Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog

Austin Wedding by The Nichols

Abby Larson — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:00:29 +0000

Now THIS is a Style Me Pretty wedding. Aside from being ALL about the pretty, the drop dead gorgeous bride (who looks like a celebrity that I just can’t pinpoint) designed a day that was literally overflowing with SMP style details. The Keep Warm tags that we did for Libby’s Nashville wedding, the anthropology meets garden inspired design, the printed handkerchief invitations. The everything, really. But what I love most is the thought, the romance, the elegance behind each and every one of those details. And who better to photographs such gorgeousness than The Nichols. Oh and guess what. We’re just getting started. You can click here to see so much more.

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

When our wedding coordinator, Beth at 36th Street Events, asked Kyle and me to choose just 3 words to describe how we wanted our wedding to be, we toyed around with beautiful, classy, unique, quirky, elegant, rustic, antique, joyful, and romantic. But we just couldn’t get the following three words out of our head: magical, whimsical, and happy. These words were the driving force behind our decisions. And, as it turned out, we ended up with a touch of everything!!

After we were engaged, someone told me that “the invitation sets the tone.” I took that very seriously. I scoured the internet and local paper shops for an invitation that would not only set the tone, but would also be something I loved to look at for years to come. I was so bored by everything I saw- nothing was whimsical, and nothing made me feel happy. Just when I was about to give up hope and order traditional invites, I found these dolls from Lucky Luxe. It was love. And that set everything in motion. We invited our guests to the wedding with a handkerchief that read “dinner, dancing, and merriment to follow” (whimsy) and a return postcard that mentioned being there “with bells on.” The responses never ceased to make us laugh.

We then completely customized our wedding ceremony. I think we spent just as much time molding our ceremony as we did on reception details. We were married outside at our beautiful venue, Laguna Gloria. Lili, our flower-dog, gave everyone a good chuckle when she hurried down the aisle with a huge pink peony attached to her collar. My sister read “Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog,” my grandfather spoke from the heart, and Kyle’s dad ended the ceremony with 3 wishes for our future. It was heartwarming, perfect, and completely meaningful to us. After the ceremony, we stole away for a private 3 minutes to exchange personal vows. I highly recommend this. It was a very sweet moment between us—lots of happy tears.

Our flowers were out of this world – the Posey girls (as I like to call them) used vintage milk pitchers, mason jars, mercury glass, lanterns, and antique wine glasses to show off their combinations of light pink peonies, hydrangeas, dusty miller, wax flowers, and astilbes. The overall effect was an “Anthropologie inspired garden party.” Can we say whimsical? My bouquet was wrapped with lace from my mom’s veil and she let me borrow a beautiful vintage cameo that my dad had given her. The bridesmaid’s petite bouquets were wrapped in twine with pearl accents. I loved merging the rustic elements with classic touches.

We had family style seating underneath a large oak tree. It was so romantic and my favorite part of the night was looking out over all of our guests chatting over candlelight. It felt like a huge thanksgiving dinner! We reserved one table for our wedding party and set the table with a mix-match of antique dishes my mom and I picked up at the Round Top antique fair. We set little notes at each table… we couldn’t tell our guests enough how much we love them.

At the end of the night, we quite literally skipped away to the sound of all of our friends ringing bells. We both feel that it was the absolute happiest day of our lives. We were overwhelmed by how loved we felt and how full of love we were! After 8 months of planning and gushing over Style Me Pretty posts, we pulled off our very own fairy-tale wedding. It was magical. It was whimsical. It was happy. And it was also a dash of everything else we could have ever wanted.

Wedding Photography: The Nichols / Wedding Venue: AMOA – Laguna Gloria / Wedding Coordinators: 36th Street Events / Floral & Event Design: Posey Floral & Event Design / Cupcakes: Hey Cupcake! / Calligraphy: Bailey Amon of Amon Design Studio / Hair: Sasha Lemay of Lemay Studio / Event Rentals: Marquee Event Group / Wedding Invitations: Lucky Luxe / Custom Place Cards: Paper Place / Ceremony Music: Strings Attached / Reception Band: The Original Recipe Band / Wedding Dress: La Sposa via Alexa Gavela Bridal / Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 24 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 36th Street Events, Alexa Gavela, Amon Design Studio, Anthropologie, Austin, Balloons, Garden Party, Hey Cupcake, Laguna Gloria, Lanterns, Lemay Studio, Lucky-Luxe, Marquee Rentals, Mason Jars, Milk Pitchers, Original Recipe Band, Paper Place, Peach, Pink, Posey Events, Strings Attached, Texas, TX, Vintage Chic, Whimsical Wedding Details
Post categories: Whimsical

Sayulita Garden Wedding by Jillian Mitchell Photography

Erin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:00:18 +0000

We are having a Mexico Wedding kind of day. It must be the grip of Spring fever that has us New Englanders dreaming of sandy beaches and cocktails in the warm sun. Or maybe it’s just that this dreamy garden wedding meets Mexico is out of this world GORGEOUS. Photographed by the lovely Jillian Mitchell with design and styling courtesy of Mishka Designs, this is a full on destination wedding extravaganza and you all are invited. See more of the day here.

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From the Bride… It was 4 years ago Thanksgiving that Kent and I met in Sayulita, Mexico. My best friend, Rachael, from growing up married Kent’s god brother. I had never heard of Sayulita before in my life and was excited to escape NYC over the holidays for a week of sun and fun with old friends. Little did I know that week would change my life so dramatically and wonderfully. Over the next few days we spent all our free time together swimming in the ocean, strolling on the beach, enjoying the local scene. Four years later we are headed back to the beautiful place where we first met. I couldn’t think of a better place to fall in love.

Since picking the spot for the wedding was sorted the day we met, now it was time for me to work out how we were going to do it. Luckily Rachael put me in touch with the wedding planner she used four years prior for her nuptials – Kerry Moehler. Kerry was a pleasure to work with and helped us choose the perfect venue for the big day – Don Pedro’s Palapa at the south end of town. We looked at a few places, but knew the Palapa was right for us since it sits atop this hill overlooking the ocean with panoramic views of the coast and town. Next was trying to decide on a design for the space. Kerry had just finished doing a wedding at the Palapa and had worked with Mishka Designs to turn the space into something so amazing. I scoured all the pictures – which were featured in Travel and Leisure magazine a few months ago – and was blown away. I knew right then I had to get Mishka on board in order to create the perfect setting for our big day.

And then the heavy internet searching day in and day out began. I would scour wedding websites, blogs and other favorite lifestyle blogs to find pictures of event space design, flowers and other ideas that stood out to me. It came to be that the pictures I sent all had a similar theme that Mishka eventually coined as Vintage Garden Chic. Perfection! I love the feel of a cozy backyard party with lots of candles, white lights, old benches, comfy pillows, a space that feels familiar and comfortable with a shabby chic spin to it. Or as Mishka told me in an email – “I’m totally seeing spring and garden and light and airy and romantic.” The one thing I told Mishka we must have as part of the design were mason jars to put candles in. I bought a ton of blue vintage mason jars on EBAY and brought them down with me to Sayulita. Mishka really surprised me with her design for the dance floor – hand painted mason jars hanging from the Palapa ceiling with Candles inside. It was truly magical and super special!

I had told Mishka and Kerry that we wanted to create a loungey feel outside of the Palapa where guests could go to enjoy the views, chat and relax. Mishka went above and beyond and came up with her awesome photo booth set up and then Jillian, our amazing photographer, leveraged Mishka’s set-up to get some of the most awesomely funny photo booth shots of the night.

Choosing my wedding dress proved to be an easy task. I ended up buying the first dress I tried on here in Portland. It was everything I had ever wanted in a wedding gown – delicate, elegant and feminine. Monique Lhuillier really knows how to make a wedding dress and after a few alterations, my lace Miranda gown fit like a glove. I paired it with a champagne satin sash and petal pink Badgely Mishka heels. I thought the lace would work really well in Mexico.

Wedding Photographer: Jillian Mitchell Photography / Bridal Gown: Monique Lhuillier / Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Groom and Groomsmen Attire: Tommy Bahama / Bridesmaids Attire: J.Crew / Wedding Rehearsal Dinner Location: La Terrazola Restaurant, Sayulita, Mexico / Wedding Ceremony Location: Brisa del Mar Palapa, Sayulita, Mexico / Event Design: Mishka Designs / Wedding Coordinator: Kerry Moehler / Hair and Makeup: Kolor by Kori

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Badgley Mischka, Beach Wedding, Brisa del Mar Palapa, Destination Wedding, Garden Chic, Garden Party, J. Crew, Jillian Mitchell Photography, Kerry Moehler Kolor by Kori, La Terrazola Restaurant, Mexico, Mishka Designs, Monique Lhuillier, Outdoor, Sayulita, shabby chic, Tommy Bahama, Vintage Chic
Post categories: Destination

Garden Party Inspired Wedding by The Youngrens, II

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:15:36 +0000

How stinking cute is this wedding that The Youngrens shot? A little bit sweet, a little bit spunky…totally and completely adorable. Plus, it’s not your run of the mill wedding, with a dessert reception complete with cotton candy! Love that.

Garden Party Inspired Wedding by The Youngrens

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:15:39 +0000

So, we are all about featuring brand spanking new talent (or at least new to us) on SMP today. And ridiculously fabulous weddings. This next one, photographed by the AWESOME husband and wife duo known as The Youngrens, is one part Marie Antoinette, one part chic little garden party. It’s as sweet as they come and I have totally fallen in love!

From the lovely Erin Youngren…

Christine and Drew had a vision for a wonderfully vintage afternoon tea party, and no detail was left untouched. Drew’s mother, Linda, was responsible for almost everything – from the design, to the décor, to all of the floral arrangements and bouquets. The color palette was soft greens, pinks, and blues, and they gathered all of the vintage glasses, chairs, birdcages, chandeliers, and detail pieces over the course of their year-long engagement. During the mingling dessert and appetizer reception catered by PLNU, guests could enjoy different teas and coffees, a full service candy bar, a cotton candy machine, and a full croquet set! For the toasts, Christine and Drew served lemonade and limeade, which was coupled with lemon and orange infused iced water and teas.

So much more to come!!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alumni Lawn, California Weddings, Garden Party, Marie Antoinette, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, The Youngrens
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired