Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

From the Bride… We decided to have our wedding at our favorite restaurant. We looked at a lot of venues, but when it came down to it, we loved the idea of supporting a place we loved in a location that we knew we could return to time and time again. The restaurant overlooked the California coast line, sourced all of their food locally, and set the tone for us visually.

The ceremony was at Scripps Institute, outside overlooking the water (there’s a theme here). We arrived early and took all of our photos beforehand with our incredibly talented photographers, The Image is Found, because we didn’t want to miss a minute of the cocktail hour. I’ll never forget after the ceremony, running down the aisle to our friend playing the piano, jumping in the photographers’ car, and going directly to the restaurant, George’s at the Cove. When we arrived, we walked up the stairs that were dotted with candles, and walked out onto the gorgeous patio, with the band playing and the cocktails ready to be served and the beautiful, colorful flowers interplaying with the bold colors of the space. It was absolutely perfect. After months of planning and emails and phone calls and spreadsheets, it was absolutely perfect.

Shortly afterward, the guests arrived. We drank, we toasted, we ate. Then we transitioned downstairs to the dining room, which had dimmed lights, endless candles and sculptural orchids cascading down the tables. Nellie Chan was the mastermind and brilliant muse behind our entire event, and she orchestrated incredible moments for our guests, from the florals to the flow of the space to the timing of events. (She is incredible. We are kind of obsessed with her.) After guests sat down, the dinner of all dinners began: 6 courses, all chosen the week-of by chef Trey Foshee, and sourced primarily by Chino Farms. It was exactly what we had always imagined, a dinner party of friends celebrating great food and wine together. It was intimate, it was warm, and it was delicious.

I’m a designer, so I loved creating some of the smaller moments throughout the day: from the laser cut wooden elements that hung from Nellie’s jaw-dropping florals at the ceremony, to lyrics from Brenden and my song intertwined into the dinner floral pieces. We worked with the one and only Rohner Letterpress in Chicago for the invitations, made welcome books by hand for all the guests, printed and folded ceremony programs, and even hand-cut all of the liners for the save the dates. For me, the wedding story began with the Save the Date, and unfolded over time through each printed element guests received. Telling that story was truly a labor of love, and, of course, incredibly rewarding.

The night ended with Jukebox, an incredibly fun and talented band, rocking out to songs until the wee hours. I changed into a shorter dress, Chef Foshee sent out platters of tacos and bite-sized desserts and everyone was dancing. The night was so perfect that we decided not to do a sendoff, and instead were the last ones to leave. It was perfect.

Wedding Photography: The Image is Found / Floral Design: Stems Design Studio / Event Design + Planning: The Occasion Events / Wedding Ceremony Location: Scripps Institute of Oceanography / Wedding Reception Location: George’s at the Cove / Entertainment: Jukebox / Wedding Invitations: The Bride / Letterpress: Rohner Letterpress / Calligraphy: Betsy Dunlap / Flower Embellishment: Neiman Marcus / Veil: Toni Federici / Reception Dress: Marchesa

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Post tags: Betsy Dunlap, CA, California, California Weddings, DIY Wedding Invitations, George's at the Cove, Grey Color Palette, Jukebox, La Jolla, La Jolla California, Marchesa, Mismatched Bridesmaids, Neiman Marcus, Orchids, Outdoor Ceremony, Rohner Letterpress, San Diego, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Stems Design Studio, The Image is Found, The Occasion Events, Toni Federici, White Color Palette
Post categories: California Weddings, Contemporary, San Diego Weddings

Click here to see the entire gallery of images!

From the Bride... An intimate enchanted garden wedding in Bali. The theme was to be simple, sleek and sophisticated. A minimalist wedding. We are both half Indonesian so having the wedding in Bali was very important to us. We wanted an entertaining, informal  wedding where everyone could relax and have fun. We had a quick ceremony in the garden, then open cocktails for all the guests. Dinner was a series of live food stations so that everyone could continue to move around the villa.

Wedding Photography: PhotoFactory / Wedding Planner: Lynley Marston / Wedding Dress: Romona Keveza / Rings: Canturi / Men’s Suits: Zara / Bride’s Shoes: Alice and Olivia

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Post tags: Alice and Olivia, Bali, Calla Lillies, Canturi, Destination Wedding, indonesia, Lynley Marston, Orchids, Outdoor Wedding, Photo Factory Bali, Pink, Purple, Romona Keveza, Sleek Florals, White, Zara
Post categories: Destination, Destination Weddings

Our wedding day was “magical.” Having a destination wedding by the beach in Maui was a dream come true, and the fact that so many friends and family were able to join us for this day made us feel truly blessed and loved.  The weather was perfect and the sunset was picture perfect, like something out of the movies!

Since we started dating in 2006, we vacationed in Hawaii every year.  We felt drawn to Hawaii because of the charming and romantic environment.  We also wanted to give our friends & family an excuse to take a break from their crazy lives, step away from reality, and into paradise on a dream vacation. What better setting than Maui could there be?  This, coupled with the fact that Blake’s mother’s side of the family lives in Maui was the icing on the cake!

There is not much you have to do in order to dress up a location such as the Olowalu Plantation House.  Its beauty and dramatic ocean views had so much to offer, that we wanted to add elements that enhanced and showcased the beauty, as opposed to taking away from it.  We wanted something tropical, classy, yet simply elegant, so we played off of the ocean theme with shells in the vases lining the aisle, and sand in the place card dishes to keep the beach theme.  We also added touches of shine with the silver chiavari chairs set against the royal orchid purple table linens.

We always explained that we wanted an “orchid purple” for the main color of the wedding. We wanted to infuse that bright shade of purple with a more neutral tone, so we decided on a light kiwi green, which also happens to be the groom’s favorite color. From there we wanted touches of silver to add a bit of “bling” factor to the overall theme.

Getting married in Maui was the best decision we made to begin with.  The venue was flawless and everyone we worked with throughout the process was absolutely amazing.  It’s impossible to pinpoint just one favorite memory but we have to say that upon arriving at the plantation house, seeing the setup against the backdrop managed to take our breath away—our day had finally arrived and it looked even better than we had ever imagined.  Every decision that we made together was the right one and the entire process was well worth it.

Photography: Evonne & Darren Photography / Flowers: Teresa Sena of White Orchid Wedding / Event Planning: Jacqueline Ishikawa of White Orchid Wedding / Ceremony Location: Olowalu Plantation House / Reception Location: Olowalu Plantation House / Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas / Wedding Dress: San Patrick Collection by Pronovias / Wedding Shoes: Pour La Victoire / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alfred Angelo / Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Nordstrom / Groom & Grooomsmen Attire: Tommy Bahama / Rings: Willow Glen Diamond Company / Earrings: Nordstrom / Bracelet:  Nadri / Bridal Hair:  Karine Cummings / Bridal Makeup: Liz Javelosa / Caterer: Four Sisters Kitchen / Cake: Cravings Bakery / Linens, Lighting & Rentals: Pete Rock / Harpist: Geoffrey Naylor / Cocktail Reception Musician: Ernest Pua`a of Da Barefoot Warrior / DJ: Jeff Afaga of KC Sound Productions

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Post tags: Alfred Angelo, Casual Elegance, Color Palette Purple, Cravings Bakery, Da Barefoot Warrior, Destination Wedding, Evonne & Darren Photography, Four Sisters Kitchen, Hawaii, Karine Cummings, KC Sound Productions, Leis, Liz Javelosa, Maui, Nadri, Nortstrom, Olowalu Plantation House, Orchids, Pour La Victoire, Pronovias, San Patrick Collection, Tommy Bahama, Wedding Paper Divas, Wedding Photographers, White Orchid Wedding, Willow Glen Diamond Company
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog

Click here to see the full gallery of images!

From Elegant Occasions… The couple met online and instantly fell in love.  He was from Utah and she was from New York.  The couple chose New York City as the site for their fall nuptials.  They were married at the University Club beneath a grapevine arbor within the Club. They really enjoyed surprising each other the groom made a special video for the bride, she wanted to surprise him with a grooms cake — for each night.  On the night of rehearsal she had a special white KIT KAT made for him and on the wedding day she had a cake made into the shape of ski mountain for him as well. They loved the little details  that set them apart from other weddings.  In homage to the grooms Irish heritage she had hired Irish dancers to perform during the dinner. Since they loved desserts, we had the most elaborate dessert bar to date, complete with cupcakes, cookies and milk, candy bar complete with all their favorite candies. At the end of the night guests were surprised with Wendy’s to go burgers and fries complete with bottles of coke as their departing gift.

The tall centerpieces, which provided immediate visual impact as guests entered the ballroom, consisted of long stemmed white dendrobium orchids combined with creamy French tulips, long stemmed miniature callas, ivory hydrangea and French lilac with green tips emerging from a graceful glass trumpet vase.  The orchid stems are long enough that that they formed an umbrella effect over the table which was light and airy yet opulent and abundant. The lower centerpiece consisted of jumbo white hydrangea, French lilac with green tips, petite miniature callas, freesia with green tips, white godetia, ruffled white sweetpea and Hawaiian orchids.  Flowers were set into a crystal faceted bowl.

An old fashioned photo booth was on display all night so the guests could capture images of themselves as favors for the wedding.

Wedding Event Planning: Elegant Occasions / Wedding Photography: 4Eyes Photography / Wedding Cinematography: Joseph Edwards / Wedding Flowers: Belle Fleur / Wedding Venue: University Club / Cupcakes and Cookies: Eleni’s

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Post tags: 4Eyes Photography, Ballroom, Belle Fleur, Elegant, Elegant Occasions, Eleni's, Joseph Edwards, New York, New York City, Orchids, University Club
Post categories: New York City Weddings, New York Weddings

photography by Megan Sorel

The floral design for Tiffany and Michael’s wedding, by Scott Corridan was over-the-moon-spectacular. Wedding colors of ivory and champagne, soft peaches and deeper corals were accented with rich golds and platinum ~ luxurious, elegant and timeless!

from their wedding planner, Jill La Fleur …Michael proposed to Tiffany in Capri and so the Tuscan feel of the Hahn Estate in Montecito was a perfect venue for their elegant wedding. The fact that Tiffany had a very Anthropologie style about her prompted many of our decisions. Scott Corridan’s floral design, lanterns, umbrellas, chandeliers and sleek, modern furniture around the fountain of floating candlelight completed the romantic, unique, elegant style.

Beautiful Archipelago boxed candles were given as wedding favors.

The Badgley Mischka champagne-colored bridesmaid’s gowns were in six different styles and two types of fabrics, alternating each maid from satin to chiffon.

You might have seen Tiffany & Michael’s wedding, published in the Spring 2009 Issue of Your Wedding Day and online (Your Wedding Day). And although we usually don’t bring you weddings that have already been published, this one was just too pretty to pass up!  Our thanks to Jill La Fleur ~ their fabulous wedding planner and photographer Megan Sorel, for sharing!!  You can see more of the beautiful images on Jill La Fleur’s blog, Megan Sorel’s blog and in Tiffany & Michael’s wedding gallery here.

We just heard that Tiffany is interested in selling her stunning, Priscilla of Boston Gown from the Platinum Collection. Click here to see the runway shoot. If interested, please leave a comment with your contact info here and we’ll have Tiffany get in touch with you.

Wedding Planner: Jill La Fleur, Ceremony & Reception Site: Hahn Estate, Photographer: Megan Sorel, Makeup Artist:Cathryn Van Breene-The Studio Agency, Caterer: New West Catering, Wedding Cake: Montecito Confections, Invitations: Pale Blue Hankie, Floral Design: Corridan & Co. Rentals: Classic Party Rental, Linens: Wildflower Linens, Lighting: Ambient Event Design, Entertainment: West Coast Music, Transportation: Limousine Link

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ambient Event Design, Bagdley Mischka, California Weddings, Cascading Bouquet, Corridan & Co., Hahn Estate, La Fleur Weddings and Events, Limousine Link, Megan Sorel, Montecito, New West Catering, Orchids, Priscilla of Boston, The Studio Agency, West Coast Music, Wildflower Linens
Post categories: Bouquets, Centerpieces, Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Planners & Designers

This wedding was a true labor of love for Rene & Niki Delacueva, owners of R. Jack Balthazar. Longtime friends of the groom, John, we had imagined and re-imagined his wedding for many years…long before he found Ann!

The overall design was inspired by John & Ann’s love of the outdoors, their modern style, a bold color palette inspired by the sunset, and nods to their Chinese ancestry… The feeling was warm, inviting, and gracious as if they were entertaining guests in their home …

What an awesome reflection of love! Our warmest wishes to Ann & John! See the whole SMP wedding gallery here.

We’ll be back in a few with another of R. Jack Balthazar’s fantastic weddings!  While you wait, take a look at some of the “tranformations” that they’ve done ~ some incredible before and after photos on their website. Seriously incredible.

Photography: Akiko Photography
Flowers & Event Design: R. Jack Balthazar
Reception Location: The Brazilian Room, Berkeley, CA
Catering: Melons Catering
Cake: Satura Cakes

We’ll be back in a few with another of R. Jack Balthazar’s fantastic weddings!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Akiko Photography, Berkeley, Cake, California Weddings, Melons Catering, Orchids, R. Jack Balthazar, Satura Cakes, The Brazilian Room
Post categories: Bouquets, Casual Elegance, Centerpieces, Little Black Book Blog, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Decor, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Planners & Designers

So when we recently heard the most awesome news about Aaron, we couldn’t contain ourselves. We’ll reveal all in our next post but for now, feast your eyes on this beautiful wedding that Aaron shot. So beautiful, you might even shed a tear or two. Oh and you can see the full wedding right here.

{there are so many more images, click here to see}

We did not hire a wedding planner/event coordinator hoping to save, which of course, made little difference to our budget. But I managed to personalize every single detail of the wedding without any help of a professional. I religiously studied and followed every blog posted on SMP for a whole year to help guide my wedding planning process. I became an avid SMP reader and found the most amazingly talented photographer on SMP while drooling over Day/Max and Ashley/Rob’s wedding photos. My heart stopped! Even though I had already booked a different photographer, I knew Aaron was the one for us!! The rest is history.

Once I’ve finalized my decor ideas (after changing everything 7 times) I specified every single décor and floral ideas to the Floral and Catering Dept at the Lodge at Pebble Beach . They were able to capture a vision of our dream wedding into a perfect reality. Despite having vacillated in my décor ideas, there was one thing I was sure about—our location. I’ve always known that I wanted to get married in Pebble Beach. There was no doubt our mind that we wanted to get married here. We love to golf, we love the ocean view, and we love Carmel . The outdoor ceremony was held at the historic Lodge at Pebble Beach which has the most breathtaking ocean view of the Carmel Bay. We felt that the Lodge has the warm and elegant embrace of romance and classic elegance setting. This magnificent location is adorned by the natural surrounds of sand, sea, and forest. It is a flawless and magical setting.

We wanted the style of our wedding to be classic elegance, intimate, sophisticated, personal, relaxed, and romantic. We had a total of 60 of our closest friends and families whom all spent the whole weekend going on wine tasting tours, dining and spending relaxing time together. We chose our colors palate for the ceremony to be a soft blend of white and green colors, mixing white phaleonopsis orchids hanging amaranthus, white and green hydrangea, and green cymbidiums. The reception is adorn with alternating tall and low  glass vases topped with a cascading arrangement of hot pink peonies, green viburnum white and green hydrangea, white phaleonopsis orchids, pale pink peonies and pink roses on each of the dining table. My main favorite flowers were phaleonopsis orchids and peonies.

I wore a custom designed wedding dresss by Armine Ohanessian, owner and designer of R-Mine in Studio City, CA. The dress is a silk mikado mermaid with a scooped sweetheart neckline that is finished with a silk gazar draping. The skirt is embellished with Italian silk gazar and mikado hand draped flowers. The headpiece is also designed by Armine. It is a silk fishnet. I changed into a pearl-gray, delicate chiffon gown with beaded cap sleeves made by Reem Acra for the reception.

Wedding Dress & Hairpiece: Custom-Designed by Armine Ohanessian, owner of R-Mine Bridal / Reception Dress: Reem Acra / Cake: Catering Dept at the Lodge at Pebble Beach Resorts, Inspired by The Cakegirls / Flowers: Floral Dept at the Lodge at Pebble Beach Resorts / Hair/Make-up: The Spa at Pebble Beach Resorts / Invitation: Carciofi Design / Shoes: Jimmy Choo / Jewelry (earrings): Custom-Designed by Michael Barin / Wedding Rings: Brad Weber at Weber Goldsmith Gallery / Bridesmaid Dresses: Watters / Ceremony Music: Duo Serenade / Reception Music: Easy Street Band / Videography: Thomas Hughes Films /

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 40 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aaron Delesie, Color Palette White, Lodge at Pebble Beach, Orchids, Palm Beach
Post categories: Traditional Elegance

Here’s Daniela’s idea ~

I’m usually so busy designing everyone else’s parties that I don’t entertain that much myself! However, when I do, I love to go all out ~ beautiful invitations, great food and all kinds of wonderful goodies. I prefer to keep my parties relatively small (6-12). That way, I CAN splurge!

So I thought it would be fun to create a New Year’s-inspired tablescape.  I sent out an inspiration board to our creative team ~ Kristi at Momental Designs, Caroline at Paloma’s Nest and Carla at Bainbridge Style ~ with a suggested color palette of champagne, vanilla, raspberry and gold. What I got back was stunning to say the least!

From Kristi at Momental Designs ~ these gorgeous invitations …

{Kristi has more photos and her inspiration for the designs on her blog ~ New Year’s Brunch With Bella Signature, Paloma’s Nest & Friends}

(above photo courtesy of Momental Designs)

From Caroline at Paloma’s Nest ~ these precious ceramic 2010 wishing bowls!

And from Carla at Bainbridge Style some absolutely amazing Profiteroles with cranberry compote and chocolate sauce.

Carla has posted more photos and her ideal New Year’s Brunch menu on the Bainbridge Style website along with the recipe for making the profiteroles [cream puffs (pate choux) filled with vanilla ice cream then drizzled with chocolate sauce]. Sounds sinful.

Oh … and the drinks!  Cranberry bellinis …

The stunning floral and design for the shoot was, of course, by Daniela. Photography for all except the stationery suite was by UK photographer Philip Meadows. Daniela has lots more of the details of the shoot over on her Bella Signature Design blog.

Perfectly beautiful. We look forward to seeing more from Bella Signature Design ~ here, on the LBB Blog.

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Post tags: Bainbridge Style, Bella Signature Design, Brunch, New Years Day, Orchids, Paloma's Nest, Philip Meadows, Roses, Seattle
Post categories: Centerpieces, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Decor, Wedding Flowers