Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog

Friday’s FAB Finds ~ From Holland Photo Arts

Eddye — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:05:57 +0000

I have a confession to make …. every once in awhile, I get overwhelmed looking at all the lovely Real Weddings submitted to us every day {gasp – dare I say that out loud?}. I run out of adjectives and I can’t find anything really new or really different to show you {one more huge gasp and exclamation point!}.

That’s when I go hunting. Hunting for those photos that for what-ever reason … just resonate in me ~ happy or sad, dramatic or simply sweet. 100% of the time, our hand-picked LBB members have so many pictures of THE most interesting people, places and things ~ and I am lost on their sites for hours! I think I travel, vicariously, thru them and their journeys!

Another confession … every once in awhile, I even venture onto their Facebook and Twitter pages. Ahhhhh …. social networking. Still a tad bit foreign to me!

However … I did stumble upon (ha!) Anne & Bill Holland’s new “Friday’s Fab Finds“ and wanted to give them a shout! Here’s the intro to this newest adventure of theirs…

“As many of you know and can see in our work, we absolutely adore shooting weddings. We also love reading about them! In our copious amount of “research”, usually via magazines and blogs, we often come across ideas that we love, but have wondered how best to share them with you. So welcome to the first installment of Friday’s FAB Finds! Each and every Friday we’ll be sharing some of our favorite and fun ideas, as well as featuring some of couples’ ideas. We love getting our clients invitations in the mail prior to the wedding, so we may feature a couple of our favorites here, too. Lastly, as an extra bonus, we’ll often include one of our favorite fabulous wedding vendors (and venues) that we’ve have the pleasure of working together … Enjoy and see you next Friday!

An excerpt from this week’s Friday’s Fab Finds from the Hollands ~

Lately we’ve been seeing more and more couples getting creative with their chosen wedding readings. Corinthians certainly has its place, but unique ceremony readings can be very special, as well and can often better define you as a couple. What a wonderful thing and certainly a trend we like seeing. Your wedding should reflect you as a couple. Who wants a cookie cutter affair for their big day?!? Jennifer & Briggs, who married this past Fall, chose an increasingly popular excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams.

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?” “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real.” “Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit …

You’ll have to go to Anne & Bill’s blog for the rest of that classic reading!

A few more pics from their blog … one of their fabulous finds!

Info about these CUTE button place cards {DIY} on their first Friday’s Fab Finds . Photo by Eric Cable.

And … the increasingly popular photo booth shoots!

LOTS more fun features on Anne & Bill Holland’s website and blog …

More from my wanderings a little later on …

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Post tags: Button Place Cards, Eric Cable, Friday's Fab Finds, Holland Photo Arts, The Velveteen Rabbit
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography, Wedding Resources

Real Wedding: Lauren and Lincoln, V

Abby Larson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:30:40 +0000

Here is a last look at the gorgeous real wedding that we are featuring today. Getting a peek into a vendor’s wedding is perhaps one of the best ways to really understand how the details can make a wedding completely shine. Lauren brought touches of herself and her fiance into every element and the end result was nothing short of lovely…

Photography ~ Seeing as Lincoln and I are both photographers, it was also important to us that our wedding was well documented. We hired the talented Eric Cable to photograph our wedding. We also had a photo booth set up in the bar area for guests to use at their leisure. This was a hit! Not only was the photo booth fun for guests, but they were able to take home prints from the booth that night. A fabulous and unexpected favor from the evening!

Other photo-related details include our table names. Lincoln and I decided to name our tables after our favorite photographers. We also had photo books of each of these photographers set out on the coffee table for people to peruse during the evening. Our table cards were printed photos taken by each of the photographers.

We also framed photos of relatives who either had passed away or who were not able to make it to the wedding and had them sitting on the fireplace mantle and around the dining area of the Inn. It really made the dining area feel more like home.

Music ~ I cannot say enough great things about Echo Jazz Trio, the jazz band that played during our cocktail hour and dinner. Ross Seligman, the Trio’s guitar player, also played during our ceremony recessional and processional. For the dancing portion of the reception, one of our friends created a personalized Ipod mix for us. It kept the dance floor packed and was a perfect option for the Inn’s smallish dance floor.

Wedding Planner ~ About 4 months before the wedding I realized that I was going to need some help planning and arranging details for our wedding. I was in the middle of my wedding photography season and was feeling extremely overwhelmed with work and wedding planning. I had been referred to Carmen Bailey by another photographer who had worked with her as a photographer at a few weddings. Carmen was awesome. I wish there were photos that depicted how amazing she was throughout the planning process as well on the day of our wedding. I highly recommend hiring a planner, even if it’s just for the day-of. It really made such a huge difference for me and Lincoln, especially since our family and all of our wedding party was from out of state.

Thank you so much to Lauren and Lincoln for sharing their day with us! It has left me feeling all cozy and in love. And, if anyone needs more Lauren inspiration, check out her gorgeous blog for total eye candy.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Echo Jazz Trio, Eric Cable, Lauren Brooks
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance

Real Wedding: Lauren and Lincoln, III

Abby Larson — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:00:15 +0000

I am totally smitten with Lauren and Lincoln’s wedding. Cozy, warm and so intimate, it is the epitome of what a wedding should be. And whether it was the timing of the photographs, the weather or simply the Oregon sky, this next set of images shot by Eric Cable is pure gorgeousness….

From the lovely bride, Lauren…

Fashion ~ When dress shopping, I only went to one bridal salon, AniA Bridal, in downtown Portland. I ended up buying the third dress I tried on. I didn’t know what I wanted when I went shopping but knew the minute that I tried my dress on that it was ‘the one’. It is a fluted Alvina Valenta gown made from silk shantung with Guipire lace trim. I had a bolero made out of the Guipire lace – it was lovely. I decided not to wear a veil but instead made a hairpiece by deconstructing a necklace from Banana Republic and wiring the broach-like jewelry to a hair comb.

Choosing bridesmaids dresses was a challenge. I had 7 bridesmaids and wanted them to feel comfortable in their dress. I chose the designer, color and fabric and let each of them choose the style. The crocodile-green color looked surprisingly good on everyone and the girls said that they felt very comfortable. As a gift, I bought them all sage-colored wraps to help keep them warm. I also found wonderful jewelry designer on Etsy. She had a lovely red fern pendant necklace in her collection and I bought one for each bridesmaid as well as Lincoln’s sister, our groomswoman.

Lincoln and his groomsmen rented espresso-colored suits from Mr. Formal in Portland. We bought satin fabric that matched the bridesmaid dresses had the groom and groomsmen’s ties custom-made. Lincoln gifted each of his groomsmen hoodies – one of his favorite articles of clothing and a must-have in the Pacific Northwest.

Family and Friends ~ The most memorable part of our wedding day was, of course, the love and support or our family and friends. We wanted to include them as much as possible in our wedding celebration since they’ve had such an impact on who we are today. We really saw our wedding as not only the union of the two of us, but also the joining together of all of our friends and relatives.

Lincoln and I decided that we both wanted our parents to escort us down the aisle. We did a ring-passing ceremony, where our mothers gave our wedding rings to our wedding party members. Our wedding party then passed the rings to one another, offering a silent blessing before Lincoln and I exchanged the rings.

At the end of our ceremony, each of our parents stood and offered a blessing. My dad and stepmom read the Art of Marriage, my mom read ‘Two Happy Lovers’ by Pablo Neruda and Lincoln’s parents offered some valuable words of advice about love and marriage.

My maid of honor is a talented singer and one of Lincoln’s groomsmen is a talented guitar player. Several months before the wedding, we asked if they would be interested in singing and playing our first dance song. They agreed and, man, was it great! The best part is that a friendship between the two blossomed out of the whole thing.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alvina Valenta, AniA Bridal, Banana Republic, Eric Cable, Lauren Brooks
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog, Traditional Elegance