with excitement and fun. It’s the kind of wedding that reminds you of why people fall in love, why people take the huge leap of faith that marriage really is…

all photos by Tammy Horton and Jenny Stafford of Red Loft Studios

So much more to come! In the meantime, check out the feature on gorgeous veils that is playing on the Little Black Book Blog right now…you even get a little peek at my own wedding veil!

We’ve shown some pretty fantastic bridal hair accessories on Style Me Pretty (here) (and here) (and here). Today, we thought we’d just remind you of the simply sheer beauty of the veil …

Photography by the fabulous Little Black Book members Justin & Mary Marantz (Rows One & Two) and Laura Mueller for Christopher Record Photography (Rows Three & Four).

Remember, this day might be the only day in your life, that you will wear a veil …

Photography by Christopher Record.

The different veil lengths are –
Cathedral – up to 4 yards long
Chapel — up to 3 yards long
Fingertip – reaches your fingertips
Elbow — reaches your elbows

And now for my personal, all-time favorite veil …

Abby’s wedding was brilliantly photographed by Karen Sayre of Eikon Photography.

Today, we are featuring the absolutely beautiful Tahitian inspired real wedding of Chandra and Micheal. This incredibly lovely couple approached their wedding with a pureness and a simplicity that we should all envy, and yet they executed their ideas with unabashed elegance…

all photos by Tammy Horton and Jenny Stafford of Red Loft Studios

From the bride…

We were married on the white sand beach of Pearl Beach Resort in Moorea at sunset on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007. About 30-45 minutes or so before the Tahitian ceremony began, the beating of drums, whistling of conch shells and the rhythms of guitars could be heard all across the island, into our rooms. The serenade signaled that a wedding was about to take place. So not only did our family and friends witness the testimony of our love but so did dozens of strangers, equipped with cameras.

I was escorted from my suite to a canoe. The canoe took me along the Pacific Ocean, through the overwater bungalows to the ceremony site, where Micheal stood dapper waiting for me. The ceremony area was completely covered with hundreds of exotic flowers and lush greenery. The ceremony was done in French (the spoken language of Tahiti) and English. All of the beautiful traditions of the Polynesian culture were incorporated into our wedding – we danced – Polynesian-style, we were wrapped in an ornate quilt, which signified oneness, and our wedding rings were blessed with coconut milk (yes, a coconut was cracked open over our hands…wait until you see that amazing picture coming up soon).

Beautiful! Stay tuned for so much more!

Not only was Katie and Colin’s wedding one of the most elegant we’ve seen, it also had a sensational bridal party! The maids wore Amsale. The little man and maids were in Annie Girl from The White Dress by the shore. And the lovely Katie … Vera, of course!

Katie’s mom, Brenda and Traci Romano planned this sensational event and Yumiko of Hana Floral Design is responsible for the unbelievable flowers. We are so happy that so many of our Little Black Book members had a hand in this amazing wedding!

from Yumiko:  We used antique green hydrangeas, various hot pink garden roses, magenta stock, pink phlox and orchids for the centerpieces, as well as for the bridemaid’s bouquets. While the maids wore a gorgeous Amsale dress in a muted plum shade, the bride really wanted pink flowers mixed with greens.  The bouquets
definitely popped against the dresses.  Katie carried a muted ivory, blush and green bouquet, with her
Grandmother’s rosary attached to it.

This may well be our new favorite wedding … (am I allowed to say that?) …

Photography by Mary and Justin Marantz … we think you are true artists … and love your blog!

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

These Vendors are members of our Little Black Book.
For membership information, click here

Hana Floral Design

View Portfolio

There are so many things to love about today’s featured wedding. Honestly, the bride and the groom are so ridiculously gorgeous, they kind of make me feel insecure. Then, you add in a wedding that is basically every girl’s dream come true, an incredibly romantic Tahitian beach and photography duo that captures the images with a sense of beauty and elegance that few can match…well, it’s the makings of a pretty incredible affair.

all photos by Tammy Horton and Jenny Stafford of Red Loft Studios

The lovely bride, Chandra, emailed me a while back and filled me in on all of the beautiful, incredibly personal details from her wedding…

Once Micheal and I became engaged we both knew we didn’t want to do the “traditional” wedding – as we aren’t a traditional couple by most standards :).  We didn’t want to look back on our wedding day and only remember a blur of frenzy and organized chaos. We didn’t want our wedding day to be about the opinions of others or how many hundreds we could invite to a reception. We wanted the focus of our wedding to be solely about God and His gift of marriage. We wanted the realness of the commitment to be heartfelt. We didn’t want to miss a single thing.

