Photography by Chelsea Nicole Photography.

The week of wonderful weddings all ready for your viewing pleasure:

a Florida beach wedding captured in a super cute highlight film
a soiree with the most perfect mix of rustic and vintage in Tennessee
a Michigan affair that makes us all a little green with envy
an über romantic French fête in a castle to start our vaca to France
a stylish Parisian soiree to finish our French holiday
a contemporary & chic California beach wedding
a beautiful bit of Oregon vineyard nuptials
a quirky affair with fab florals in Portland
a winter wonderland of wedded inspiration in Michigan
a beyond glam Chicago soiree to die for

Rain drops on roses, whiskers on kittens, and:

a DIY Pinwheel printable, perfect for the whimsy-est of affairs via Oh Happy Day
a bunch of sea glass (my new obsession for a winter wedding palette) inspiration via Camille Styles
a DIY tutorial for glitter stamped pears (!!!) via Project Wedding

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chelsea Nicole Photography, DIY Projects, Engagement Sessions, Engagement Shoots, Las Vegas, Mt. Charleston, Nevada, Snow, Wedding Inspiration, Weekly Wrap-Up, Winter, Wrap it up Pretty
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog

Click here for more inspiration in the full wedding gallery!

Ian and I are high school sweethearts and were excited to tie the knot in December after dating for almost 8 years! We’ve known we wanted to get married for a while but decided to pursue our goals first. For me that meant going to school in San Diego and getting my degree and for Ian it was becoming a firefighter paramedic. We spent 4 years driving to and from San Diego and Las Vegas every other weekend to spend time together. It wasn’t much fun at the time, but it definitely made us a stronger couple. We got engaged in front of our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve 2009 and instantly started making plans for our wedding!

We wanted to be budget conscious but still have a beautiful affair, so we opted to have our wedding at Cascada, a gorgeous country club tucked away in Boulder City just a bit outside of Las Vegas. We had originally wanted to get married in October but December meant non-peak golf season and non-peak golf season means much lower prices, so we bumped our date to December to be able to put the money saved towards others areas. Ian and I both really wanted our day to be laid back and not too traditional – especially not your traditional “Vegas” wedding. I’m an interior designer so I used some of my design and crafting skills to save us money by doing the planning myself, along with several DIY projects and the help of lots of wedding blogs. The control freak in me was happy to be able to craft many of our wedding details myself and with the help friends but I was also very grateful to find great vendors, like Chelsea Nicole Photography and Catherine with Layers of Lovely Floral, that were young, fresh, and knew exactly what I wanted.

A few DIY projects we took on to save money were the save-the-dates, invitation suite, programs, crossword puzzles, ceremony twine pomanders, blanket tags, the boys’ neck ties, refinishing an old trunk, escort card display, table numbers, menu, table runners, centerpiece vases, ornament favors, wood planks for centerpieces, tree guest book, my garter, doily sign, and most importantly the cupcakes-in-a-jar. A lot of our design inspiration was drawn from our love of nature, especially succulents. Our entire color pallet was taken from a photo I took on my phone of a bowl of succulents at Home Depot. I decided I wanted our wedding to be flowerless and Catherine executed that beautifully. We decided to use several types of weeds, fillers, wheat, pine flowers, balsa flowers and succulents to bring the vision to life. I found the antique bottles for the centerpieces at the Pasadena flea market. We also used mason jars which I borrowed from my MIL who has a MASS collection, 99 cent store cylinder vases, 99 cent store tea light candle holders and wood planks cut from our old trailer. We used all different types of shabby chic picture frames for our table numbers that I found at TJ Maxx, HomeGoods or Marshalls. We decided to make the ceremony very simple because the backdrop of the Vegas desert was so beautiful. I found a great little white table for $40 at the flea market that we put an old planter on, which housed our programs. We also found a great trunk at an antique store that held the fleece blankets. It was about 55 degrees and breezy during our ceremony so they were definitely necessary and very appreciated by our guests! We decided to buy a lot of things we could use in our house after the wedding, as well as using things we already owned. We literally took the picture frames off our wall the morning of the wedding and displayed them on the fireplace at the venue. Little things like that made such a huge difference when it came to the budget. We decided there were much more important things to spend money on! In the end, our wedding turned out more beautiful than I could have imagined but the best part of the day were the moments we shared with family and friends. Like, chasing around my nephew in my dress before the ceremony, the boys showing up in fake mustaches, my brother-in-law playing the guitar as we walked down the aisle, my choreographed dance to “My Girl” with my dad, our first dance, Ian shoving cake up my nose, and an impromptu rap performance by my brother-in-law and cousin. Those are the things that made our day absolutely perfect!

Wedding Photography: Chelsea Nicole Photography / Flowers: Layers of Lovely / Venue: Cascata Country Club / Wedding Dress: Tara Keely by Lazarro / Shoes: Seychelles / Hair Flowers: Forever 21 / Bridesmaid Dresses: Anthropologie / Bridesmaid Sweaters: NY & Co / Hair: Katie Stocks

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 36 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chelsea Nicole Photography, Desert, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Las Vegas, Nevada, Vintage
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired

click here for the full wedding gallery!

For months after our engagement my fiancé, Eddie, and I had procrastinated on planning the wedding. All that we were certain of was that we wanted a wedding in Las Vegas. We thought it would be nice for friends and family visiting from all over the world to enjoy a mini-vacation of their own. Who doesn’t like Vegas?! Aside from selecting a destination, planning a wedding seemed like a daunting process and we had no idea were to begin. I finally found inspiration in the most gorgeous pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. I pulled the gold and burnt orange colors from the shoes and began to design our wedding around them. My bridesmaids wore lustrous light gold dresses paired with custom freshwater pearl necklaces I designed for them. The necklaces included gold, champagne and copper colored pearls. For our wedding favors, I sewed luggage tags following a sewing pattern by StudioCherie that I bought on Etsy.com. I had never operated a sewing machine in my life, but I thought it would be fun to try. I felt it was the best way for me to create a meaningful wedding favor that reflected our passion for travelling and encompassed our personal style…unique and creative, yet practical. I chose a vibrant fabric with hues of orange and tied it off with a gold ribbon.

Suddenly, a mere 3 months before the wedding, Eddie and I were notified that the restaurant we had booked 8 months prior would be closing for renovations. Unbelievable! I desperately contacted my photographer, Chelsea Nicole, and asked for venue recommendations confident that with her great eye, she would know of the perfect place. And boy, did she pull through! Vintner Grill had amazing food, the restaurant’s modern and chic décor suited us perfectly, and the restaurant’s green and white motif complemented my wedding color palette completely. We even decided to add touches of green to our wedding invitations and programs (which we created and printed at home) and asked our florist, Naakiti Floral, to include the vibrant green in our arrangements. Just as I had found inspiration in my wedding shoes, Vintner Grill happened to be my second muse. The restaurant had an amazing outdoor patio which we were determined to make use of. So, during the reception, we had 3 stations set up outside for our guests to enjoy. An ice cream sundae bar, cigar roller, and wine tasting bar. The Ice Cream Sundae Bar featured 3 ice cream flavors and a huge selection of our favorite ice cream toppings which were displayed in charming ice cream sundae glasses. Eddie hired a master cigar maker from Don Yeyo Cigars in Las Vegas to roll cigars for our guests and I made custom match boxes with our names, wedding date, and monogram to accompany the station. Wine tastings were conducted by the restaurant’s sommelier and a wine decanter shaped vase filled with corks decorated the tasting table.

My favorite part of the planning process was working on the little details. And by hosting craft parties a few weeks before the wedding, I was able to add a lot of DIY touches to the ceremony and reception. Handmade cones with hydrangea arrangements adorned the pews of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, amusing custom crossword puzzles and Mad Libs sheets entertained guests, and escort cards made from Ferrero Rocher chocolates led guests to their table which was with hand painted table numbers. I made the table numbers using wooden numbers which I purchased on clearance from JoAnn’s Fabrics, painted a burnt orange color, and mounted on wooden blocks that I had painted white. It was a simple and fun craft project. Another detail I adored was the personalized “Mrs. Liang” hanger for my wedding dress which was made by the Etsy.com seller, lilafrances and is a wonderful keepsake gift given to my by one of my bridesmaids. The day was just bursting with delightful details!

The loss of our original venue proved to be a blessing in disguise. We were fortunate enough to have an amazing restaurant, a strong group of vendors, and loving friends and family to help us plan our wedding. It was everything we hoped our wedding would be…a bit alternative, modern, creative, and absolutely unforgettable!

Photography: Chelsea Nicole Photography / Hair and Makeup: Megan at Makeup in the 702 / Flowers: Naakiti Floral / Ceremony Location: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton / Reception Location: Vintner’s Grill / Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Custom hanger: Lila Frances

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 36 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Chelsea Nicole Photography, Christian Louboutin, Las Vegas, lilafrances, Makeup In The 702, Naakiti Floral Design, Nevada, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Vintner's Grill
Post categories: Contemporary, The Blog

LBB Photographer Chelsea Nicole sent in today’s featured wedding, shot on the VERY popular wedding date this year: September 9, 2009 … the marriage of Eva and Lukas at Caeser’s Palace in the Venus Garden in Las Vegas!

According to Chelsea … “The couple loves to travel and decided that Las Vegas was the perfect destination for their families to meet up ~ coming from Switzerland, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Canada! Before the ceremony, Eva and Lukas had a first sight, which allowed for some romantic alone time. After the ceremony, they had an intimate reception at Giorgio’s Ristorante with their closest family and friends.”

Other wedding vendors that contributed to their lovely day include Colleen with Posh Productions, The Palette ~ Floral Design Services, and Cake Designs.

How romantic! How incredibly fun!

A huge Congrats to Eva & Lukas!! And thanks, Chelsea for sharing with us!!

* * *

Chelsea is based in Vegas but is available for travel worldwide. To see more of Chelsea’s fun, vibrant and high energy photographic style, check out Eva & Lukas’ E*Shoot … And Gemma and Lee’s three-day wedding shoot on Chelsea’s blog!  Married: Gemma & Lee , Gemma’s Trash The Dress

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Caeser's Palace, Cake Designs, Chelsea Nicole Photography, Las Vegas, Nevada, Posh Productions, The Palette
Post categories: Destination, Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

Remember you can see all of the entries on our Color Palette section or our Contest section!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Art of Love, Bride's Cafe, Chelsea Nicole Photography, Lotus Jewelry, Wedding Fresh
Post categories: Color Palettes, Contests