Click here to see the full image gallery!

Nathan and I met in November 2008 through a mutual friend and started dating a few months later.  Nathan was impressed with my craft beer knowledge and I melted at the sound of his Australian accent.  Things got serious pretty quickly, and after asking my Dad for his blessing to marry me, Nathan proposed on October 27, 2009.  We were carving a jack-o-lantern for Halloween and Nathan asked me to go find a candle and a lighter.  When I came back and opened the lid of the pumpkin I was surprised to find a beautiful ring resting on the bottom.  I turned around and Nathan was down on one knee, ready to pop the question.  We celebrated with champagne at the wine bar we went to on our first date.

Since Nathan is from Australia we decided to have the wedding in Southern California so that his relatives and friends traveling across the globe wouldn’t have to make a connecting flight once in the states to come to Houston.  I grew up in Newport Beach, but I knew I wasn’t going to find something with the rustic vibe I was looking for there, so we decided to check out the wineries in Temecula.  Nathan and I had been wine tasting in the area previously and had loved the amazing views of the vineyards from atop the hill at Falkner Winery.

I wanted our wedding to be rustic chic and a lot of fun.  I tried to play up the rustic side of things with the winery, having it all outdoors, and our chocolate brown and pale yellow colors.

I collected milk glass from antique shops in Texas and California for eight months before the wedding to use for our centerpieces.  I also collected postcards that were either wedding and love or Texas, California or Australia themed and instead of having a regular guestbook we asked the guests to fill out a postcard.  My Mom has been mailing them to us every couple of weeks since the wedding, and it is so fun to get them in the mail as a reminder of our wedding!

A couple of my favorite little special touches with the details were our cake toppers and my bouquet with LOVE spelled out in scrabble letters. I also went with non traditional music for the ceremony and used songs that fit us better.  The bridal party walked down the aisle to “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles, my Dad and I to “Better Together” by Jack Johnson, and we recessed to “Beautiful Day” by U2. One of my bridesmaids sang “Marry Me” by Train.  She had kept the song choice a secret from Nathan and me, and she even inserted our names into the song!

Photographer: JL Photographers / Floral Designer: Sheri’s Flowers / Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas / Cake & Desserts: Cakes to Celebrate / Wedding Gown Designer: Christos purchased from Mia Bridal Couture / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: AriaDress / Bride’s Earrings: Blue Nile / Bride’s Head Piece: Acme Hair Dressing / Cake Topper: The Pretty Pixie, Etsy / Groom’s Attire: Jos. A Bank / Bride’s Shoes: Tory Burch / Venue: Falkner Winery

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 34 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Acme Hair Dressing, AriaDress, Blue Nile, Cake Stands, Cakes to Celebrate, California, Candy Bar, Christos, Color Palette Yellow Brown, Corks, Etsy, Falkner Winery, Flower girls, JL Photographers, Jos A Bank, Love, Mia Bridal Couture, milk glass, Outdoor Ceremony, Outdoor Wedding, Polka Dots, Sheri's Flowers, Summer Wedding, Temecula, The Pretty Pixie, Tory Burch, Vineyard Wedding, Wedding Paper Divas, Winery
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog

Today’s features are all about COLOR. Bold and beautiful ~ colorful weddings from around our Little Black Book network of sensational wedding vendors! Please give them some love in our comments section to let them know you agree … they’re the best!

First up is from Natasha at Waterlily Pond …

San Francisco wedding photographer Erin Beach chose Smith Mountain Lake in rural Southern Virginia for her wedding location because it’s close to her home town, her family and high-school friends. She wanted it to be a casual Southern BBQ – her mom’s friend catering, her cousin’s bluegrass band, beer kegs, lemonade and pies. But Erin is a very stylish girl, and we decided this will be 50′s style retro chic wedding. Dominated by primary colors and polka-dot patterns.

The lake marina had a basic picnic pavilion which I transformed by draping along the entire length of it with 200 yards of bright yellow fabric, and adding white paper lanterns. I am attaching before picture and a design sketch of the picnic pavilion.

The vintage carousel nearby was so much fun at the cocktail hour. And it turned out to be red and yellow! How cool since we designed the whole wedding in red and yellow and never got to see the inside of the carousel before the wedding day.

Erin’s retro-style dress and Chris’s suit were custom made by San Francisco tailor, and her shoes were Manolo Blahnik’s red with white polka dots. The bouquet was monochromatic yellow with a single red gerbera daisy.

I chose to create cute textural look for the centerpieces by putting together compositions of very simple monochromatic designs that required minimal labor. I used white, yellow and red dot stickers, and polka-dot ribbons to add patterns to simple clear and black glass cylinders. The sticker trick turned black cylinders into black with white polka-dots, and clear cylinders into yellow and red polka-dot. Making the centerpieces look adorable and stylish.

