From BG Design Studio… BG Design Studio creates stunning handmade paper goods that are individually tailored to your personality and style. We specialize in wedding invitations, stationery, signage, table numbers, programs, favors and more. Our elegant and chic designs are created not only for aesthetic pleasure, but to instill a sense of wonder and anticipation for your wedding celebration. Let us design custom invites for your special day, and we’ll take your breath away.

From Milk and Honey Shoes… When you’re tired of looking everywhere else, it’s time to take matters into your own hands and design your perfect shoes.  You’ve been able to have input on ever other detail for your wedding — the color of your flowers, the font on your invitations, the exact shade of bridesmaids’ dresses — why should your shoes be any different?  By designing your own shoes through milk & honey you can get the heel height you want, the style you want, the color, embellishments and have shoes that are uniquely yours!

We hope you love our newest Advertisers as much as we do and make sure to stop by their sites and show them some SMP support! Welcome aboard everyone, we’re happy to have you join our Style Me Pretty California family!

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Post tags: BG Designs, California, Chevron, Handmade, Invitations, Milk and Honey Shoes, Paper Goods, Stationery, Wedding Shoes
Post categories: California Weddings, Welcome Post

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From Kurt Boomer Photo…I love weddings that are focused on the natural setting. Shannon and Carl’s wedding was set in Pioneer Town at the Pipes Canyon Lodge. It’s an AMAZING place. Pioneer Town is settled next to Joshua Tree Park and the photographs came out amazing. The desert light made for gorgeous shots with my film. Joshua Trees sprinkled among the desert springs flowers made it hard to take an average photograph. She stated early on, “we are doing everything opposite of the boring cookie cutter weddings”.

Now, when I say this was a DIY, this was DIY! The dress was handmade by Shannon’s best friend. The succulent center pieces, bouquets and boutonniere were all made the day of by her sister. Pies replaced the traditional cake, made of course by Carl’s mother. The music on vintage vinyl was spun by good friends of Shannon and Carl. They even had a friend make custom mason jars which everybody shared a good amount of beer from. The homemade Mexican dinner was done by Pipes Canyon. They were married by Carl’s best friend. Even the napkins were handmade.

Why the extreme DIY? Carl is in medical school and Shannon is in school herself. The true definition of starving students. They love the outdoors and all it has to offer (especially rock climbing). About the only things they went outside of family and friends for was the venue and me for photography.

Wedding Photography: Kurt Boomer Photo / Venue: Pipes Canyon Lodge / Groom’s Suit: H&M / Catering: Pipes Canyon Lodge / Reception Music: Friends of the Bride and Groom / Floral Design: Sister of the Bride

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Post tags: California Weddings, Desert Wedding, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, H&M, Handmade, Kurt Boomer Photo, Mason Jars, Naturally Inspired, Outdoor Wedding, pies, Pipes Canyon Lodge, Rustic, Succulents
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

From the bride … As many modern day love stories begin, Ally met Brian online.  She had been living in Connecticut for a few years and was interested in meeting new people.   After chatting for a while on the phone,  she invited Brian over to carve some Halloween pumpkins.  As soon as she let Brian into her apartment, they just started talking.  They talked so much that before they knew it it was after midnight and the pumpkins didn’t have a single dent in them. Four years later, they decided to get married.

The second Ally and Brian drove up the dirt path to Tyrone Farm, in Pomfret, Connecticut, they knew this was where we they were meant to be married.  A little bit vintage, a little bit countryside, with a whole lot of New England Charm.  With Brian’s sense of whimsy and Ally’s nod to vintage detailing, their wedding captured  a Connecticut Countryside dream come true.

Tyrone Farm was established in 1742.  The estate  is tucked quietly away in one of the most beautiful hidden treasures of New England — Connecticut’s Quiet Corner.  It was the perfect setting for Ally and Brian’s nuptials.  The simple Aspen tree huppa draped with Ally’s grandmother’s tablecloth, framed the couple as they said their vows.

The estate’s acres of manicured lawns, lovely English gardens, breathtaking views, and hundreds of wild flowers surrounded guests during cocktail hour. As the sun began to set, guests were escorted into a renovated Chestnut Barn.   With its  hand-hewn beams, wide plank floors and rustic charm, the Barn provided a striking setting for the reception.

Guests were surrounded with handcrafted details throughout the evening.  Using the vintage aesthetic of Amy Butler’s Nigella collection of fabrics, Ally created herb pot fabric covered table numbers, custom cocktail stirrers, ring pillows, customized match books and program pockets to adorn the back of the ceremony chairs.  Inspired by burlap table runners she had seen in a previous wedding, Ally set out to find something similar.  She was thrilled to find the bride from the inspiring wedding selling hers on Etsy and was able to repurpose them for her reception – making what’s old new again – a perfect analogy for her wedding at Tyrone Farm.

Venue: Tyrone Farm / Caterer: Peppers / Florist: Studio 539 Flowers / Hair & Makeup: Jennie Fresa Beauty Library / Invitations: HeatherJeany / Photography: Heather Waraksa / Wedding Gown Designer: Melissa Sweet Reverie, Style Antigua / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Tadashi, J. Crew, Ann Taylor

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Post tags: Ann Taylor, Barn Wedding, Color Palette Green Blue White, Connecticut, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Handmade, Heather Waraksa, HeatherJeany, J. Crew, Jennie Fresa Beauty Library, Melissa Sweet Reverie, Outdoor Ceremony, Peppers, Studio 539 Flowers, Tadashi, Tyrone Farm, Vintage Chic, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Vintage Chic

From Gina Leigh Photography … The couple met long ago while they were in high school together, and they were great friends. Eventually the friendship turned to romance, and then quickly thereafter, to marriage!

The wedding was 100% DIY.  It was held at Rachel’s grandmother’s farm at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of the Ohio countryside. Rachel’s grandmother handmade her wedding dress out of cotton eyelet lace and Rachel handmade each one of her bridesmaid’s lovely yellow dresses. The suspenders were a throw back to the groom’s father who wore suspenders every day of his adult life until he passed away four years ago to cancer.

The design on the invitations was hand drawn by Hannah, the lovely bridesmaid with the bright red hair. Christian is an amazingly trained cook at a historic restaurant, The Malabar Farm Restaurant, who provided all the catering. If you look closely, you’ll notice that Christian’s fingers are tattooed with the words “LET’S EAT” appropriately. Everything had a purpose and was filled with meaning.

After Christian proposed, my mother asked, “What do you see when you close your eyes and imagine your wedding?” All I could come up with was sunshine and my bare feet. With that humble foundation, we planned a wedding that was simple and extremely personal – everything had meaning for us.

Every single person involved was either family or close friend; the photos, food, music, flowers, outfits, even our officiant. Everything was touched by people who knew us personally. My grandmother, who has made dozens of prom dresses and ballet costumes throughout the years, sewed my beautiful ceremony gown, and I sewed all of my bridesmaids’ dresses. My reception dress was purchased at Mad4Mod after I swooned over it for months.

All in all, the planning was amazingly easy. We were married “beneath the walnut tree”, as our invitations, designed by my new sister-in-law Hannah, said, at my grandparents’ beautiful home. My bridesmaids and I made our bouquets and boutonnieres the day before with flowers from their garden – which I found very relaxing.

Every detail was in place, and Christian’s sister Gina (a phenomenal wedding photographer) somehow made everything look even more charming than it was. My grandfather, who so lovingly said prayer over the food in his West Virginian accent, noted that he and my grandmother, Eloise, would be married fifty years the following week, making the day even more special.

Our first act as a couple was taking communion. It was very important to us. We wanted to show our commitment to our faith and to each other. For our first dance, our good friend Renae sang and played guitar. Her voice is magical. Time absolutely stopped, and we were lost in each other.

Catering: Malabar Farm Restaurant / Photography: Gina Leigh Photography / Cake & Dessert: Malabar Farm Restaurant / Bride’s Wedding Gown: DIY / Bridesmaid Dresses: DIY / Floral: DIY / Bride’s Reception Dress: Mad4Mod

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Post tags: Budget Beautiful, DIY Bridesmaid Dresses, DIY Flowers, DIY Wedding Dress, DIY Wedding Invitations, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Gina Leigh Photography, Handmade, Handmade Dress, Mad4Mod, Malabar Farm Restaurant, Ohio, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Little Black Book Blog

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From Amelia Johnson Photography… Lindsay is a designer used to going above and beyond in the arts, her wedding being no exception!  The wedding programs, as well their invitations, and napkins were designed by Lindsay.  She then had acrylic plates made from Boxcar Press and used leftover supplies from a college class to manually letterpress every single item.  For their five page cold-pressed paper invitations, Lindsay enlisted the help of her future Mother-in-Law to zig zag stitch the pages together to create a blue seam.  Although this sort of intense hands-on experience might stress some brides, Lindsay thrived on the creation and was able to finish everything in a couple weeks, spending a few hours each night on the project.

Having the gift of a highly defined sense of style, Lindsay had no problem finding the perfect dress.  She first tried on a vintage dress from her photographer, and loved it, but then fell even more in a love with a similarly structured gown by Melissa Sweet.  The dress material was light-weight, soft and featured small white polka dots for an interesting pop of texture.  Her Mother and Grandmother adored the dress from the first glimpse, as did Lindsay, and they knew that section of the wedding planning was done!

Lindsay, Jeff and the wedding party stayed the night before the wedding at the Hotel Lombardy, which is conveniently located next to the Arts Club of Washington, where their reception would later be taking place.  This turned out to be a genius idea, allowing members of the wedding party to move fresh florals to the reception area before the ceremony with ease and no parking hassles.

To personalize their wedding, Lindsay and Jeff had family members and good friends read personally significant  scriptural passages during the service.  Lindsay loved the idea of getting married in a space that nodded to the immense historical significance of Virginia’s roots, and infusing her own contemporary style to the event.  The first church built on the site was in 1734.  Although Lindsay and Jeff loved the traditional feel of the church, they wanted their wedding to truly reflect their personalities and life styles.  After the ceremony guests headed to the Arts Club of Washington, which boasts gorgeous contemporary paintings and a large backyard terrace, right in the heart of DC, where outdoor space is harder to find than a legal parking spot.

A very special and surprise moment occurred at the reception when her Father and sister sang a duet to “When I Fall in Love.”  Lindsay melted into tears.  It was such a tender moment for everyone to see how sweet of a bond Lindsay has with her Father.  The speeches were terrifically funny, leading Lindsay into tears again, but these tears were of a slightly different variety!  After Lindsay and Jeff were honored by their friends’ speeches, the dance floor was open.  The reception was so relaxed that everyone felt comfortable taking a spin on the dance floor.

Lindsay and Jeff were married in the morning, which allowed for a wedding brunch for the reception.  They wanted the brunch to have a fun, relaxed feel with lots of mingling and celebration.  There were no seating charts, just a few tables to sit at as well as standing tables on the terrace, and space inside to sit as well.  Each table was decorated by delicate clusters of white vintage vases filled with yellow Billy Balls, and an assortment of yellow, orange, white, baby pink and deep violet flora.  The fireplace and donut table were accented with generous bunches of flowers in large silver tea pots.  The guests were delighted to find fresh, soft, glazed donuts were served alongside a plentiful buffet filled with smoked salmon on croquettes, fresh fruit and cheese, among other classic brunch favorites.  From the bar guests were served Mimosas, Champagne, as well as a host of drinks.  For the wedding cake, Lindsay and Jeff chose to layer dozens of crepes in between Nutella to top off the brunch and a very sweet day.

Wedding Photography:  Amelia Johnson Photography / Wedding Ceremony Venue:  The Falls Church / Wedding Reception Venue:  Arts Club of Washington / Wedding Band:  The Lace Music / Wedding Flowers: Fifty Flowers and Whole Blossoms arranged by bride / Wedding Invitations:  Designed and manually letterpressed by the Bride, plates made by Boxcar Press / Groom and Groomsmen’s Shoes:  Bass / Wedding Dress:  Dora by Melissa Sweet from OnceWed / Bridesmaids’ Dresses:  J. Crew / Bride’s Jewelery: Handcrafted from Vendor at Eastern D.C. Market / Bride’s Shoes: Jasmina, Nine West / Bridesmaid Shoes: Anchorway Sandal, Nine West / Bridesmaid Jewelery: The Mustard Seed Co. on Etsy / Groomsmen Ties: TuxandTulle on Etsy / Groomsmen Suits: Tommy Hilfiger Suit Seperates / Mother & Grandmother Corsages: Venus11 on Etsy /  Soloist: Erin Cooper / Cake: Allison Truesdell, friend of the bride and groom

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Post tags: Amelia Johnson Photography, Arts Club of Washington, Boxcar Press, Brunch, Crepes, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Donuts, Handmade, J. Crew, Melissa Sweet, The Falls Church, The Lace Music, Virginia, Washington DC
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, The Blog

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Holly: Seth and I were married on a warm day in August, this past summer. Growing up in Colorado, I always had dreamed of getting married in an outside setting, and with Colorado’s 300 sunny days a year  how can you go wrong? Beginning our post-engagement wedding venue search, we knew that we wanted at least the ceremony to take place outside but we decided it would be best to have the ceremony and reception be in one location. The Botanic Gardens at Chatfield seemed like a great place for us! Not only was the ceremony area outside but the reception was in a gorgeous red barn mere yards from the ceremony area. Plus, there was plenty of grassy areas to play croquet and a really nice patio outside of the barn for guests to enjoy cocktails while they watched the sun set.

Seth: From the very beginning, we knew we wanted a fun wedding with great food & drinks, good music, and lots of sweet decorations. Simple eh? We wanted our guests to enjoy themselves at the wedding, and to really feel like they were part of the day with us. Holly and I are kind of obsessed with food, so we wanted to really make sure we had awesome food on our big day. Wedding food is one of those things that people usually take or leave, its passable at best right? We had a blast trying out various caterers though, and really spent awhile thinking about what would be super delicious. I think the extra little effort paid off too, it was yummy!

Holly: We are both graphic designers, so we’re really in love with color, typography and tiny details.  I searched Etsy for inspiration and found tons! I think our decor was mostly DIY by us, but a few items came from Etsy. Our venue didn’t allow sparklers so we decided to make streamer wands for our guests to wave at the recessional and at our exit for the evening. We had our family help us out making those. So many little details! I made a cupcake liner garland to hang above the cake table, handwritten escort tags, and a painted picture frame for the tags to hang on. My mom tied adorable little matching ribbons around our champagne glasses for the toast. Seth’s mom has a jelly-making business so she made us mini jars of peach jelly to pass out, and we designed little labels for them. We seemed to have our hands in everything, including the design of the cake! We wanted to incorporate typography (and Seth hid a secret message in the letters!) and I found these adorable birds to use as toppers from Etsy. So cute!

Seth: We had such a good time on our wedding day! After all the time spent planning it, it was so awesome to be able to just relax and party with all our favorite people. My uncle officiated for us, and kept the ceremony short but sweet. He didn’t stop me from tearing up though…when I saw Holly coming down the grassy aisle I just couldn’t hold it in. All in all, the whole day was pretty much perfect. Not just because it was fun to see all the little things we had planned come to fruition, but because I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather spend the rest of my life with, and that day was just the beginning!

Holly: Seth couldn’t have said it better! The day was amazing and something I will remember and look back on forever. It was beautiful and everything I wished it to be. Plus, I got to marry my best friend and that’s the best part of it all.

Wedding Venue: Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield / Photographer: Fuse Photographic / Wedding Cake: Intricate Icings / Catering: Bistro Boys Catering / Florist: Bella Fiori / Makeup Stylist: Aphrodite Affairs / Wedding Coordinator: Gabby of Save the Date Events / Dress: Casa Blanca / Videography: Lupher Arts / Cake Toppers: RedLightStudio / Jelly Favors: Sticky Spoons

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Post tags: Barn, Botanic Gardens at Chatfield, Colorado, Denver, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Fuse Photographic, Handmade, Save the Date Events
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, The Blog

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From Julie Mikos…Young couple and new parents, Beka and Josh, live in a tiny mountain town outside of Phoenix and had an extremely limited budget for their wedding, but wanted to invite practically their entire town population. Luckily, the bride and her mother are both artists and very crafty and were able to create all of the details on their own.

The bride spent weeks preparing. Cutting and stringing all of the birds, creating all of the decorative pinwheels for the cupcakes, directing her fiance (who is a carpenter) to build frames to house the pictures of them together as they grew up (yes, they’ve know each other since they were babies!), etc. They also recruited a small army of town-folk to help decorate, put together floral arrangements set in colored glass (collected by the bride and inspired by Martha Stewart’s recent article on colored glass collections), set-up tables and chairs and even cater the food. The ceremony was an extremely private ceremony which couldn’t be photographed, but the party was held at a friend’s cabin down the dirt road and nearly the whole town DID attend and pitched in to help. I was honored to also pitch in and help as the bride was one of my former wedding photography interns and now a good friend. This wedding truly took a village to create and was down-home charming!

From the bride…I wanted my wedding to be fun. I was inspired by old mexican colors and decor. We had a small budget so I looked for ways to make my wedding beautiful and fun without spending too much. I got almost all of my ideas from Style Me Pretty like the colored glass and paper birds. My friends and I went to work collecting glass from all the antique stores in town months leading up to the wedding. My mom painted all of the table centerpieces, signs, and peacock mural. I wanted everything to be personal. Josh made me frames from old barn wood and I filled them with photos of us and our new family. I bought a lot of scrapbooking paper and crafted the birds, cake topper, and pinwheels with it. Using the paper really tied everything together. With the help of all my close family and friends, Josh and I were able to have the wedding of our dreams. They helped us with everything, down to the home brewed beer and amazing wedding cake.  We laughed, danced, and had the time of our lives.

Photographer: Julie Mikos Photographer / Minister: Trina Kamp / Stylist: Kathy Karrys / Hair and Make-up: Rose Walker & Sumer Harper / Dress: Davids Bridal / Wedding shrugs: Mary and Angelika via Etsy / Decor: Rebekah Sampson (bride) & Elizabeth Silver(mob) / Music: Landon Shill / Food and drink: Walker Catering / Flower arrangements: Glenn Widger & Lucy Karrys / Cake: Sydney Kamp

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Post tags: Backyard, Craft, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Handmade, Julie Mikos, mountains, Phoenix
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired

click here to see the gallery and all of the super cute DIY details!

To wed or to elope? As self described scrooges…Steve and I wrestled with this question for a few months! In the end, we decided that it was important that we celebrate the day with our family and close friends. Once we went down this path, well, I went from “Monique Lhuillier who?” to owning a Monique Lhuillier dress! I obsessed about every detail of our wedding and spent my nights lurking on websites such as SMP looking for inspiration. Now that the planning is over, I’d like to contribute back to future brides!

There were several DIY components to our wedding; the most notable were all our paper items, our flowers, and our origami name cardholders. We DIY’ed as much as we could, not only because it was budget friendly but also because I had a lot of fun doing it. We knew we wanted to play with color and decided on green, yellow, and gray as our color palette. Our event ended up more yellow and gray with a touch of green but it definitely helped to have a color palette from the get-go so as not to be led astray by all the beautiful color choices out there!

The paper products were one area where we decided to save (splurging instead on our venue, caterer, and photographer). Three invaluable items which I used over and over again: my Xyron machine, paper cutter, and Fiskar corner punch. With an architect and a marketing professional as two of my three bridesmaids, I did not lack for creative talent and they helped create our bird logo. This was one of the best decisions to nail down early in the process because we were able to “brand” our wedding from start to finish in a consistent manner, from our website to our programs and menus.

My favorite component of the invitations was the envelopes! I had a crazy idea of sewing glassine inner envelopes with green thread around the borders. I purchased a $40 sewing machine on Amazon to test my project. The effect was pretty but I discovered that I couldn’t sew a straight line if my life depended on it. Using a pencil to lightly outline where to sew seemed to do the trick! I also fell in love with envelope liners; they were so easy to do and did not require a template or kit. If there’s only one DIY project that you do, this is it because it gave our invites extra oomph without taking up a lot of time.

Flowers…yes, logistically you CAN do your own flowers! And no formal training is required (I am a geeky number cruncher by profession)! I knew I wanted to have tons of flowers without breaking the bank but I was on the fence about this, worrying it would take away from time with friends and family. But with careful planning, I banged out table arrangements for 13 tables, 4 bouquets, 11 boutonnieres, and 4 corsages while still spending quality time with our wedding party. The trick is to have your flowers delivered on Tuesday or Wednesday assuming you have a Saturday wedding. You can then prepare your arrangements on Wednesday and Thursday (although corsages are best done on the day of). My other secret ingredients were the use of corsage picks to provide the bouts with a water source, a flower sealant spray to lock in moisture, and Oasis flower adhesive for the corsages. Make sure to do a couple of practice runs a few months or weeks before your wedding.

Our actual wedding day was so much fun and we felt so grateful that we could spend it with our closest friends and family. We chose to take pictures before our ceremony so that we could max out time with our guests. Our first look was just so precious; I’ll remember it always!Seeing each other before the ceremony had the added benefit of calming my nerves so that I was able to remember actually walking down the aisle! We drafted our own vows and we were able to inject some meaningful readings and humor into our ceremony. And the speeches during dinner…well, they were one of my favorite moments that day. We were touched by all the speeches (best man, matron of honor, my brother, Steve, and Steve’s mom), words cannot even describe.

For the Philly and NYC brides, I totally have to give a shout out to some of my vendors who made a big difference during the wedding planning process. Our photographers Margaret and Max from Unusually Fine, located in NYC, took amazing pictures and made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera. Stephanie at Robert Ryan Catering rocked! She took care of so many details and was always a step ahead. Tasha and Christina at cHill Weddings were our day-of coordinators; it was the best money I spent to make sure all went well during our wedding. Ann Hamilton, also in NYC was absolutely wonderful to work with and transformed my $250 dress (that’s right, you didn’t misread, I bought a Monique Lhuillier dress for $250 on sale!) into the vision I had in my head.

I had a lot of fun planning my wedding and I wish you ladies the same as you plan your special day!

Photography: Unusually Fine / Coordinator: cHill Weddings / Catering: Robert Ryan Catering / Alterations: Ann Hamilton / Bridesmaid Dresses: Jenny Yoo / Groom & Groomsmen Tuxes: Mens Wearhouse / Online Flowers: 2GRoses / Cupcakes: Brown Bettys / Makeup: Aleksandra Ambrozy / Hair: Calista Brides / String Quartet: Anamaria Achitei, Musicali Strings / DJ: Kim Walsh / Custom Hand Lettering: GalaFont / Custom Table Numbers: Blue Mountain Crafts / Hair flower: Twigs & Honey / Cupcake Toppers: Naked Peggies

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Post tags: 2GRoses, Ann Hamilton, Blue Mountain Crafts, Brown Bettys Musicali Strings, cHill Weddings, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Gala Font, Gray, Handmade, Jenny Yoo, Men's Wearhouse, Monique Lhuillier, Naked Peggies, Philadelphia, Robert Ryan Catering, Twigs & Honey, Unusually Fine, Yellow, Yellow and Gray
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Traditional Elegance