It’s time for our weekly round-up that our fabulous editor, Carrie, put together especially for SMP readers. This week, we are tackling bridesmaids gifts…gits that are as thoughtful as they are chic, as wearable as they are completely and totally special.

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During our Bridesmaids Jewelry Round Up, one of our savvy readers was looking for a bridesmaid’s gift that was a little more personal than the often-anticipated earrings or necklace. I loved this question, particularly because it speaks so appropriately to the role we ask these ladies to play. Naturally, determined to find some good gift inspiration, I began to scour the web for all things, personal, practical and bit playful in the world of bridal party gifts. This first set is all about a modern take on the classic monogram, which is a brilliant choice if you want your memento to be perfectly customized to each of your maids.

Row One: A touch of gold and delicate silver, gives Anne Kiel’s gilded necklace just the right amount of modern sophistication. It is no secret that the silhouette has made a huge comeback, and the pendent by Le Papier Studio is a clever way to capture your maids personal style. The monogrammed envelope necklace, found on Etsy, makes it easy to tell your ladies how much they mean to you-not to mention the tiny letter inside the envelope is absolutely adorable.

Row Two: By far the sweetest little mirror I have ever seen, Anthropologie’s pocket mirror is a lovely memento to any bridesmaids gift. This delicate coffee mug will remind your ladies of your special day, everyday, and can double as a place-setting for the bridesmaids luncheon. Fill it with coffee beans and tuck a starbucks giftcard inside for even more charm. West Elm’s keepsake boxes are ideal for displaying a classic monogram and a great item to store jewels from the wedding day.

Row Three: I love monogrammed vintage hankies and it just so happens they are the best thing to have in hand while the bride and groom say their “I do’s.” I am so excited to have found this Etsy shop full of colorful renditions customized on vintage china. This gift is truly one-of-a-kind. Everyone can use a nice set of personalized stationary. Hello! Lucky has several delightful themes in a spectrum of bold colors.

So much more coming up in just a bit!

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Post tags: Anthropologie, Bridesmaid Gifts, Bridesmaids Gifts, Etsy, Hello! Lucky, jewelery, Monogram, vintage hankies, West Elm
Post categories: Bridal Party, Jewelry, Round-Ups, Wedding Favors & Gifts

So let me just get right to it. In honor of all things Napa Valley, and destination weddings at their finest, some of the Bay Area’s insanely talented vendors have come together to gift one lucky reader a pretty fantastic bag of goodies. And by fantastic, I mean $2100 worth of products and services. Yep, you read that right. Pretty incredible!

Oh and the best part is that you definitely don’t have to be in the Bay Area to play!

* * *

First up, the forever talented Alison Hotchkiss is ponying up an autographed copy of the book, Destination Wedding Planner AND a 1 hour consultation with her personally. Alison is the voice behind some of my all time favorite weddings and during the consultation she’ll be able to share style ideas based on your own vision. Priceless.

Next up is Hello!Lucky. If you read SMP, you know that I LOOOVE the girls at Hello! Lucky. They are pure talent and their designs are off the charts gorgeous. And for one lucky bride, they are gifting 100 free destination wedding invitation sets which includes the invitation, envelope, and reply set. Umm, holy cow.

Heath Ceramics, who just happens to craft some of the most gorgeous pieces I’ve ever seen is gifting a seasonal cup set to our winner. Heath’s pieces are organic, they are handcrafted, they are timeless and forever elegant. Personally, they are one of my all time favorite wedding registry spots.

Add to the mix the Bardessono Hotel in Napa Valley who is giving away two free night’s stay valued at $1,000. If you aren’t familiar with this STUNNING hotel and spa, you really need to be. It’s a little piece of perfection in one of the world’s most gorgeous spots and would certainly set the stage for a romantic getaway for you and your hubs.

And while you’re at the Bardessono, you stop by the Bottega Restaurant in Yountville, as they are giving away a $100 gift certificate. Bottega just happens to be Michael Chiarello’s restaurant…which is so cool in and of itself…and is know for perfect dishes that are as warm and cozy as they are completely 5 star.

