First … the winner of the suite of letterpress invitations from Love At First Invite is … Susan (#34)! In her comment she said, “Thanks so much for this post. I’ve seen so many posts about “affordable” letterpress, but this is the first time that I looked at the website and actually thought, “wow…that might actually be possible for us.” I know so many brides would love to have gorgeous letterpress invitations, but they are just not in the wedding budget. Thanks, Cathy for finding a way to pass on this little luxury to us (and thanks Abby for telling us about it)! All that said, my favorite is Dotted. It’s not only uniquely beautiful, but those tiny dots just scream for letterpress–the texture would be amazing!” Congratulations Susan. We’ll be in touch.  For those of you who didn’t get in on the Style Me Pretty Sneak Peek of the new “Ready To Love” invitations, heed Susan’s words … they’re letterpress, they’re lovely, and they are totally affordable. Cathy, the super-talented creator of Love At First Invite, was so pleased to read all of your thoughtful answers, that she is extending a runner’s-up prize to ALL those who entered. She is offering all the contestants FREE table numbers with the purchase of any invitation package. Just contact her via her website.

Next Order of Business … Our incredibly talented Little Black Book Vendors have been sending us tons of Real Weddings and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to post them all! With Valentine’s Day and love and romance in the air, we want to show you as many Real Weddings the rest of this week as we can. To save time, we’re not going to elaborate on all the details … we’ll mainly be showing you lots and lots of weddings. Please … submit your comments and we’ll be sure all your questions get answered!

So onto our Valentine’s Week Wedding Blitz …

Our first wedding is from Little Black Book photographer Agnes Lopez, photographing weddings in Ponte Vedra Beach, Amelia Island, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and Georgia’s Golden Coast!

A great old-fashioned love-story … Christienne + Justin

from Christienne …

“Justin and I met in chemistry class our junior year of high school. We never had the same circle of friends, but we always had one or two classes with one another. Naturally, I had the typical teenage crush on him back then! We struck up a friendship the summer before our big college move, and everything just fell into place. From the moment I first laid eyes on him, I always knew that I wanted to be with someone like him, but I never thought that it would actually be him!”

“Our wedding was hosted at Club Continental, an historic Mediterranean-style estate located on the banks of the St. John’s River, Orange Park, Florida. The location was a great choice for us as there was no mistaking the Old World elegance I wanted to produce for our wedding. To work with the natural beauty of the club, I chose an earthy theme for our event, so our colors included chocolate brown, shades of green, and hints of yellow, orange, and red. Our ceremony décor was very simple. With a view of the river and grand oak trees behind us, what more could we need?”

“We saved money by reusing the floral elements of the ceremony (including our bouquets) as table centerpieces or to dress up the dance and food areas. It wasn’t necessary to spruce up the receptions areas, either, since the interior was already attractive on its own. I added touches of our personality wherever I could. We had a Polaroid guest book, and our favors were candy-filled Chinese take-out boxes tagged with Moo mini-cards of our favorite engagement photos. Since the majority of our guests were out-of-towners, I had caramels specially made with a typical Floridian flavor – key lime!”

photography by Agnes Lopez

“To add texture, we splurged on pin-tucked linens for our tables, and I spray-painted leaf-shaped candle holders that would serve double-duty as table numbers. I also wanted to employ fabric in some way, and our table chart was a fabric-covered cork board (to make it easier, I bought inexpensive pre-stretched canvas, glued cork to it and wrapped/stapled fabric over it).  The dining area for our guests had recently been expanded and renovated. Due to this, the fire code hadn’t yet been officially approved, so our wedding coordinator was sorry to inform me that we couldn’t light any candles in there! I don’t think it took away from the ambience at all because the low lighting and glass walls worked to our advantage. If anything, it made the area more intimate.”

Congratulations to Christienne & Justin from all of us at Style Me Pretty!

Wedding Coordination by  Cassandra, Flaire Weddings & Events; Bridal Gown – “Tia” by Augusta Jones, Love Bridal Boutique; Make-Up Artist: Kimtasha Armstrong

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Post tags: Agnes Lopez, Augusta Jones, Club Continental, Color Palette Brown Green, Florida, Love Bridal Boutique, Mediterranean Style, Old World Elegance, Orange Park
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance