The upside of J. Crew…fabulous colors, chic styles and silhouettes, a completely adorable feminine charm. My very favorite in this group is the top middle, yellow dress. LOVE more than I can say. The downside is that some of the styles are a little bit on the pricey side (although they do have this fabulous dress for $59 in some pretty great colors). But all in all, I am nuts about this collection.

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Post tags: Bridesmaids Dresses, JCrew
Post categories: Bridal Party, Wedding Fashion

Cake by Delicious Desserts, Tablescape by Beth Helmstetter, Wedding Logo by Betsywhite Stationery Boutique, Dress by JCrew

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Post tags: Beth Helmstetter, Betsywhite Stationery Boutique, Delicious Desserts, JCrew
Post categories: Contests, Inspiration Boards

Little Black Dress is the Silk tricotine Rebecca short dress by JCrew /Ice cream cones found on Martha Stewart /Centerpiece from Farmer Julie /Stationary and macaroons from Martha Stewart / Bouquet from Punam Bean via Style Me Pretty

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Post tags: Bridesmaids Dresses, Color Palette Purple Hot Pink, Farmer Julie, Inspiration Board Contest, JCrew, Little Black Dress, Martha Stewart, Punam Bean
Post categories: Color Palettes, Contests, Inspiration Boards, Wedding Resources

More details from the bride…

During the ceremony, the officiant, a retired judge who is a family friend and who also happened to be my trial advocacy teacher in law school, remarked that our first encounter reminded him of the song “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific. This inspired our friend Matt, an extraordinarily talented singer, to perform the song for us later in the evening, since he coincidentally had the track for it in his car.  He was hesitant to do so at first, since it had not been planned, but when he heard the last lines of my toast, which happened to mirror the last lines of the song, he decided he could not let the opportunity pass.  It was one of our favorite moments of the evening.

My fiance’s coworker lent us a 1966 light blue Austin Healy for our wedding getaway car. During the cocktail hour we hopped in the car and drove down the long tree-lined driveway leading to the estate to share a few moments together and take photos. 

The Bridesmaids/ Flowers Girls Dresses:

The bridesmaids wore espresso silk tricotine dresses in various styles from J. Crew.  Ruggero’s, my fiance’s daughter, was the Junior Bridesmaid and wore a white Us Angels dress with a chocolate brown sash.  The five adorable flower girls wore white dresses with green sashes from Us Angels. 

The Dress:

My dress was designed by Christos and was made of silk organza.  At my request, the tailors at Saks Fifth Avenue removed the train and painstakingly moved the lace that had been on the train onto the back of the dress, so I could move around easily in it and not drag the train on the gravel.  It ended up being incredibly comfortable and perfect to dance in.  Ruggero bought his navy blue lightweight wool suit by Belvest from Wilkes Bashford, and wore a green tie and dark brown Bruno Magli shoes.

The fun didn’t stop here…the couple had Lauri help them with an INCREDIBLE photo shoot after the big day. Stay tuned!

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Post tags: Christos, Destination Guide, Flower girls, JCrew, Lauri Levenfeld, Napa, Saks Fifth Avenue, US Angels, Wilkes Bashford, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Wedding Photography

The photographs were all taken by a new photography team in the San Francisco Bay Area…Verite. Their work is really beautiful and I have to say, I am blown away by these gorgeous images that we’ve featured today. If you are in need of a little inspiration, check out their website. It’s actually still being developed, but the photographers, Robyn and Maria, have their own sites that are filled with eye candy!

Thanks so much, Tracy, for letting us feature your big day!!

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Post tags: Bay Area, Bridesmaids Dresses, California, JCrew, Livermore, Murrieta's Well, Verite
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

all photographs by Lindsay Brooke Emeigh

Beth has been sweet enough to stop by for a bit to share a few of the amazing details…

Here is the basic Breakdown for our $10,000 wedding…Music 15%, Caterer, Beverages and Cake 39%, Tent and other Rentals 20%, Flowers 15%, Wedding garb, hair and makeup: 3%, Photographer: 4%, Invitations and other projects: 4%.  There were about 80 guests at our wedding.

We were married on September 20th at my family’s tobacco farm in Greensboro, North Carolina.  We had a budget wedding (under $10,000–I’m still tallying the final costs) that we made work by DIYing a lot and cutting back on some tradiitonally expensive categories (wedding dress, photographer) and focusing instead on food and music. 

My husband and I are from Chicago, so we heavily relied on my family for help with vendors. The biggest expense by far was our caterer, Sweet Basil’s, in Greensboro, but they were by far worth every penny.  They use organic food and locally grown produce. The food was AMAZING!  Renee, who runs a restaurant and catering company, also acted as my de facto wedding planner, and came out to the farm on a number of occasions just to help with the set up and lighting.  Also, Renee let us bring our own Beer and Wine, which was a huge cost saver.  We bought the wine from Trader Joe’s and the beer from Costco.

The venue was free, as it was my family’s 100 year old farmhouse.  The officiant was our friend (actually, the person who introduced me to my husband in law school!), and performed the ceremony for free.  I kept my engagement ring as my wedding ring, which also cut down on costs.  My dress was the infamous Sophia dress from Jcrew.  I stayed away from the Bridal boutiques because I didn’t want to end up with a dress that cost half my budget.  I’m a real clothes shopper, so that was very hard for me, but, in the end, I’m glad that I saved on that.  The dress was very soft, minimalist and simple and fit the atmosphere of the wedding.  My groom used a newer suit he had bought for work, and freshened it up with a fun tie. 

Etsy was a complete lifesaver for my wedding. My hair flower was from Myra Kim at twigs and honey.  My necklace was probably the best deal of all.  An etsy jewler, Deb from BlazerArts, replicated an incredibly expensive necklace I loved but was out of my budget.  I gave her a picture of the necklace and she made one from scratch for me and even let me pick up the stone–all for a fraction of the cost. 

Stay tuned to see how the rest of Beth and Mike’s wedding turned out and find out the incredible sources where Beth found most of her details!

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Post tags: BlazerArts, Budget Beautiful, DIY Inspired, Etsy, farm, JCrew, North Carolina, Sweet Basil's, twigs and honey
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Do-It-Yourself Inspired