Remember to check out our new Destination Guide if you are planning a destination style wedding!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Belathee Photography, Destination Guide, Greece
Post categories: Cultural Beauty, Wedding Photography

A few more pictures from this incredible wedding are on their way!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Belathee Photography, Destination Guide, Greece
Post categories: Cultural Beauty, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography

From the oh-so-cute bride…

The day-after photos were inspired by our idea to take wedding photos with the vintage plane Ruggero flies.  Upon realizing that there would not be enough time for such photos on the wedding day, we decided it would be fun to do it the following day.  Our wedding photographer, Lauri Levenfeld, was very enthusiastic about the idea and provided great suggestions, so we asked her to photograph the second day as well.  To add to the vintage feel, I wore the wedding suit and pillbox hat my mother had worn for her wedding in the 1960’s.  We also located vintage suitcases to add to the backdrop.  The classic Austin Healy we had borrowed for the weekend fit right in with the theme.  The plane is kept at the Santa Rosa airport, where the historic hanger provided a perfect backdrop for the photos.

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Post tags: Destination Guide, Destination Weddings, Lauri Levenfeld, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Wedding Photography

More details from the bride…

During the ceremony, the officiant, a retired judge who is a family friend and who also happened to be my trial advocacy teacher in law school, remarked that our first encounter reminded him of the song “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific. This inspired our friend Matt, an extraordinarily talented singer, to perform the song for us later in the evening, since he coincidentally had the track for it in his car.  He was hesitant to do so at first, since it had not been planned, but when he heard the last lines of my toast, which happened to mirror the last lines of the song, he decided he could not let the opportunity pass.  It was one of our favorite moments of the evening.

My fiance’s coworker lent us a 1966 light blue Austin Healy for our wedding getaway car. During the cocktail hour we hopped in the car and drove down the long tree-lined driveway leading to the estate to share a few moments together and take photos. 

The Bridesmaids/ Flowers Girls Dresses:

The bridesmaids wore espresso silk tricotine dresses in various styles from J. Crew.  Ruggero’s, my fiance’s daughter, was the Junior Bridesmaid and wore a white Us Angels dress with a chocolate brown sash.  The five adorable flower girls wore white dresses with green sashes from Us Angels. 

The Dress:

My dress was designed by Christos and was made of silk organza.  At my request, the tailors at Saks Fifth Avenue removed the train and painstakingly moved the lace that had been on the train onto the back of the dress, so I could move around easily in it and not drag the train on the gravel.  It ended up being incredibly comfortable and perfect to dance in.  Ruggero bought his navy blue lightweight wool suit by Belvest from Wilkes Bashford, and wore a green tie and dark brown Bruno Magli shoes.

The fun didn’t stop here…the couple had Lauri help them with an INCREDIBLE photo shoot after the big day. Stay tuned!

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Post tags: Christos, Destination Guide, Flower girls, JCrew, Lauri Levenfeld, Napa, Saks Fifth Avenue, US Angels, Wilkes Bashford, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Wedding Photography

But, that isn’t really what this guide is about. Although all of the vendors listed will travel far and wide, wherever your wedding may take you, they will also travel twenty minutes outside of town to the cute winery near your house or an hour down the road to a great resort. To SMP, destination weddings simply mean that they aren’t in your own backyard. They are usually weekend weddings, those where guests stay to enjoy the scenery and of course, the company.

One of my favorite photographers within the Destination Guide is none other than Lauri Levenfeld of Zoom Photography in San Francisco. And this wedding…just thirty minutes outside of San Francisco in Napa Valley, is a beautiful reflection of Lauri’s talents.

A few details from the bride…

We both wanted a destination wedding, but also wanted some place close enough to the Bay Area that guests could either enjoy a full weekend of events or just come for the day.  We also envisioned a wedding set entirely outdoors, both for the ceremony and reception.  As soon as we visited Beaulieu Garden, a private estate located in Rutherford, in Napa Valley, we knew it would be a perfect setting for our wedding.

We wanted an elegant, classic, and joyful wedding.  Our focus was on enjoying a delicious meal and wine with our family and friends, surrounded by vineyards and beautiful flowers.  Our guests sat at long banquet tables, and the first course of organic heirloom tomatoes (grown by Paula Le Duc on right on the grounds) and mozzarella, prosciutto, marinated baby artichokes, roasted gypsy peppers, and olive oil poached prawns with preserved Meyer lemons was passed family- style, in fitting with our shared Italian heritage.

We named the tables after our favorite ski areas where we had skied together or separately, with our table named after the mountain where were engaged.  And since we love dark chocolate, we chose as our favors to have Recchuiti chocolates in small white boxes tied with green ribbon personalized with our names.  The square three layer wedding cake from Perfect Endings was covered with fresh white flowers.  It had three flavors – chocolate with chocolate butter cream with fresh raspberries, vanilla with chantilly butter cream with fresh raspberries, and lemon with lemon curd filling.

More to come from this beautiful wedding!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 1 comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Destination Guide, Little Black Book, Napa, San Francisco, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Wedding Photography, Wedding Resources, Wedding Style

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 1 comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Christian Oth, Destination Guide, Little Black Book
Post categories: Featured