Can we just talk about the candy buttons for a minute? I’m almost positive it was pure genius to bring those sweet little morsels into this carnival shoot. Aside from the beyond adorable couple (I mean seriously, is it even fair how cute these two are?) those little candy buttons are my favorite part of this shoot. Well, maybe the ferris wheel is. Actually, that giant stuffed dog. Nevermind, it’s got to be the super cute cowboy boots on the lady in pink. I can’t decide. But I definitely love this couple and their playful engagement shoot a la Kristin Vining Photography!

Photography: Kristin Vining Photography / Hair & Makeup: Lindsey Regan Thorne

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Post tags: Candy, Color Palette Pink, Cotton Candy, Cowboy Boots, engagement session, Fair, Ferris Wheel, Inspiration Shoot, Kristin Vining Photography, North Carolina, Popcorn
Post categories: engagement session, Little Black Book Blog

Stationery by the talented Angela Dal Bon Invitations & Announcements.

Alex and Clarissa met while they were Peace Corps Volunteers in Tanzania. For two years they lived as site mates in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Alex taught computer training at a teachers college and Clarissa taught biology at a secondary school in a small village up the hill from Alex. Every Wednesday, Clarissa would walk the hour down the hill to Alex’s site so she could get fresh vegetables and fruit at the market. Alex would meet her and they would sit on a bench and have a soda before she hiked back up the hill. Alex started coming up to her site to fix the broken down computers her school had locked in a back room. Six months into their service they were in love.

Since they fell in love in the foothills of a mountain, they chose to have their wedding in the foothills of the mountain range overshadowing their new home in Sacramento. Monte Verde Inn is a stately Georgian Manor nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The couple planned for a spring garden wedding and loved the outside gardens and ring of trees under which they would be married. They were thrown a huge curve ball when Clarissa and her bridesmaids arrived the morning of the wedding to see snow dusting the gardens! The people at Monte Verde were amazing and smoothly transitioned the entire wedding inside complete with candles lighting up the  ceremony space.  In the end it made for a completely different, but amazingly intimate and romantic wedding.

Clarissa and Alex wanted their wedding to be a reflection of their personal styles: Alex is simple and classic while Clarissa is elegantly earthy. Clarissa and Alex chose their colors and inspiration for the wedding when Clarissa’s sisters fell in love with a tissue taffeta bridesmaid dress by Bill Levkoft in Glacier. Her mother made all the paper cones for the chairs and the string balls that hung in the windows. She also sewed the ring bearer pillow, bow-tie and flower sashes and for the children.  The wedding favors were small jars of flavored salt, in theme with the salt ceremony Clarissa and Alex performed. Clarissa and her mom planted lemon thyme in their gardens so they could have enough of the herb to make the lemon thyme salt. They made vanilla salt with vanilla beans Clarissa and Alex had brought back from Zanzibar as they were leaving Tanzania. Clarissa wanted a part of her new home with Alex in the wedding, so Martha incorporated flowers from Clarissa’s garden into the bouquets.

Sadly, Clarissa’s maternal grandmother passed away while she was planning the wedding. To keep her memory and spirit alive during the wedding Clarissa wore earrings and a simple pearl necklace that belonged to her grandmother. This inspired much of the pearl theme throughout the wedding. She bought her bridesmaids drop pearl necklaces from Brighton and Martha added pearl embellishments to the bride’s flowers. Angela Dal Bon tied it all in with a pearl border around the place cards which matched the wedding invitation.

Venue: Monte Verde Inn / Photographer: Stout Photography / Floral Designer: Blooms by Martha Andrews & Monte Verde Inn / Invitation Designer: Angela Dal Bon Invitations & Announcements / Cake & Desserts: Kelly Dalisa at Monte Verde Inn / Wedding Gown Designer: David’s Bridal / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Bill Levkoff

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Post tags: Angela Dal Bon Custom Invitations & Announcements, Bill Levkoff, Blooms by Martha Andrews, Bouquets, Candy, Casual Elegance, Chivari Chairs, Color Palette Teal Green White, David's Bridal, Flower girls, Monte Verde Inn, Rain, Rainy Day Wedding, Stout Photography, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, Wedding Venues
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From Judy Pak Photography… Angela and Joe may be the sweetest couple I’ve ever met. So how fitting is candy and soda pops for the shoot? Don’t let them fool you though… they do have a bit of a naughty side as well! We ran around, broke some rules, and trespassed all in the name of good fun and some great photos! They will be getting married in Brooklyn this July.

Photography: Judy Pak Photography / Location: Highline & Meatpacking District, New York, NY

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Post tags: Balloons, Candy, Highline, Judy Pak Photography, Meatpacking District, New York City, New York Weddings, NY, Photo Shoot, Soda Pop
Post categories: engagement session, New York City Weddings, New York Weddings, Photo Shoot

click here to see all of the sweet inspired goodness!

Carli and Spence were married in a private ceremony in Hawaii. They chose to come back to Nashville and celebrate with a very detailed carnival and pink monogram heart-themed affair that featured lots of individual touches dreamed up by the bride and Sweet Life Designs. The invitation features an RSVP reply card with a tear-off “ticket” to save, while returning the RSVP with a fun madlib reply.

The venue, Country Music Hall of Fame, really set the tone for a true Nashville-style experience! Guests were first ushered upstairs for a “viewing party” to watch on a big screen the film from Carli and Spence’s beach-side ceremony in Hawaii. They were also given a reception program that featured the full menu, a cake drawing with highlights for each layer/flavor, as well as pointing out the various events that were around the reception. During the cocktail hour, guests munched on popcorn from the gourmet popcorn bar, BBQ sliders (with little flags), fried green tomatoes, sweet potato fries with garlic aioli dipping sauce while sipping the signature drinks: Cotton Candy Martini and Margarita on the Rocks (a bride and groom favorite).

Into the reception, guests were given pink with yellow paper pom accented “Goodie Bags” to put all of the treats and goodies that lay ahead of them for the night. The escort card table featured heart shaped pink lollipops with guest name tags, and the lollipops lay in white trays filled with cotton candy and lemonade jelly beans. The guest tables featured yellow and white striped linen with sherbet colored fabric wrapped vases filled with dahlias, roses, mums, carnations and hydrangea. The table numbers were button mums placed in a heart shape. At each place setting was an individually wrapped pie with heart shaped fondant cut-out, wrapped in a box and ribbon with a tag indicating the guest’s seat.

Around the room featured various booths, from a temporary tattoo booth featuring the couple’s heart shaped monogram, a caricature artist, a balloon artist, photo booth, and ping pong toss game. The focal point was the dramatic dessert table featuring a stunning cake with individually cut out tiny flowers and was made of the bride’s favorite cake flavor: funfetti! To the right of the cake sat a sweet paper bride and groom figuirine. Surrounding the table were various chocolates and candies. The bride, who is a talented baker, supplied her very own mallows in peach, banana and strawberry flavors that were a hit with guests.

Along the back wall of the dessert table was a hanging heart shaped flower arrangement as well as paper heart garland. A sweet “L-O-V-E” banner was draped across the front of the table declaring the true theme of the evening! The grooms cake was a toast to the groom’s financial profession and featured a very detailed “bull and bear market” theme. Around the room were various canvas prints from the couple’s engagement shoot that was on Nashville’s famous Broadway street and photos from their wedding ceremony. Their yorkie “Kashi” was featured in photos and the engagement shoot and graced the custom stamps on the invitations as well as one of the buttons that guests were given to wear.

Photography: Creative Push / Event Design, Dessert Table Design, Invitations & Paper Goods: Sweet Life Designs / Flowers: Brocade Design Arts / Event Planning: A Delightful Day Event Planning / Reception Location: Country Music Hall of Fame / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Reception Dress: Betsey Johnson / Cake, Pies and Dessert Table Treats: The Bake Shoppe / Cinematography: 2Duce2 Videography / Linen: LaTavola / Draping: Blue Nova Designs / DJ: Cosmo Creations / Paper Heart Garland: Paper Acorn / LOVE Banner: Sweet Pea Seashells / Paper Bride and Groom (to the right of cake): Concarta

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Post tags: 2Duce2 Videography, A Delightful Day Event Planning, Best of 2010, Betsey Johnson, Blue Nova Designs, Brocade Design Arts, Candy, Christian Louboutin, Circus, Cocktail Dress, Concarta, Cosmo Creations, Country Music Hall of Fame, Creative Push, Dessert Table, Desserts, La Tavola, magazine, Nashville, Paper Acorn, Pink Dress, Sweet Life Designs, Sweet Pea Seashells, Sweets, Tennessee, The Bake Shoppe, Whimsical
Post categories: Whimsical

You can see even more eye candy right here!

From the bride…

The most unique aspect of our wedding was the casual, yet classy, attire, the little DIY projects, and the minor, yet oh-so-important, details. Working with Kristin Vining Photography and Weddings and the City has been an experience beyond my wildest imagination. I consider myself lucky to have been able to work with such a fabulous, fun – yet professional, group of ladies!! In my opinion, when a special event such as a wedding is involved, it is important that the bride and groom feel comfortable with whoever they are working with. Joe and I are so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with KVP and WATC, and to be able to have formed good friendships along the way!

Vendor Credits: Photography: Kristin Vining Photography / Event Planning: Weddings and the City (Tiffany Ratliff, Lindsey Wallace Van Wingerden and Brittany Tollison) / Music: Split Second Sound / Bride’s Gown: Vineyard Collection, Hayden Olivia Bridal / Bridesmaid Dresses: David’s Bridal / Groom & Groomsmen: Old Navy / Venue: Van Landingham Estate / Makeup & Hair: Lindsey Regan Thorne / Cake: Cake Lady Jill / Flowers: The Place for Flowers / Clergy:  Dr. Patrick Maloy / Shoes: Ceremony, Grace, Reception, Nine West / Engagement Ring: Kay Jewelers / Invitations & Stationery: Three Little Birds Stationery / Party Rentals: Party Reflections / Gifts & Favors: Candy Bar / Transportation: CLT Express

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Post tags: Cake Lady Jill, Candy, Charlotte, David's Bridal, Hayden Olivia Bridal, Kristin Vining Photography, Lindsey Regan Thorne, Old navy, The Place For Flowers, Three Little Birds Stationery, Van Landingham Estate, Weddings And The City
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Real Weddings, The Blog, Whimsical

click here to see the full photoshoot!

From Natalie at Chic Sweets … Last year, I had the pleasure of seeing a beautiful, yellow and navy wedding, featured on Style Me Pretty. The wedding happened to be that of Abby’s sister in law, Laura Larson. Abby posted some great DIY templates, created by Laura herself and so I decided to create a dessert bar centered on the yellow wildflower motif  that was used throughout and of course, using the printable templates. During the dessert-table design phase, I decided to collaborate with a few other fantastic collaborators (including my source of inspiration, Laura of Two Yellow Shoes). Somehow, one thing led to another and before I knew it, we had a full-fledged, fantastic team assembled and a photoshoot set to take place in breathtaking Anna Maria Island, near Sarasota.

A few of the details…

Dessert Bar / Table: We had the concept and color scheme pinned down (light blue and yellow); however, since now the shoot was taking place at the beach, we knew it had to reflect this we-just-put-this-together, but still looks amazing table. We also wanted to stay in this budget-friendly area so we worked with desserts that were accessible but still looked great on the table. Oversize chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate-dipped oreos; powdered donuts. Since we love to collaborate with fabulous dessert vendors, we also asked Better Bit of Butter to create gorgeous fondant-covered cookies with a dozen, yellow and blue flowers on them.

And since you cannot have cookies without milk we set up a bucket of various sizes of milk bottles and shot glasses. *Budget-Friendly Tip: a few of those bottles, are actually Starbucks bottles, with the labels taken off and the bottle cap spray painted. The larger bottles were another budget-friendly option, purchased at IKEA. The shot glasses we had on the table were topped off with blue-striped paper straws and a cute little, “I-do” wildflower motif tag, courtesy of Laura’s ETSY shop, Two Yellow Shoes.

We also took some plain, vanilla cupcakes and spruced them up with these amazing fondant toppers, created by another ETSY love of mine, Two Sugar Babies, again, reflective of this wildflower motif that was used throughout. And finally, in order to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth, gum balls, gummi bears and chocolate-covered sunflower seeds were added to the mix.

Dessert Bar / Table Backdrop: And though we had the gorgeous Beach House Restaurant as our venue, I love to work with ribbons as a great (and affordable) source for décor, so we did a ribbon wall, working off various shades of yellow and blue. When we got there, we had this lovely wind running through so the ribbons kept on blowing back and forth and it could not be more perfect.

Tablescape: The table, created by MMD Events was done in shades of sunshine yellow and corn flower blue, held a large distressed ivory urn holding a mass of hybrid white delphinium as its focal point.  A custom runner played up the color scheme which was further accented with antique glass bottles, stacks of vintage plates and milk glass containers filled with crespedia.

Model: This is our favorite part! MMD Event’s lovely intern, Vanessa played our model in a $5.00, that is right, a $5.00 dress found at a local, vintage store. There was extra, yellow table runner available, so that was wrapped around her dress and put into a fun bow. And finally, some adorable felt flowers were pinned to the runner with some crespedia balls.

Photography: Limelight Photography / Dessert Table Concept and Design: Chic Sweets / Tablescape Concept and Design, Model: MMD Events/   Printed goods, Signage and Custom Blooming Pillows: Two Yellow Shoes / Linens: Linens by the Sea / Venue: The Beachhouse Restaurant / Fondant cupcake toppers: Two Sugar Babies / Vintage Labels: Paper Eclectiques / Cookies: Better Bit of Butter & Gum Drop Cookie Shop / Candy and all other Desserts: Chic Sweets /

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Post tags: Candy, Chic Sweets, Cookies, Dessert Bar, Dessert Table, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Limelight Photography, MMD Events, Teal, Two Yellow Shoes, Yellow
Post categories: DIY Favors and Gifts, DIY Wedding Cakes and Desserts, DIY Wedding Decor

From Gina at CLINK …

No color was out of the question and no idea too out of the box for April and Joel.  PLUS they were a sucker for UNIQUE details!

