Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

And let’s continue the party for a bit with the gorgeous video from Studio 1208 - who also composed the original track you hear just for the couple. How special is that?

Bryan & Kim from Studio 1208 on Vimeo.

From the Bride…The Horned Dorset will always be a very special place for us.  Our first trip together was to this hotel. We planned the trip at the 11th hour with little expectations for the resort or Rincon.  When we pulled into the hotel, it was a pleasant surprise- 37 intimate villas on the beach.  Once we reached the villa, we almost jumped out of our skin!  Every room was Moroccan decor and they weren’t only romantic, they were two stories!  We were so impressed with our room, and the property, we decided we needed to come back.

On our fourth trip, Bryan popped the question with a cushion cut diamond on a rose gold setting.  It was the perfect place for me to say YES to a lifetime with him!  Almost immediately, the planning began.  The next day, we had breakfast with the GM, who led a tour of the property to see all the magical nooks and crannies (including the presidential suite).  The key selling point: the entire resort to ourselves and all 85 guests!   With Bryan from the West Coast, and Kimberly from the East Coast, a destination wedding was the perfect happy medium.  Our 4 and half month planning process began had already begun!

With a short timeline to bring our vision to life, I knew hiring a planner was key.  With some research, plus recommendations, I choose Amy Nichols Special Events. The reception room at the Horned Dorset is traditional, formal black and white decor with romantic red chandeliers.  To keep the color theme consistent we had white flowers, adding other touches. Amy used red and pink flowers to add pop along with mercury and silver vases.  I loved having more than two colors- it kept every room fresh and festive.  I walked into the reception and was filled with the smell of flowers- they were over the top and gorgeous (thanks to Arquetipo Flowers!).   One splurge, we flew in table runners / linens for the wedding from La Tavola Linens.  They pulled the black and white floors and table centerpieces together.  Never skimp on linens!

Since the ceremony overlooked the water, I wanted a dress that was sophisticated and beach appropriate, but nothing casual.  Slipping into my dream Oscar de la Renta dress, I couldn’t wait to walk down the aisle!  I felt like a princess, fortunate for me since our wedding was the same weekend as the royals!  The ceremony stage was set.  It was simple and tasteful with oversized lanterns surrounded by pink and orange flower petals.

Venue + Catering: Horned Dorset, Relais & Chateau / Wedding Dress: Oscar De La Renta / Groom’s Attire: Etro / Wedding Invitations: Greenwich Letterpress / Floral Design: Arquetipo Inc. / Wedding Planner + Event Designer: Amy Nichols Special Events / Wedding Photographer + Videographer: Studio 1208 / Hair + Make-up: Lizzie Ibarra / DJ: Levis, Star Mix DJs / Linens: La Tavola / Cake Pops: Sweet Lauren Cakes

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Post tags: Amy Nichols, Arquetipo, Destination Wedding, Etro, Greenwich Letterpress, Horned Dorset, La Tavola, Levis, Lizzie Ibarro, Oscar De La Renta, Puerto Rico, Relais & Chateau, Star Mix DJs, Studio 1208
Post categories: Destination

Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

From the Bride…My husband surprised me with a romantic proposal so there was no master plan in place. Since we attended Mass at St. Dominic’s and are close to our pastor, we knew that we wanted to celebrate the wedding in the beautiful, gothic church. At the time, I lived in Fort Mason, a former US Army post in San Francisco. The officer’s club there was a beautiful, historic building and only a few feet from my house. As luck would have it, the church and the officer’s club had only one matching date open for the next year. Perfect!

The short (four months) notice ruled out any long lead times for a dress, so I decided to try on my grandmother’s dress. It was the only dress I ever tried on! As soon as I put it on I knew it was right—I barely had to have it altered even though it had been 53 years since my grandmother had worn it at age 17. I added a veil worn by Nick’s grandmother, making what I wore very vintage and even more meaningful—combined over 100 happily married years represented.

I work for a stationery company and stationery is my obsession. The heirloom dress and the historic locations set the tone as Erika Givens and I spent hours brainstorming and trading ideas. We settled on a ‘nuptial proclamation and summons’ modeled after stock certificates from the turn of the century. Each was individually addressed, serialized, and punched to indicate the wedding date. Underneath the invitation was a stylized map of San Francisco, designed by Erika, with notations for the church and ceremony locations plus other personal spots like where we first met, the beach where Nick proposed, and our favorite taco spot (Nick’s Crispy’s – no relation).

We both love to cook and entertain so we had a lot of fun putting the menu together – I especially enjoyed dreaming up personal touches to include. Nick loves beer so we offered guests the choice of a beer or wine pairing with each course. We had Red Sox cracker jack mix in our wedding colors of blue and yellow because my husband’s family is from Boston. My dad loves to fish so he caught all of the Alaskan King salmon that we served. My aunt, who also made my mother’s wedding cake, made a carrot cake from a recipe that has been in the family for generations.

As far as the details go, I loved having so many flower girls! All four girls wore hand-smocked plaid dresses that we had made by a grandmother in Atlanta. We used the same fabric in the ring bearer’s pillow, bow tie, table runners, and wrapped around the stems of all the girls’ bouquets. I had lemon notecards made up at Minted (where I work) as favors to tie in with the lemon granita cocktails and lemon centerpieces. We tied them up with ribbons, which were also hung as streamers in entry ways and made into tabletop lattice. A sign said ‘Keep in Touch’ which was fitting because nine months later we moved to Hong Kong! I blog about our adventures here at HK Housewife

Venue: Fort Mason / Wedding Photography: Coba Images / Floral Design: Branch Out Floral Design / Band: PopRocks / Wedding Planner: Amy Nichols Special Events / Wedding Invites: Gleaux / Other Printed Materials: Minted

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Post tags: Amy Nichols, Branch Out Floral Design, California Weddings, Coba Images, Fort Mason, Gleaux, Minted, PopRocks, San Francisco, Traditional Elegance
Post categories: California Weddings, San Francisco Weddings, Traditional Elegance

click here for the full wedding gallery!

From the talented Amy Nichols – I am so thrilled to share John and Taylor’s wedding with Style Me Pretty’s readers! I couldn’t ask for more ideal and lovely clients. We started working together a year before the wedding — picking the perfect venues for their ceremony and reception. I loved getting to know them and their parents, and their story was such a cute one. They had met and been friends at Stanford for years before dating. Taylor’s sisters kept asking her why she wasn’t dating John, and soon enough, they were!  Both John and Taylor’s families were not from the Bay Area, so this wedding was very much a destination wedding for the majority of their wedding guests. We designed custom save-the-dates from Union Street Papery featuring San Francisco icons and places that were important to them. These icons were then again used on the escort cards and wedding programs.

The wedding reception was at the historic and beautiful Ferry Building in San Francisco, and it was catered by Paula Le Duc Fine Catering.  The color palette we chose featured cool blues, purple, green and white. I suggested that we do unique (but all white) bouquets for each bridesmaid — so one bridesmaid had all tulips, one had all ranunculus, and so on. I love the monochromatic clusters of vases for the centerpieces from Lidia Sadoun of La Fleuriste. Each table was a little different from the next! The entire evening was photographed beautifully by the very talented Julie Mikos.

Photography: Julie Mikos / Event Planning: Amy Nichols / Reception Venue: Ferry Building / Ceremony: St. John’s Presbyterian Church / Flower: La Fleuriste / Caterer: Paula Le Duc / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Ceremony Music: Nob Hill String Ensembles / Band: David Martin’s House Party / Hair and Makeup: Joseph Cozza Salon / Transportation: Events West / Cake: Cake Coquette

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy Nichols, Cake Coquette, California Weddings, Classic Party Rentals, David Martin's House Party, Events West, Ferry Building, Joseph Cozza Salon, Julie Mikos, La Fleuriste, Nob Hill String Ensembles, Paula Le Duc Fine Catering, San Francisco, St. John's Presbyterian Church
Post categories: The Blog, Traditional Elegance

To see the full wedding and all of the gorgeous details, click right here!

From Amy Nichols, planner….It was such an honor to be a part of Katherine and David’s wedding day.  They met 6 years ago while working in Washington DC and decided to get married in California where they’re both from originally and currently live. What I loved about them was how easy going they were. Katherine really trusted her vendors and deferred to us when she needed suggestions on what she should do or what the best timing was. She’s incredibly stylish and a natural beauty, which I think really shone on the big day. I love the portraits of them taken during the reception – they really reflect their casual elegance. Carolyn Quilici for Lisa Lefkowitz Photography was the talented photographer behind this big day and captured every element beautifully.

From the bride, Katherine…David and I love visiting Napa Valley and always knew we wanted our celebration to have an outdoor element, so from the moment we laid eyes on Beaulieu Garden we knew it was the perfect venue for our reception. The grounds have a naturally beautiful, understated elegance that perfectly conveyed the feeling we wanted for our wedding day.

St. Helena Catholic Church, a lovely, quaint church just down the road from BG, was where we held our ceremony. It was personal and fun – perfect for us. We surprised our guests by having the St. Helena School Youth Choir perform, and they did a fantastic job. And who doesn’t love children singing! We used whites and ivorys for the ceremony for a crisp, clean look in the church, and brought in pops of color at the reception. The ribbon wands were a last minute addition, completed by my wonderful aunt days before the wedding. Since we didn’t have a “departure” planned for the end of the night, we thought the ribbons would be a fun touch for our exit from the church.

My bridesmaids chose their favorite style dress in ivory or white, and we all wore J.Crew heels. As my friends will tease, it wouldn’t have been possible for me not to incorporate J.Crew somehow! The groomsmen all donned sharp navy suits with grey/blue ties. My dress was Monique Lhuillier – which I impulsively purchased without trying on right after David and I got engaged. (I’d seen the dress online and couldn’t stop thinking about it and learned a boutique in San Francisco had the dress – but was living in Chicago at the time. My dear friend and bridesmaid Becky ran over to check it out for me, and I purchased it over the phone sight unseen!)

The reception was beautiful. Beaulieu Garden is the perfect venue for a progressive party. When guests arrive they walk through a gorgeous rose garden to the cocktail area with a fountain, sculptured trees and lawn. We incorporated our pops of color here, with bright pink linens on the bars and large bowls of lemons, a nod to David’s grandfather who lives on a citrus ranch in Southern California. Guests cross a little white bridge and walk down a covered pathway towards dinner under an arbor of trees with white twinkling lights – it was fantastic. Guests sat at long tables with crisp ivory linens and pretty florals that complimented the beautiful natural setting and conveyed the feeling of casual elegance we hoped for.

Looking back, the two best decisions we made were the venue (which by the way came with Paula Le Duc Catering, which equals absolutely unbelievable food and a top notch staff) and the band, WonderBread5, who kept all our guests on the dance floor the entire night. We were also so grateful for the contributions by our family and friends – from the yummy cupcakes my mom and her friends made for dessert to the fantastic wines paired with dinner provided by our family friends. Our guests dined on great food and danced the night away – it was a a wonderful celebration!

Photograpy: Carolyn Quilici for Lisa Lefkowitz Photography / Catering/Venue: Paula Le Duc Fine Catering / Flowers: Simply Blossoms / Band: Wonder Bread 5 / Hair & Makeup: Sarah Hyde / Planner: Amy Nichols Special Events / Paper Goods: Felix Doolittle

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Post tags: Amy Nichols, Beauliu Garden, California Weddings, Carolyn Quilici, Lisa Lefkowitz, Northern California, Paula Le Duc Catering, Sacramento
Post categories: California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance

{complete gallery here}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And this wedding, that Amy Nichols (who we love here at SMP) sent us…is all of that, and so much more. The photographer, Andy Berry of PurkinjeBlue did an incredible job at really capturing the spirit of the day…telling the story to perfection.

The wedding was held at the Miraval in Glen Ellen and was actually only the second wedding to have taken place at this gorgeous venue. Miraval is a destination home that is available for things like weddings and events…and on a clear day you can actually see all the way to San Francisco. Kind of stunning actually.

There are two things that I love about this day. The color palette…and the RIDICULOUSLY gorgeous flowers. Table after table after table of the most beautiful flowers I’ve every seen. Designed by Taste Catering and Event Planning, the style is romantic and utterly delicious. Add to that a color palette of warm pinks, greens and yellows along with homemade charm in the chalk boards and you basically have perfection in my book.

Thank you so much to Amy Nichols and to PurkinjeBlue for sharing this incredible wedding with us. It’s completely ideal for all of our Spring and Summer 2010 brides. And it’s kind of perfect for me too.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy Nichols, California Weddings, Glen Ellen, Miraval, Napa Valley, Purkinje Blue, Sonoma
Post categories: Casual Elegance

all images by Jose Villa

To see the entire gallery, click here!

The postcards were used in lieu of a guest book and the socks, well, they are just really great socks. Thanks to all for letting us share in this fabulous celebration!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy Nichols, Jose Villa, Mindy Rice
Post categories: Traditional Elegance, Wedding Planners & Designers

Amy is going to stop by a little later this evening to answer your questions, so feel free to ask away. I am pretty sure that you are dying to know about those adorable bridesmaids dresses and the PERFECT wedding gown that Marissa is rocking.

We feature a ton of beautiful weddings here at SMP, but there is just something about this one. The warm, inviting style paired with the completely chic fashions. The ridiculously perfect details that aren’t overdone in any way. The everything really!

To see the entire gallery, click here!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amy Nichols, Jose Villa, Marissa and Pat, Mindy Rice
Post categories: Traditional Elegance, Wedding Planners & Designers