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From the bride… Our wedding took place in November in Marble Falls, Texas. We had the venue booked within 24 hours of our engagement because I’ve known exactly where I wanted to get married since I was a child. I attended Camp Balcones Springs in Marble Falls every summer growing up, and the second I learned that people could get married there, I knew that was my dream. The camp is nestled in the heart of the Hill Country on Lake Travis, and of all the amazing things my parents did for me in childhood, sending me to camp is the one that I treasure the most.

In the off-season, the camp is The Retreat at Balcones Springs, and our guests stayed in the awesome cabins all weekend and enjoyed all the activities I did as a camper. I wanted our wedding to truly reflect the attitude of the Hill Country. Beautiful and cozy. Elegant without being formal. I have a hard time with color, so I always envisioned the wedding being soft and muted while creating a neutral spectrum. To enhance this, I used gold as an accent color. Our wedding bands are both made from yellow gold, and I love the way it glows. My shoes were gold, the crystals on my jewelry and belt were set it gold, the table letters were gold, and the centerpieces used gold urns. My gratitude for our florist is bottomless. Erin at Rosehip Flora completely floored me when I arrived at the reception. I really trusted her expertise and creativity, and with the little direction I gave her, she nailed it. The flower chandeliers made the pavilion feel so decadent, and the grape wood in the centerpieces bridged the gap between a summer camp and a beautiful wedding.

My very favorite details of the big day are walking down the aisle to “This Year’s Love” by David Gray, drinking bottled Coke from Mexico at cocktail hour, the way our cake matched my wedding gown and how overwhelmed I felt from all the love and support my friends gave me that day. I love that everything about our wedding meant something to me. I love that each and every detail came from my heart. And mostly, I love that someday we will be able to take our kids to Camp Balcones Springs and stand in the place that we began the rest of our lives.

Wedding Photography: Caroline Fontenot Photographer / Ceremony: St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Marble Falls, Texas / Reception: The Retreat at Balcones Springs in Marble Falls, Texas / Wedding Coordination: Bess Baskin of The Retreat at Balcones Springs / Florist: Rosehip Flora / Dress: Amsale via Stanley Korshak Bridal Salon / Groom’s Suit: J.Hilburn / Band: The Drywater Band / Mariachi Band: Mariachi Los Gallos / Wedding Cake: Lou Carpenter Sapp / Event Décor + Design: The Bride / Bride’s Hair + Makeup: Morgan Stephanian, Best Friend of the Bride / Linens: Marquee Rents / Chiavari Chairs: Chiavari Chairs of Austin / Paper Name Banners: Ay Mujer / Wedding Cake Topper: Vintage Confections / Bride’s Belt + Bouquet Wrap: Kirsten Kuehn Designs / Place Cards + Clothespins: Morrell Décor / Table Letters: Hobby Lobby

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Amsale, Ay Mujer, Bess Baskin, Blush, Caroline Fontenot Photographer, Chiavari Chairs of Austin, Gold, Hobby Lobby, J.Hillburn, Kirsten Kuehn Designs, Lou Carpenter Sapp, Marble Falls, Mariachi Los Gallos, Marquee Rentals, Morgan Stephanian, Morrell Decor, Rosehip Flora, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Stanley Korshak Bridal Salon, Texas, The Drywater Band, The Retreat at Balcones Springs, Vintage Confections, Wedding Details, White
Post categories: Austin Weddings, Casual Elegance, Texas Weddings

photographs by Lisa Franchot

So much more to come!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Daisies, Lisa Franchot, Oh How Charming, Parasols, table setting, Wedding Details
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Real Weddings

From Fiona, the lovely bride…

On each table there was a pink wine glass with a small paper butterfly perched on the glass as the name card to again tie in with the garden party style of the day. I had bought lots of pink painted tea glasses from a recent trip to Marrakech (they were so cheap, I think I got them for about 20 pence each (about 40 cents) I think and they looked like they cost so much more!) and these were used to decorate the table. We had candelabras as the centre pieces and these were filled with roses, hydrangeas and ivory. At the entrance to the marquee we also scattered rose petals and lavender so the smell when everyone walked in was amazing!

At the end of the evening just as we left each guest was given a pack of matches with our names and the wedding date on and a huge sparkler, I wanted fireworks but the budget didn’t stretch to that so I thought that this worked just as well. It was so much fun, particularly as people got carried away and quite a few were set off in the marquee!

{and finally, some shameless bragging on SMP…I couldn’t resist}

In terms of my inspiration – honestly, it came from Style Me Pretty. I absolutely love the website and really it is so much better than anything you get in the UK (that was one of my biggest frustrations with the wedding, everything I liked was from the States!). All of the weddings on the site are so so beautiful and detailed, the colour palettes and ideas were just incredible and I wish that I could get married 10 times over so I could use all of the ideas I collected! The weddings featured really inspired me and I love the fact that no matter what the budget the weddings are beautiful.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: British Wedding, Color Palette Pink Lavender, English Gard Wedding, Mark Wallis, Table Settings, Wedding Details
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

From the bride, Fiona…

The pink theme ran through the day – bridesmaids dresses, flowers, ushers ties, wine glasses, pink lemonade, pink champagne, pink ribbon to tie the order of service together, rose petals etc. The favours were small packs of mints that had ‘mint to be’ written on them in pink along with our names. I actually got them from the For Your Party website in the States.

I didn’t want a formal meal (in The UK everyone seems to go for meat and vegetables!) so for the wedding breakfast we served sausages and mash and we served the chocolate wedding cake as part of the desert. We then had a tiered cheese cake which we served later on in the evening.

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Post tags: Color Palette Pink, English Garden Wedding, Mark Wallis, Wedding Details, Wedding Programs
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

I know that it’s way beyond many budgets out there, but look to the style of the day for inspiration. Whether it’s the antique silver, white and black palette or the collection of vintage china, there are so many ways to incorporate this type of look into a more modest affair.

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Post tags: Black and White Photography, Docuvitae, Oh How Charming, Wedding Details
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

The black and whites really allow the emotion of the day to shine through. They have that old world, kind of forever classic look that makes the entire affair seem so romantic. If you haven’t already, spend some time looking at the Docuvitae site…it’s filled with beautiful images that convey such romance, such inspiration.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Black and White Photography, Color Palette White, Docuvitae, Oh How Charming, Orchids, Parasols, Wedding Details
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

photos by Docuvitae (more to come on the photographer behind the event)

From Lisa…

The dinner reception was beyond gorgeous. Sharon and Ashley at Floracopia created stunning residential-like floral arrangements using an insane amount of crisp white phaleonopsis orchids, dutch hydrangea, and just the tiniest mix of succulents for a little unexpected detailing. The arrangements were housed in an eclectic mix of mercury glass and smaller vintage china vessels. Barker Decor cut custom mirrored tops for all of our round tables which added the perfect amount of sparkle to the dinner reception.

For the china and glassware, we used all platinum patterned china, platinum banded glassware, and a gorgeous platinum banded charger from my friends at Tabella.  Carlos and Anna at Tabella also supplied the perfectly simple “vertical pintuck” linens which were a great backdrop for the eclectic mix of decor on each table. And…my darlings Sara and Ian allowed me to use a zebra napkin on half of our tables (white hemstitch on the others). It was the little nod to Tony Duquette that we needed to complete our look.

* * *

The place settings are to die for, the collection of mercury glass stemware and accents, the perfect parasols…even the stinking Jimmy Choo’s, oh my! I have looked at these pictures a dozen times and each time, I see something different. Another beautiful detail that went into this incredible day.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 1 comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Color Palette White, Docuvitae, Jimmy Choo, Mercury Glass, Oh How Charming, Orchids, Parasols, Table Settings, Wedding Details, Wedding Shoes
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

all photos by Miguel Irias Photography

After the ceremony, we headed back to the cocktail hour and reception where we were welcomed with a great Calypso band and incredible hor’dourves. There was a photo booth, complete with props, that guests could snap pictures of themselves and there were even two pinatas that Erich and Deb broke into later that evening. Such a cute touch to a formal affair!

More to come!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | Comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Miguel Irias, Palm Beach, Wedding Details
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Traditional Elegance