Here’s the Sneak Peek we started out the day with : Sneak Peek

Then the first set of awesome images from Renae and Alex’s New Mexico Wedding: Part I

And now for the rest of the story … and photos …

from the beautiful bride, Renae …

Our family and friends exclaimed, “Why are a Canadian boy and a Coloradan girl getting married in New Mexico?” For us it was as clear as the New Mexican blue skies; it was the indescribable feeling and lure of the wild Southwest. Our mutual love for country music and dusty cowboy boots inspired us to learn the country waltz for our first dance. We invited Taos’s own South by Southwest to show our guests a boot-stompin’ good time.

We discovered Hacienda Dona Andrea perched up on a hill south of Santa Fe along the Turquoise Trail. The Hacienda spoiled us with vistas of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the perfect number of rooms to accommodate our immediate family. Built in the adobe style, the Hacienda gave a warm feeling of home with traditional chili pepper ristras hanging from every beam. Our ceremony and reception were held in a big courtyard, filled with sunshine by day and farolitos by night.

The Hacienda and its natural surroundings gave our wedding an earthy feel, allowing us to soar high with bright pinks, oranges and reds. My sister and I set out making hundreds of vibrant Mexican paper flowers, which lined the ceremonial aisle and wrapped around the columns of the courtyard. We arranged our own centerpieces of brilliant dahlias spilling from low-profile glass vases. Everyone enjoyed an amazing selection of home made pies in lieu of wedding cake. We wanted a relaxed and festive atmosphere, where all of our loved ones had no choice but to eat green chili enchiladas and help us celebrate!

Our wedding party felt simple and pure: just our siblings. Alex’s brothers sported bright orange ties and my sister rocked a very pink dress, with gorgeous flowers by Artichokes and Pomegranates of Santa Fe. Our good friend agreed to get ordained and gave us a memorable sermon of his sage advice. My nephews were just too cute not to send down the aisle; they decorated the ground with rose petals and smiles.

Our vows were blessed by a surprise rainbow stretching across the cobalt blue sky (pictured here in Part I), which we couldn’t have planned, even if we tried. We both love photography and we knew that at the end of our wedding day, the photos are all we will have for proof of the bliss. We fell in love with the Twin Lens vision and we had to have them for our own. Their presence the day of the wedding was stealth-like and the photos are proof of their commitment to capture the essence of our wedding.”

Wowww!  Stunning and awesome and downright amazing!

Thanks Kitty and Craig, for always delighting us with such wonderful images! And a huge thank you to Renae & Alex for sharing!

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Hacienda, New Mexico, Twin Lens
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography, Wedding Style

Renae has sent us a little bit about their wedding details …  we’ll have that with more beautiful images from Twin Lens in a few minutes.

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cerrillos, Hacienda, Hacienda Dona Andrea, New Mexico, Paper Flowers, Twin Lens
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography, Wedding Style

photography by Twin Lens Images

This looks like scenes from a great old movie that I’d love to see!

We’ll have Renae & Alex’s wedding story (sent to us by Kitty & Craig at Twin Lens) a little later on today … see ya’ then!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cerrillos, Hacienda, Hacienda Dona Andrea, New Mexico, Twin Lens
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

We’ve picked a venue; this beautiful Hacienda in San Antonio, TX. The problem is finding colors to go with the already brilliant colors of the venue.  The floors are that rusty orange stone color, with dark tan walls and antique iron light fixtures that hold candles.  I’m really having a difficult time picking wedding colors to go with the already beautiful scenery !

My bridesmaids are already wanting to buy dresses, my mother is picking out invitations and my fiancee keeps asking “when are we going cake testing?” I don’t want to decide on any of the details until I pick colors.  My fiancee’s family is Mexican and I really love all the rich colors that come with this type of wedding.  Yet we are trying to go with a more subdued version of such a style of wedding.  I want a fresh beautiful look to our wedding, that will go with this hacienda we’ve chosen.  I’m looking for a wedding that will have punches of beautiful colors.  It’s a very informal buffet-style wedding, with mostly family and friends…but I still want it to be beautiful and somewhat elegant. Any help you can give me (I know I said a lot !) would be AMAZING !

Let’s help this bride who seems overwhelmed with colors! I would love to hear YOUR input, then I’ll chime in a little later today!

Answer 4: I generally fall in love with the Spanish and Mexican weddings that cross my path. The generous blending of colors, of styles, of pure eye candy is enough to make any bride re-think their wedding colors. So, I totally agree with so many of you in that bringing out the pinks and turquoises would be sublime and would go beautifully with the natural coloring of her venue.

With that said, when I was crafting these color boards, I couldn’t decide which direction to go in…

I love the kind of dusty versions of these colors…fuschia with a little less pink, turquoise with a little less blue. I think that these muted tones really make the gold pop. LOVE.

But, then I also love bringing an even lighter turquoise  the darker, dustier version in the bridesmaid dresses…

Either way, I think that these colors are off the charts pretty…they give those punches of color that the bride is looking for, without going totally overboard. Love, love, love!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 26 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Colorful, Hacienda, Mexican
Post categories: Ask Abby