Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog

Simple Inspiration From Karen Wise Photography

Eddye — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:54:10 +0000

As promised earlier today … just a few more inspiring images …

No real wedding. Just really pretty pictures from Karen Wise!

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Post tags: Cupcakes, Honey, Hyacinths, Karen Wise
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog

Malibu Chic Wedding by Karen Wise, IV

Abby Larson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:55:06 +0000

Thank you so very much to the lovely Catherine and Ken for sharing their incredibly beautiful day with us. I love the thought, the energy and the pretty that you infused into each and every detail. And to Karen Wise for continuing to excite and inspire me!

We are both lovers of jazz and found an awesome band that played classic jazz hits during the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. I walked down the aisle to Miles Davis’ “It Never Entered My Mind.” We couldn’t decide on a song for the first dance for the longest time and Ken insisted that he pick it. I was very hesitant at first, but I decided to trust him because the wedding was only 2 days away. After our welcome speech to our guests, he had three young guests join us on the dance floor and read to everyone his version of our fairy tale. Our first dance was “Someday My Prince Will Come” and also by Miles Davis. He really took me by surprise and I couldn’t stop crying (some of our guests too). So it really did feel like a fairy tale…

SWOON. Well, the gorgeousness doesn’t end here. I have saved some of the VERY best, absolutely gorgeous, ridiculously lovely details for our Style Circle Details Feature. It’s a shameless way to get you guys to visit our new social network, I admit. BUT, it’s also the place that is all about wedding style so it just made sense.

We are going to be doing a Look For Less feature over there this afternoon too, where we are featuring tips and ideas to make this look come alive on a budget!

Here are the list of vendors that Catherine and Ken used…

Florist: David Hahn of Willem-Aidan / Event coordinator: Linda Chow of Lavish Celebrations / Photography: Karen Wise / Videography: Blue Sky Videos / Catering: The Kitchen for Exploring Foods / Cake: Vanilla Bakeshop / Party Rentals: Classic Party Rentals / Jazz Band: Evan Stone Productions / Wedding gown by Lazaro and cocktail dress by Dior / Shoes by Rene Caovilla and Christian Louboutin / Groom’s Suit by Ermenegildo Zegna

Click here to read our Style Circle Feature filled with more details from this affair…think invitations, flowers, place cards, decor, the works!

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Post tags: Blue Sky Video, Christian Louboutin, Classic Party Rentals, Dior, Ermenegildo Zegna, Evan Stone Productions, Karen Wise, Lavish Celebrations, Lazaro, Malibu, The Kitchen for Exploring Food, Vanilla Bakeshop, Willem-Aiden
Post categories: Style Circle, Traditional Elegance

Malibu Chic Wedding by Karen Wise, III

Abby Larson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:30:29 +0000

I could go on and on and on about why I love this wedding. It’s not hard to fall hard for the pretty, girly style. The perfect peonies. The draped twinkle lights. But what I love the most is that the bride and groom poured their heart into designing a day that their friends and family would remember forever. That was as romantic as it was thoughtful. This wedding, photographed by the incredible Karen Wise, is the perfect reflection of beauty and style.

From Catherine, the gorgeous bride…

We were very fortunate to have wonderful and supportive friends and family helping us along the way. All the flower arrangements and centerpieces were created by the talented David Hahn of Willem-Aidan in San Diego. Ken and David are close friends and business partners. David was so dedicated to our wedding that he took his two sons out of school for an entire week and set up shop in Ken’s parent’s garage.

I brought 60 pashminas back from China in an assortment of colors for our guests to keep warm in. I went to a fabric market in Beijing and picked out the linen and had it made into dinner napkins all for $90! We had pictures of our childhood, family, and friends clipped around two tree trunks. Karen set up a self-portrait station during cocktail hour for our guests. The cakestand we used and the leather trunk we put the pashminas in belonged to my late uncle. I also brought back from China velvet ribbons in pink and brown and tied them around the dinner napkins to compliment the calligraphed table place cards. We served 2 signature cocktails (raspberry mint mojito and elderflower champagne), iced tea and lemonades. The table numbers were a last-minute DIY idea from Paper Source.

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Post tags: Karen Wise, Malibu, Willem-Aidan
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

Malibu Chic Wedding by Karen Wise, II

Abby Larson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:45:42 +0000

This wedding is about as pretty as a wedding could possibly be. From the stunning bride and groom, to the flowers that are right out of a painting, to the photographs that Karen Wise shot…every detail is perfection. And, what’s even more exciting is that the beautiful bride, Catherine, loves Style Me Pretty (she even said love, love, love!) and has agreed to share all of the pretty details with us today!

From Catherine…

I am an avid and devoted reader of your blog and I read it daily (seriously!) for inspiration while planning my own wedding. Planning was no easy feat for us because Ken and I both live and work in Beijing, China. We chose to have our wedding in Los Angeles because we both grew up there and most of our family and friends there. We had our wedding on June 6, 2009 at the Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California with 220 guests.

We wanted someplace beautiful, intimate, and special—we wanted our guests to feel like they stepped into a fairy tale. Saddlerock Ranch was the first place I visited and we immediately knew it was the one! The location is so picturesque and provided the natural beauty of the Santa Monica mountains, lush green lawns, and animals.

It was January 2009 and I only had 5 months of planning time, so I poured my heart and energy into making our dream wedding happen. I was also very lucky because Ken was actively involved with me in some of the projects. I’m a girly-girl and had to choose pink and chocolate brown as our colors. The cherry blossom design was our theme throughout the wedding—from our invitations to our wedding cake and cupcakes. I was going for a romantic and rustic feel and tried to incorporate as many personal touches and details as we could.

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Post tags: Karen Wise, Malibu, Saddlerock Ranch
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

Malibu Chic Wedding by Karen Wise

Abby Larson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:18:53 +0000

This is it. My dream wedding.

I know that I promised to feature less picture perfect outdoor weddings (and I swear I will) but this one was just too stunning to pass up. Chandeliers hanging from trees, perfect pink peonies, horses grazing in the background. Oh and a perfect white dress, a dreamy groom and details that will make you swoon.

Karen Wise, who is constantly inspiring me, photographed this wedding and to me, it’s about as good as it gets. Here is a little sneak peek…

We have SO many incredible details on the way, then later…we are going to do a look for less post over on the Style Circle! Lots of fun in store!

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Post tags: Karen Wise, Malibu
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

Travel Themed Weddings

Abby Larson — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:30:56 +0000

I am not much for themes when it comes to weddings. I am not much for themes when it comes to anything. BUT, there is the rare exception to the rule in my book of all things great…travel. I’ve started to see weddings that focus on travel and long distance loves start to pop up and there is just something so romantic about the idea.

We have a gorgeous travel themed affair coming up in a bit, but before we get to it, I wanted to share some fun travel inspired details that I’ve found along the way…

top left and bottom right photography by Azzura Photography and invitations crafted by Brown Sugar Design / top right and bottom left by the wonderful Courtney Matevey

First set of photographs by the amazing Lauri Levenfeld at Zoom Photography, Luggage Tage by Pigweed Press and Vintage Inspired Travel Detail designed by Chewing the Cud and Jubilee Lau Events and photographed by Kevin Chin

All photographs by the FABULOUS Karen Wise

We have more details on the way, along with a SPECTACULAR travel inspired real wedding!

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Post tags: Azzura Photography, Chewing The Cud, Courtney Matevey, Jubilee Lau Events, Karen Wise, Kevin Chin, Pigweed Press, Zoom Photography
Post categories: The Blog, Wedding Decor, Wedding Details

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan, VII

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:00:52 +0000

Karen Wise is a frequent contributor to Style Me Pretty. Something about her pure approach to each wedding, as if she is photographing each wedding with a completely clean slate, just speaks to us. Plus, she always scores the prettiest weddings, so we can’t help but love her!!

And thank you so much to Carmelita and Dan for sharing their day with us. Carmelita was sweet enough to share all of her wonderful details and it’s clear that so much love went into building this gorgeous day. Here are a few last minute thoughts from the lovely bride…

We ended the evening by hailing a New York City taxi to take us to our hotel. We did not realize until we saw the photos that the advertisement on the roof of the cab read “The Love Guru.”

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Post tags: Carmelita and Dan, Karen Wise, Studio 450
Post categories: Contemporary, Traditional Elegance

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan, VI

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:30:17 +0000

If you are just now joining us, we are featuring the absolutely fabulous wedding of Carmelita and Dan…which took place in New York City at Studio 540. Karen Wise shot the affair and did a beautiful job telling the story of the day.

From Carmelita…

Baked created a combination of a mini-cake for the cake cutting and cupcakes for our guests. We chose Baked because they promised that the cake would be baked the morning of the wedding. The result was adorable and so delicious. No leftovers!

Our wedding favors were sweetriot cacao nibs. We were happy to patronize a mission-based, fair trade company. And we loved the potent chocolate. Also we glued personalized labels on to water bottles that read “hydrate! we love you.”

