Today, we are featuring an absolutely beautiful wedding, designed by the ever talented Lisa Vorce of Oh How Charming! This wedding is a bit of a departure from some of the other features we’ve done on Lisa…but it’s every bit as lovely!
photographs by Lisa Franchot
So much more to come!
Here’s some gorgeous eye candy by Coren Moore to go with your morning coffee! Coren’s designs are simple, sweet, sophisticated and totally feminine…
The short bridal gown is called the Ruby Dress and it features a dotted tulle over white silk shantung. The gorgeous navy bridesmaids gowns are the Sophie Dress and the Katherine Dress.
It’s pretty apparent by now that I seriously heart Lisa Vorce of Oh How Charming! It’s true that we’ve developed a great friendship in the last few years but that isn’t why I constantly feature her weddings. It’s because I honestly believe that her work is some of the best out there.
And this wedding, is a perfect example of why I love her…
the gorgeous photographs were taken by Lisa Franchot
Isn’t this one of the prettiest weddings you’ve ever seen? I love that Lisa can design a sweet, lovely affair just as easily as she can design an extravagant, modern soiree…and she approaches each with the same attention to detail, the same attention to the couple’s unique personalities. LOVE!
So much more to come from this gorgeous wedding!
I was looking through Oh Joy! when I came across these fantastic creations by Royal Buffet on Etsy. The sweetest part about these little creations is that the birds are made from vintage French magazines and recycled record jackets. They are the perfect touch for a rustic chic affair. Head on over to Etsy and check out the rest of Royal Buffet’s beautiful creations.
Still in bed…ugh. But, I will say that checking in on all of the comments for today’s featured wedding has certainly cheered me up! I am glad that you guys are loving Ashley and Phil’s wedding as much as I do…
This wedding is all style. From the GORGEOUS Melissa Sweet gown to those bridesmaids and the perfect reception decor. It’s is a jump-for-joy wedding if I ever saw one! Thank you so much to Ashley and Phil for sharing their big day with us!
And, don’t forget to head over to the Little Black Book Blog for even more eye candy…today’s feature by the unbelievably talented Karen Wise.
A few more pictures from today’s featured wedding…
It’s hard not to love this wedding…the perfect flowers, the sweet charm of every detail, the shoes. We have more pictures coming so stay tuned!!
Karen Wise, today’s featured Little Black Book member, is based in New York … but shoots from coast to coast … New York to Palm Beach … Canada to India*. You simply must spend some time on her website and new blog for some superb weddings with detail shots galore.
This next wedding is another New York based event shot by Karen. Love the jade bracelet (and Shining & Karl’s adorable dog).
Bottom line is … if you develop a good rapport with your wedding photographer, believe me, the camera will love you right back. As you can see in these shots, being at ease with Karen, is a breeze! Thanks, Karen, for joining us at SMP in our Little Black Book Blog and for being the best of the best in the industry!
We have one more of Karen’s weddings coming up, so check back soon.
A word to the wise … when you’re interviewing photographers for your wedding, be sure that you meet with them early on–and— at length. Good vibes between a photographer and the wedding couple are so essential for a successful wedding day! Honestly. When you and your photographer click (ha!) your body language and even your expressions will be so much more natural in the photos. Also, often times, a really great photographer steps in to smooth ruffled feathers, diffuse potential ‘situations’ and placate the testiest of testy great-great aunties …
Isn’t this a cute Real Wedding — Real People — shot?
But, back to Karen … one of her clients said, “your laid-back style provided an oasis of calm amid a background of tension and activity.” […weddings…tension…hmmmm, maybe just a little…]
Stay tuned.
Karen Wise is one of those sensational photographers whose passion for artistry places her in our “best of the best” spotlight today. Karen was gracious enough to send us some of her favorite weddings, but we strongly recommend a trip to her website to indulge yourself in a virtual treasury of Real Wedding styles.
This first featured wedding was set in Westchester, New York. It’s gorgeous. It’s heart-warming. It’s happy. And really, when all is said and done…isn’t that what it’s all about?
Karen’s clients use the words “calm” and “unobtrusive” over and over in their acclaims … but I think this says it best: ” Every bride and groom wish they could bottle their feelings to savor and cherish forever. [Karen] All of your photos are a slice of pure happiness for us.”
Isn’t this bride’s bouquet great? Love the cameo and love the one special flower tucked into the back.
More from Karen’s amazing gallery in a bit….
**Just a quick update: more photos from Julia & Scott’s wedding are posted on Karen’s blog. The wedding took place in Rye, New York at the Wainwright House.
Running a little late today…flu season calls and I am stuck in bed! But, I have a wedding to share with you today that just might make everything better.
Ashley and Phil were married this past September in Washington DC. And their ridiculously gorgeous wedding will definitely make you smile…
photos by the Love Life Images…a studio that we love here at SMP!
From the bride…
Our wedding was special for many reasons. One main reason is because we chose to have it in Washington DC, which is our favorite city and where we met and got engaged. We live in Denver, Phils family lives in Alaska and my family lives in Florida so we knew from the beginning that it would be a destination wedding. And we ended up choosing Washington DC because it means so much to both of us. Throughout the wedding we tried to incorporate a vintage dc feel to things. We had our reception at the National Woman’s Museum in the Arts and it was such a hit! We even had a photo booth, in which our wedding photographer set up. Those details and many more…made our day so special.
One of our favorite Little Black Book members, Salutations, just launched their fab new online shop filled with gorgeous stationery, holiday cards, party announcements, the works. And in celebration, they are offering all SMP readers a 20% discount! All you have to do is enter the code SMP20 when checking out. Pretty great, isn’t it!
And now for Paloma and Scott’s absolutely amazing reception…
From Paloma…
Viansa really was a dream to work with. We had our ceremony in their intimate barrel room, then our reception in the big white tent that they offer…it was gorgeous.
Nicole Ha really, really outdid herself with the flowers. She not only got my vision, but more than exceeded all my dreams. he head table had a gray tablecloth with a low long centerpiece of intertwined manzanita branches and huge white orchids, with tons of votives scattered throughout. On the rest of the tables, I had very, very pale pink tablecloths and centerpieces with tall vases, each filled with glass stones on the bottom and submerged orchids and coming out at the top. Manzanita Branches with huge white orchids and hanging votives accented each vase. It was magical. My bouquet was all white, and Nicole even managed to find peonies for me (in August)!!
The reception flew by. Scott’s Canadian family loves to clink their glasses to encourage the bride & groom kiss, but can get carried away after too much wine. Our solution was to put a ‘kissing menu’ on each table…
KISSING MENU
To request a kiss between Paloma & Scott, A clink of a glass is simply a not. We have a list from which to choose, (for which you may need a little booze).
1. The Serenade – Sing a song with “LOVE” in the lyrics.
2. The Brave – Group performance of either the Chicken Dance or the dance from “Thriller.”
3. The Patriotic – Sing either Paloma or Scott’s country’s national anthem.
4. The Irish Blessing – Recite a limerick about love.
5. The Historic – Six and some years ago, Paloma and Scott’s romance began at a small island restaurant. Channel your inner Tony Snell or other Last Resort performers by singing one of their songs.
Our guests loved it, and we ended up having an impromptu national anthem ‘sing off’: the Brits versus the Canadians!
What really helped pull together my vision was a few small touches (the hair pieces, the black and white dance floor, my silver chivari chairs) as well as our amazing band, Lavay Smith & The Red Hot Skillet Lickers. We actually play their music at our restaurant all the time, so it was fitting. Our first dance was to their song “Honey Pie”.
We partied at Viansa until midnight, at which point we all boarded our bus, drove to Sonoma Square and continued the festivities at a local bar (yes, I got a lot of stares in my dress!). Scott & I honeymooned in Bali for eight days afterwards…pure bliss!
A few other quick notes…My dress was by Selia Yang, shoes by Christian Louboutin. The bridesmaids dresses were J Crew. We had Sage Catering help with the food and the gorgeous cake was designed by Sweetie Pies.
I’m going to leave you with one last installment of these really gorgeous cakes from Delicious Desserts. The only problem is that I am now dying for a piece!
Thank you so much to Lisa Raffael of Delicious Desserts for sharing these gorgeous cakes with us! The intricate details, the perfect execution, the everything really…only speaks to how talented you are!
Today’s real wedding is pure bliss. Before I dive into the ridiculously gorgeous wedding reception, I thought this next set of images was so incredibly beautiful. Each one filled to the brim with style, with warmth and of course, with love!
photographs by Jennifer Skog
From Paloma…
Organizing my wedding from thousands of miles away was not easy, but luckily I had fantastic vendors who more than exceeded my expectations in every way possible! Our wedding wasn’t exactly a budget wedding, but by choosing to have it on a Thursday we were able to afford and choose vendors and a venue that were top quality, and whom we probably couldn’t have afforded otherwise.
We asked our guests to stay on or near the Sonoma Square. This made it easy for everyone to meet up over the week. Scott & I wanted to spend as much time with our guests as possible, so we urged everyone to arrive on the Sunday before. By doing this, we were able to have four days of activities!
We really wanted to include all of our guests in as much as possible. On Monday we had our bachelor and bachelorette parties, which were all day events. All the female guests were invited to the bachelorette, and all the male guests to the bachelor. On Tuesday, we organized wine tasting trips in limousines for our guests. Each limo had it’s own itinerary, which meant that our guests got to visit wineries all over Napa and Sonoma. Wednesday was our casual rehearsal dinner at the private patio of the Swiss Hotel. We invited all 86 guests to attend, and it was a great way to catch up with our families and friends!
More to come!
Here is another fun set of cakes from Delicious Desserts! This is literally…eye candy!
I just love the vibrant colors of these cakes! The pink ribbon cake is so classy and elegant, and the striped, multi-colored, dotted cake is just pure fun, don’t you think?
Paloma and Scott’s Sonoma wedding was about as good as they get…warm, inviting and insanely chic!
From Paloma, the gorgeous bride…
As gifts to my bridesmaids, I gave each of them different hand made feather hairpieces from the Etsy seller Twigs & Honey (she made them by hand, and used my wedding colors) which they wore on the wedding day. Myra from Twigs & Honey also made my hairpiece (the one I wore for my second hair style).
Maria Chang did my hair and makeup and was so amazing. She arrived at my cottage at noon and stayed the entire wedding to touch me up. We also changed my hair style after the cocktail hour. Maria was such a trooper and wonderful to have around. She made me feel more gorgeous than I have felt before in my life.
And as for the photographs, I don’t really need to tell you how fantastic Jennifer Skog is. I think her work speaks for itself. She also has a really fun, outgoing personality which only adds to your big day. She was the first vendor that I hired, and also the one that I was most adamant about getting. I am so grateful that she shot my wedding…. the memories are already blurry but I will have her photos forever.
I completely swooned when I saw this wedding, sent to me by one of our readers who recently married at Viansa Winery in Sonoma, California. When I lived in San Francisco Viansa was the very first winery I ever went to and from that moment, there was no looking back. The Wine Country is hands-down one of the most breathtaking places in the world and this wedding fell instantly into place…
photography by the amazingly talented Jennifer Skog
From the bride, Paloma…
My husband and I got married at Viansa Winery in Sonoma, CA on Thursday, August 14th 2008. Scott & I live in the British Virgin Islands, where we own a restaurant and wine bar. We chose to have our wedding in Sonoma because of our love of it’s wine and natural beauty. We had 86 guests, who flew from all over the world to be with us (only 2 guests lived close enough to not have to fly in!). We spent a week introducing our friends and family to wine country, and they all fell in love with the area just like us!
More to come!
So probably one of the best parts about planning a wedding is definitely cake testing day! Not only do you get to sample some really divine cakes, but you get to drool over the gorgeous designs too! These cakes from Delicious Desserts are so pretty, it’s hard to imagine cutting into them…
More to come, stay tuned!
I am constantly on the lookout for great new cake designers, as the wedding cake is such a beautiful place to really show your personality. So, when we discovered Etiquette of Chocolate, I fell in love. And I mean, love… True love. These cakes are that perfect combination of chic with a modern sensibility. Each one just screams style. My hands down favorite is Chloe, though Ella is a close second. Take a peak!