So we packed our bags, had a handful of dear family members and friends (and the photographers Tammy Horton and Jenny Stafford of Red Loft Studios in Los Angeles) hop a plane to the islands of Tahiti. It was absolutely a dream come true. When Micheal and I first met and were friends we chatted about the three places we wanted to travel to in the near future – one place was Seattle, Micheal surprised me with a trip for my birthday; another was Boston – I surprised Micheal with a trip for his birthday; and Tahiti was the last place on our wish list. We ooh-ed, aah-ed at pictures of Tahiti and thought, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we got married there?”

So many more, completely beautiful pictures are on their way!

I heard about these catalogue flowers by Zakka Life in such a blog-ish way (Creature Comforts discovered them on Garden Party who found them via Zakka Life…love that). Anyway, they are SUCH an innovative project, I just had to share. Made of cut-out catalogue pages, these would be pretty great at a casual, festive wedding!

Every now and then, I get a really beautiful write-up from the bride of a featured Real Wedding after we’ve already posted the event. I usually just thank the bride but let her know that we’ve already featured another wedding. This time, though, the write-up was just so lovely and the additional pictures so beautiful, I wanted to share.

Here is a bit more from yesterday’s completely cozy Winter Inspired Wedding from Karen Wise …

From the bride…

We (Jill & Eric) live in Westchester County NY. We wanted a small, intimate wedding – more of a cozy dinner party with close family and friends than a big, choreographed affair. We chose Blue Hill at Stone Barns for several reasons. First, the food is fabulous. Eric and I enjoy buying produce at farmers markets and like to eat locally produced foods whenever possible.We had visited Stone Barns and eaten at Blue Hill in the past and loved the fresh, farm-to-table ethic and organically grown food. Rather than choosing from a catering menu far in advance, the chef designed a personalized menu for us about a week before the wedding that featured what was fresh and in season on the farm that week.

The setting itself is rustic, yet sophisticated and there was something really magical about the way the votive candles made the stone and timber-beam interior glow. We kept the decor simple, unfussy and elegant to echo Blue Hill’s interiors. There were simple mustard yellow/green raw silk table runners and floral arrangements of richly-colored seasonal flowers and berries on two long rectangular tables – each set for 20 guests. Ou

r Chupah was made of fresh bamboo that we discovered growing on our property. Sandra Clothier, our florist designed an amazing structure using the bamboo Eric and I harvested (literally – we spent half a day in the woods, saws in hand chopping down 7-foot lengths of the stuff!) and garlands of magnolia leaves – which were in season.

Because it was such an intimate gathering, we wanted our guests to be able to chat and enjoy each other’s company so it was important to us that the music blended with and enhanced the mood with rather than overpowered conversation. We opted for a simple jazz trio to play during the ceremony and dinner that followed. Eric and I didn’t do a traditional “first dance” However, on the spur of the moment during dinner we felt inspired when the musicians played one of our favorite songs and snuck off to dance. It was very romantic and spontaneous and one of my favorite moments of the evening.

The beautiful cake was crafted by Sweet Melissa in Brooklyn, New York.

If you haven’t been religiously checking the Little Black Book Blog, today is a great day to start. We are featuring one of the loveliest weddings that I have ever seen…filled with amazing flowers (and amazing hardly does them justice), absolutely beautiful photography and sweet, little details that anyone can incorporate into their own wedding.

Here is a sneak peak!

The photography was done by the oh-so-talented team at Justin Marantz (seriously one of our favorite photographers who just happens to have one of THE best blogs). To see the entire wedding and hear all of the beautiful details, check out the Little Black Book Blog!

More wedding eye candy is on the way!

This is a tough one …  Justin and Mary Marantz sent us some extraordinarily beautiful wedding photos a while back and we loved them so much, we just had to ask them to send us more. Now, we have them and it’s soooo hard not to show them all!

Katie and Colin were married in September at Stonington, Connecticut. At this point in the story, we would usually quote from the bride. Today, though, we want to share a few words from Justin and Mary, today’s featured Little Black Book photographers.

from their blog … through the course of the day I heard her ask this question of no less than twenty other people surrounding her- the proof and possession of a true giver’s heart. And one by one they would each just smile and shake their heads, too overcome by the generosity and thoughtfulness that one single person could possess. She is elegance and grace and goodness defined. A timeless iconic beauty- think Hepburn meets Holmes- mixed with just enough witty banter to make everyone around her just want to be her friend. Because you can just tell that she’s the kind of friend who loves with her whole heart and hugs like she means it.  But that’s just Katie.  And Katie would not be complete without her Colin. Because while Katie gives to take care of everyone else, Colin is the one who takes care of her. And you only have to see him look at her once to know that he always will.

Wow …

Here are a few pre-wedding photos of the so-so beautiful Katie.

Join us back in a bit for more of this special wedding.

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

When I was a kid, I used to go to a wedding and see these massive, over-the-top huge centerpieces and I would think…wow, this is a fancy wedding. Well, it’s funny how much my tastes have developed and changed through the years. Now, I see a wedding like this and think…wow, this is a great wedding. The bride is stunning her simplicity, the decor is modern and chic and the centerpieces, well, they are perfect. Totally approachable, totally sophisticated.

Doug McGoldrick is the photographer behind this modern soiree. Which only makes the event seem sweeter and more unique. The best part (well maybe not the best part but a fun detail nonetheless) are the doggie table cards! So cute, the perfect touch of whimsy.

More to come!

I found today’s featured wedding when I was gleefully looking through Doug McGoldrick’s blog. I say gleefully because not only does he have some great weddings up, his descriptions of the events are so perfect. Completely witty. Anyway, I took one look at this cake and HAD to see more.

So, Doug was kind enough to send over images WAY too late last night. And here they are!

From Doug (from his blog)…

Liz and Graham had there ceremony at Bond Chapel at the University of Chicago and their reception at Northerly Island. Greg Christian did the catering and it was a wonderfully run event by them. I’ve had a few weddings with Larkspur Florist in the past and they seem to always do a great job using lots of local varieties, which fit in well with the prairie restoration out at Northerly Island. John from Beep Media provided really fun tunes through out. During cocktail hour they where playing lots of space age jazz which is always lots of fun, Beep always puts on a great show. Liz and Graham where a great couple who had a beautiful day for a perfect event.

I have a few more pictures from the table settings at this wedding, which were completely gorgeous.

But who doesn’t, really? Doug’s work is just that gorgeous. Bottom Line. He manages to capture the beauty in the detail without sacrificing the unbelievably real emotion in each shot. Just take a quick peek at Doug’s portfolio to see what I mean. Oh and guess what…he is hosting THE BEST contest right now on his blog. Definitely check it out if you are interested in potentially winning a free wedding photographer!

A couple of days ago, I got an email from one of my favorite invitation designers, Kalyn of Lilah Paper, with some gorgeous images of a winter inspired invitation that she crafted. Her beautiful invitation actually inspired me to write today’s previous Winter Inspired Weddings post, so I thought I would share the absolutely beautiful invitation!

From Kalyn…

This particular bride was a blast to work with! She was completely open to fun ideas, illustrations and playful verbiage… all the while keeping the main invitation somewhat traditional to appease her parents.

The invitation is letterpressed with a custom belly band, which holds a fun accordion booklet, a nice alternative to the pocket folders. The double-sided accordion fold displays a schedule for the weekend’s wedding events, a general map for reference and also a reply postcard that perforates off and is ready to stick in the mail!

Kalyn actually loved the end result so much that she modified the design to become a part of their ready made collection! Here are a few pics from the new suite…

Pure gorgeousness. On par with all of Lilah Paper’s stunning offerings. Including these perfect new holiday designs that Kalyn is launching!

So so cute! You guys should definitely check out Lilah Paper…it is filled with absolutely beautiful letterpress, totally innovative design work and great prints and patterns that could inspire (with a little imagination of course) your entire wedding style. And thank you so much to Kalyn for getting me excited about this snow, New England Winter!

Karen just emailed me a few more details from today’s gorgeous Winter Wedding. But first, more of these oh-so-beautiful images…

More details from Karen…

This was Jill and Eric’s second marriage, thus they had their children participating in their wedding. It was just lovely. They had a Ketubah-signing (Jewish marriage contract) and a Chuppah (Jewish arch). It was a very small/short wedding with very little dancing, just about 30-35 guests and a sit-down dinner.

I got there a bit early, before the guests and couple. I wasn’t able to go in yet, so I spent an hour shooting at the “magical hour” before the sun set. It was cold but stunning! They both live in Mt. Kisco, Westchester, and live there now together with their kids as one large family.

The venue (Blue Hill at Stone Barns) is a group of old stone barns and silo housing a cafe, an educational center, an incredible organic kitchen, and dining rooms where the produce, meats and eggs are gathered from the farm it sits on and prepared/served to perfection.

Thank you so much to Karen, for sharing this STUNNING wedding with us! Check out Karen’s blog for even more gorgeous photography and wedding inspiration.

I am loving this Winter inspired wedding shot by Karen Wise. It’s so intimate and warm, filled with romantic little touches that just make it seem like a wedding among close friends and family. The wedding took place at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, New York…

We have more to come from this beautiful wedding. But in the meantime, make sure to check out the fun engagement shoots over on the Little Black Book Blog!