John and I first met in the bleachers overlooking an intramural soccer game, where my floor mates and I were cheering on our “brother floor” during the first few weeks of freshman year at Wheaton College. What followed were two years of college experiences that led us to develop a deep friendship. We had the same friends, were in the same classes, went on the same road trips, and studied at various coffee shops together.

Our dating relationship actually began one spring evening in 2009 as we sat on a bench on the Riverwalk in Naperville enjoying some Red Mango frozen yogurt. About two years later, on February 25, 2011, John asked me to marry him at the same exact place. After dinner at our first date spot, a hole-in-the-wall Senegalese restaurant in Chicago, and after seeing Les Miserables at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, we took a short walk through snow flurries, ending up at “the bench” where our relationship had begun and where so many important conversations had happened. Our favorite frozen yogurt was there waiting for us (Thank you, Chicago weather, it was still very frozen). John got down on his knee and said some wonderful things and asked me to marry him – and the rest is history!

Due to John’s pending Army career, we had limited options when setting a wedding date. We settled on Labor Day weekend of the same year, leaving us about five months to graduate from college and plan a wedding. Because John grew up in Costa Rica, we planned to get married in Delaware, where I grew up.

Spending the summer running around to countless venues and vendors with my mom was a blast! After looking at several beautiful potential wedding sites throughout Delaware and Pennsylvania, we decided it would be most meaningful and special to have our wedding right in the Delaware Valley. Our ceremony and reception venues were both specially chosen. Old Swedes Church, dating from 1699, is a cool, old, stone historic building in downtown Wilmington. It’s not the church my family attends on a regular basis, but it seemed like the perfect place due to my Swedish heritage and its fun setting. We also liked that it was in Wilmington because of our passion for urban culture and development. From there, our guests drove about fifteen minutes to Wilmington Country Club in Greenville, the site of my parents’ reception twenty-eight years earlier.

I’ve never been a fan of bright colors because I change my mind so easily, so our goal was to create an elegant evening by choosing more neutral and classic colors with a few unique elements that would add some modern flair. John and his groomsmen who are also in the military wore their army service uniforms and capped off the ceremony with the saber arch. The rest of the groomsmen wore traditional black tuxes, and the bridesmaids wore long grey dresses from Priscilla of Boston that were flattering on everyone.

Our flowers were natural whites and greens; mine were primarily whites while the girls’ had more greens. The simple yet sophisticated centerpieces of dendrobium orchids and willow branches, set off by beautiful grey linens and enhanced with hanging votives, added a wow-factor upon entering the ballroom.

My long-time friend and bridesmaid who studied design in college spent many long days and nights over the summer helping us with the fun diy elements. She created a monogram for John and me that was at the top of our menus, sewed pennant flags made out of various grey fabrics that were strung around the country club, and designed chalkboard menus for the bars, and we worked together to create our eight foot tall seating boards. A family friend sewed a unique ring bearer pillow, we displayed family wedding photos for a personal touch, we assembled our programs ourselves with the help of some friends, and we made our table numbers out of slate tiles from Home Depot with green ribbon tied around them.

One of our desires for the evening was that people would have lots of fun celebrating one of the most important days of our lives with us, and also that there would be opportunities for guests to catch up and talk and enjoy each other. Wilmington Country Club was the perfect place to accomplish this because it allowed for fabulous dancing and entertainment by the Vincent James Band in the ballroom while the candlelit patio, which was still open to the ballroom, provided a quieter setting for relaxing conversation.

We added some special touches with a dessert bar (cake was served as dessert, but John and I aren’t big cake people, so the dessert bar on the patio featured some of our favorites like peanut butter truffles and mini apple pies). I am known for my love for coffee, so we also splurged to hire a barista for the night; she set up on the patio as well and created custom espresso drinks for our guests.

John and I have never wanted to be doing so many different things at the same time! There just weren’t enough hours in the evening to spend sufficient time dancing with friends, catching up with two hundred of the most influential people in our lives, sipping coffee on the patio, and enjoying our favorite foods. Everything came together so much more beautifully and perfectly than we could have hoped, and fun, special moments from the day continue to be topics of conversation. We are now living in Hawaii where John is stationed, and we are enjoying exploring all that Oahu has to offer. We are loving life as a Mr. and Mrs. and can’t wait to see what the coming years will hold!

Flowers: Belak Flowers / Cake: Liberty Lane Bake Shoppe / Photography: mk Photography / Videography: AOV Productions / Invitations: Apropos / Hair & Makeup: Salon by Dominic / Ceremony: Old Swedes Church / Reception: Wilmington Country Club / Dress: Janell Berté from The Wedding Shoppe / Sash: Jennifer’s Bridal / Monogram, Chalkboard Menus, Pennant Flags & Seating Boards: DIY by Bride & Karen Demaio

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AOV Productions, Apropos, Army Weddings, Belak Flowers, Color Palette Green, Delaware, DIY Projects, DIY Wedding Decor, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Flower girls, Janell Berte, Jennifer's Bridal, Karen Demaio, Liberty Lane Bake Shoppe, Military Weddings, MK Photography, Neutral Color Palette, Old Swedes Church, Ring Bearers, Salon by Dominic, The Wedding Shoppe, Traditional Elegance, Wilmington, Wilmington Country Club
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog

see more of this rustic beauty in the gallery!

From Katherine, the Bride:

The inspiration for our wedding came from some of our favorite things – farmers markets, rustic settings and down home southern cooking! We wanted the style of our wedding to be vintage but fresh and most of all comfortable and relaxed. We had contemplated an afternoon wedding and although we ended up with an evening wedding we still wanted to capture the feeling of what an afternoon wedding would be like.

We were engaged for 6 months and didn’t really have time to second guess our decisions so we just picked things that we liked and hoped that it would come together in the end. Dinner was passed in bowls served family style and consisted of some of our favorites – fried green tomatoes, mini BLT sandwiches, BBQ, Mac and cheese, green beans and coleslaw. We wanted to create a calming atmosphere and used burlap and ivory with touches of muted orange, blue, cream and gold as our colors. We made all of our own decorations mostly with materials from craft stores, hardware stores and items we found on e-bay. We made our centerpieces with branches from a tree at my parent’s house. My brother and I planted the tree when we moved into the house as kids. We tied old family photos (pictures of our parents on their wedding day, grandparents, great grandparents etc.) to the branches and our florist placed hydrangeas around the mouth of each centerpiece. For vases we used antique blue ball mason jars that we collected from e-bay and that we borrowed from Brian’s mom. Each jar had moss around the base to add color. For the table runners I bought burlap from a local fabric store. My mom and I spent an afternoon cutting the table runners in our living room – we laughed (and sneezed) a lot! We used the scraps to place around the cake. We also bought orange and blue fabric that we cut and tied around hay bales with rubber bands for extra seating outside. One of the rooms in the barn was completely white so our florist hung ferns from the ceiling to add color. We wanted our ceremony to be simple and decorated the loft upstairs with a plain wooden cross and ferns. My flowers were wrapped in lace that my mom carried on her wedding day. When I asked Brian what type of boutonniere he wanted he said “one made of sticks” so the guys wore boutonnieres made of dried wheat. Brian carried a pocket watch that I gave him when we graduated high school.

A huge thank you to Sharon Clark for sending over such a gorgeous wedding. Be sure to check out the Smitten Photography blog for even more images and a slideshow of the day!

Photography: Sharon Clark of Smitten Photography / Location: The Dairy Barn, Fort Mill, SC / Flowers and Event design: Ta-Da’s Floral Design and Event Planning by Jan Puckett, Jenny Puckett, Lauren Sheehan / Cake:  Laura Wells of All Things Sweet  / Catering: Leroy Springs Catering / Invitations and Stationery: Jennifer Garceau / Wedding Signage and Art work: Amanda’s Murals & More by Amanda Lackey / Band: The Local Boys / Dress Designer: Janell Berte / Veil: Katherine’s Bridal Boutique, Washington D.C. / Shoes: Van Eli / Hair and Make-up: Jami Svay / Bridesmaids: J Crew / Groom’s Attire: Brooks Brothers / Groomsmen: Brooks Brothers pants and any navy blazer

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: All Things Sweet, Amanda's Murals and More, Brooks Brothers, Fort Mill, J. Crew, Jami Svay, Janell Berte, Jennifer Garceau, Katherine's Bridal Boutique, Leroy Springs Catering, Smitten Photography, South Carolina, Ta-Da's Floral Design and Event Planning, The Dairy Barn, The Local Boys, Van Eli Shoes
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Casual Elegance, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Real Weddings

Between the stunning bride, the fabulous flowers and green, green, green …. LOVE.

Anasa and Jordan were married at Paradise Point in San Diego on Mission Bay on a brilliant day in May …

Her lovely gown was designed by the very talented Janelle Berté.

Isn’t this gorgeous green and orange color palette so unbelievable “joyful”?

Each photo just gets better and better …

Such vivid images … just dazzling! A HUGE thank-you to Jennifer Dery, Anasa and Jordan for sharing!!

Other wedding vendors for this terrific wedding include Ever After Events, White Wedding Day Events, and You By Design.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Weddings, Calla Lillies, Color Palette Green Orange, Ever After Events, Janell Berte, Jennifer Dery Photography, Mission Bay, Paradise Point Resort & Spa, San Diego, White Wedding Day Events, You By Design
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

And now to Stacie’s wedding. The Real Wedding of a Berté Bride …

Stacie and Matt were married on October 4th at HollyHedge Estate in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

We asked Stacie to tell us about her search for her wedding dress.

from Stacie …

I began my dress search online trying to find the style I wanted. After trying on a handful of dresses at several shops, my mom and I went to a trunk show for another designer to try on what I thought would be the perfect dress. When I got there I realized it was not for me. The sales woman then decided to show me some other similar dresses, one of which was a Janell Berte’ design. As soon as I put Janell’s dress on I fell in love with it. I asked if they had any more of her dresses and unfortunately, they did not.  As soon as I got home I went back to my computer, and to my surprise, the bridal shop in my town, A Beautiful Bride, carried her entire line. I was ecstatic and called them immediately for an appointment. I went in and tried on 2 of her dresses, first the one I tried on previously. Then I tried on “The One”, Bliss. The dress was absolutely breathtaking and so simply elegant I knew I must have it. They were having a trunk show a few weeks later so I came back at that time to meet Janell and purchase my dress. It was fantastic to work with Janell, she is so personable and down to earth, and made my decision that much easier. I bought the dress of my dreams that day and never once did I second guess my choice. On my wedding day I felt like the perfect princess bride.

Gorgeous Bride. Gorgeous Fall Wedding. Gorgeous Gown!

Congratulations Stacie & Matt, and a huge thank-you to Kris Rupp Photography for sharing these wonderful photos!

Janell’s 2009 Spring Collection and other Couture gowns are pictured on her website. We are so honored to have Janell in our Little Black Book of Very Important Wedding Vendors!

For those of you who have already selected your gown or those who just need more REAL WEDDING eye-candy, head over to the Little Black Book Blog where we’re featuring a bold and beautiful Moroccan-inspired wedding in Arizona from Katrina and Andrew of Sedona Bride Photography.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Beautiful Bride, Custom Gown, Fall Wedding, Holly Hedge Estate, Janell Berte, Kris Rupp Photography, New Hope, Pennsylvania, Real Weddings
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Inspiration Boards, Real Weddings, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion

LOVE the photography (Little Black Book member,  Jeremy Hess)

I adore everything about these gowns!

We have a Real Wedding and a Real Berte’ Bride coming up … so please check back in a bit …

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Couture, Janell Berte, Jeremy Hess, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Post categories: Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Style

photography by Nick Gould and Cindi Dixon

Janell Berte’s couture wedding dresses and gowns can be found in select bridal salons around the states. She currently has a trunk show in West Hartford, Connecticut at the Camille Bridal Boutique. The exact dates, address and phone numbers can be found on Janell’s website. Be sure to call ahead to schedule an appointment. Janell will be in attendance at many of the trunk shows. Shows are also scheduled at Katherine’s Bridal Boutique in Alexandria VA (late February), The Wedding Shoppe in Wayne PA (early March), and Tie The Knot in Naples FL (mid-March)

More from Janell to come …

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Camille Bridal Boutique, Janell Berte, Katherine's Bridal Boutique, Nick Gould Photography
Post categories: Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Style

In a recent interview with her, I asked how she defines her wedding gown design aesthetic. Her answer was swift and straight-forward … “clean lines and luscious fabrics that incorporate french lace and decorative accents.”

I think, though, that the most significant thing Janell told me was that she designs for real brides with real figures and real curves.

Each of Janell’s gowns has a definite personality, a definite style. Once created, each gown will prompt the unfolding of a young lady’s dream-come-true wedding day.

We’ll be back with a few of our favorite gowns from Janell’s Couture Collection …

And if you’ve already selected your gown, head on over to The Little Black Book Blog for a stunning, classic Illinois wedding from Jeffrey and Julia Woods Photography. A little later today, we’ll be featuring another dazzling Real Wedding From Andrew and Katrina at Sedona Brides on the Little Black Book Blog!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Couture, Designer, Janell Berte, Lancaster, Nick Gould Photography, Pennsylvania, Wedding Dress Styles, Wedding Style
Post categories: Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Style

Wedding dresses! We ALL love looking at wedding dresses. We all LOVE spring collections of wedding dresses. That is why today is such a lovely day! Believe it or not, the snow and ice that is slamming much of the country will melt and spring WILL arrive. What better way to spend a few minutes brightening up your day than oohh-ing and aahh-ing over the 2009 Spring Collection from Janell Berté. We have the distinct pleasure of saying that Janell — an award winning couture dress designer — is one of the founding members of Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book.  Janell’s private bridal studio and workshop is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Brides from as far away as New York City and Baltimore have traveled to her salon to work with her in fashioning their very own, perfect, dream-come-true wedding dress.

The Spring 2009 Collection from Janell Berté …

photography by Nick Gould

I spoke with Janell a few days ago and found her to be absolutely delightful. Very approachable. Very enthusiastic about her designs (her ‘babies’)! I asked if she had a favorite design from her 2009 collection and she replied that it would be impossible to name just one. Her gowns are her babies and each stands on it’s own merits. She loves them all.

We’ll be back in a bit with more …

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bridal Gowns, Janell Berte, Lancaster, Nick Gould, Pennsylvania, wedding dress
Post categories: Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Style