all photos by Mary Claire…GORGEOUS!

We have so many more photos coming…so stay tuned!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Colorful, Details, Mary Claire Cross, Nashville, Peonies, Southern Wedding
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

All of the photographs from this wedding were captured by Mary Claire Crow, who Bonnie just raved about. The next set of pictures from this wedding is my absolute favorite so you definitely have to come back and check it out.

Oh…and if you haven’t already, you HAVE to head over to the Little Black Book Blog today, as we are featuring the prettiest wedding shots by Paul Rich. The bride talks about how SMP inspired her to design a wedding that really represented her and her fiance…love that!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 1 comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Mary Claire Crow, Nashville, Southern Wedding
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance

So of course, anytime I see a Nashville wedding, I am taken right back to those incredibly blissful days, where I just had to wake up in the morning to see my best girl friends, where we sat on a porch drinking lemonade (okay, not really lemonade but it sounds a little better that way), wasting the day away in the lazy Summer sun.

Today’s featured wedding is so wonderfully Southern, so perfectly Nashville. I just had to share!

photos by Mary Claire Crow

From Bonnie, the gorgeous bride…

I got married in May on my parents farm where I grew up. We really wanted a creative & festive, southern affair with lots of personality. Plus I am a graphic designer so I designed the invitations and other details (more on the invitations in a bit).

Guests drove up the driveway greeted by “burma-shave” signs. My mother’s friend is an artist and created them for us – they were a huge hit! There were 6 signs…”Winding Road, Fresh Green Grass, Musicians Play, Oh Happy Day, To Wedding Vows, That Last”

more to come!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Mary Claire Crow, Nashville, Southern Wedding
Post categories: Casual Elegance, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Every little detail is filled with charm, complete Southern style. This wedding actually reminds me a lot of my friend Samantha’s wedding a year ago. It has the same sweetly sophisticated look that just makes you smile. I have so much more to come, so stay tuned!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Charleston Bride, Southern Wedding
Post categories: Real Weddings

Bridesmaids dresses by Ann Taylor, Cake by Cecilia Villaveces Cakes, Insanely gorgeous photography by W. Scott Chester, Flowers by Gardenia Floral. And that beautiful wedding gown? It’s by Marisa.

Ashley, the stunning bride, has been sweet enough to share a few details of her day with us…stay tuned!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ann Taylor, Athens, Bridesmaids Dresses, Cecilia Villaveces Cakes, Founders Memorial Garden, Gardenia Floral, Georgia, Marisa, Southern Wedding, W.Scott Chester
Post categories: Real Weddings

I know that this particular color palette is one that many of you love, so it’s great to see it executed so exquisitely! It’s just such a striking palette…so fresh and chic. Plus, your bridesmaids will love you for letting them wear their favorite little black dress!

The gorgeous photos were taken by Richard Israel, one of our newest Little Black Book members (I love that so many of our LBB vendors work together on weddings and really support each other’s work). Richard’s photographs are completely beautiful…they are so vivid, so full of life. I am especially smitten with his color photographs, as the seem to just jump right off the page. Love, love, love Richard.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A Charleston Bride, Calla Lilly Bouquet, Melissa Sweet, Richard Israel, South Carolina, Southern Wedding
Post categories: Real Weddings

photographs were taken by the oh-so-talented Lindsay Brooke Emeigh

From the bride, Beth…

In terms of decor, we bought the paper lanterns from Target and hung them up ourselves using lightbulbs and wire. Turns out we didn’t need as much light as we originally thought (even though the farm gets incredibly dark at night).  We had a “red light” section, too, where the bar was, which we made by hanging up red lanterns and tiny lights on an old oak tree.

The flowers were from Corum’s, in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina (very close to my family’s farm).  I have an Aunt who works for a funeral home and recommended them highly.  They grow their own flowers there.  I had always envisioned a wildflower wedding, and they did an amazing jobs.  Wildflowers wouldn’t necessarily work in an enclosed in environment, but outside they really popped.

The cakes were from Maxie B’sin Greensboro.  I had initially planned to do cupcakes but as the country theme of the wedding began to really take shape, I decided that I really wanted to have a bunch of different cakes on unique cake stands, to give it a country fair feel.  I scoured the Internet to find deals on the cake stands.  I think it turned out really well.  We had very southern type cakes–hummingbird, 7-up cake, strawberry buttercream, lemon poundcake, and devil’s food cake.  It was a big hit.

Even more to come!!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Corum's, Country Wedding, Lanterns, Lindsay Brook Emeigh, Maxi B's, North Carolina, Southern Wedding, wildflowers
Post categories: Budget Beautiful, Do-It-Yourself Inspired

From Danielle...

I knew the most important things to me when looking at my budget were location, pictures and food. I spent the majority of my money there and then really budgeted the rest. I knew I could have the wedding of my dreams if I just really put my mind to it and chose the right elements. I also wanted a wedding that was not the regular cookie cutter wedding – a wedding that exuded our love and our story. Very personal and fun!

All photos by Ray and Erica Tisdale at 35 Atlanta

I found my Maggie Sottero dress here at a local store in Atlanta and used Ann Taylor for the bridesmaid dresses. Ialso bought a gold cocktail dress to change into during the reception since we love to dance and I knew I could not move around in my princess dress! One of my bridesmaids made my chocolate brown programs and I worked with a local stationary shop for my save the dates and invitations. I knew I wanted to add small elements and details because to me that is what makes the difference but I knew with my budget I would have to get creative. I chose not to do favors and instead did inexpensive things like…

-HandPainted Signs leading guests to the ceremony site

-GuestTowels in all the bathrooms printed with a great quote

-SilverLunch Pails filled with guest necessities (Advil, Breath Mints, Band Aids, Hair Spray, Gum, etc) in all the bathrooms

-Chocolate brown bar napkins with our monogram

-Candle Monogram “C” on the dock

-Sparklers as we were leaving

I also knew that I could save money on my flowers since FWF offered such a beautiful, natural setting. My dream was to have peonies in my bouquet but they were out of season and it would have been excessively expensive to ship them in. Instead, I asked my florist to take carnations (I know, I know) and wire 3 or 4 of them together to make it look like a full, lush peony. It worked! We added hydrangea, roses and magnolia leaves to complete the look. I found some discarded burlap that we wrapped them in and I added beaded trim (that you use for pillows) around the burlap. It was the perfect mix of Montana Rustic and Southern Chic!

For the ceremony, I chose to use the backdrop of the oak tree and lake instead of overloading the area with flowers. We did use two large urns filled with tons of baby’s breath – they were breathtaking! I had gotten the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings years ago and it was a huge cost saver! We decorated the reception tables with burlap tablecloths that had a white topper. We chose inexpensive table arrangements so that I could save money. I used simple flowers, assorted nuts, and tons of candles. Candles always make the space look elegant and romantic! I also hung mason jars throughout the trees and shepherd hooks along the reception area. They were magical!

We have a few more brilliant details coming, so check back in a bit!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ann Taylor, Autumn Wedding, Fair Weather Farms, Georgia, Maggie Sottero, Southern Wedding
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Budget Beautiful, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

All photos by Ray and Erica Tisdale at 35 Atlanta

Danielle has been sweet enough to share with us her Real Wedding Story…

We spent the 2004 Labor Day weekend with family and friends in Montana, where our family has a vacation house. I brought my newfound best friend, Melinda, and my brother, Cass, brought a few of his friends. Little did we all know that within six weeks of the trip, Lee Copeland (one of Cass’s best friends) and I would be dating, as well as Cass and Melinda. If you fast-forward a few years, I was in the midst of planning the wedding of my dreams with Lee, and Cass has just proposed to Melinda! We were going to be a great big family of best friends!

I plan weddings on the side and have looked at every bridal magazine since I was 5 years old. I had so many choices to make – what season, color, theme- there were too many options! I finally decided on an early fall wedding and the color palette of sage green, chocolate brown, and cream. I always wanted to have an outdoor wedding and reception but it was hard to find just the right place. We wanted an element of Montana throughout the wedding but did not know where we could find that in Georgia. Finally, my florist told me of the perfect place! Fair Weather Farms did not advertise (all by word of mouth) and was gorgeous! It is a 2000-acre private family farm located in Social Circle, GA. You drive down a long, curvy dirt road for about a mile before you get to the Lodge and Pavilion. The Lodge is a three story hand-pegged rustic beauty – all of the wood beams and floors were salvaged from a cotton gin out of North Carolina. When you step through the doors, you are looking at a 3-story glass window that overlooks the lake and 200-year-old oak tree where we would exchange our vows. You were surrounded by trees and rolling pastures – it was as if we had planted a little bit of the Montana Big Sky Country right here in Georgia!

We planned the ceremony for outside underneath the gorgeous old oak tree in front of the lake. Our reception took place outside and inside the screened pavilion that is adjacent to the Lodge. I wanted a Southern Rustic Chic theme using as much of the natural surroundings that we could AND I was on a budget!

To see how Danielle designed this perfect, budget friendly wedding…stay tuned!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Autumn Wedding, Fair Weather Farms, Georgia, Southern Wedding
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Budget Beautiful, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

The pair were married underneath a 200 year Oak tree in front of a beautiful lake, in a stunning Rustic Chic style. Danielle was on a budget and STILL managed to pull off this lovely wedding. I have more pictures and brilliant details coming, so stay tuned!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Autumn Wedding, Fair Weather Farms, Georgia, Southern Wedding
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Budget Beautiful, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

A few little details that Catie could also do…

-Give your mom a handkerchief to walk down the aisle with…either made of scraps from your gown, or store bought.

-Give your bridesmaids lockets with a picture of you and the appropriate maid inside. Lockets are really coming back, so are there some great designers making them. However, you can still find some beauties on Ebay.

-Rather than having just religious verses read during the ceremony, bring in a favorite poem or a personal story written by a parent…something that tells your guests about who you are as a couple. Read a note to each other, hire someone to sing your favorite ballad, you get the drift.

-Definitely serve classic Southern fare…updated with elegance and sophistication. Mint Juleps or cold champagne are perfect and would cut down on the cost of a full bar bill. Think crab cakes with corn relish, sweet onion and heirloom tomato tarts, perhaps even an oyster bar.

-Buy panels of ivory dupioni silk or duchess satin and drape them over the back of every other chair. The edges can be “hemmed” with the iron on brands that are so easy. This will bring such beautiful texture to the room and will really create that warm, romantic feeling.

-Drop loose crystals all over the tables which will let the light from the candles really bounce and will create a lovely glow.

-Have candles or single flower buds placed in small mint julep cups that have your new initial engraved in them, for the guests to take as favors. Such a pretty, southern accent.

-Bring in a monogram and thread it through the decor…elegantly, not over-the-top. Think embroidery on napkins, printed at the top of a menu or place cards, on favor bags. Catie actually sent me a few of her monogram samples that she has been playing…take a look!

She has also graciously offered to do a free monogram for you if you’d like…just shoot her an email (cmarshalek@hotmail.com) and she will work her magic!

Bottom line for Catie’s affair is simple, Southern elegance. It should be warm, intimate and romantic…almost like having dinner with a bunch of friends at a quaint B&B. Garden type flowers like fluffy peonies, classic Southern foods and a big band to top of the festivities would make the wedding perfect.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2007. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Southern Wedding
Post categories: Inspiration Boards