Mix of B&W polka-dot and yellow linens, and coordinating yellow and black paper napkins for the tables completed the look. Small white and yellow striped tent I rented for the bar added to the fun feel of the event. Colorful parachutes in the sky during the ceremony and beautiful sunset on the lake were just an unplanned bonus for Erin and Chris’s special day.

{see the entire wedding gallery here}

What a great way to start the week!! Congrats to Erin & Chris. Cheers to Natasha at Waterlily Pond on more sensational creations!

Event and Floral Design: Waterlily Pond Studio,  Photography: Stephanie Klein-Davis, Venue: Parkway Marina, Smith Mountain Lake, Huddleston, VA

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Carousel, Color Palette Yellow Black Red, Daisies, Huddleston, Manolo Blahnik, Parasol, Parkway Marina, Polka Dots, spider mum, Virginia, Waterlily Pond
Post categories: Bouquets, Centerpieces, Color Palettes, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Shoes, Vintage Chic, Wedding Decor, Wedding Flowers

Moving along  …. to today’s featured wedding sent to us by Becca at A Stylish Soiree in Dallas. Becca and her marvelous team at A Stylish Soiree helped Melissa with her overall wedding vision, helped her work out the details and also went on to create the wonderful floral decor you’ll see here today.

Melissa, knew what she wanted from the very beginning, conveyed her likes and her “not-so-much” thoughts to Becca and after a few consultations, they came up with a perfect game plan …

Melissa and Braydn wanted a sweet and warm-hearted classic chapel wedding followed by a chic, modern celebration. The lovely ladies at A Stylish Soiree helped her achieve exactly that!  A simple religious ceremony at their college campus chapel, filled with school friends, life-long friends and their loving families … well, that’s a forever kind of wedding!

Melissa and Braydn were college sweethearts and really wanted to go back to their roots at Texas Christian University to have their wedding. The ceremony was held on campus at the Robert Carr Chapel.

Becca & Kerrie at A Stylish Soiree helped Melissa and Braydn choreograph the details of the day and created the super floral decor that became an integral part of the loveliness of the day~

LOVE the mix of pinks in these bouquets!

From Becca …

Melissa loved the happy-go-lucky look of polka dots, so we incorporated that wherever we could … pillows, ribbons, paper lanterns and fabric-wrapped vases.

The paper lantern design was a challenge … we used a lighting company but had to work extra hard with the venue to get it approved. After twisting their arms, they finally approved it for this event only!!! It is truly one of a kind lighting.

The wedding cake was designed by Colleen’s Cakes. Instead of a groom’s cake, they served a special groom’s family recipe called “Whoopie Pies” that were made by the groom’s mother and sister!

Planning their wedding was so easy because their style NEVER changed. Melissa knew exactly what she wanted from the start and never changed her mind about it!

And from the beautiful bride, Melissa …

Braydn and I were so excited to get started planning our big day last year. The whole process turned out to be a such a blast because of the amazing people we worked with from day one. We wanted to mix both modern and traditional decor to make the big day classic and unforgettable. With the mix of flowers, wheat grass, large lanterns, and custom touches our reception turned out just how we had imagined. All of our family and friends were able to come and celebrate with us at our very own stylish soiree!

The wedding reception was held at The Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth. Pretty awesome wedding venue!

photography courtesy of Wisner Photo

Beautiful … traditional chic!

A HUGE thank you to Becca at A Stylish Soiree! And Congratulations to Melissa and Braydn!!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Stylish Soiree, Apples, Colleen's Cakes, Color Palette Black White Green, Dallas, Fort Worth, Lighting, Polka Dots, Robert Carr Chapel, Texas Weddings, The Modern Art Museum, Traditional Chic, Wisner Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Decor, Wedding Planners & Designers

OK, so we didn’t exactly find the Marantz’ … but we do count them as friends!

This is straight up, off their website …

A chill New England wind blew in out of the south and waded its way through a mire of blue-gray fog … she pulled her veil close around her and stood quietly in the background. She didn’t have to be there. Didn’t have to wait. Her pictures were finished and she could’ve gone inside among the warm glow of friends & family. But she just smiled as she quietly declined. “I’ll wait for him.”

She’d been waiting for somebody like him her whole life. Someone who would love her with his whole heart and take care of her the way that she knew she would always take care of him. Someone who takes her hand when she’s getting out of a car and holds her just a little tighter when they dance. Someone who would love not only her, but her whole family as if they were his own. A comfort in the quiet, a compass in the storm. And today, more than any day, she knew that she had found him. See, she didn’t have to be there. Didn’t have to wait. But somewhere along the line she decided, “I’ll wait for him.”

Married: Joe & Jenna

Jenna & Joe were married at the beautiful Black Rock Yacht Club with the help of the amazing Traci Romano Events and Katherine Jacob of KD&J Botanica. And they got the coolest day EVER with all this crazy beautiful fog. ‘Cause as any photographer will tell you, we’ll take clouds and fog over bright sun any day!! So as you will very soon see why, I think their whole day felt like one big ongoing Ralph Lauren ad. Yea, it was nautical yumminess at its finest! First up, Justin went to hang with the guys and got some of my favorite guys getting ready shots…ummm… EVER:

Nobody tells a story better than Mary & Justin Marantz … their images, their words  … the best!

More of the story … tomorrow!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Black Lake Yacht Club, Bow Ties, Bridgeport, Color Palette Navy, Connecticut, Getting Ready, groom, Gucci, Justin & Mary Marantz, Men's Attire, New England, Polka Dots
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Photography

From polka dots and drumsticks to pick-up trucks, sassy yellow shoes and sneakers …

Gotta’ love the Chevy!

Justin & Mary Marantz are two of our favorite Little Black Bookers … We’ve featured a couple of their really great weddings (Katie & Colin, Josh & Beth). But to be perfectly honest, Julia & Mike’s engagement shoot is probably the all-time BEST Little Black Book Blog feature ever. Mary guest-blogged for us about engagement shoots {Getting to Know You!} and Julia & Mike’s was a real hoot! Take a look … {click} A 1952 Better Homes & Garden spread. Super cute. And for more of their vintage-themed engagement shoot, here’s a link to the original Marantz post.

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

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Post tags: Connecticut, Drumsticks, Justin Marantz Photography, New Haven, Paper Lanterns, Polka Dots, Rose, The Carousel at Lighthouse Point, Truck
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Casual Elegance, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography, Whimsical

And so, since I tend to rely heavily upon our Little Black Book members for inspiration, I turned to Justin & Mary Marantz for a New England wedding filled to the brim with SMP-styled wedding details.

Julia and Mike were married last year in New Haven, Connecticut. As a surprise for Mike {the drummer}, Julia ordered custom drumsticks with their names and wedding date on them and had everyone banging them as they ran out of the church! How clever is that …

A beautiful day, a beautiful bride … and a great pair of yellow shoes = a recipe for success!

Lots more to come from the oh-so-talented Marantz team!

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Connecticut, Drumsticks, Justin Marantz Photography, New England, New Haven, Polka Dots, The Carousel at Lighthouse Point, Yellow Shoes
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography, Wedding Style, Whimsical

from Stephanie … “Victoria originally came to me with the idea of black with white polka dots. She insisted on a black background with white dots (not the other way around) and RED. Oddly enough, one of the first finds was the flower girl dress and then everything came together from there. She gave me full authority to run with the theme – the best thing about it being that it is playful and not too feminine.”

from Victoria … “As for the polka dot theme, I just always loved them and I love anything that is that sort of rockabilly style. We wanted our wedding to reflect who we are as a couple. We are young and we wanted a kind of rock n’ roll edge to our theme. We thought, who do we know that has done a 50′s style wedding? We thought it would be original. We had to make sure we could capture that look without getting tacky!”

The wedding was held at the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, CA. The beautiful flowers are by Elegant by Design.

Did you see the decadent cupcake tower from Little Black Book member, The Vanilla Bake Shop?

Our thanks to Samuel Lippke of Ira Lippke Studios for the great photos.

Stephanie Lairson is one of our LBB’s fabulous wedding consultants in Southern California. Take a look at her gallery for more of Matthew and Victoria’s delightful wedding!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 33 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: California Weddings, Elegant by Design, Ira Lippke Studios, Monarch Beach, Polka Dots, Red Roses, Southern California, St. Regis Resort, Stephanie Lairson, Vanilla Bake Shop
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Wedding Planners & Designers, Whimsical

what to do … what to do…

Greta & Chaz were all set for their fabulous beach wedding in Wilmington when Hannah derailed their well-thought-out plans!

They had 48 hours to re-design their wedding in a tiny industrial art gallery in Charlotte, NC.

photography by Casey Cunningham Photography

Theirs is a heart-warming celebration that proves that love truly does conquer all!

With Hurricane Hannah looming in the background, Greta and her sisters re-designed the entire affair.

The Sweet Table was a big hit!

family … love … friends …

… awesome food … lots of laughter … great blue-grass music …

… home-made wine …

… it just doesn’t get any better than this …

Seriously, who cares about the weather!

Our thanks to Drea and Casey Cunningham Photography for sharing Chaz & Greta’s heart-warming wedding story with us.

{to see the full gallery, click here!}

Their website and their approach to weddings is so worth the visit!! Truly.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 20 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Barbeque, Blue Grass Music, Casey Cunningham Photography, Charlotte, Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Hydrangeas, North Carolina, Polka Dots, The Art House, Wedding Dessert Table
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Inspiration Boards, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings