Click here to see the entire image gallery!

It was a love of the outdoors that connected the bride and groom when they first met and after becoming engaged on the top of a mountain in North Carolina, they were determined to find the perfect outdoor setting for their wedding day. They found their ideal location on the dock and in the gardens of Enzo’s Italian Restaurant on the water in Longwood, FL.

The bride and groom wanted a vintage-meets modern themed wedding that was elegant yet relaxed and most of all, fun! The look could be described as J.Crew meets Anthropologie and the color scheme was yellow and navy. The bride spent 6 months collecting antique, hobnail vases for the centerpieces. Paper flowers filled the vases inside, while the outside garden and dock were adorned in craspedia, chamomile, baby’s breath, forsythia and daises.

A highlight of the wedding ceremony was the bride’s niece and flower girl, pulling her two twin nephews and ring-bearers in a vintage radio flyer filled with yellow rose petals.

After the ceremony, the wedding guests enjoyed cocktails on the dock followed by dinner inside. A candy bar was set with Navy M&M’s, Yellow Whirly pops, Lemon Drops and an assortment of mini cupcakes. In lieu of traditional favors, a donation was made to the American Cancer Society on behalf of the wedding guests.

A sign with the couple’s initials was made of navy and yellow fabric flower pins. As the night wore on, guests were encouraged to dismantle the sign and wear these pops of color. As the sun set over the water, hanging vintage lanterns and twinkling lights outlined the deck area for dancing under the stars.

A farewell line of bubble wands adorned with navy and yellow ribbon was the perfect end to a perfect wedding day.

Wedding Photography: Lori Barbely Photography / Wedding Ceremony & Reception Location: Enzo’s on the Lake / Wedding Cake & Catering: Enzo’s on the Lake / Wedding Ceremony Flowers & Bouquets: Kelly Shannon Floral / Wedding Dress: J.Crew / Bride’s Jewelry: Vintage / Bride’s Veil: Borrowed, Sister of the Bride / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Flower Girl Dress: J.Crew / Bridesmaid Dresses & Jewelry: Anthropologie / Groom & Groomsmen Attire: Michael Kors / Hair: Lambs Eat Ivy Salon / Poms: EmersonMade / Wedding Reception Paper Flowers, Table Numbers & Place Cards: Gigi Goods / Table Decor: Vintage Hobnail / Cupcakes: Blue Bird Bake Shop / Limousine: Sweetwater Limo / Officiant: Reverend Steve Swan of Sensational Ceremonies / DJ: David Rodruguez of JCS Entertainment / Videographer: Mark Leach of Digita Arts

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Anthropologie, Blue, Blue Bird Bake Shop, Candy Bar, Central Florida, Christian Louboutin, Digita Arts, Emersonmade, Enzo's on the Lake, FL, Florida, Gigi Goods, intimate wedding, J. Crew, JCS Entertainment, Kelly Shannon Floral, Lambs Eat Ivy Salon, Longwood, Michael Kors, Modern, Navy, Outdoor Wedding, Paper Flowers, Sensational Ceremonies, Sweetwater Limo, Vintage Chic, Vintage Hobnail, Yellow
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Florida Weddings

Click here to see the entire image gallery!

From the Bride… I made all of the decorations myself, and no, they were not just forms….I was a very busy girl!  The paper flowers were completely serendipitous. I originally was thinking about making those tissue paper orbs that hang from the ceiling that you see a lot.  I went to Martha Stewart’s website to see how they were made and as I went along, I found that although I wasn’t getting my originally intended result, I thought what I was ending up with would make beautiful flowers if I just tweaked a few things.  So I then went about the task of making what felt about a million simple tissue paper flowers of varying sizes and colors of cream/white/blush (As a side note– whatever they use to wrap purchases in at Anthropologie is the most gorgeous cream tissue paper!) and then embellished them with whatever cuteness I could find at the local craft stores or already had in my craft boxes.  After I had the blooms put together, I made stems and whatnot out of basic floral arranging items, threw in some pipe cleaners and feathers and I had a bouquet.

For the flower containers, I raided both my grandmothers’ cupboards and searched antique shops for old bottles and filled the vessels with sand/rice to keep the flowers upright.  For the candles strewn about, I had my heart set on square candles in shades of cream and ended up finally finding them online.  I embellished the bottoms of some of them with gold adhesive borders intended for scrapbooking.  The table coverings were just burlap I bought wholesale online topped with a few of my grandmother’s vintage handkerchiefs and some doilies found antiquing. The cookie table did have a bit of faux raw silk fabric I found on sale at Hancock Fabric. The branches were almost as labor intensive as the paper flowers since they were all handpicked by my VERY helpful mom and dad from the woods in their backyard and then spray painted gold.  I also included wedding day pictures from both sets of parents, grandparents, and my great grandparents in frames picked up for very little at TJ Maxx and Homegoods.  I bought the DIY type of invitations at Target and my dad helped me print them out, piece of cake.