This next artist is just about as good as they get. Thayer Alison Gowdy, the photographer behind Alison’s Destination Wedding Planner book and the talent behind some of the most beautiful photoshoots you’ve ever seen (including many in Martha Stewart Magazine) is offering a free wedding photography consultation. Based on her RIDICULOUS skills, she’ll tell you how to work with a photographer to get the very best images you can. This is a really, really rare opportunity.

Napa Style is adding a $75 gift certificate so that you can stock up on some of the most gorgeous kitchen and home wares you could ever want. I love, love, love Napa Style and could spend the $75 in about 2 seconds flat. Their products have that Napa flavor that exudes an organic elegance and total style.

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WHEW!! So much goodness it’s almost hard to believe. I am MAJORLY jealous of the lucky bride or groom that wins this package. Marjorly jealous.

Here’s what we want from you! Because we are honoring one ofthe most incredible destination spots this country has to offer, Napa Valley, we want to know what YOUR dream destination is. If you could tie the knot in any city in the world, which one would it be?

Leave a comment below and you’ll be entered to win! We’ll announce the winner next Wednesday, September 30th. Good luck to all!

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Post tags: Alison Hotchkiss, Bardessono, Bottega, Giveaway, Heath Ceramics, Hello! Lucky, Napa Style, Napa Valley, thayer allison gowdy
Post categories: Contests

First up, the fabulous, needs-no-words-of-introduction…Hello! Lucky!!!

Hello! Lucky has been a longtime favorite of mine….as there is just something so incredibly special about each of their designs. They are a little bit vintage, a little bit fresh and totally contemporary. A LOT gorgeous. Hello! Lucky has designs for every style of bride, though girls with discerning taste will fall hard for them just as I have!

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Next up, Luna Bazaar. We’ve featured Luna Bazaar’s wares a gazillion times on SMP because we sincerely love their products. From paper lanterns that make any party seem more romantic, to parasols, fans and perfect decor, Luna Bazaar is a must have!

Personally, my new favorite Luna Bazaar item is the adorable colored paper lanterns in the square style. LOVE!

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I am also loving the photographs that Abigail Seymour is doing. Her work has been featured in New York Times, Real Simple, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot, Weddings Unveiled, and The Bride’s Book…so needless to say, we are THRILLED to add her to our Style Me Pretty advertisers!

Abigail has a style that is both vintage and timeless…one that captures romance and emotion to perfection. One that you will fall easily in love with as you discover more and more of her work.

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I get a TON of emails from people looking for bridesmaids gift ideas, favor ideas, even wedding gifts for the bride and groom. Well, the next two companies that we’ve partnered up with are PERFECT options. First, these incredible Seaglow Candles…

They are made with 100% polished recycled glass, appealing to your inner beachcomber and there are subtle shifts in a lighted Seaglow candle’s hue from hour to hour—no two burns are exactly alike. Kind of cool, hugh! Love!

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Tabula Tua is an AMAZING resource for all things home. Their tableware and fine china are made from some of the most notable artisans with unbelievably unique pieces and hugely gorgeous styles.

I am completely obsessed with Tabula Tua and know that you will be too…particularly their AWESOME wedding registry, which will give you the ability to stock your shelves with some of the best products you could ever imagine!

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We already did a giveaway with Raise the Cake…so you already know just how much we love them. They have desigend a line of cake stands that are both super cute and completely affordable so that you can ditch the silver platform in lieu of something fabulous!

So, thank you very much to all of our advertisers! Spend some time checking out their wares…they are gorgeousness defined!!

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Post tags: Abigail Seymour, Hello! Lucky, Luna Bazaar, raise the cake, Seaglow Candles, Tabula Tua
Post categories: The Blog

all photographs by Misti Layne

From the girls at Hello! Lucky…For this affair, we did the Classic Cowboy design in Bluebell and Lucky Red which complemented the wedding’s rustic Americana style. We created a custom band with a repeating Western star pattern in red to hold all the pieces together.

Maggie is a furniture designer/maker so the couple decided it would be fun to incorporate that into the details in a creative yet subtle way. Stacy McCain, the planner, asked Maggie if she had any wood scraps from the shop (piece that would likely get thrown away and that she would not be able to use for anything) which she did. The table numbers were created using the wood scraps, this also played into wanting to recycle and reuse. She also had some leftover materials which she constructed her escort card board from.

all photographs by Misti Layne

What screams Summer more than BBQ?!? The menu was fun and a nice change of pace from typical “wedding” food. The guests really enjoyed the feeling of a home cooked meal (Salmon, beef, chicken, vegetables, potatoes and sweet corn slaw). The cake was a citrus flavor with fresh berries served on top. This was a nice way to end the hot day with a refreshing and light dessert.

Mary Lois of Loop Flowers did a wonderful job of collecting various cups and containers to use for the centerpieces, this really spoke to our vintage/rustic feel for the wedding. Also keeping with the recycle and reuse idea Maggie collected vintage napkins so that each guest had one at their place setting. She tied ribbon with each guests name, this worked as their place card.

all photographs by Misti Layne

Thank you so much to the girls at Hello! Lucky for sending this over. We are in love! Stay tuned to hear who the big winner is from our Bluefly Giveaway!

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Post tags: BBQ, Fourth Of July, Hello! Lucky, red white and blue
Post categories: Casual Elegance

Mary! Who said…

I absolutely love the Sparrows line from the Joel Dewberry collection. It’s beautiful and perfect for our garden ceremony! My fiance is in graduate school and I just had my hours cut back, so winning this would be a blessing words couldn’t describe. Best of luck to everyone!

It’s the first time that we have chosen the very first person to comment! We can’t wait to see the final invitations that Mary and Hello! Lucky come up with. Oh and we have TONS of great stuff coming up today so stay tuned.

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Post tags: Giveaway, Hello! Lucky, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, Winner
Post categories: Contests, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

The ridiculously fabulous Joel Dewberry has designed a new line of exclusive invitations for the Hello! Lucky brand and in a word, they are perfection.

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To enter the giveaway, head over to the Hello! Lucky site and choose the one design from either the new Joel Dewberry collection or the EIEIO collection that you absolutely must have for your wedding. The winning comment will receive a set of 100 digital invitations from one of these two lines! We’ll announce the lucky girl (or boy) on Friday afternoon.

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Post tags: Giveaway, Hello! Lucky, Joel Dewberry, Wedding Invitation
Post categories: Contests, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

Mary-Kevin and Patrick’s wedding was just that…and SO much more!

Here are some of the vendors that the couple used to help this undeniably gorgeous wedding come to fruition…

The invitations & origami paper were by  Hello! Lucky with calligraphy by Crystal Kluge. All of the gorgeous florals were done by Modern Bouquet and that stunning chocolate cake was crafted by Fab Cakes and other baked goods by Miette Patisserie. The bride’s gorgeous gown was Jenny Yoo (who else!) and the Groom wore J. Crew.

And, last but so far from least, the photography was all captured by the oh-so-talented Carrie Mccluskey.

More to come!

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Post tags: Carrie Mccluskey, Crystal Kluge, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Fab Cakes, Hello! Lucky, homemade vanilla favors, J. Crew, Jenny Yoo, Miette Patisserie, Modern Bouquet, Twig & Thistle, Waterlily Pond
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

With that said, if your family is anything like my family…there is no way to have a small wedding! That is one of the reasons that I love today’s featured affair. So many of the ideas can easily be adapted for a larger wedding at a low cost. Collecting milk glass and simple vases for pretty, fuss-free centerpieces that utilize single stem flowers, making your own favors using kraft boxes and some bakers twine, designing table numbers with pretty calligraphy set on inexpensive picture stands.

all images by Carrie Mccluskey

From the bride…

I designed the save-the-dates, program, and menu in the same font family featured in the invites and had them letterpressed at a local print shop in Berkeley.  Hello! Lucky provided me with image files of different blossoms from the invite and I made rubber stamps, which I used to stamp the placecards.  They also printed coral and chartreuse tonal origami paper for me and I used it to construct the napkin rings and the welcome flags that were attached to the paper fans on each person’s seat at the ceremony.

More on the way!

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Post tags: Carrie Mccluskey, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Hello! Lucky
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

That is why I love the DIY ideas that we featured earlier today, and why I love the wedding that we are featuring right now!

images by Carrie Mccluskey

From the bride…

In true Style Me Pretty fashion, much of our wedding was do-it-yourself.

We made our favors, which were kraft boxes filled with salt water taffy from my most favorite sweet shop…Marini’s at the beach in Santa Cruz.  We tied the boxes with brown and white baker’s twine and a tag that we made using a custom rubber stamp and white tags that you can purchase at any office supply store. (We will have the full DIY instructions for these at the end of the day!)

My mom also participated in the diy fun…she made the beautiful champagne colored silk shantung runners that were used on the dining tables!  i also collected different milk glass pieces over the year that we were planning our wedding and we used them to present the cake and the various baked goods/sweets that we had sent from another favorite place, Miette patisserie here in San Francisco.

More to come!

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Post tags: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Hello! Lucky
Post categories: The Blog

Mary-Kevin and Patrick were married this past July in La Jolla, California in an intimate (54 person) ceremony that took place by the ocean at Calumet Park with the reception held at the nearby Darlington House…a beautiful historic mansion with a lovely courtyard and rose garden.

photographs by the lovely and talented Carrie Mccluskey

From Mary-Kevin…

The rose garden served as our main source of inspiration for the eclectic, chic garden party we were envisioning.  Being a true paper junkie, i knew exactly where to go for our invitations…Hello! Lucky here in san francisco.  I had long admired their cherry blossom invitation suite since it was featured in Martha a couple of years ago…and I thought it laid the perfect foundation for our garden party aesthetic!!  Another key vendor that I just love to death is Crystal Kluge, our incredible calligrapher…all of the lettering that you see in the photos is her amazing work!  I truly feel that her work tied our whole wedding together.

So much more to come!

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Post tags: Carrie Mccluskey, Crystal Kluge, Darlington House, Hello! Lucky
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

And the winner of the $150 gift certificate to Hello! Lucky is…Shawn, who said:

“While I adore Rustic Poppy, Sweetheart, Vintage Bloom and…. OK, pretty much ALL of the designs, I literally squealed with delight when I saw Julia Rothman’s Home Sweet Home invites & RSVPs. I am such a fan of her work and think it would be very special to incorporate her sweet simplicity into our wedding stationery. Thanks, Hello! Lucky for tapping such a fabulous talent!”

I’ll be in touch with the winner tomorrow about how they can claim their prize!

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Post tags: Hello! Lucky
Post categories: Contests

To enter, grab a cup of coffee and head on over to the Hello! Lucky website. Find your very favorite invitation from their new digital collection, and leave a comment below. We’ll announce the winner on Monday!

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And finally, it’s time to announce the winner of the New Year’s giveaway! The winner is…Mandy, who said:

“I always love reading about real weddings and what creative ideas people come up with.  Along with all the fun ideas and beautiful photo’s, I’d love to see a section of “Real weddings: What I would have done different had I known better”  or A multi-tude of real life “don’ts” would really help us bride-to-be’s avoid hassle, confusion, chaos, and mishaps. “

SUCH a good idea. I can’t even tell you how many good ideas there were and we are taking each and every one to heart. Our goal for the New Year is to design a site that serves our readers needs like no other. So if you ever have an idea as to how we can make SMP even better, just shoot me an email! It’s really important to us that we create a site that our readers find not only hugely inspirational, but hugely useful as well.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 205 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Giveaway, Hello! Lucky
Post categories: Contests, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

Aside from the fab new facelift, the site is so comprehensive and beautifully organized…allowing you to browse through their collection, learn a bit more about letterpress and of course, devour their gorgeous blog. But, the best part, is their new wedding department…

You can choose from a HUGE array of classic letterpress designs or from their new digital line. Which brings me to the really great reason that we are writing all about Hello! Lucky today…to celebrate the launch of their absolutely, holy-cow gorgeous new line of digitally printed wedding invitations…

Why digital you might ask? Well, straight from the horse’s mouth, “It is  less expensive than letterpress and creates a look that is a bit more casual, and yet still incredibly style savvy.  In digital printing, an image is sent directly to the printer using digital files such as PDFs from graphics software such as Illustrator. This eliminates the need for a printing plate, which is used in offset and letterpress printing, which can save money and time.

Plus, instead of having to print large, pre-determined runs (as you have to do with letterpress), requests can be made for as little as one print. Digital printing technology has advanced rapidly over the last few years, meaning that it now results in quality that is comparable to old-school methods of printing.”

Oh and the turn around time is a mere 5 business days. Ummmm, pretty great, isn’t it? Guess what’s even better…to celebrate the launch of their new line and beautiful new website, the girls at Hello! Lucky are gifting one lucky reader a $150 gift certificate to their online shop.

We’ll have ALL the details of this giveaway (and how you can win) later this afternoon when we announce the winner of our New Years Contest!

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Post tags: digital invitations, Hello! Lucky, Letterpress, Wedding Invitations & Stationery
Post categories: Wedding Invitations & Stationery

As an effort to show their gratitude, Hello! Lucky would like to offer 25% off their save the dates to all of those who entered! Simply refer to the SMP contest with your email address and your comment, and your discount will be honored!

And now for the winners, from Hello! Lucky...

First Place Winner: Joanna – Rustic garden casual theme inspired by the nature of the
Chesapeake Bay:

My ideal wedding style is rustic garden casual. We are getting
married a year from June at an Inn outside of St. Michaels, MD, which
overlooks the water. The Inn dates back to the 17th century and has
been renovated, but still reflects the colonial style of this historic
fishing town. The barn on the site has yet to be renovated and the
fading red paint on grey, old barn wood is a perfect place for
pictures!

The Inn itself is pale yellow, so it’s guiding our color choices.
Our other color inspirations are blue as in the Chesapeake Bay and our
treasured blue crabs and green for nature. Right now we’re leaning
towards mostly ivory with pale green, yellow and blue accent colors.

I’m a “green-collar” worker, so I’m excited to incorporate as many
environmentally friendly options into the wedding as possible. Natural
elements also work well with the wedding colors. I want to highlight
the Chesapeake Bay through its stunning nature – birds, flowers and
other wildlife. Also, since most of our guests will be coming from out
of town, we want to make them feel at home and let them know about all
of the fun things to do in the area, like shopping for antiques,
crabbing, bike rides, and the Maritime Museum. My fiancé and I are
still in the inspiration stages now, but I’m excited to pull together
our dream wedding.

We
love the image the 17th century yellow inn and old red barn, and the idea of
incorporating design elements inspired by the flora and fauna of the Chesapeake
Bay. We also love Lynn’s vision of having a green wedding and would love to
incorporate natural and recycled materials into the design!

Runners up: We’d
like to offer runners-up free custom design services in addition to the 25% off
we are offering to all entrants!

1) Mimi – Airline
theme

We
loved all the thoughtful details of this wedding, including using “Fly Me to the
Moon” as the first dance! We can envision so many great save the date ideas for
this, including vintage travel posters, luggage labels, or tags. We would love
to design for this wedding!

2) Jenn – Sailor Jerry Tattoo
inspired design.

We
love the image of the swallow and heart and the banner “i carry your heart.” So
sweet!

3) Stacy Hamilton – Kentucky wedding with a vintage horseshoe
motif

We
love the idea of getting married at the Winner’s Circle of a race track, adore
the color palette, and love the idea of the vintage candy buffet!

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Thank you so much to our readers for making this contest happen! I am thrilled to say that Hello! Lucky is going to design save the dates based on our winner’s concepts, regardless of whether or not they place an order, and they are going to make sure that you guys get to see the finished product. Can’t wait!

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Post tags: Hello! Lucky, Save The Dates
Post categories: Contests, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

They also have a brilliant etiquette section that has tips like…

Give yourself breathing room by ordering extra invitations. These can
serve as keepsakes and as reference for your florist, officiant,
wedding planner, and anyone else involved.

Ask the post office to hand cancel the invitations when they’re ready
to be mailed. Stamping machines can be brutal-especially for delicate
elements such as wax seals

The biggest taboo is stating outright on the wedding invitation where
you registered. If you’re not sending save the dates, at least include
a separate card with the invitation that gives the address of your
wedding website.

So, aside from all of the really beautiful products they sell (like gift wrap that would add a splash of color and a hint of pattern to your wedding favors), the Hello! Lucky site also has fun little treats that can really help inspire you to create a completely chic wedding!

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Post tags: Hello! Lucky, Wedding Etiquette
Post categories: Wedding Favors & Gifts, Wedding Invitations & Stationery