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Post tags: Baked, Baked NYC, Carmelita and Dan, Karen Wise, Studio 540, Sweetriot Cacao Nibs
Post categories: Contemporary, Traditional Elegance

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan, V

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:00:38 +0000

I love the white palette of this wedding. The pops of bright pink are stunning against the simple, clean background. They bring warmth without taking away from the contemporary raw style of the building.

And as the party began, the glow and intimacy added even more style to the gorgeous affair….

I told you that Karen Wise was genius. Wait until you see the rest!

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Post tags: Carmelita and Dan, Karen Wise, Studio 450
Post categories: Contemporary, Traditional Elegance

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan, IV

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:30:57 +0000

The bridal party from today’s affair is nothing but elegant. Perfect for the stark white backdrop of Studio 450 and for the simple, modern (but incredibly lush) wedding style…

From Carmelita…The dress code was “fabulous.” For the wedding party, the best man wore a black suit and each of the bridesmaids (and groomswoman) picked out her own black dress.

all photographs by the ridiculously talented Karen Wise

Love, love, love. More to come in a bit!

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Post tags: Carmelita and Dan, Karen Wise, Studio 450
Post categories: The Blog

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan, III

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:00:52 +0000

A bit more eye candy from today’s ceremony, shot by the unbelievably talented Karen Wise…and while you’re devouring these, can we all just take a moment to pay our respects to the GORGEOUS flowers that the girls are carrying!

The florist, Michael Davis of Elan Flowers, created lush, low centerpieces of orchids, callas, peonies, and spray roses. For the bouquets, the girls held solid, rich pink callas. Stunning.

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Post tags: Calla Lilies, Callas, Carmelita and Dan, Karen Wise, Orchids, Peonies, Roses, Studio 450
Post categories: The Blog

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan, II

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:30:06 +0000

When I first saw this wedding, it was the ceremony that honestly took my breath away. Something about the simplicity of the style, the perfect silhouette of the bride’s gown, the joy that is radiating from everyone. It’s just pure beauty.

From Carmelita…

It was important to us to represent our cultures (Jewish and Filipino/Irish) in a non-denominational ceremony. Daniel’s father created our chuppah from green bamboo and my mother sewed the fabric for the canopy. We also incorporated the Filipino veil ceremony. (The Irish side was most clearly represented by the variety of whiskey offered at the reception.)

Karen Wise is the genius behind the photographs and she has so much more in store for you guys today. Back in a bit!

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Post tags: Carmelita, don-demoninational, Filipino, Irish, Jewish, Karen Wise
Post categories: Contemporary, Traditional Elegance

Real Wedding: Carmelita and Dan

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:30:28 +0000

I heart today’s real wedding. Mainly because it’s one of the rare NYC loft weddings that we’ve featured on Style Me Pretty, but also because it’s the perfect combination of traditional and modern, elegant and fun. Plus, it was photographed by the fabulous Karen Wise, who is a favorite of ours.

From the gorgeous bride, Carmelita…

We chose Studio 450, a loft space in Manhattan, with great views of the city skyline and the Hudson River. Our color palate was fuchsia and chartreuse. Once the colors were selected our choices for linen, flowers, and the design of the place cards and programs, fell into place. We envisioned splashes of bold color to contrast with the pristine white space.

Wedding Centerpieces, III

Abby Larson — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:12:40 +0000

This next set is so me, it’s hard to imagine any centerpiece any prettier…

Clockwise from Top Left: Image by Jessamyn Harris, Image by Karen Wise, Image by Heather Forsythe, Image by Our Labor of Love with floral design by Amber Fouts

I love the simplicity and elegance of each of these centerpieces. They seem so organic, so incredibly natural to me. Obviously, flowers are all natural, but there is just something unfussy and utterly beautiful about this particular set.

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Post tags: Centerpiece, Heather Forsythe, Jessamyn Harris, Karen Wise, Our Labor of Love, Wedding Centerpiece, Wedding Flowers
Post categories: Wedding Flowers

Real Wedding: Oh Joy, IV!

Abby Larson — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:43:28 +0000

Here is a last look at today’s featured wedding…Joy Deangdeelert Cho of Oh Joy! along with her incredibly talented photographer, Karen Wise, have graciously shared these lovely, lovely pictures with us…

Oh and if you are interested in all of the fun details that Joy infused (think brownie inspired favors, perfect bridesmaids gifts wrapped in perfect packages and custom designed stationery) check out Oh Joy!

More to come!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Joy, Karen Wise, Karen Wise Photography, Oh Joy!
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Cultural Beauty, The Blog, Traditional Elegance