After searching everywhere for a dress, I actually ended up getting the discontinued sample from the floor for $600 from Fantastic Finds in Lansing.  Shoes were a little tougher since I love me a sky high heel, but Mike and I are the same height and I needed to find something that was a little funky, but would not make me look ridiculous when standing next to him.  I searched high and low at every consignment/antique shop, but couldn’t find anything to fit my boat-sized feet, so I settled for a shoe from Macy’s. Same goes for jewelry. I scoured antique shops for the perfect accessories, but since I wanted over the top AND gold, it was hard to find, so I ended up getting the earrings and one of the rhinestone bracelets at Cherie’s in the Centerpointe Mall in GR.  The dress did originally come with a brooch in the center of the bow, but I wasn’t crazy about it, so I went antiquing yet again and a million shops later, I finally found the perfect piece at the antique shop in Eastown.  I also ended up stacking a bunch of my grandmother’s vintage bracelets and wore my grandfather’s wedding band, along with the original ring Mike used to propose on my right hand.

Instead of a guest book, we asked guests to write a small message to us on fabric quilt squares I had precut, with the intention of making a wedding quilt, however, the fabric pens ran out before everyone got a chance to use them, so that was a bummer.  Since we love to travel, we also asked guests to let us in on their most favorite “must go” place.  I set that little section up with the instructions for that in another picture frame and provided unused vintage postcards originating from either Grand Rapids (my hometown), Pittsburgh (Mike’s hometown), The Netherlands (I’m Dutch) or Italy (He’s Italian) for guests to write on.  Those were surprisingly easy to locate, and I found those for a steal at the antique shop on Wealthy/Charles in GR.  The vintage suitcase I used for displaying the postcards was found at an antique shop in Lake Odessa, MI.

The cookies/pastries were really none of my doing at all!  I knew I wanted one since I’m not crazy about wedding cakes and I thought it was a fun replacement for one. Plus, “The Cookie Table” is a tradition in Mike’s family (his mom’s not sure where it started, or if it’s an Italian or Pittsburgh thing).  I just found different cake pedestals, interesting vintage dishes, turned to the grandmas yet again, and was able to find enough pieces to create a display.  The to-go bags were just handled brown bags I found at Joann Fabric and I stamped them with a cute image and threw some tissue paper in there.  Mike’s mom/aunts/friends starting baking away for about a month before the wedding to create the enormous amount of cookies (his parents had to rent a van to haul the enormous amount of goodies and drove with the AC full blast all the way from Pittsburgh!) I am so grateful they went to all the trouble because I think the cookie table was the most beautiful thing at the wedding. Everything was made with love, nothing store bought and Mike’s mom and extended family were the ones that created the whole look without much help from me and they did a WONDERFUL job.

Wedding Photography: Kelly Sweet Photography / Wedding Ceremony Location: The Brayton House / Wedding Reception Location: The Photography Room / Wedding Planning & Design: The Bride / Wedding Dress: Alfred Angelo via Fantastic Finds / Bride’s Shoes: Capparos via Macy’s / Bride’s Jewelry: Cheri’s Bridal & Accessories + Vintage / Wedding Dress Broach: Vintage / Wedding Invitations: Target / Frames: TJ Maxx + HomeGoods / Cookies & Pastries: Family of the Groom

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alfred Angelo, antiques, Blush, Burlap, Capparos, Cheri's Bridal & Accessories, Cocktail Reception, Cookie Bar, Cream, Dessert Table, DIY Invitations, DIY Wedding, Fantastic Finds, Grand Rapids, Homegoods, Kelly Sweet Photography, Macy's, Michigan, Non-Traditional Wedding, Paper Flowers, Target, The Brayton House, The Photography Room, TJ Maxx, White
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired

Logan and Matt cherished their mornings spent together reading the New York Times. So when it came time for the two of them to say “I Do”, they wanted to incorporate their cozy habit into their nuptials. Enter ~ Geranium Lake Flowers!

Logan and her friends & family handmade a gazillion paper flowers from old New York Times editions that Geranium Lake was able to incorporate into her bouquet. Logan continued the theme using the paper flowers as table decor and even swagging paper flower garlands across the reception space.

The overall feel for this gorgeous wedding was accentuated by their choice of venue. Located at the top of Mount Hood in Oregon, Timberline Lodge is an historic, landmark hotel {location of Stephen King’s “The Shining”}.  The couple chose the Silcox Hut on the grounds of the hotel to host both their ceremony and reception.

This cozy venue is super tiny, has a huge rock fireplace, and guests (and florists!) had to arrive by snowcat. There was no horror or “red rum” the day that Logan & Matt got married… only happy faces and a stunning display of love found over the New York Times.

To see the entire SMP photo gallery from this wedding click here: Geranium Lake ~ Timberline Romance

And … for lots more inspiration for you own wedding bouquets or centerpieces, take a peek at their website ~ the weddings tab for some spectacular examples!

Photography: FS Photography Flowers: Geranium Lake Flowers, Ceremony/Reception Venue: Timberline Lodge – Silcox Hut

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Centerpiece, FS Photography, Geranium Lake, Mount Hood, Oregon, Paper Flowers, Silcox Hut, Snow, Spring, Timberline Lodge
Post categories: Bouquets, Casual Elegance, Centerpieces, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Little Black Book Blog

Renae has sent us a little bit about their wedding details …  we’ll have that with more beautiful images from Twin Lens in a few minutes.

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cerrillos, Hacienda, Hacienda Dona Andrea, New Mexico, Paper Flowers, Twin Lens
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography, Wedding Style

from Cameron …

“DeeAnn and Eric pulled together a great Mexican-themed wedding, an event FULL of love, joy and happiness. To create the theme, they had a friend design a burning heart logo for them (wedding logos are great ideas) and then worked the entire theme of the wedding around the logo. They had a special piñata made in Mexico of their logo, used Mexican oil cloths on the gift table, had incredible authentic Mexican food, used papel picados (hanging papers) as decoration, had beautiful paper flowers as decor and even the cups at the drinks station were colorful, not to mention the cute flower girls’ headbands. The location was the perfect backdrop, a beautiful desert home in Tucson with an antique barn. Dee is the co-owner of Sister Creations so the guest favors were awesome lip balms and sunblocks, and matchboxes complete with the wedding logo design. This event boasted a simple theme executed beautifully proving, you do not have to spend a billion dollars to have a themed event! The best part of this wedding was how elated all the guests and family were for Dee and Eric and that showed in the photos.”

The rest of the story from Cameron’s blog … “DeeAnn is the daughter of Phyllis Hogan, who owns Winter Sun, a local trading store, which is in the same building as our new studio. Some time ago, a prominent commercial photographer, Sue Bennett ran her whole operation in this same building, including my little studio. Bennett shot in the gallery of the Flagstaff Photography Center, and had her office adjacent to mine. Tragically, Bennett was killed in a car accident in 2003. The Winter Sun gals knew her because their store backs up to Sue’s studio — plus she was just Sue, everyone downtown knew her. If this is confusing, SORRY, but the point is, we are all connected and I believe we still are–Bennett’s presence is certainly everywhere in this building. I think Bennett was *telling* me to shoot this event– so I did. I found out later that Dee had been on her own tragic journey over the last few years and that this wedding was truly a gift in so many ways: finding Eric, having her friend’s offer their gorgeous home in Tucson as the wedding location, her good friend Gillian as the minister, and having me offer to shoot the event. This wedding was filled with love. EVERYONE was on the edge of their seats with joy for this couple. I loved the Mexican theme they pulled off too… so many great details that made it work.”

Congratulations DeeAnn and Eric from all of us at Style Me Pretty! And a special thanks to Cameron for some fabulous photographs and a very inspiring story!

Cameron and Jamelle’s studio is located in downtown Flagstaff. Cameron is available for commission worldwide and has photographed weddings in Arizona, California, Brazil, Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia, Costa Rica, Wisconsin, Oregon and Utah.

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cameron + Kelly Studios, Flagstaff Photography Center, Mexican Theme, Paper Flowers, Sister Creations, Winter Sun
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography, Whimsical

Joelle and Chris were married in Aptos, California, at the adorable Valencia Community Hall. Theirs was a hands-on, DIY affair that resulted in a true Style-Me-Pretty-Proud Day!

I love to be greeted by a single stem in a special vase at each place setting. Always a warm and welcoming gesture.

Isn’t Joelle just radiant? And her dress soooo beautiful?  The brilliant flowers … LOVE ‘em!

Seriously cute pumpkins all-in-a-row. And I kind of want to know what’s in the adorable favor boxes.

Joelle and Chris make me smile.

What a perfect, perfect wedding. Seriously.

Congratulations Joelle & Chris. Your day was filled with true warmth, love and “specialness”!

Thank-you, Jessamyn for sharing your fabulous photos with us.

{Just a quick update: More details about Joelle & Chris’ wedding in the Comments!}

{One more update! Jessamyn Harris, today’s LBB featured photographer, is running an engagement photo session contest. She’s looking for unique ideas, original locations, and offbeat themes. All you have to do is email her [jessamyn@jessamynharris.com] to be entered into this giveaway! But here’s the best part … you don’t even have to be engaged – She’s just looking for a pair of people who love each other, and who want to get crazy and silly with over the top ideas, or a beautiful location that is new to her. Please read the details here on Jessamyn’s blog!}

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aptos, California Weddings, Fall Wedding, Hand-Stamped Vases, Jessamyn Harris Photography, Paper Flowers, Valencia, Valencia Community Hall
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

Kendall Brown owner and principal creative designer of Eclatante sent us the photos from her February Color Story shoot… and we just had to share! Each month on her blog,  A Designer’s Diary, she features a Color Story that will truly inspire you and leave you asking for more!

We hope to bring you many more of Eclatante’s COLOR STORIES … but for now, let us know what you think about this one~~~

FEBRUARY COLOR STORY from Eclatante

When we think of February, our next thought is, naturally, Valentine’s Day. And our favorite February parties are bridal showers and girls’ soirees we get to throw for our brides with upcoming weddings. So, this month, for our fantasy party, we decided that our color story would be hot and cold running PINK!

The team totally outdid themselves this time! And, once again, our praise and thanks go out to Marie Labbancz, our wonderful friend and photographer. It is truly rewarding to see one’s work so perfectly captured.

We shot this gorgeous color story at the enchanting Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park.

(The Septa bus Oksana is exiting from is actually part of the “Roadside Attractions” exhibit!)

Now, let me tell you how our February story begins – paper flowers. I’ve wanted to have a party with paper flowers forever. So, Beautiful Blooms indulged me and created these really pretty flowers out of white iridescent and soft pink paper that we strung from strands of peach and white pearls over the table. Vic and the boys from VU-Events masterfully hung all the paper flowers and lit our pretty pink table perfectly!

For the centerpiece, Beautiful Blooms filled apothecary jars with layers of rose petals, hydrangea petals, light pink cut glass, white sand, dried ivory roses and pearls. They also filled glass vases with swirled pearls and floating candles. Light pink tapers in footed candleholders completed the centerpieces perfectly.

The gorgeous linens came from our friends at The Total Table. The darling favor boxes were created by our favorite geniuses at Two Paper Dolls. We filled them with a mix of Good & Plenty, Hershey’s Kisses and a variety of pink and ivory candies from The Lil’ Candy Shoppe in Northern Liberties. And the stunning place settings (notice the great glassware), table and chairs came from Party Rentals, Ltd.

Max and Me Catering did a fantastic job of of coming up with food and drink that was coordinated perfectly with the décor. Just look at those irresistible cosmos and glasses of pink champagne and wonderful white wine. They also created a beautiful entrée of Diver Scallops with a Celery Root Puree and Citrus Beurre Blanc. Our kudos to David Robison, Max and Me’s Executive Chef and Theresa Linskey, the Sous Chef. The Girls Only Party was not only gorgeous, it was also incredibly yummy!

Mary Helen Raneiri, the owner of Suky Occasions came by and styled Oksana in a scrumptious pink party dress. Claudia Seyler of Claudia Seyler Beauty did a fantastic job on Osaka’s hair and makeup. Beautiful Blooms created the perfect nosegay of peach spray roses with pearl accents for our guest of honor.

A huge thank-you to Kendall ~ Eclatante … Donna ~ Beautiful Blooms (we LOVE the paper flowers!) … and Marie ~Marie Labbancz Photography for this fabulous February eye-candy. We can’t wait to see “March”!

So, what do you think … more Color Stories? We hope so!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beautiful Blooms, Claudia Seyler Beauty, Color Palette Pink, Eclatante, Lil' Candy Shoppe, Ltd., Marie Labbancz Photography, Max and Me Catering, Paper Flowers, Party Rentals, Philadelphia, Suky Occasions, The Total Table, Two Paper Dolls, VU Events
Post categories: Color Palettes, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Planners & Designers, Wedding Resources

Materials

tissue paper cut in 1”x3” rectangles
floral wire and tape
ink or watercolors (optional)

Instructions

1. The first step optional step is to dye your tissue paper to the color of your choice. Just dip several rectangles of white tissue paper in a thin watercolor bath, and dry on paper towels. For deeper colors, you use ink instead of watercolor. Only separate the layers when dry. You can also use colored tissue paper, but this lets you have subtle shade variations, and exactly the palette you want.

2. Twist both sides of the tissue rectangle around a small ball to form a petal (I’ve used a ball of tissue paper scraps wrapped in floral tape). The tissue should be big enough to cover the ball halfway through. You can use smaller balls with larger rectangles, and vice-versa, to vary the flower sizes.

3. Make five of these, and glue them together with a dab of acrylic medium to form a flower (Elmer’s glue would probably work fine too).

4. Attach a floral wire with floral tape to your flower, then cut the twisted ends near the end of the petal.

Repeat to form a bouquet or boutonnière (~15-20 flowers for a smallish bouquet, 1-3 for a boutonnière) With experience, a single flower takes about 10 minutes to make, from start to finish.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bouquets, DIY Instructions, Martha Stewart, Paper Flowers
Post categories: Contests, DIY Flowers, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources