Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog

Aspen After Party by Aaron Delesie + Lisa Vorce + Mindy Rice

Emilia Jane — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:00:15 +0000

This is the party that can’t stop, won’t stop! After the sweet and serene wedding, guests ventured down the rabbit hole into something completely different! A psychedelic, Willa Wonka-meets-Alice in Wonderland after party where they got their sugar rush and their dance party on! Candy around every corner, vibrant lounge areas and, my favorite little touch, sparkly Toms for the guests to don before dancing, turned this already magical weekend into an out-of-this-world extravaganza! Aaron Delesie, Lisa Vorce and Mindy Rice definitely knocked it out of the park and raised the bar with this one. If you’re like me and you want to live vicariously through these lucky guests then check out the full gallery for even more!

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From Lisa Vorce… Bailey and Pete wanted a “Willy-Wonka-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland” vibe. How’s that for a theme? A blast for us! Barker Decor put in almost 2000 square feet of high gloss white flooring and built two 12 foot candy walls. We flew in 3000 bedazzled bonbons, an entire van small truck full of candy, and over 1500 macaroons. Pure heaven. Behind the main bar we had a 12′ high gloss lime manzanita tree that Mindy treated with oversized colorful florals. Mindy also created playful “forest” vignettes throughout the room with oversized colorful mushrooms, grass squirrel topiaries, and flats of grass. The entire tent was draped in a vibrant apple green color, and then we color blocked the 4 corners of the tent, so each corner had its own color themed lounge.

We truly had a blast on this event, and adore Bailey and Pete (and their amazing families!). We’re looking forward to creating an extraordinary vow renewal party for them in a a few years…(hint, hint…Bailey and Pete!).

Wedding Photography: Aaron Delesie / Event Production & Design: Lisa Vorce – Oh, How Charming! / Floral & Event Design: Mindy Rice / Event Lighting + Set Design + Flooring + Furniture + Specialty Dance Floors + Draping: Barker Decor Service / Catering: The Little Nell / Wedding Cake: d’Elissious / Event Rentals: Event Rents / Wedding Cinematography: Paper Tape / Welcome Reception Music: The Spazmatics / Ceremony & Cocktail Music: Supernova / Dinner Reception Music: Impulse / After Party Music: DJ Ig of RedShoe LA / Photobooth: Colorado Photo Booth / Celebrant: Reverend Bruce McNab / Makeup: Fiore Beauty / Hair: Marilee Albin / Wedding Dress: Amsale / Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale / Wedding Venue: Private Residence / Paper: Papel Paper & Press and Yellow Owl Workshop

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Post tags: Aaron Delesie, After Party, Alice in Wonderland, Amsale, Aspen, Barker Decor Service, Candy Walls, Colorado, Colorado Photo Booth, d'Elissious, DJ Ig, Event Rents, Fiore Beauty, Green, Impulse, Lisa Vorce, Lounge, Marilee Albin, Mindy Rice, Oh How Charming, Orange, Paper Tape, Pink, Red, RedShoe LA, Reverend Bruce McNab, Supernova, Tent, The Little Nell, The Spazmatics, Willy Wonka, Yellow
Post categories: Real Parties

Aspen Wedding by Aaron Delesie + Lisa Vorce + Mindy Rice

Erin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:00:18 +0000

I am sure at this point, you all are glued to your computer screens in anticipation of this all out wedding extravaganza. Because honestly, if the welcome party was that amazing, you can only imagine the swoon-fest we are about to devour as seen through the golden lens of Aaron Delesie. The gorgeous Bride (and adorably witty blogger) teamed up with dream team Lisa Vorce and Mindy Rice to create a day filled with natural, elegant touches and an under current of whimsy. It’s GORGEOUS and it’s all ours to pore over, pin, tweet, facebook, bookmark, shout from the mountain tops or all of the above. Find the whole Aspen fête here.

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From the Bride… From the beginning we had a pretty clear view of what we wanted for our wedding day. We knew we wanted to get married outdoors in the fall by the pond at my family’s place in Aspen. We knew we wanted the event to feel natural- but not necessarily rustic. We aren’t exactly woodspeople so we wanted more of a refined, natural vibe that would enhance the incredible surroundings without competing with it. I wanted our wedding day to feel reverent but not overly stuffy or formal. My wedding dress was a custom Amsale, who I chose because I felt like all of the sample dresses I tried on of theirs really fit and she understood my body. Like the decor I didn’t want it to feel overly fussed about- and the antique lace bottom and swiss dot top came together perfectly.

After working with Lisa for nearly 20 months planning the wedding it is hard to know where my ideas stopped and hers began. I think that is part of what makes Lisa such an incredible wedding planner – she doesn’t try to impose her vision or agenda on your wedding. She really listens and sort of adopts your taste and perspective so that even all of her amazing ideas feel like they could have been your own. Which is also a huge ego boost because who doesn’t want to feel like they created something so beautiful!

When I met with Lisa I had a binder full of ideas on specific aesthetic details I had been saving for years. She really took that direction into account but i think what we came up with was still entirely its own unique thing. One of the details that stands out to me still 6 months later is the music and readings we chose for our ceremony. We knew from the beginning that I would walk down the aisle to Til Kingdom Comes by Coldplay- a bonus track they originally wrote for Johnny Cash. Lisa reccomended the most incredible string quartet who played at the ceremony and cocktail hour and that was really special. We also spent a lot of time making our ceremony personal while still working within the traditional Christian marriage rite. Our readings, from a childrens book called I Like You and from the Bible about the importance of sacred space really reflected what we wanted our ceremony to be about- and our priest completed that with an amazing lesson on the importance of a childlike joy in love- which would really come into play at the reception and after party. My vision for the reception tent was that it feel like you were dining in the woods on a magical moonlit night. I wanted it to feel like you were under a tree canopy with the moon flickering through the leaves. I think Lisa took that idea and made it a hair less cheesy, and a bit more modern and sophisticated.

The whole night was full of special moments. I loved the way my bridesmaids and house party looked. Each one picked their style of dress from Amsale’s bridesmaid line and their color, and the flowers Mindy did for their hair were incredible. Truly everyone never looked better. I loved seeing how the tent came togethet, and we actually had a blast dancing to Ray LaMontagne You Are The Best Thing for our first dance. I mean- the dancing in general was hilarious and out of control. The band was on our flight out the next day and even they said they had never seen people boogie like our people boogied. Word.

By far the most incredible part of the night was the after party tent. I told Lisa I wanted a Willy Wonka/Alice In Wonderland, main tent magical forest on acid and for the love of Britney Spears, did we ever get one. But really everything was incredible- I still cant believe we pulled it off, and we are so blessed that we got to start off our marriage with such a lovefest- because that is really what the whole weekend felt like!

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Post tags: Aaron Delesie, Amsale, Aspen, Barker Decor Service, Colorado, Colorado Photo Booth, d'Elissious, DJ Ig, Event Rents, Fiore Beauty, Forest Inspired Wedding, Impulse, Lisa Vorce, Marilee Albin, Midsummer Night's Dream, Mindy Rice, Moss, Oh How Charming, Orange, owls, Paper Tape, Red, RedShoe LA, Reverend Bruce McNab, Supernova, Tabletop Trees, The Little Nell, The Spazmatics
Post categories: Whimsical

Aspen Welcome Party by Aaron Delesie + Lisa Vorce + Mindy Rice

A. Blaire — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:00:20 +0000

Oh do we have a day in store for you! An Aaron Delesie plus Lisa Vorce plus Mindy Rice kind of a day. I am just giddy thinking about it! Here’s the deal – today we’ll feature one amazing couple (the bride being the voice behind the darling blog Peppermint Bliss) and their three fabulous wedding weekend events by the talented trio. So get cozy and let’s get stared with the Aspen welcome party complete with a cowboy hat chandelier. Yes that’s correct, a cowboy hat chandelier, and that’s only the beginning! Remember today is a marathon of pretty images from Aaron Delesie, not a sprint – so go ahead a mosey on over to the full gallery for this beyond wonderful welcome party!

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From Lisa Vorce… Our Aspen event wins the prize for THE most fun event ever! Bailey and Pete were the most fantastically sweet and trusting clients…and by far the funniest. There was not one email from Bailey that didn’t have the entire office laughing out loud. She writes exactly as she speaks and she is full of life. You must read her blog (Peppermint Bliss) and you’ll see what I mean….

When Bailey came to us, she definitely had a clear vision for her wedding. She allowed us however, to take her vision and put our spin on it which was pure delight for us. For the welcome reception — it was cowboy kitsch at its best! Highlights included Barker Decor’s stunning high gloss red dance floor, Mindy’s amazing tablescapes of cotton centerpieces, charcoal glazed pottery and red ranunculus, and my personal favorite…our high gloss red cardboard “taxidermy” that we hung throughout the room…complete with thought bubbles. Mindy created two gigantic cowboy hat chandeliers, and an escort card wall that displayed cowboy hats with table numbers on them. An adorable, interactive, and thematic escort card wall all in one. It was incredible.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aaron Delesie, Amsale, Aspen, Barker Decor Service, Colorado, Colorado Photo Booth, Cotton, Cowboy Hats, d'Elissious, DJ Ig, Event Rents, Fiore, Impulse, Lisa Vorce, Mindy Rice, Natural, Oh How Charming, Paper Tape, Red, RedShoe LA, Reverend Bruce McNab, Rustic, Supernova, The Little Nell, The Spazmatics, Welcome Party, White
Post categories: Real Parties

Vintage Photo Shoot by Elizabeth Messina + Lisa Vorce + Mindy Rice

Abby Larson — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:14:35 +0000

I am a bit at a loss for words for this next feature. Which is rare considering that I spend my life coming up with just the right words to describe every perfect wedding detail that we share on SMP. But this one is different. It’s a collaboration between three people that are kind of like the Queens-of-All-Things-Gorgeous, and I literally dropped my jaw when I saw what they had come up with. Event designer Lisa Vorce of Oh How Charming! , floral and event designer Mindy Rice and photographer Elizabeth Messina are the makers of this wedding shoot that is quite possibly the most beautiful shoot the world of weddings has ever seen…so beautiful, in fact, that you too might just lose the power of speech. And guess what. There is so much more right here.

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From Lisa Vorce… As if we don’t have enough on our plate…Mindy, Elizabeth, and I decided we simply must add something else to our list. We had spotted the delightfully gorgeous “tru luv” boat and it all started there. Our creative wheels were spinning, and we just had to do a photo shoot with it! So…. we created a little “tru luv” story…all because of a little boat!

Our bride was outfitted with the most thematically fitting gowns from Claire Pettibone, headpieces from Twigs & Honey, and gorgeous hair and make-up from Erin Skipley. For the dining table for our tru luvbirds…Mindy and I created a wonderful blend of all things vintage and weathered, and mixed them in with more traditional “estate” pieces. Details included a vintage collection of salt pinches and collected silver, weathered grape vines, zinc name tags hand calligraphed in cream by Lisa Holtzman, and an eclectic combination of ribbons and twines. Mindy’s extraordinary floral pieces included ranunculus, dusty miller, snow hydrangea, fresh green wheat , white anemones, German silk daisies and Pieris japonica. We chose a chocolate topaz linen from La Tavola and paired that with classic white linen napkins. The table was stunning and we could picture our luvbirds dining by candlelight with their closest friends. Deliciously sweet mini cakes created by Melody at Sweet & Saucy were set on the credenza behind the dinning table. They were such a gorgeous backdrop behind the table. It took all of our collective power not to devour them before we got to shoot them! For the end of our story…we secured a 1965 volvo as the get-away car… . So adorable and the color could not have been more perfect!

Photography: Elizabeth Messina / Event Production & Design: Lisa Vorce / Floral & Event Design: Mindy Rice / Hair & Makeup: Erin Skipley / Wedding Gowns: Claire Pettibone / Headpiece: twigs & honey / Wedding Cakes: Sweet & Saucy Shop / Calligraphy: Lisa Holtzman / Linens: La Tavola / Rentals: Classic Party Rentals- Santa Barbara / Heart Stoppingly Beautiful Model: Ashlyn Pearce – Vision Model Management / Oh-So-Handsome Model: Kyle Mullen – Heffner Management

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 54 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Claire Pettibone, Classic Party Rentals, Elisabeth Messina, Erin Skipley, intimate wedding, La Tavola, Lisa Holtzman, Lisa Vorce, Mindy Rice, Mini Cakes, Outdoor, Photo Shoot, Sweet & Saucy Shop, Twigs & Honey, Vintage Details, Wedding Photography
Post categories: California Weddings, Photo Shoot, Wedding Photography

Wedding for Two by Aaron Delesie, Lisa Vorce + Mindy Rice, Part II

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:00:15 +0000

A wedding built for two. Doesn’t that just sound hopelessly romantic? Blissful in that “only-in-the-movies” kind of way. Well, this beautiful couple took the idea of a private wedding and ran with it, hiring the FABULOUS Lisa Vorce and Mindy Rice to design the day and the florals, and SMP fav, Aaron Delesie, to shoot their photographs. Which are definitely more like fine art than wedding imagery. And the result was this magical, completely idyllic wedding that was as personal as it was gorgeous. Click here to see so much more!

click here to see the full, gorgeous wedding gallery!

After a magical ceremony performed by the fabulous JP Reynolds — Carey and Brian were summoned to their candlelight dinner reception. We had a tiered ruffled linen sewn for the dinner table with oversized ruffled napkins to match. Barker Decor draped the main dining room for us in the coordinating blue fabric which helped soften the room. Mindy did extraordinary floral arrangements which included peonies, ranunculus, anemones, and dusty miller. She incorporated cast metal branches into the arrangements for an unpredictable twist. So gorgeous! Daniel Rautman created an incredible four course menu for Carey and Brian that was to die for.

Lisa Holtzman calligraphed individual “Mr” and “Mrs” menus and we mounted them on velvet backers created by Papel Paper and Press. We partnered with Melody at Sweet and Saucy for the dessert extravaganza. We sent Melody photos of Carey’s china, and she created little works of dessert art to complement our over all design. Delicious and visually stunning!

All was captured perfectly by Aaron & Jen Delesie, and by Curtis of Living Cinema! Carey and Brian were a delight to work with and the whole day was exactly what we had hoped for them… private, romantic, memorable!

Event Design: Lisa Vorce, Oh How Charming / Photography: Aaron Delesie / Venue: Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse / Floral: Mindy Rice / Officiant: JP Reynolds / Draping: Barker Decor / Calligraphy: Lisa Holtzman / Velvet Menu Backers: Papel Paper and Press / Desserts & Cake: Sweet and Saucy / Cinematography: Curtis Heyne, Living Cinema

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 42 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barker Decor, Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, JP Reynolds, Lisa Holtzman, Living Cinema, Mindy Rice, Oh How Charming, Papel Paper and Press, private wedding, Sweet and Saucy, wedding for two 0
Post categories: California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Santa Barbara Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Wedding for Two by Aaron Delesie, Lisa Vorce + Mindy Rice

Abby Larson — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:00:47 +0000

Today is a really special day on SMP. In part because we FINALLY got our greedy little hands on a brand spanking new Lisa Vorce designed wedding, but also because Aaron Delesie, one of our favorite photogs ever, has helped us construct the photography story himself…handpicking images that allow the grace, the romance and the beauty to unfold so naturally. Top it off with stunning styling and florals by Mindy Rice and we are in total heaven. It’s a full day of Aaron + Lisa + Mindy gorgeousness and we seriously can’t stand to keep you waiting even a second longer. So without further ado, let the loveliness begin! p.s. you can peek at all the pretty right here.

When Aaron called me to tell me about Brian and Carey’s “wedding for two”, I was delighted! Planning and designing private weddings has become a bit of an obsession for us. Nothing more romantic than a private celebration for two! A little bit different than elopements in that these private celebrations have all the core components of a wedding (i.e. cake cutting, etc) — only difference is there are no guests! So intimate, so special, so incredible.

Aaron put Carey and I in touch and I fell in love with her during our first phone call. She is a no nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is woman! We honed in on some of her favorite “likes” (ruffles and feathers!) and her first assignment from me was to find china that spoke to her. She found the most fabulous Marchesa china and everything was designed from there.

Our color story included soft blues, muted pinks, sage greens, and a peppering of gold. Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse provided the perfectly private and romantic backdrop for Carey and Brian’s celebration (and….also happens to offer some of THE most magical natural lighting I’ve ever seen). For the ceremony, Mindy draped the ceremony structure in a soft blue velvet fabric (which draped beautifully!) and we had guinea feather trim sewn along the edges for a stunning accent (an ode to Carey’s love of feathers!). For the aisle runner, we used hundreds of guinea feathers to create one of the most interesting runners we’ve done to date! It was so wonderfully Bohemian — and so unexpected.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 73 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barker Decor, Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, JP Reynolds, Lisa Holtzman, Living Cinema, Mindy Rice, Oh How Charming, Papel Paper and Press, private wedding, Sweet and Saucy, wedding for two
Post categories: California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Santa Barbara Weddings, Traditional Elegance

San Ysidro Ranch Wedding by Jose Villa, Part II

Abby Larson — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:30:41 +0000

It’s rare that we reserve an entire day for a single wedding on SMP. But frankly, that’s exactly what Jose Villa’s work inspires us to do. We really couldn’t imagine layering a wedding on top of this little slice of heaven, so instead we’ve just decided to kick back, put our feet up and let Jose photographs and Mindy Rice’s styling, entertain us for hours on end. Oh and we’ve put together a pretty fantastic buying guide for all of you brides out there that are dying to borrow ideas from this affair, coming up next. And don’t forget, even more details can be found right here!

click here to see the full wedding gallery!

I call Mindy Rice my sorcerer because she really is. From our first meeting, she swirled her unique and enchanting ideas to create the ambiance of the evening. She took all of my musings and turned them into a reality – with succulents, an eclectic mix of dainty flowers, mirrors, vintage pieces and a strand of the unexpected with black lace accents. Together, we chose church pews to lend a Sunday School feel and built lovely and fun-filled spaces for the children. The touches were themed around magic as we had a magician entertain the children as the adults were eating dinner. We placed top hats and magician gloves along with treats and surprises around the table. The children were enthralled and the specialness contributed another level of sweetness to the evening. Both Kirk and I are extremely involved with our nieces and nephews and it was important to us that their joyfulness be evident each moment. In fact, we also invited Kirk’s sister’s English Bulldog as he is a part of the family and the children adore him.

Mindy and I also worked together to build moments around our 1957 Corvette. Kirk and I had been dating only a year when it was purchased and it signifies the beginning of us and “our” first big purchase together. It represents our love of things classic and home-grown. We continued on that theme with traditional and personal touches, like homemade jam, an instrumental swing band, and Kirk’s brother as the officant of our ceremony. We wanted someone that knew us implicitly and could represent our goals and dreams as a couple in the details of the ceremony.

And now that the day is done and we have memories and the beautiful pictures that world-renowned Jose Villa took, I look back and know that the moments were a perfect representation of the beginning of our forever. It was so us.

Venue: San Ysidro Ranch / Florist: Mindy Rice / Photographer: Jose Villa / Cake & pastries: Christine Dahl / Lighting: Brandon Peterson / Ceremony Music: String Quartet – Dubois Entertainment / Reception Music: Mora’s Modern Swing / Jewelry + Headpiece: Siman Tu / Bridesmaids Dresses: Tibi / Flower girl dresses: J.Crew / Invitations: Dauphine Press from Urbanic Paper Boutique / Calligraphy: Laura Hooper / Film Work: Richard Photo

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 38 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best of 2010, California Weddings, Christine Dahl, Jose Villa, Laura Hooper Calligraphy, magazine, Mindy Rice, San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara, Siman Tu, Tibi, Urbanic Paper Boutique
Post categories: All Real Weddings, California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Real Weddings, Santa Barbara Weddings, Traditional Elegance

San Ysidro Ranch Wedding by Jose Villa

Abby Larson — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 14:15:00 +0000

Jose, Jose…let me count the ways. I love you as the sun loves the bright blue days. Really, I mean it. I have a total obsession for all things Jose Villa and I make no secret of it here on SMP. So whenever he sends me one of his straight-out-of-a-fairytale weddings, the giddiness starts and the butterflies take off within about 2 seconds of seeing his email. Which is exactly what happens when I laid eyes on this perfect Jose affair. So much so that we’ve decided to spend the day devouring every inch of it’s undeniable gorgeousness. If you can’t wait for part II, we’ll even let you cheat just this once. Click here to see the full wedding gallery.

click here if you can’t wait to see more!

My now-husband and I were childhood sweethearts and experienced our first kiss with each other. We hoped to plan a wedding that spoke to the deep joy we felt for reuniting and we wanted our wedding to be a celebration of our love – both for each other and for the family and friends that make our lives special every day. It was our intention to create an intimate and romantic setting – the affection of a backyard wedding combined with the elegance of a black tie event. San Ysidro Ranch was the perfect backdrop as it is inherently infused with such charm. Every inch of the property provided the feeling of a sophisticated garden party. And with Mindy Rice as the floral consultant, the result was simply magical.

Our style is classic with accents of Old Hollywood. I wanted every piece and every choice to reflect that, so I chose a Carolina Herrera dress and a Siman Tu headpiece as the focus points of my look. I worked with my hair stylist and makeup artist to conjure a modern Grace Kelly. It was important to me that I still look like myself so I was careful to not take any of the details too far.

SO much more to come!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bset of 2010, California Weddings, Christine Dahl, Jose Villa, Laura Hooper Calligraphy, magazine, Mindy Rice, San Ysidro Ranch, Santa Barbara, Siman Tu, Tibi, Urbanic Paper Boutique
Post categories: All Real Weddings, California Weddings, Casual Elegance, Real Weddings, Santa Barbara Weddings, Traditional Elegance