The ceremony was on the family’s plot of land on a cliff overlooking the lake ~ the lot was cleared JUST for the wedding. Just some of the amazing details: a red tent for the ladies to get dressed in, a gospel choir that had the wedding party dancing down the aisle to WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN and Nala (the couple’s pup) serving as ring bearer!

Then guests took party barges over to the reception where they entered April & Joel’s Candy Kindom ~ straight out of a Willy Wonka dream scene …

Candy spilled out of the walls! There was a chocolate waterfall and golden ticket escort cards to help guests find their seats. Once the ballroom doors were opened – a collective WOW!

A modern and colorful feast for the eyes. Guests danced the entire night to the popular 80′s cover band The Spazmatics while April and Joel’s GREASE themed engagement shoot played in the corner.

Then the best exit EVER took place … The bride and groom were COVERED in silly string and loved every minute of it.

This was an exciting wedding that no one in Austin will soon forget!

What an unbelievably fantastic and fun night! See the entire gallery of April and Joel’s Willy Wonka inspired event in the SMP Gallery here.

A seriously fantastic production from CLINK and all the other wedding vendors who played a part in this amazing celebration!

There are SO many more wonderful photos from this day on Diana’s, Heather’s and Stacy’s blogs. Lot more close-ups of April’s dress and accessories, bridesmaids dresses, floral details … we WISH we could show you more here. We could literally go on and on all day!

Photography: Diana M. Lott Photography ~ {April’s Bridal Shoot}
Second Shooters: SMS Photography and Eclectic Images
Flowers: Merveille Events
Event Planning & Design: CLINK
Ceremony Location: Private Residence
Reception Location & Catering: Lakeway Resort
Cakes: Michelle’s Patisserie
All Stationery: Paper Place
Lighting: ILIOS
Willy Wonka Room: Townsley Designs
Linens: Marquee Event Group and BBJ Linens
Rentals and Tents: Marquee Event Group
Transportation: Transportation Consultants
Band: Spazmatics
Ceremony Musicians: Bells of Joy
Cocktail Hour Food: Primizie Catering
DJ: Penguin Entertainment
Dog Walker: Austin Dog Walker
Babysitting: Grandparents Unlimited

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Post tags: Austin, BBJ Linen, Bells of Joy, Candy, Clink Events, Diana M. Lott Photography, Lakeway Resort, Marquee Event Group, Merveille Events, Michelle's Patisserie, Paper Place, Primizie Catering, Spazmatics, Texas Weddings, Townsley Designs
Post categories: Centerpieces, Contemporary, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Planners & Designers, Whimsical

And if you just can’t bear to see the story end, click right here for TONS of additional pictures.

From the insanely charming paper goods to the cake that literally make me squeal, I am completely dying over every last bit of this shoot. Oh and the details, most of them were simple DIY crafts done with a great eye and a knack for all things pretty. To make the “How Sweet It Is Sign”the team simply found chipboard glittered letter cutouts at Michael’s which they glued onto decorative paper, folded over the string and then glued together. I mean, come on…how great is that?

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Red Ribbon Studio, Paperista and Just Bloomed and the other AMAZING vendors that made this happen. It is sure to inspire from now until forever.

Vendors: Photography: Red Ribbon Studio / Invitations+Paper: Paperista / Flowers: Just Bloomed / Bridal Fashion: Posh / Wedding gown: Lila Couture / Tux: Grey Legend by Calvin Klein / Bridesmaids Dress: Camilla, Simple Silhouettes / Bridesmaids Dress: Jocelyn, Jenny Yoo / Bridesmaids Dress: Grace A-line, Lynn Lugo / Cake, cupcakes, macaroons, other sweet treats: Cocoa + Fig / Calligraphy: Rosann Konieczny / Bridesmaid Fashion: Flutter Boutique / Jewelry: JWP Jewlery / Hair & Makeup: Nan Fletcher / Candy Shop Location: Sugar Sugar / Handbags & Fabric Flower Accessories (belt & headbands): Nelle Handbags / Linens: Apres Party

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apres Party, Candy, Cocoa + Fig, Flutter Boutique, Just Bloomed, JWP Jewelry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nan Fletcher, Nelle Handbags, Paperista, Red Ribbon Studio, Rosann Konieczny, Sugar Sugar, Vintage
Post categories: From Inspiration to Reality, The Blog