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From My Simple Details … With the Mary Katherine and Mike’s love for wine, the groom’s background near the Finger Lakes and the bride’s Maryland and Northern Virginia background, we planned a wine tasting/show-off between Northern Virginia wines and Finger Lake wines with a sommelier during cocktail hour. With the bride’s love for Maryland crab cakes we also planned for a crab cake station for dinner and for the groom, a special Primanti Bros. station.

The unique alter area was made from antique wood wine holders, lots of blue wine bottles and Holly’s florals. Since both the couples initials are MK, the MK2 theme was present thoughout the event with wood carved and letter elements. Other unique details included the wood slice wine tags with hand calligraphy for guest favors that we hung on twine during cocktail hour. Cheese and chocolate food paring for the wine tasting during cocktail hour, a wine barrel lid lasy susan that was imprinted with their last name and the date and used as the guest book with permanent paint pens. Some of the centerpieces also included wine crates with the lids slid partially open to elevate blue candles in glass mason jars on the lids. Invitations were fabric with sunflower design and natural brown paper envelopes.

Venue: Murray Hill / Event Planning & Design: My Simple Details / Floral Design: Holly Chapple Flowers / Catering: RSVP Catering / Photography: Tara Welch Photography / Photography, Second Shooter: Vicki Grafton Photography / Transportation: Reston Limo / Musician: Chris Dunn, Classical Guitar Ceremonies / DJ: DJ Pgee / Sommelier: Lucinda Smith

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Post tags: Casual Elegance, Chalkboards, Chris Dunn, Classical Guitar Ceremonies, Color Palette Blue Yellow, Color Palette Purple Blue, Corks, DJ Pgee, Holly Chapple Flowers, Leesburg, Lucinda Smith, Murray Hill, My Simple Details, Outdoor Ceremonies, Outdoor Weddings, Potomac River, Primanti Bros, Reston Limo, RSVP Catering, Short Gowns, Sommelier, Sunflowers, Tara Welch Photography, Tented Receptions, Vicki Grafton Photography, Virginia, Water, Wine Corks, Wine Themed, Winery
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog

Are you ready for the most amazing wedding story we’ve seen in a long time?

My wedding day is every bride’s worst nightmare. What transpired on that picture perfect Friday afternoon was nothing short of a miracle. The beautiful pictures you see depict not what I imagined it would be, but what I wouldn’t trade for the world. After all, behind all the glitz and glamour of a modern day wedding, is it not really just about two people vowing to love, cherish and honor each other for the rest of their lives? Well that’s the lesson, unfortunately, I learned the hard way.

The dreaded call came in around 1:00PM on Friday, August 26th, the day before Hurricane Irene was predicated to hit the coastal towns of New Jersey, and just FOUR hours before my wedding ceremony was scheduled to begin. Due to the “red alert” and evacuation orders issued for Atlantic City, our five-star venue was forced to cancel our wedding ceremony and reception… I can still hear the words “Your event has been cancelled” ringing in my diamond-clad ear. For as most brides know, four hours before your ceremony begins, your hair has been coiffed, your makeup has been perfected and you are trying to relax while sipping on your mimosa.

So what do you do when your dream has been crushed? Well, most families may regretfully inform the guests of the unfortunate news. However, as you can see by the pictures, we’re not like most families. I remember the moment so vividly. My sister, and maid of honor, looked at me frankly and said, “What do you want to do? You know, we’ve always said someone should get married at Lynette’s house.” (Lynette is a close family friend with an AMAZING outdoor landscape.) And that was all took…

The ball was rolling. Our families frantically took to the phones, rerouting the minister, ordering chairs, trying to piece together some semblance of a ceremony. The most amazing moment was when we pulled up to the house, having no idea what our wedding would look like, and seeing the beautiful ceremony space arranged on the lawn and the smiles of our friends and family. You can see by the pictures, they did an amazing job!

When you’re in the throes of planning the big, glamorous wedding affair that you dreamt of, it is so easy to forget the real meaning and purpose behind the day. We were blessed with the wonderful reminder that it is not really about the venue, or the 5 course meal, but rather being surrounded and supported by the people that care for you as you embark on this journey called marriage with the one you love the most!

Photography: Kay English Photography / Cinematography: Lucky Productions Cinematography / Flowers: Gerads Florist & Decorator / Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas / Cake: The Bake Works / Wedding Gown Designer: Marisa, from Bridal Garden / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Jessica Simpson Designs / Hairpiece: portobella

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 69 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Atlantic City, Beach Wedding, Bridal Garden, Chuppah, Color Palette Purple Blue, Dogs, Etsy, Gerads Florist & Decorator, Hurricane Irene, Hydrangeas, Jessica Simpson, Jessica Simpson Deisgns, Kay English Photography, Lucky Productions Cinematography, Marisa, New Jersey, portobella, Rainbow, Roses, Starfish, The Bake Works, Water, Water Wedding, Watercolor, Wedding Cinematography, Wedding Paper Divas, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Cinematography

Joe proposed while on vacation in Turks and Caicos. Our first night on the island, Joe insisted that we take a stroll on the beach before dinner. I was extremely hesitant (it was dark out!) and hungry (everyone knows how stubborn I get when hungry), but reluctantly I agreed. He suggested we take a picture with his brand new camera, so he walked over to a beach lounger to set up the automatic shot. As he walked back towards me, I noticed the red light wasn’t blinking – which meant it wasn’t actually taking a timed picture. Little did I know, he was recording the whole thing! Just as I was about to yell at him for setting it up wrong, he got down on one knee and recited all of the reasons he loved me, and then (of course) asked me to marry him.

Part of our inspiration for the wedding comes from the origin of the diamond he proposed with. The diamond is a family heirloom from his great-grandmother’s 1920s art deco-inspired cocktail ring. So as we started the whole planning process, we were focusing on a classic, old-hollywood vibe. The first and only venue that we visited was the historical Don Room at El Cortez. Located in Downtown San Diego, El Cortez has hosted some of the finest old-hollywood stars including Clark Gable and Ginger Rogers. Once we took at look at the 24-karat gold ceiling, we were hooked!

After we chose the venue, I couldn’t believe how fast things started to unfold! I knew from the minute Joe proposed, that I would need some wedding planning help, so I turned to Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book and found Susanne Duffy from Crown Weddings! She was excellent and helped make my dreams turn into a reality. And more importantly – the actual day of the wedding felt flawless. After hearing some of my poorly thought-out decorative ideas, she pointed me in the direction of Tam Ashworth at Isari Flower Stuidio. Tam was able to read me like a book and extract what I was envisioning for my big day like a mind-reader.

Our top three priorities for the wedding were photography, food and music. And we could not have ended up with better vendors for each of these. John Schnack, our photographer, captured our day exquisitely and gave us some of the most beautiful memories to look back on. Barry Layne from Coast Catering designed a mouth-watering menu for us including New Zealand lamb, macadamia nut-crusted sea bass and a dessert bar filled with Baileys shooters and peanut butter chocolate bombs. The band, NDEMAND, was the biggest hit of all! Our friends and family (young and old) were able to rock out on the dance floor. I swear it felt like we were at a private concert.

Wedding Coordinator: Susanne Duffy, Crown Weddings / Florist: Tam Ashworth, Isari Flower Studio / Caterer: Coast Catering / Church: St Josephs Cathedral / Hair and Makeup: Love Struck Makeup / Photographer: Schnack Studios / Venue: El Cortez / Ceremony Music: Caprice Strings / Cocktail Music: Anthony Garcia Flamenco Guitar / China, Glassware, Silverware: Event Party Rentals / Linens, Napkins, Furniture: Concepts Event Design / Wedding Cak: Twiggs / Lighting: AV Works / Dinner Music: Jordan Entertainment, N Demand / Invitations: Brightly Designed / Dress: The White Flower Boutique / Transportation: Avant-Garde

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anthony Garcia Flamenco Guitar, AV Works, Avant-Garde, Ballroom Weddings, Bouquets, Brightly Designed, California, Caprice Strings, Centerpieces, Chandeliers, Coast Catering, Color Palette Purple Blue, Concepts Event Design, Crown Weddings, El Cortez, Event Party Rentals, Isari Flower Studio, Jordan Entertainment, Love Struck Makeup, NDEMAND, Old Hollywood, San Diego, Schnack Studios, St. Joseph's Cathedral, The White Flower Boutique, Traditional Elegance, Twiggs, Valentino, Vintage Chic, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, Wedding Planners & Designers
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Vintage Chic

After that little sneak peak, I’m sure you’re dying to jump right in to the Super 8 from Blossom Productions. So here we go!

Chrissy & Joe: Cape May Wedding from Blossom Productions on Vimeo.

From Blossom Productions … Chrissy wanted the vintage, timeless look of film woven throughout her video because she not only loved how it looked but also because it created a feeling of nostalgia. As filmmakers, capturing the sights and sounds of the day are incredibly important. If we can also capture the actual emotion, then that is the icing on the cake.

Chrissy’s father passed away when she was a young girl and many memories of her father occurred in Cape May. She had a locket containing his photograph attached to her bouquet. As we were filming all of the significant, BIG moments, we made sure to capture the not-so-obvious, yet incredibly meaningful, small details. The locket was one of them. In some ways, her dad was with her every step of the way that day.

For all of the thought, energy, and time that went into making sure the day went as planned, these two were also about fun and spontaneity. It was a hot out and on the way to shooting formals on the beach, Chrissy and Joe shared a Slurpee. I don’t know many newly, married brides who’d be daring enough to drink a cherry (bright red!) frozen drink while wearing a white wedding dress!

Chrissy and Joe also understood that there’d be very few occasions in life when the people who meant the most to them would all be in the same room for celebratory occasion. Knowing Chrissy’s past, preserving these memories for her came with an even greater responsibility to do it all right-and for having that opportunity, we were honored.

Photography: Laura Eaton Photography / Cinematography: Blossom Productions / Flowers: Manic Botanic / Event Planning & Design: Proud to Plan / Ceremony Location: Our Lady Star of the Sea / Reception Location: The Grand Hotel / Cake & Desserts: Pink Cake Box / Wedding Gown Designer: Pronovias / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Bari Jay

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bari Jay, Beach Wedding, Blossom Productions, Cape May, Color Palette Purple Blue, Laura Eaton Photography, Manic Botanic, New Jersey, Our Lady Star Of The Sea, Pink Cake Box, Proud to Plan, Provonias, Summer Wedding, The Grand Hotel, Wedding Cinematography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog

photographs by Steve DePino and Jim Altieri

From the lovely bride…

We chose colors that complimented the colors of the water. Our florist, Elisabeth from Studio Blush, created a beautiful, classic look using mainly white flowers with hints of purple (my favorite color). The arrangements on the long rectangular tables were mainly single bloom arrangements in square vases and all the bridesmaids carried white bouquets also made of single blooms. My bouquet was all different types of purple flowers and wrapped in the lace from my Lela Rose gown-it was gorgeous! There were candles everywhere to keep the lighting very natural. My Mom filled the large fireplace with hurricane lanterns with sea shells and other freestanding candles which was very impressive.

We worked with Judy Paulen designs at Bloomingdales for all of our invitations and save the dates and then personally designed the menu and programs with help from family friends, Rex and Wendy Walden. We printed them locally and kept the theme of using the Sachem’s Head Yacht Club etching on the menu (as we did on the Save the Date). I designed the escort card display so it would cover up an ugly corkboard in the entryway to the ballroom using linen fabric and ribbons in different purple patterns. My friend, Amy, helped with all the calligraphy on the invitations, escort and seating cards. We created seating card holders out of wine corks.

LOVE!! Thank you so much to Steve DePino for sending this lovely wedding our way! Coming up, we’re announcing the winner of the latest Crate and Barrel giveaway.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Butter by Nadia, Christian Louboutin, Color Palette Purple Blue, Connecticut, Cupcakes, Guilford, J. Crew, Lela Rose, Purple, Sachem's Head Yacht Club, Steve DePino, Studio Blush
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance

From the gorgeous bride…

Matt and I always wanted to have our wedding at a place that was really special to us and that represented who we are as a couple. I grew up in a small Connecticut shoreline town called Guilford that is absolutely beautiful in the springtime and so we decided to hold our wedding ceremony there at the First Congregational Church. We held the reception at the Sachem’s Head Yacht Club where I spent all my summers growing up. In recent years, Matt has also spent many summers at the Sachem’s Head Yacht Club and we have many memories there together. It definitely took a lot of effort and teamwork, but we pulled off the wedding of my dreams.

The bridemaids all wore dresses from Butter by Nadia in tones that matched the ocean-purple, navy and slate–and I gave them lucite earrings and bracelets in all different colors, shapes and sizes to fit their personalities. The dresses were amazing and you could tie them in all different styles which my girlfriends loved. Matt and his wedding party wore ties from J Crew Liquor Store in New York and charcoal pants from the same place.

More on the way!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 25 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Butter by Nadia, Christian Louboutin, Color Palette Purple Blue, Connecticut, Guilford, J. Crew, Purple, Sachem's Head Yacht Club, Steve DePino
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance