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From the bride… Vy and I met the weekend before my freshman year at Georgia State University in Atlanta. We started a friendship together and then fell in love. After being a couple for a little over five-and-a-half years, Vy finally popped the question. The plan was to take me to Piedmont Park for an afternoon stroll with one of our pups. We found a nice spot under a tree where Vy said he had a gift for me and told me to close my eyes. When I opened them, he had a new digital camera, which I needed. He told me that there was a picture already on it because he had set it up and that I should take a look. When I hit the preview button, a photo appeared that said, “Will You Marry Me?” It was such a wonderful, creative surprise!

When planning our big day we knew that there was no other place we wanted to get married then the city we fell in love in: Atlanta. It was also the perfect place for our family and friends to travel to. When selecting a venue, we had a few guidelines — we wanted a place that was naturally beautiful, big enough for our guest list, had the facilities to host both our ceremony and reception, an outdoor space for cocktail hour, and we had to love it. When we found Summerour Studio, we knew it was perfect. It was a rustic, Tuscan villa on the outside but an expansive warehouse on the inside. I was one of the lucky brides who had a groom who was willing to help with planning the entire way. I couldn’t have planned our perfect day without all of Vy’s help. Even with a large guest list, we wanted the feeling of an intimate affair with close family and friends. We chose to have candles be the main design with few flowers. I wanted the day to be simple with romantic details, and I wanted to focus on the love that we shared and celebrate with everyone we hold dear to our hearts.

On our wedding day, it began to rain as I was putting on my wedding dress, but it stopped just in time for us to take pictures outside with the sun shining through the clouds. As our ceremony began, there was a steady rainfall and as I walked down the stairs to meet my future husband, the room got dark with the beating of the rain. The room glowed with the candles just enough to highlight the reason why we were all there, to celebrate the union between two people who loved each other. I could feel the love from my future husband and the happiness from everyone who was there. It was everything I wanted and more. We are eternally grateful and thankful for all our family, friends, and wonderful vendors who helped bring our vision to life. My sweet friend and one of my maids of honor, Andrea Gallina, who created and designed my invitation suite, programs, wedding tree guest book and  “here comes the bride” sign. She is truly an amazing artist. Bold American Event Design and Catering team delivered an intimately romantic layout and food that our guests continue to talk about. Brooke Drellos and Christy Gillam of Paperlily Photography, you captured our wedding day perfectly for us to relive forever. We love y’all!

Wedding Photography + Photobooth: Brooke Drellos + Christy Gillam of Paperlily Photography / Wedding Venue: Summerour Studio in Atlanta, Georgia / Wedding Flowers + Event Design: Michelle Leyden of Bold American Events / Catering: Bold American Catering / Wedding Dress: Enzoani via New Natalie’s Bridals / Going Away Dress: BCBG / Bride’s Shoes: Betsey Johnson + Steve Madden / Bridesmaids Dresses: Ivy & Aster via Bella Bridesmaid / Tuxes: Savvi Formalwear / Hair + Makeup: Ellen Park of Hi-Tech Hair Salon (678-530-0039) / DJ: Shane Holden of Pure Entertainment / Wedding Cake: Blanchard’s Bakery (404-366-0267) / Hotel Accommodations: TWELVE Atlantic Station / Koozies: Discount Favors / Sparklers: Sparkle / Invitations, Programs, Table Numbers, Guestbook + “Here Comes the Bride” Sign: Andrea Gallina, A Maid of Honor / Day-Of Coordinator: A Family Friend

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Post tags: Andrea Gallina, Atlanta, BCBG, Bella Bridesmaid, Betsey Johnson, Blanchard's Bakery, Bold American Catering, Bold American Events, Brooke Drellos, Christy Gillam, Discount Favors, Ellen Park, Enzoani, Georgia, Gray, Hi-Tech Hair Salon, Ivy & Aster, New Natalie's Bridals, Paperlily Photography, Pink, Pure Entertainment, Savvi Formalwear, Shane Holden, Sparkle, Steve Madden, Summerour Studio, TWELVE Atlantic Station
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Georgia Weddings

Engagement photos were such and important part of the wedding planning process to me – when else in life do you have an excuse to be professionally photographed in a stylized, romantic, intimate setting with the person you love? Since our wedding (this summer) is going to be a super casual, nautical affair on a marina, I wanted our engagement photos to be the opposite: indoors, more formal, and a little sexy.

As I brainstormed about possible themes and locations, I found myself drawn to classic-Hollywood photo shoots and Mad-Men era sleekness and style. (This came as no shock to my fiance, since I’m a big classic film nerd AND made him dress up as Don Draper to my Betty last year for Halloween.) I just love the richness and darkness and vintage feel of that time, the simmering elegance of men in suits and women in cocktail dresses meeting in hotel lobbies.

With this idea (and an unbelievably good sport of a fiance), I started shopping for photographers. Heidi Geldhauser of Our Labor of Love (based here in Atlanta, but traveling all over the place if you’re interested!) had photographed a friend’s wedding and her photos were some of the loveliest I’d ever seen. As you can tell, we are extraordinarily lucky to have found Heidi — she took my little kernels of ideas and locations and made them into these fantastically beautiful photos. She suggested things we’d never have thought of in a million years, like abandoning the marble staircase to take tons of photos in an empty office in front of some white plastic vertical blinds! It totally worked, and those are the best photos we have.

As a final note, since we were paying homage to a bygone era, I wore jewelry in each setting owned by either my mother or my grandmother. The white bracelet, the black beaded necklace, and the tri-color gold necklace are my little tokens of the women who lived (and dressed) like classic movie stars for real.

Photographer: Heidi Geldhauser, Our Labor of Love / Orange Dress: Zara / Black Dress: Ralph Lauren / Green Dress: Studio M by BCBG

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Post tags: Atlanta, BCBG, engagement session, Georgia, Mad Men, Old Hollywood, Our Labor of Love, Ralph Lauren, Studio M by BCBG, Wedding Photography, Zara
Post categories: engagement session, Little Black Book Blog

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From the Bride… We love very DIY, romantic, rustic, and modern… I also have a strange obsession with butterflies and sticks, so we knew those had to be involved. Sticks are close to my heart — when I was little, my stepdad and I would go play in the park and pick up sticks big enough for walking with and make up songs about them… it sounds weird, but it’s sentimental. We are both designers, so we knew what we wanted, right down to the last detail. We also wanted to make sure our vegetarian/vegan friends had options, so we used Whole Foods catering to create a wonderful menu of food for our guests … some firm meat-eaters, even to this day, say how much they loved our food! We also had vegan cupcakes, so no one had to feel left out. We also didn’t want it to be stuffy, too “done,” or too fancy … we wanted everyone to feel comfortable.

In our engagement photos, our photographer set us up in a field with some mason jars and striped straws. We carried that through to our cocktail hour by making a sweet tea vodka lemonade drink as our specialty drink, which also helped us save money. We used purple and gray striped straws, since purple/silver/gray/white were our colors. We framed a photo of us from our engagement photos and put it in between all the drinks — it looked so nice. We also made sure to design, screen print, and assemble all of our wedding invitations. We had someone use calligraphy on our envelopes for invitations, and that made it look really special. I designed our wedding website with all the info on it. I think my favorite part of the wedding though was when we had pictures taken with my giant mascot Hello Kitty head and his storm trooper helmet from Star Wars — I think that really personalized it. People seemed to get a kick out of those as well.

I loved spending time with my friends and family and new husband. It sounds SO cliche to say that, but it will probably be the first and only time almost every single one of my loved ones were in a room together … and they blended so nicely. It was overwhelming to see everyone I loved ALL on the same day. I also loved the honeymoon — nothing better than getting to relax for such a long time (not long enough!) with the love of my life/best friend after all of it was said and done. Bliss!!

Wedding Photography: Matt Miller of Our Labor of Love / Wedding Venue: Ambient+Studio / Wedding Coordinator: It’s All in the Details Event and Wedding Planning (Now based in Seattle) / Florist: Le Bonne Fleur / Makeup: P3 Lab / Hair: Luxe Beauty Co. / Officiant: Rev. Gale York / Rentals: Unlimited Party Rentals / Cupcakes: Dulce Vegan / Catering: Whole Foods / Wedding Dress: Enzoani / Bridesmaid Dresses: Watters / Groom’s Tuxedo: J.Crew / Groomsmen Rental Tuxedos: Men’s Wearhouse

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Post tags: Ambient+Studio, Atlanta, Dulce Vegan, Enzoani, Georgia, It's All in the Details Wedding & Event Planning, J. Crew, Le Bonne Fleur, Luxe Beauty Co., Matt Miller, Men's Wearhouse, Our Labor of Love, P3 Lab, Rev. Gale York, Unlimited Party Rentals, Watters, Whole Foods
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Contemporary, Georgia Weddings

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From the bride… I wanted my wedding to be the fairy tale from my dreams when I was a little girl. I wanted the colors of my wedding to remind people of the holidays — rich jewel tones that create warmth. I tried to find a location that had these colors in the decor already. My colors were dark teal, champagne and silver and were inspired by the deep teal velvet fabrics the Ritz Carlton, Atlanta has. My dress was blush and I wanted to mirror that in as many places without it making it a standout color. The table clothes are a soft pale blush color and it really brought warmth to the cool bright colors of teal in the chargers. Candlelight was everywhere to make a soft glow.

