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From the bride… My hubby Tim and I met 12 years ago at college in Indiana. We were just friends though. Fast forward a decade and a little thing called Facebook brought us together. He was in San Diego and I was in L.A., and after I took a weekend trip down to SD to see my old friend and sparks surprisingly flew between us, I knew I was toast. We got engaged after alternately driving every single weekend to one another for almost two years. And when it came time to pick a destination, we instantly chose the white, sugar sand beaches of Anna Maria Island in Florida.  My family uprooted there when I was 16, and this charming little island community holds such a special place in my heart.

Living in LA and planning a wedding in Florida was a challenge, but a fun one.  First thing we did was find a local coordinator, who turned out to be AJ Latteri at The Loft 5.  For over a year, she listened carefully to my vision, which was beachy-meets-Anthropologie, and we lobbed pictures back and forth of inspiration from the web and others’ weddings. She recommended our wedding location, the Limefish House, a rental beach house whose owners graciously allow weddings to be held there. I really wanted every guest to feel they had stepped into a mini vacation for the long weekend, and I wanted them to leave loving Florida like we do. The beach house was totally transformed into a romantic, whimsical and tranquil beach spot, courtesy of AJ, her team and the geniuses behind a new local Island design and wedding planning firm called Enna/Anne. These three local 20-somethings — Kyle, Lenna and Jeanne — are floral and design phenoms. They did everything from designing my invites and creating our photo booth to painstakingly organizing our flowers and other design elements.

For the bridesmaids, I chose a different Rachel Pally dress for each (8 girls total!).  I wanted their dresses to look like colors you’d see in a Florida sunset. At the end of the night, a trolley picked up all the guests wanting to keep the party going and dropped us off at a bar at the end of the Island. We had pizzas delivered there, and everyone danced and mingled with locals for the rest of the night! If I could give brides advice, it would be be to start looking now for unique finds to incorporate on your big day. My mom scoured local Goodwill’s and thrift stores for a year, collecting various vases made of beach glass, which we peppered around the house. And don’t be afraid to mix and match different elements — i.e. beachy/rustic/modern/traditional.  It’ll all come together in the end and have a vibe that’s different and unique. 

The bride is one of the bloggers behind,  Covet Living.

Wedding Photography: Joielala Photographie / Wedding Venue: Limefish House on Anna Maria Island, Florida / DJ: DJ Chris Grumley / Wedding Flowers, Invitations, Makeup, Photo Booth + Event Design: Enna/Anne / Event Planning + Catering: A.J. Latteri and Fusion Cafe of The Loft 5 / Sushi: Ocean Star Sushi / Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller / Brides Earrings: Rent the Runway / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Rachel Pally / Officiant: The Bride’s Uncle

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Post tags: A.J. Latteri, Anna Maria Island, Destination Wedding, DJ Chris Grumley, Enna/Anne, Florida, Fusion Cafe, Joielala Photographie, Lavender, Limefish House, Nicole Miller, Ocean Star Sushi, Orange, Pink, Rachel Pally, Rent the Runway, The Loft 5, White
Post categories: Destination, The Blog

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From the bride… I wanted to create a colorful rustic beach wedding theme with an Asian flair. My husband is half-Japanese and I really wanted to honor his heritage. After many months of searching online wedding blogs and googling beach weddings, I found little things here and there that worked for me and my vision.

I had always dreamed of being on a beach and saying “I Do” with the ocean in the background. My dream became reality November 5th, 2011. Destination weddings are only for the strong, imaginative, and trusting. You really have to trust that it will come together and take frequent deep breaths. I really wanted to incorporate a local feel in my big day. My fiance (now husband) and I ended up making our own centerpieces. Thankfully he is in construction because he made the rustic wooden boxes I wanted, and I stained them. We found local succulents and cactus that we loved and filled the boxes with sand and planted them. We put a small paper lantern on each box that really added a colorful touch. I also wanted to welcome guests with bags we had created online. Inside were local Mexican candies, natural Mexican juices, bottled water, hand sanitizers,  a local map and an event timeline. We found small cowbells while we were in La Paz that my fiance said we should put on each chair for the guests to ring for “the kiss.” They ended up being a big hit! I loved the idea of the guest book being on clothes pins and string in between palm trees at the cocktail lounge area. The cake was the topper for me and was made my father, who lives in Mexico. It was a passion fruit cake filled with passion fruit curd a mascarpone cream frosting wrapped in while chocolate. It was made with locally grown organic Mayacuya passion fruit. We enjoyed a small wedding party of a few close relatives. All of the little touches were perfect and it was more beautiful then I imagined.

We ended up making it a wedding weekend filled with events to be talked about for a lifetime. We had a welcome dinner the day before at my father’s restaurant. Guests enjoyed freshly-made brick oven pizza! It was a great opportunity for the wedding group to mingle — the high desert location on a landscaped patio with luminaries surrounding the dining area made for a magical night. The casual post-wedding brunch was also at my father’s restaurant. He prepared an amazing chile relleno frittata (a spin off of my grandmother’s recipe) and fresh fruit. It was a great way to end an unforgettable destination experience.  

Wedding Photography: Brooke Beasley Photography / Wedding Venue: La Concha Beach Resort in La Paz, Mexico / Wedding Dress: Casablanca Bridal (Style #2005) via Glamour Closet / Shoes: Bandolino (Jillie) via Zappos / DJ: Adan Mijares of DJ Mijares / La Paz Wedding Planner: Ana Fernandez / Decorations: Inspired by Luna Bazaar / Hair + Makeup: Alisse Galde of Daredevils & Queens Salon (707-548-8319) / Ceremony Programs, Customized Menus, Poem Cards, Welcome Bags, + Table Numbers: Printed via Zazzle / Welcome Dinner + Post-Wedding Brunch: Cafe El Triunfo (Chef/Owner Marc Spahr is the Bride’s Father)

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Post tags: Adan Mijares, Alisse Galde, Ana Fernandez, Bandolino, Brooke Beasley Photography, Cafe El Triunfo, Casablanca Bridal, Daredevils & Queens Salon, Destination Wedding, DJ Mijares, Glamour Closet, La Concha Beach Resort, La Paz, Luna Bazaar, Marc Spahr, Mexico, Orange White, Pink, Zappos, Zazzle
Post categories: Destination, Destination Weddings, Mexico Weddings

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From Erin of erin jean photography… The bride and groom wanted a day that was filled with their closest family and Italian romance. It was a ideal day, and I truly feel only the photographs can tell you the real story. Positano was the destination dream for these two from Chicago. Maggie studied abroad in Italy and wanted Marcus to see the land she fell in love with.  They were wed in the local town hall that had hundreds of years of history evident everywhere. It overlooked the small fishing village of Positano, Italy, and the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian ceremony words were translated for the family and could not have been more meaningful. They spoke of equality and valuing each other more than I have ever experienced at any wedding before. After some photo fun, we headed up the long and winding mountain roads to their dinner/reception. It was complete with true Italian food brought out course by ENDLESS course. Oh, and wine!  Lots of wine! The night ended with an Italian band singing all the classics, Maggie and Marcus dancing under the Positano sky, and the fishing village twinkling with lights below them. I hope you enjoy this wedding as much I did!

From the Bride… For us a nontraditional wedding was inevitable. Our wedding day would represent us in many ways, the first and most important being that the setting would be an intimate, family-focused affair. We also wanted to have a blast and relax! What better way to guarantee a fun-filled adventure than a vacation to Italy? Neither of us had been to the Amalfi Coast or Positano, which became our wedding destination. We came to this decision after countless hours on TripAdvisor and wedding blogs such as Style Me Pretty. In truth, most of the details of our wedding rested in the paperwork, not very fun or romantic to be sure. After weeks of research, several trips to the Italian Consulate in Chicago, a trip to the US Embassy in Rome, and a final trip to the Prefeturra, Rome, we were on our way to a marriage certificate at the end of our adventure abroad. We opted for the traditional Italian civil vows, and the Mayor, or Civil Registrar, performed the ceremony.

Between the paperwork bottlenecks, we were able to plan the normal details of a wedding. The bride, groom, and our 15 guests stayed at Hotel Savoia, which boasts a short walk to the beach and a warm staff. We chose La Tagliata in Montepertuso for our reception venue, as the views of Positano’s coast are to die for! The food is the reason we will go back: a five-course, family-style Italian meal fit for kings. Positano as the backdrop spoke for itself. Its sheer, unadulterated beauty did not need much in the way of decor. The day came together beautifully. It was at once spontaneous and calm, and more than we ever hoped for. The people of Positano embraced us, and we felt so much love as we traipsed around town with Erin Jean Photography capturing all the lovely images of the day. Our family made this time so special, and we are honored by their presence at our wedding and lifetime of support. My grandma made the journey with us at the age of 84! We are forever grateful to her for her generosity, encouragement, and constant love. She passed away two months after our wedding, and we feel so lucky that she was a part of our celebration and our lives.

Wedding Photography: Erin Hanson of erin jean photography / Wedding Ceremony Location: Town Hall in Positano, Italy / Wedding Reception + Restaurant:  La Tagliata / Wedding Gown: Essere for BHLDN / Bride’s Shoes: Nordstrom / Groom’s Suit: J.Crew / Groom’s Accessories: Paul Stewart / Wedding Invitations: DIY, with materials from PaperSource / Envelope Liners: Maps by Cavallini / Officiant + Interpreter: Rosa Pauli Luypen of Civil Ceremonies in Italy / Wedding Party Hotel: Hotel Savoia

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Post tags: BHLDN, Cavallini, Civil Ceremonies in Italy, Destination Wedding, Erin Jean Photography, Essere, Green, Hotel Savoia, Italy, J. Crew, La Tagliata, Nordstrom, Papersource, Paul Stewart, Positano, Rosa Pauli Luypen, Town Hall
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Destination, Destination Weddings, Italy Weddings

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From the Bride… We wanted to make our wedding as personal as possible and began with a “key” motif for our stationery — the key to our wedding & our hearts. This lead to our theme, which was our favourite things from all across our lives. We outlined the theme in several ways, through our table names, our Italian newspaper-styled menu and our escort cards. Since we had guests traveling from across the UK to celebrate with us for the 3 days we were there, we wanted everyone to leave having met new friends. The newspapers were a fantastic way to get everyone talking at the tables. We included a light-hearted quiz about ourselves, a “baby how far you’ve come” feature with baby photos of the wedding party, a beautiful Celtic blessing that the best men read, the story of how we met along with what was on the menu!

Our two pugs, Louis and Mungo, are very special to us so we drove to Italy for the wedding so we could bring them to celebrate with us. They dressed for the day in black bow ties and featured heavily in the event and photography! We went for a fairly neutral colour palette of blush and taupe as we had such a beautiful setting we wanted to stay in keeping with the tone of the venue. With the bridesmaids in floaty romantic dresses and soft, full David Austin roses in blush and cream with deeper pink snow berries and green foliage. My bouquet consisted of cream David Austin roses and peonies, my favourite flowers.

We followed the service with aperitivo on the upper terrace and in the villas main reception, where guest where offered, prosecco, beer and soft drinks along with canapes of game pate, mozzarella, tomato and basil, olives, prosciutto and salmon pate. During aperitivo we were entertained by three traditional Italian musicians, singing the classics and moving through the guests. Following this we moved into the marquee for the wedding breakfast, where we dined on a traditional menu of spinach & ricotta crepes, wild boar tagliatelle, asparagus chicken and mille foie as our wedding cake.We drank prosecco and Il Borro’s own red and white wine which was delicious. During dinner we were entertained by the fabulous singing waiters who began by pretending to be waiters and announcing a lost item, this was followed by a sung disagreement and a crescendo of the most amazing singing I have ever heard sung live. They had guests laughing, cheering and dancing by the end of their performance. For the speeches we toasted with vin santo and amaretti biscotti which is a tradition we have created amongst our families on our trips to Italy. It was truly a weekend that exceeding all of our expectations and more. I was really pleased at how much people appreciated all the small touches we had put so much time and effort into. We are so grateful to our families for making it happen and supporting us.

Wedding Photography: Morlotti Studio / Wedding Venue: Il Borro / Food + Bar: Lenci Caterers / Entertainers: Three Singing Waiters, DJ + Singer / Bongo Player: Booked through Liz Taylor of TLC Events / Three Italian Performers with Harpsichord: Booked through Love & Lord / Wedding Dressing, Flowers + Legal Arrangements: Love & Lord / Wedding Dress: Blue by Enzoani / Bridesmaids Dresses: French Connection / Dogs Wedding Outfits: Puppia / Wedding Stationery: Louise Richardson / Hair & Makeup: Erika Swinn & Becki Matthewman

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Post tags: Blue by Enzoani, Destination Wedding, French Connection, Il Borro, Italy, Lenci Caterers, Liz Taylor, Louise Richardson, Love & Lord, Morlotti Studios, Pink, Puppia, Purple, TLC Events, Tuscany
Post categories: Destination, Destination Weddings, Italy Weddings

From Rendez-vous in Paris … Cristina & Philip are a young, dynamic and up-and-coming couple from New York. Part of Philip’s family is French, so what better place than the countryside of Paris, to celebrate their wedding?

They started the weekend in Paris with a casual dinner for 150 guests, overlooking the Seine River at sunset on Friday night. The tone was lively with a light roasting session and plenty of sweet speeches.

The following day, the couple had rented out a private car in a Parisian train, and all the guests travelled to a quaint town to be dazzled by a gorgeous French Chateau that has been in the family for years. The ambiance was lively on the train, as ‘gouter’ lunch boxes were distributed, containing individual-size wine bottles, baguette sandwiches and fun French desserts.

The guests were greeted by waiters with French Rosé Champagne produced by a private Champagne vineyard. As a clin d’oeil to the Royal Wedding, the couple welcomed the guests from the Chateau balcony and surprised them with a Royal kiss from the window! The unique ceremony with no officiant, was held on the Chateau steps and involved the families and friends of both the Bride and Groom. Once the couple had broken the glass, they immediately announced their marriage on Twitter!

Following the ceremony, the guests enjoyed a cocktail of all local foods, Normandy Pear & Apple wines & cocktails, Fresh lobster & oysters, foie gras made just down the street and served on little sweet toasts…

We then invited the guests to cross the Chateau into the brightly decorated tent, with exquisite florals by a friend of the bride. The table names written on slate and tied with a bow, were very meaningfully named after cities of Nicaragua, the country from which the Bride’s mother comes. With colorful decorations, and dancing between each course, the night was a party never to be forgotten!

As the guests left for home, in the wee hours of the night, they were served crepes and frites accompanied by a very old armaniac offered by the groom’s uncle.

The next day, guests were treated to a copious Brunch on the front lawn, and enjoyed their croissants in the sun before taking off to the airport.

In keeping with their French wedding, the couple honeymooned on the sumptuous French island of Corsica – dramatic cliffs and idyllic mediterranean beaches marked a romantic closing to a perfect wedding weekend.

Wedding Planner: Rendez-vous in Paris / Photography: TimCo. Photography & Julie Brewer Photography / Floral design: Ashley Greer, The Enchanted Florist / Catering: Auberge du Vieux Donjon / Chateau: Private residence, contact Rendez-vous in Paris for possible rental

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Post tags: Auberge du Vieux Donjon, Chinese Lanterns, Color Palette Green White, Destination Wedding, Eiffel Tower, France, French Chateau, Glamourous, Jewish Wedding, Julie Brewer Photography, Outdoor Ceremony, Rendez-vous in Paris, Tented Reception, The Enchanted Florist, TimCo. Photography, Wedding Planners & Designers
Post categories: Destination, Little Black Book Blog

Pierre-Alexandre and I met the modern way. We found each other online. Living in the Bay Area and working in Silicon Valley for two tech titans (Google + Microsoft), it’s no surprise that the Internet would bring us together. We shared a wide-ranging curiosity about the world and a natural compatibility. A love of French language and culture from both sides definitely added to it too! After a few months of being “just friends” we couldn’t deny there was something much more, and soon after we were talking of getting married.

My father had passed away when I was young and I had warned Pierre-Alexandre that if he wanted to marry me he should ask my mother for permission according to Vietnamese custom. On Christmas day last year, unbeknownst to me, Pierre-Alexandre had decided he was ready and was trying to find time alone with my mom to ask her but couldn’t due to all the busy festivities. So my mother – a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and a traditional Vietnamese mother ready for her daughter to be married – forced the matter in front of the whole family during Christmas dinner, “I see that you two are very close. I’d like to know where this is going.” With tears in his eyes Pierre-Alexandre calmly responded “Mrs. Pham, you beat me to it by a few minutes. I love your daughter and with your blessing would love to spend the rest of my life with her.” Luckily my mom and I are very close and I can laugh now at how memorable my engagement was as she essentially proposed for us! Pierre-Alexandre did give me a chance to actually say yes a few days later when he surprised me with a beautiful trip to Big Sur where we got formally engaged.

Then came the question of when and where. We decided to have two weddings to accommodate both of our Vietnamese and French cultures and families. We planned for a small traditional Vietnamese wedding in April in Hawaii where my mother lives and a larger wedding in France in August for our friends and Pierre-Alexandre’s family. Yes, two destination weddings! We definitely could not have managed to pull off our French wedding without the help of Marie-Emilie Mejan, our wedding planner from Mon Plus Beau Jour. We worked with her over email and Skype and we’re so glad that we found her as she was excellent in taking care of all the details and making sure our wedding was everything we wished.

Our wedding was held at the beautiful Chateau d’Esclimont. What girl doesn’t dream of getting married in a castle? And this 15th Century Renaissance style chateau came complete with towers, turrets and stone bridges that carried us over an actual moat! 40 kilometers away from Paris and enroute to Versailles, the Chateau d’Esclimont was perfectly situated for both of our guests traveling from afar and for those living in France. We also loved that our wedding package came with a magnificent newlywed suite and 13 rooms so we could invite our friends and family to stay as well.

We had a “castle casual” vision for our wedding, something elegant but down-to-earth. The vibrance and richness of a pinkish-purple (it was so hard to match and describe this color!) was balanced with more natural hues of cream and taupe. I wasn’t a huge fan of the traditional French wedding cake called a “piece montee” because of it’s drab choux cream puff color and consistency. But a modern take of it made with macarons in our wedding colors from the famed Fauchon bakery was just perfect!

We wanted an outdoor wedding and were delighted to discover a giant plane tree on the grounds of the chateau next to the pond. We knew we wanted to have our ceremony under it and trees became a central theme of our wedding. We like the symbolism of trees, as they represent having strong roots and branching out as a new family. Trees also symbolize strength, flexibility, growth and renewal through the seasons to us. We chose a different tree for each of our tables. Our wedding favors were also aboreal with plantable seed cards embossed with a tree. And of course, this being France, we had to have the traditional dragees (jordan almonds) which are always present at weddings and baptisms! We found a wonderful, unique pouch with twig branches to hold these and placed one at each seating.

Perhaps one of the most memorable aspects of our wedding was simply the fact that it actually was held outside. My heart sunk the morning of my big day as it rained heavily. At noon blue skies appeared and my hopes soared, only to be dashed again when the rain picked up after a few hours. My mom later told me that she had prayed to my father and asked him to make this day beautiful for his daughter’s wedding. I love this story, because miraculously, the rains stopped just 30 minutes before the ceremony was to start. One and Only Paris Photography did a wonderful job capturing the magic moments of the day. One of my favorite photos is of me on my cellphone making an executive decision call to Marie-Emilie that we would have the wedding outside after all and not go with Plan B! I love that our photos have a fresh, soft sunlight look to them as you would never guess that it was pouring just moments before!

Neither of us are religious but we are spiritual and we wanted a ceremony that would be meaningful in all aspects. We added a lot of symbolic touches to our wedding to involve our friends and family. We had a fully bilingual wedding with my close friend Virali officiating in English and Pierre-Alexandre’s cousin, Francois-Xavier, translating in French. We wrote our own vows and had our rings passed around to each person for a blessing. And to symbolize our “tying the knot” we incorporated a Celtic handfasting
ritual carried out by our mothers to bind the ties around our hands and our hearts. Finally, to add one more touch of magic, late in the evening (French weddings last til 4am!) we went outside and had our guests light sky lanterns that floated out ethereally into the night. It was spectacular to see the night sky lit up with the hopes and wishes from our loved ones for a beautiful life together.

We look back and feel again the awe, beauty and happiness of that day!

Photography: One and Only Paris Photography and Le Secret d’Audrey / Wedding Planners: Mon Plus Beau Jour / Gown: Marisa / Shoes: Nina Shoes / Location: Château d’Esclimont / Hair and Makeup: Lexi Derock / Wedding Cake: Fauchon / Invitation Designer: My Gatsby / Favors: Plantable seed cards from Botanical Paper Works / Candy: mariages.fr

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Post tags: Botanical Paper Words, Castle, Chateau, Chateau d'Esclimont, Color Palette Blue Pink, Destination Wedding, Destination Weddings, Fauchon, France, French Chateau, Le Secret d'Audrey, Lexi DeRock, macarons, mariages.fr, Marisa, Mon Blus Beau Jour, My Gatsby, Nina Shoes, One and Only Paris Photography, Outdoor Ceremony, Outdoor Weddings, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Destination, Little Black Book Blog

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From the Bride… Christian and I had been together for 3.5 years when he proposed to me in Venice last June. We both knew that we wanted our wedding to be inspired by Italy, and Venice in particular — the food, the wine, the atmosphere. The first major decision we made was the photography. I had seen Corbin’s work on several blogs before and I knew I wanted her to photograph our wedding no matter what — we felt a strong connection with her work. Finding the right stationery designer was a bit more difficult, I wanted it to be both sophisticated and whimsical, yet not childish. Not an easy task!  Finally I discovered Holly Hatam of Teardrop Weddings and she designed an invitation suite based on our Venetian engagement. The dress was easy — I saw the Lela Rose dress, and it fit perfectly to the theme with its quirky floral embroidery.

I gave our florist a moodboard and a rather loose description. I wanted the flower arrangements to look like an upscale version of having been to the Rialto Market in Venice and picked up some seasonal fruit, veggies and flowers and just placed it all beautifully on a stand. I made little jam favors as escort cards and had custom made hard candies as well for favors. I used Etsy a great deal to find little things that would help make the day complete, like the custom cookies and the cake stand.

From Corbin Gurkin…I was absolutely delighted to get Marie’s inquiry for her wedding in Copenhagen – she never would have guessed this when stumbling upon my website, but I already had a lifelong connection with Denmark having grown up with a Danish au-pair. I have always been completely enamored with the culture there. I had been to visit Copenhagen, but never for a wedding, and was absolutely thrilled when Marie and Christian brought me over for their fall nuptials. What I found to be so wonderful was that Marie and Christian had spent a lot of time looking at wedding blogs for inspiration and I just loved how they incorporated Italy (where they were engaged) into the decor in a subtle way – wine tones, fruitful arrangements… Marie and Christian were married in the Citadel church – a fantastic area of Copenhagen not far from the famed Little Mermaid statue, and with its windmill and vibrant red palette, this location was a photographers dream! The reception followed at a nearby restaurant that faced the water and the evening was full of the most sincere toasts (lots of them as is the Danish custom!). Their puppy Mimi also made an appearance! The love that day was just so palpable!

Photography: Corbin Gurkin Photography / Florist: Malene Christensen / Wedding Dress: Lela Rose / Shrug: Ivy and Aster / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Hairpiece + Veil: Sarah Gabriel / Groom’s Suit: Ralph Lauren Black Label / Groom’s Shoes: Prada / Reception Venue: M/S Amerika / Cookies: SweetAmbs / Cake Stand: High Tea for Alice / Cake Topper: Lollipop Workshop / Cake: Nikolaos Strangas / Hard Candy Favors: FusionSweets / Bridesmaid Dresses: Acne + Vivienne Westwood Anglomania / Best Man’s Suit: Hugo Boss / Invitations: Teardrop Weddings

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Post tags: Acne, Anglomania, Christian Louboutin, Copenhagen, Corbin Gurkin Photography, Denmark, Destination Wedding, FusionSweets, High Tea for Alice, Hugo Boss, Lela Rose, Lollipop Workshop, M/S Amerika, Nikolaos Strangas, Prada, Ralph Lauren Black Label, Sarah Gabriel, SweetAmbs, Vivienne Westwood
Post categories: The Blog, Traditional Elegance

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From the Bride… When Rogerio and I decided to get married, Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro was a natural choice for the venue (actually, since I was a teenager I had been dreaming of tying the knot here). This historic luxury hotel is just beautiful and the surrounding landscape is breathtaking… It is located in the north of Portugal, between the city of Braga and the Gerês mountain range, and results from the restoration of a former Cistercian Monastery of the XII century, in a remarkable work of the 2011 Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto Moura. Since many guests were coming from other parts of the country and abroad (US, UK, Italy and Netherlands), we booked the whole hotel for them to stay overnight. Another easier choice was Brancoprata. I had been following this team’s work for quite some time, and knew they provided the services we wanted with the best desired quality: invitations and paper goods, flowers and styling, photography and babysitting were services we booked all at once, which made the whole wedding planning a lot easier.

One of the most creative parts for us was planning the ceremony. Both Rogerio and I had never attended a non-religious ceremony in Portugal… However, with some guidance from the (most amazing) officiant, we came up with an idyllic ceremony. We can’t even describe how it feels to have your most loved friends singing in choir accompanied by a piano…

Since it is always a treat to eat in this historic hotel, choosing the menu was probably the hardest task in the whole wedding planning! Dinner was served in the cloisters, as well as the wedding cake, which just felt magical… In the old kitchen wing, surrounded by giant hearths under a soaring ceiling, guests enjoyed dancing, drinks and a photo booth with several props that kept everyone entertained all night. As wedding favors for our guests, we offered plants and local honey, a traditional product from Gerês mountains. Overall, our wedding day was like we were dreaming of: relaxed, fun and memorable.

Wedding Photography: André Teixeira of Brancoprata / Bride’s Headpiece: Miira / Bride’s Shoes: The Seller / Bride’s Bouquet: Bloom Flores /  Wedding Dress: ModelNovias / Stationery, Paper Goods + Event Styling: Sofia Ferreira of Brancoprata / Floral Design: Brancoprata / Venue + Catering: Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro / Music: DJ Motinha

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Post tags: Amares, Bloom Flores, Braga, Branco Prata, Destination Wedding, DJ Motinha, Green, Miira, ModelNovias, Orange, Portugal, Pousada de Santa Maria do Bouro, The Seller
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog