A sneak peek at a super cute wedding we have coming up for next week. Photograph by Caroline Ghetes.

Enjoy these pretty posts and we look forward to seeing you on Monday!

Wedding Photoshoot Dream Team = Jessica Claire, Duet Weddings and Flowerchild
A  sunny California wedding with BRIGHT orange bicycles
DIY Candy Poppers by Posh Paperie and Jackie Wonders
A charming wedding in the Lone Star State. (Love this venue!)
Elysium’s brand new demo reel is wedding cinema at it’s finest…
Adorable ideas for a bridal shower, by A Simple Photograph
A bring and vibrant tablescape by Dish
“Luxe on the Farm” was the perfect vibe for Lori Schulweis from Regis and Kelly!
“What is yellow, grey and modern all over?”
An artsy wedding in Nashville, with an impressive list of DIY projects!
Classic Elegance in California, complete with a great love story…
Wedding in South Africa that screams, “FUN!” You won’t believe the bride’s white denim dress!
A rose colored dress at a rustic ranch. Click here to swoon.

Fun links from around the web:

Three generations of wedding ettiquette for the bride (so sweet!) via Ritzy Bee
Wedding Inspiration from Van Gogh’s, “Starry Night” via Junebug Weddings
Fresh DIY table garland via oh happy day
Kentucky Derby Inspiration Board via Postcards and Pretties

XOXO Libby

And now for the winners!

Earlier in the week, Silpada Designs hosted THIS fabulous contest! Congratulations to Teresa who has won the grand prize as well as very special surprise to Kristian! Silpada wants to make sure that you receive the necklace that reminds you so much of your Nana  We will be in touch with both of you shortly, so you can get your jewelry!

For those who are still interested in learning more about Silpada Designs, please sign up here, to receive a free catalog and information on how you can earn your own free jewlery by hosting a party with friends!

Remember THIS fabulous giveaway from Franklin + Gower? The lucky duck winners are Nora Lisman and Brian Zimbler from Brooklyn, New York! They have won eight full wedding outfits for their upcoming nuptials September 5 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Congrats you two!

And last but certainly not least, the winner of the fantastic Dallas Shaw Custom Illustration Giveaway is…drumroll please… Rachel Kerrigan. Congrats Rachel!

For all of you other lovelies, fear not. As an extra special treat, Dallas Shaw is offering 15% a custom bridal illustration to all readers who place an order by May 15th. To receive the discount, simply contact Dallas directly at Dallasshawdesign@gmail.com to request your own custom illustration!

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Post tags: Contest Winner, Wrap it up Pretty
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{click here to see the full wedding}

The wedding was held in September with the ceremony at the Ethel Walker Chapel and reception following just down the road at Hopmeadow Country Club. It was a cocktail-style reception with tons of hors d’oeuvres and many different stations for guests to choose from.  The bride was very detail oriented and hand-painted white pumpkins with their monogram, plus brought in all of her own jar luminaries from her father’s glass company.

Overall Meghan wanted the wedding to have a very organic, rustic and earthy feel to it.  She used the ivory cotton linens provided by the reception site and added burlap squares for texture, color and feel of rustic New England.  Her bouquets were hand-tied bouquets of white dahlias, white button mums, seeded eucalyptus and white mini calla lilies along with white snowberries.  Simple boutonnieres were created using white/creamy color dahlias.  The which paired beautifully with the gentleman’s tan color suits.  I would say this wedding had a little bit of a preppy feel to it with the bridesmaids gowns, the stunning stationery and the ties the bride chose for the gentlemen.  She wanted a really fun atmosphere and a lasting impression on her guests.

Photography: Joyelle West Photography / Flowers: Jessica’s Country Flowers / Event Design: Jessica’s Country Flowers / Jar luminaries: AB container, Massachusetts / Ceremony Location: Ethel Walker Chapel, Simsbury, CT / Reception Location: Hopmeadow Country Club, Simsbury, CT / Cake and cupcakes: The Cake Gypsy / Invitations: Jillian Sullivan / Dress, Jacket and accessories: Felicity Couture / Bridesmaid dresses: Coren Moore

* * *

And now, the winners! The lucky two couples who will be receiving a full wedding giveaway (we’re talking flowers, gowns, photography, cakes, invitations, the works) are…

Wedding One: Floral Design: Jessica’s Country Flowers / Photography:  Justin and Mary Marantz / Event Planner: Details Wedding & Party Planning / Invitations: Stonington Paperie / Cake: Lovely Cakes / Gown: The White Dress by the Shore and designer Modern Trousseau / Dancing Pen Calligraphy / Styling: Sandra Downie Beauty / Cookies: Cookie Creatives / Showers & Rehearsal Photography: No Eye Has Seen / Catering by Emily’s Catering Group

Wedding Two: Floral Design: Jessica’s Country Flowers / Photography: Steve De Pino Photography / Event Planner: Sixpence For Your Shoe / Invitations: Paper Olive / Cake: Toria Dolce Fine Desserts / Gown: The Plumed Serpent / Dancing Pen Calligraphy / Styling: Sandra Downie Beauty / Cookies: Cookie Creatives / Showers & Rehearsal Photography: No Eye Has Seen / Catering by Emily’s Catering Group

Again, a HUGE congratulations to both couples. We could not be happier for each of you.

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Post tags: Connecticut, Contest Winner, Hopmeadow Country Club, Jessica's Country Flowers, Joyelle West Photography
Post categories: Contests, Traditional Elegance

Perfect favors by Grapevine. See more goodness in Paperie for Inspired Living!

This week on Style Me Pretty:

“Vintage romanticism meets eclectic detailing” at the Smog Shoppe!

A family DIY affair in Virginia – complete with antique furniture and homemade peach jam…

A modern wedding in Texas, with a stunning color palette of ivory, graphite and black

Dream Team – Chewing the Cud and Elizabeth Messina’s latest venture

Reader Favorite: A backyard wedding; filled to the brim with cost cutting tips!

” I grew up on the farm where I was married.”  Sigh… Don’t miss this Oklahoma wedding

Inspiration to Reality – The Board —— > The Reality!

Fun posts from around the web:

Ode to letters! Via Green Wedding Shoes

Swimwear with vintage flair via Anthropologie (My favorite is… all of them.)

The sweetest pop up placemats! via What Junebug Loves

* * *

I know you’ve all been anxiously waiting to hear the winners for this weeks giveaways. So without further ado, here they are:

The winner of the Grapevine Invitation Discount is Kourtney.

The two lucky winners of the Elum Invitation Giveaway are Angie Galle and Casey.

And finally, the winner of the M. Flynn Giveaway is Amber Rae.

Congratulations to each of you and thank you SO much to all the extremely generous vendors and everyone who participated!

XOXO Libby

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Post tags: Contest Winner, Elum, Grapevine Invitations, M. Flynn, Weekly Wrap-Up, Winner
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From Christine…

Happy New Year!  We spent the holidays reading through the many entries for Part I of our Swarovski Unbridaled Book Giveaway. Being in the invitation business, we loved hearing about all of the creative and memorable invitations that have been received out there. We especially enjoyed the ones where something unique about the event and/or something personal about the sender was used to create the invitation. So, after much consideration, we selected the entries from the following lovely ladies who will enjoy 194 pages of absolute gorgeousness!  Stay tuned for Part II of our giveaway in just a few short weeks!

The lucky new owners of this unbelievably beautiful book are: Jen A., Tracey, Elizabeth Birchmore, Colleen, Erin G., Taylor, Anna McBath, Emily (etk), Cori Cook Floral Design, Jes, Stephanie (sugr), Carla, Laura D., Cara, Jessica S., RHOOC Bride,  Julia, Elva, Angel~DIYUnveiled, Marita. We will be in touch with you very shortly!

We’ll bring the rest of you the second part of this giveaway in a couple weeks!

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Post tags: Contest Winner, RedBliss, Swarovski, Winner
Post categories: Contests

Board Credits Include: Dress by: Sarah Seven / Jamee Photography / Ritzy Bee / Lisa Lefkowitz / Custom Event Group / Constance Zahn / Layla Grayce

All you Style Circle members made it incredibly difficult for our vendors to choose… so many stunning, unique boards. Boards so full of gorgeousness that it made me want to get married all over again (to the same guy of course).

The fabulous team of vendors behind this shoot will be Cynthia Martyn Events Inc., Sash & Bustle Boutique, Photography and Video by Mimmo+Naz, Stationery by Bella Invites, Cake by Cake Opera Co., and Fuscia Designs doing florals… and we’re tickled pink to see what they come up with.

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Post tags: Bella Invites, Cake Opera, Color Palette Red, Contest Winner, Cynthia Martyn, Fuscia Designs, Inspiration Board Contest, Mimmo + Naz, Sash & Bustle
Post categories: From Inspiration to Reality

First up, the winner of the Crate and Barrel giveaway. This lucky readers wins ALL FOUR of these Crate and Barrel products, Wustoff Knife Set, Nambe Salad Bowl, Bamboo Utensil Set, and the Infinite Cookware Set.

Congratulations to Jess who said…..

This IS the best giveaway ever! Why do I love Crate & Barrel!? Let me count the ways: I love all things kitchen! The gadgets and gizmos a plenty, the amazing platters to display my culinary collections, sauces and recipes to help me create my fabulous feasts! What more could a person ask for??? and on top of that there is something- scratch that- many many somethings to furnish every other room in my house in a timeless way! In a way that makes people who walk into your home think “I want my home to look like this.” It doesn’t get any better than that!

Make sure to stay tuned because next week we’re going to announce the winner of the $4000 Crate and Barrel shop card!

***

Next up, one lucky reader is going to receive 100 personalized holiday cards from Hello! Lucky. Now let me tell you, it was practically impossible to choose just one. Seriously, this was incredibly difficult. There were so many heartfelt, clever, sweet, and above all, very personal stories, that my heart nearly burst.

In the end, we couldn’t resist this entry from Charlene….

After a couple years of dating, and several trips to his hometown of St. Paul, Derek finally took me to the Minnesota State Fair. As a California girl, born and bred, I could barely contain my excitement! Cheese curds?! Mini donuts?! Anything I could ever possibly want to eat….on a stick?! Minnesota State Fair, where have you been all my life? After an eventful morning of pig-petting at the Miracle of Life Center (Baby animals! Be still, my beating heart!), Derek and I made our way across the campgrounds, to meet up with his family. Still amped from my encounter with the infant farm animals, I didn’t think twice about Derek bending over to tie his shoe. When I finally acknowledged his bended-knee position, he was holding my grandmother’s ring (Precursor to the story: I had told Derek that, if ever should he decide to propose to me, I wanted to use the same ring that my grandpa gave to my grandma, during WWII).

Derek:
Me: “What is that?”
Derek: “Your grandmother’s ring”.
Me: “What are you doing?”
Derek: “Asking you to be my wife”

And cue the water works. Now, this is the part of the story where Derek likes to tell people that I “snatched” the ring from his hand and placed it on my finger like a greedy little child (possibly true; I was in a daze), but I am pretty sure I let him slip it onto my finger. Either way, we were both shaking and crying, kissing and hugging. That night, my brand new fiancé won me a big stuffed Garfield, and we gorged ourselves on cotton candy and saltwater taffy.

When we got back home, Derek tacked the fair map to our wall and placed a pin in the area where he proposed – the exact middle of the fairgrounds! Not slightly to the left. Not slightly to the right. The exact center. We also found out that Derek’s grandfather had proposed to his grandmother at the Minnesota State Fair! I can’t wait to go back the fair, next year!

So sweet, really. Congratulations Charlene and Derek!

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Post tags: Contest Winner, Crate and Barrel, Hello! Lucky
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Board designed by Megan Shuler. Credits include: Karen Wise Photography, Jose Villa, Jose Villa Photography, and Caroline Ghetes.

So head on over to the Style Circle and start building the board of your dreams. To enter your inspiration board, create your design by this Wednesday and make sure to title it INSPIRATION BOARD CHALLENGE #5 . You need to have a Style Circle account to get started but it’s super, super easy. So if you haven’t already signed up, click here. For the rest of you…can’t wait to see what you come up with! We will be debuting our last challenge on Wednesday!

And if you are entirely confused, not to worry. We’ve summarized the incredible new feature right here.

* * *

And lastly, after a busy few days, it’s FINALLY time to announce the winners of last week’s contests! So jealous of these goodies… and this is just the beginning, so much more to come throughout the week. So without further ado, we are pleased to announce all of our lucky readers…

First up, we have the winner from the fabulous Crate and Barrel Thanksgiving inspired contest… this bride wins the king of cool kitchen gadgets, the truly awesome Cuisinart Griddler. Congratulations to Debbie who said…

We just set up our SMP/C&B wedding registry! My fiance wasn’t convinced that we needed to register there, but I showed him some fabulous C&B items online and he agreed that we needed to set one up!  Some of our must- haves on our actual registry:

1. Cuisinart Hand Mixer 5 Speed White: for all my mixing and baking needs… a must-have for the holidays! 2. Electric Fondue 3 qt.: Imagining all the yummy dips I can make with this! 3. Zojirushi Rice Cooker: Definitely a must-have in this household– rice is a staple here! 4. Assam Glass Tea Press: For snuggling with my fiance on cold winter nights.

* * *

Next, we had the fantastic giveaway from Chewing the Cud who is generously gifting TEN of their adorable fabric gift wraps to our winner, Leah who said…

I love the “give luck” fabric and it would fit so well with my wedding. We’re getting married on a ranch and it’s all about the fresh, local food (sorry, I see little piggies and think yummy). Plus we’re have a horseshoe pit at our cocktail hour and I’m making napkins for the reception from vintage linens I’ve been collecting that the print would complement well.

Congratulations Leah!

* * *

Twobirds bridesmaids winner will be updated in just a few! for one of our lucky readers. So many options, these truly are the kinds of dresses your girls can wear after the wedding. Congratulations to Lauren who said…

Well I would love to tell you the ones I love and why…First I would like to say they are all amazing…and second my girls are all beautiful and they each have their own body style! That’s why I love each of the following!

I love… “Elizabeth” for Adriane, My maid of honor/sister! She can work anything and I see her working the “Elizabeth”…side note: her middle name!!
I love… “Caroline” for Jessica, the little peek of the back would be something she would be comfortable and amazing in!
I love… “Annie” for Lindsey, this is definitely her style and she would wear it well!
I love… “Jane or Marissa” for Lydia, love the back and she can work it!

* * *

We’ll be in touch with all winners very soon. Thank you everyone for participating and a HUGE thanks to twobirds bridesmaids, Chewing the Cud, and Crate and Barrel.

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Post tags: Chewing The Cud, Contest Winner, Crate and Barrel, twobirds bridesmaid
Post categories: Contests, From Inspiration to Reality

But first, (I know, I’m torturing you) another HUGE thank you to our extraordinary vendors for getting involved with this ridiculously awesome giveaway and thank you to all of our wonderful readers for participating. Over 700 responses and amazing reasons for choosing your dream destination… we wish that you all could win.

It’s with great pleasure that I announce our winner, Heather, who said:

My dream destination would be New York City (in the winter) for many, many reasons. Although NYC isn’t a sunny, tropical, typical “destination”, for me New York stands for everything romantic, vibrant, and cultured. It is where my fiance took me on a whirl-wind, mid-week, day-trip and suprised me with an engagement – by far the best and most memorable day of my life! In the winter when the snow is sparkling against those skyscrapers, it is more romantic than anywhere I’ve ever been…I’m almost getting goosebumps thinking about it! The city is so alive with its architecture, food, and people, that we both get a feeling there that we get no where else in the world. We are both huge foodies…reading about and researching chefs and restaurants, trying to learn how to cook like the masters, and where better to experience the best of the best? I have a love affair with New York. My fiance and I enjoy the city and our weekend trips there so much that we both find ourselves missing it if it is too long between visits! I think that a destination wedding in New York would be the ultimate destination for us because we consider it “our” place and has been part of so many of our most cherished memories.

* * *

Heather has won a 1 hour consultation with event goddess Alison Hotchkiss and a signed copy of her book Destination Wedding Planner, 100 free destination wedding invitation sets from Hello!Lucky, a gorgeous seasonal cup set from Heath Ceramics, a $75 gift certificate from Napa Style, and a free wedding photography consultation with seriously talented, Thayer Alison Gowdy. She will also be staying for at the beautiful Bardessono Hotel and dining at Bottega Restaurant in Napa Valley for 2 days for… FREE.

Congratulations Heather!

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