There were some very special touches that made the day for me. My mother passed away three years before my wedding, and I wanted her in every moment. I had her locket with her wedding photos on my bouquet, I had a memory table with not only her but my other passed-away relatives, and we played her favorite music during the ceremony and reception. Ave Maria was the most important detail of the day and was to play during the ceremony. Our ceremony music messed up and kept playing while we were waiting at the altar, but Ave Maria still played loud and clear. It was my centering moment while I was looking at my soon-to-be husband. It was like she was telling me she was right there with me.

My invitation stationary was from Bella Figura and I thought it set the tone for the day. It was simple, unique, and classy. We DIY’d the rest of our paper goods (table numbers, menu, program) by replicating the design, buying card stock, and printing at home. As we did them, I really tried to pay attention to the fonts we used and I think it made them stand out. They looked great! Another favorite detail were my favors — because both the ceremony and reception were at the Ritz, I thought it would be nice to give a breakfast box for the guests as they left late at night.  There were seasonal flavors of donuts and scones, along with jam and cream cheese. Highland Bakery supplied both the cake and the breakfast box favor.

Photography: Harwell Photography / Flowers: Le Bonne Fleur / Event Design + Planning: Mary Whalen of Table 6 Productions / Venue: The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta / Invitations: Bella Figura / Shoes: Steve Madden / Dress: Lea Ann Belter / Cake + Breakfast Boxes: Highland Bakery

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Post tags: Atlanta, Bella Figura, Georgia, Highland Bakery, Lea-Ann Belter, Steve Madden, The Ritz-Carlton Atlanta
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Georgia Weddings

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From the bride… I had initially wanted an extremely small, simple and intimate wedding. My suggestion for a destination wedding with only our immediate family and closest friends was quickly turned down by Carl and our parents. My biggest challenge was coming to terms with feeding, entertaining, and being in front of 100+ guests for an entire night. Throughout the entire planning process, I was very worried about the number of people we had invited and was still dreaming of a simpler wedding. Now that it’s all done, I am so glad to have no regrets. We had the time of our lives and felt so blessed that we were able to celebrate with so many wonderful people who love us as much as we love them!

We wanted our flowers and cake to be very understated and natural. We wanted to take advantage of the beauty of the gardens and didn’t want to down play the gorgeous setting with lots of large flowers and different colors. Unfortunately, I know nothing about flowers and had only found about two pictures of bouquets and boutonnieres that I liked. After meeting our florist, Dawn, I just felt that she totally understood my vision. I showed her some of our other details and explained my idea for mostly white flowers with green accents and lots of texture. Dawn exceeded all my expectations and built our florals just how I imagined. The bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces all had the organic feeling I had wanted but were still timeless and traditional. She wrapped the bouquets and boutonnieres in twine to match our rustic theme and played up all of the different sizes and shapes of our antique bottles with a wide variety of flowers and greenery. Our cake was another easy decision. We knew we wanted a fairly simple, round design and chocolate. Our baker showed us a picture of a recent one cake she had made, and my mom and I both loved that the subtle, vertical lines were reminiscent of the pleatings in my dress. It turned out lovely and was, most importantly, delicious!

Our cocktail hour and reception had lots of personal details starting with our “signature cocktail,” PBR tall boys. Carl is known for his love of PBR among all of our friends, and the butler-passed cans of PBR were the perfect welcome to our laid-back garden reception. Our guests were also able to enjoy our favorite yard games, including a monogrammed corn hole set made by Carl. We highlighted some of Carl’s carpentry skills with our homemade signs, rustic menu chalkboards, wood bowls, and wood tags. I put lots of my flea market finds to good use by re-purposing plantation shutters for a photo display and vintage milk bottles for our centerpieces. My mom made all of the burlap runners to continue our rustic theme to each table, and I used the extra fabric to make a few burlap wreaths for extra decor. We added string bulb lighting across the dance floor that created the perfect glow for our late summer/early fall dance party. We decided to give monogrammed, reusable aluminum water bottles as favors. We can’t live without ours and thought it would be a great sustainable gift to match our garden wedding. We wanted our dinner menu to include some “Sunday Supper” classics. Some of our favorites included the mac n’ cheese, BBQ pork tenderloin, blue cheese potato chips and cole slaw. Near the end of the night, we served boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts, a true Atlanta staple, with individual cartons of milk.

Photography: Laura Leslie Photography / Event Planning: Erin Stroup of It’s All in the Details Event Planning (now based in Seattle) / Venue: Cator Woolford Gardens / Florist: Candler Park Flowers / Wedding Cake: Chef Nancy of The Flour Shoppe / Catering: Bold American Events / Paper Products: Wedding Paper Divas / Hair + Makeup: Ashlee Kidd and Lindsey Byrom of Renee Paige Salon (770-632-5999) / Wedding Gown: WTOO (Holly) via J. Andrews Bridal / Bride’s Hair Accessories + Veil: DIY by mother of the bride / Bride’s Shoes: Kelly & Kate via DSW / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Bill Levkoff, Watters + WTOO via J. Andrews Bridal / Groom + Groomsmen’s Ties: Tommy Hilfiger / Groom + Groomsmen Attire: J & R Clothing

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Post tags: Ashlee Kidd, Atlanta, Bill Levkoff, Bold American Events, Candler Park Flowers, Cator Woolford Gardens, DSW, Erin Stroup, Georgia, It's All in the Details Event Planning, J & R Clothing, J. Andrews Bridal, Kelly & Kate, Laura Leslie Photography, Lindsey Byrom, Renee Paige Salon, The Flour Shoppe, Tommy Hilfiger, Watters, Wedding Paper Divas, WToo
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Casual Elegance, Georgia Weddings

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From the bride… Curtis and I both moved to Los Angeles after college to work in the entertainment industry. At the time, Curtis was working for the actor Hugh Jackman and I was working for the restaurateur/entrepreneur Sam Nazarian of SBE Entertainment. A mutual friend of ours suggested that we meet, which is typical for executive assistants in the industry. Thinking nothing of it, we got together for drinks after work one day at the Thompson Hotel in Beverly Hills. Three hours, a bottle of wine, and a bizarre number of similarities later, we knew we were meant to be. After a job change and a six-month long distance relationship, Curtis whisked me away to Atlanta by proposing with my family in tow over a Thanksgiving holiday in the North Georgia mountains.  

Both of our families are scattered across the nation, so we decided to have everyone come to us for the big day. Atlanta has the world’s busiest airport so we figured it wouldn’t be too difficult for our love ones traveling from afar to attend. We wanted the wedding to evoke a rustic sophistication and to focus heavily on the divine cuisine that JCT Kitchen offers. The evening was elegant, organic, and whimsical – just what we had hoped for. Two non-traditional elements to the wedding that I conjured up were our smoked salt favors, which were made for us by one of our favorite Atlanta chefs, Chris Hall of Local Three (where our rehearsal dinner was held), and our cheesecake cake. Two elements that Curtis contributed were a surprise gift of one dozen six-foot-tall “long” stem roses flown in from Brazil and our send-off in a red helicopter.  And thus, my fairytale ending came true!

Photographer: Kate-Belle Photography / Flowers: Le Bonne Fleur / Wedding Coordinator: It’s All in the Details Event and Wedding Planning (recently moved from Atlanta to Seattle) / Wedding Dress: Vera Wang via Joan Pillow Bridal Salon / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Watters via Bridals by Lori / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Hair + Makeup: POSH Hair & Makeup / Venue + Catering: JCT Kitchen / Cake: Classic Cheesecakes & Cakes / Smoked Salt Favors: Chris Hall of Local Three

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Post tags: Atlanta, Bridals by Lori, Chris Hall, Christian Louboutin, Classic Cheesecakes & Cakes, Georgia, Its All in the Details Event and Wedding Planning, JCT Kitchen, Joan Pillow Bridal Salon, Kate-Belle Photography, Le Bonne Fleur, Local Three, POSH HAir & Makeup, Watters
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Georgia Weddings

1. Who is Three Ring Media? You, and a team? What do you do?

Three Ring Media was started by my wife, Suzanne, and I in 2006 with the goal of creating wedding videos that were more compelling than what was available at the time. As I was already working in the video and film production field, the transition to producing cinematic style wedding videos was a natural step. It ended up being a great thing for us since we inadvertently ended up being on the cutting edge of the cinematic wedding video trend without realizing it! Suzanne and I got married in 2005 and were unhappy with the options of wedding videos at the time, so we designed a wedding video format that was both entertaining and beautiful with the goal of preserving a couple’s story as a token for themselves, their children and grandchildren.

We’ve been very blessed and have grown to include a team of ten highly creative & talented people who have a passion for telling story. And we’re lucky because we really love each other and get the opportunity to work with people that are also close friends – it is an incredible blessing!

Rob & Karin’s Cinematic Trailer

2. So what first peaked your interest in the world of Wedding Cinematography?

Filmmaking has always been a passion of mine! I was twelve when I created my first short film – it might not be worth mentioning today, mind you, but it ignited a love in my heart for the craft! Suzanne has a background in theatre and many of our early dates led us to the movies where we watched stories and then dissected what did or didn’t make them great. Through the years, I have learned how emotion and compelling stories go hand in hand and the best stories are ones that happen in real life. Capturing the love that a couple shares and the journey that led them to the decision of marriage is one of the life’s richest stories. So it was a logical step for us to combine storytelling with wedding cinematography, especially after seeing first hand the great need for it.

Brendan & Nicole’s Cinematic Trailer

3. What is the very best part of your job?

Honestly, interviewing our clients! That is why we do what we do! We enjoy listening and learning about them so that we can find the most appropriate way to tell their story. We believe that every person is significant and we define success as illuminating what that distinction is in our couples through storytelling.

Rai & Jen’s Cinematic Trailer

4. What kinds of videos do you make for your clients? And of course, what’s your favorite?

While we offer all of the video segments that you would expect with a traditional wedding video (ceremony, reception, etc) our focus is on the story pieces (cinematic trailer, story and same day edit). We love the creative opportunities that those segments produce for us and get fired up about using our creativity to share our couples’ uniqueness.

5. What’s your best advice to the newly engaged?

Get a wedding video! Whether you prefer a story-based, cinematic style, or traditional wedding video, you will regret not having a record of the sights, sounds, and emotions of your special day.

We totally agree! How much do you love Three Ring Media now? I think their fan club is about to receive an influx of applicants. Seriously though, the work Jeremy, Suzanne and their team does is the perfect way of capturing your story as a couple. As you can obviously see through Rob & Karin’s, Brendan & Nicole’s, and Rai & Jen’s Cinematic Trailers.

Cinematography: Three Ring Media

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Post tags: Atlanta, Cinematic Trailers, Georga, Three Ring Media, Vendor Spotlight, Wedding Cinematography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Cinematography

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From Melissa Schollaert Photography…The week of Lydia & Ben’s Wedding, there was a freak snow & ice storm in Atlanta.  The city was completely shut down all week while a thick blanket of ice & snow covered the city.  But, towards the end of the week the ice started melting, but we were lucky enough to have some snow left which really added to this festive winter wedding.  

The wedding was held at the very modern High Museum of Art.  The bride was so elegant in her Priscilla of Boston gown with delicate fabric flowers and a fur shawl to complete her look.  The bridesmaids wore stunning teal, floor length gowns while the gentlemen donned their own tux’s for the occasion.  The decor was beautiful and included florals in whites and icy blue’s to complement the modern design of the museum.

Wedding Photography: Melissa Schollaert Photography / Venue: High Museum of Art / Hair + Make-up: Van Michael Salon / Cake/Desserts: Frosted Pumpkin / Caterer: Legendary Partners / Wedding Coordinator: Watermark Weddings / Band: Party Nation / Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston / Floral Design: Tulip / Groom’s Attire: Personal Attire / Jewelry: Bride’s Personal Vintage Collection / Lighting: Active Lighting / Bride’s Shoes: Stuart Weitzman / Stationery: Martha Stewart for Crane & Co. / Bridesmaid Dresses: Priscilla of Boston / Bride’s Earrings: Bride’s Personal Vintage Collection / Bride’s Clutch: Kate Spade

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Post tags: Active Lighting, Atlanta, Frosted Pumpkin, Georgia Wedding, High Museum of Art, Kate Spade, Legendary Partners, Martha Stewart for Crane's, Melissa Schollaert Photography, Party Nation, Priscilla of Boston, Stuart Weitzman, Tulip, Van Michael Salon, Watermark Weddings, Winter Wedding
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Georgia Weddings, Traditional Elegance