{click here to see the full wedding}

We spent 8 months leading up to our wedding living in India, where John was working. It gave me plenty of time to plan our wedding, and I obsessively scoured all the wedding blogs for inspiration and ideas. Our main idea behind the wedding was that it would be small and simple, a celebration with our nearest and dearest without getting too carried away and over the top with a big budget wedding. We kept the budget down by getting lots of quotes and working with our chosen vendors to get what we were after for the best possible price, keeping details in perspective, and DIY’ing as much as we could.

We really wanted to keep it small and intimate, and had a guest list of exactly 100 people, just our family and very close friends. We had many visitors fly in from overseas and interstate, and to be surrounded by all our people from all over the world was the most special part of the wedding. We planned a whole weekend full of festivities, with a Thursday night welcome dinner, a massive Friday night dinner for 60 guests, a picnic at Kings Park for about 80 guests (fully catered with salads, sandwiches and sweets!) and then the culmination of it all, our wedding on the Sunday.

We booked the venue at Indiana without any hesitation because it is just SO beautiful, and decided to have the ceremony there too – what  a perfect backdrop! It is also such an iconic Perth location, and one we have always loved because of its amazing beauty. My dress was bought off the rack in a Lisa Ho store a whole year before the big day.  I was always sure I wouldn’t wear a typical Bridal gown – and I loved that this dress was easy, no fuss and still so beautiful and elegant. I was undecided on the veil, but about 2 months before the day decided I might as well wear one, we had to get it dyed to complement the silvery grey colour of the dress and I was SO happy I wore it, I felt it just added a touch of “bride” to the ensemble.

While in India we decided to utilise our location and shopped up a storm for the wedding. I had a very clear vision for what I wanted the day to look and feel like, relaxed and casual with pops of bright colour for a sense of fun. We bought different coloured chiffon fabrics for the outdoor area and the hand painted cushion covers from a market in India. We wanted our guests to leave with a little something to remember the day, so we bought all the women gorgeous Pashmina’s from a market too, in an array of bright and vibrant colours. The head coverings for the men were for the traditional part of our Jewish ceremony, and we had them made while in India too.

We did lots of DIY projects to help keep the budget down, and to infuse our own handiwork into the day – it made it all the more special! We hand-painted table numbers and “girls” and “guys” signs, we made the wooden structure for the escort cards and designed and printed them ourselves in keeping with the theme from our invitation (which we also designed ourselves and had printed in India).  We bought the cover for our Chuppah in India (its a beautiful table cloth that we will now use in our home) and then spray painted poles to attach it to. We found amazing fabric for our photobooth and also made fun fake moustaches as props to use.

Our florist Kiera did such a wonderful job, she interpreted my vision exactly how I wanted it to be.  I was sure that to keep the location and setting intimate, I did not want big centre pieces, just something pretty to compliment the gorgeous surrounds.

Just one of the highlights of the evening was during the Horahs, which is the traditional Jewish dances of celebration. We decided to add a little something extra by mixing in a song we found – an Indian version of Hava Nagila. We thought it was appropriate because of our time spent in India, and the only people expecting it was us and my brothers. When the music scratched, they threw a bright yellow turban across the dance floor to Johnny, and everyone erupted taking the usually wild Horahs to another level!

Photographers: Steve and Alan from AMAC + WISE and a few from the bride’s brother / Flowers: Eufloria / Celebrant: Ron Samuel / Brides Dress: Lisa Ho / Make-up: Thianna Sperry / Bridesmaids Dresses: Shieke / Grooms Suit: Saba / Groomsmen’s shirts: Politix / Band: Bootyjooce

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Post tags: AMAC + WISE, Australia, wedding dress
Post categories: All Real Weddings, Casual Elegance

The complete collection should be in stores soon and we are not-so-secretly hoping that one of you SMP-ers will snatch one up for your big day. SO beyond gorgeous. Click here to see even more from the collection!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2010. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Jenny Packham, Spring 2011, wedding dress, Wedding Dresses, Wedding Gown
Post categories: Wedding Dresses

Ines Di Santo wedding gowns are always amazing. Always really high glam, really luxurious. But what I love the most about this season is the IN-FREAKING-CREDIBLE fabrics and detailing that she used. With European silks, embroidery, fabric rosettes, beading and trims…every design is a total work of art.

There is so much texture built into every gown. You will see something new, something beautiful each and every time you look at one of these dresses. The layering of fabric, the ruffles, the hand sewn details. Ines just knows how to make a dress…a really beautiful, Haute Couture dress. And I am officially one of her faithful followers.

And do I really need to mention just how gorgeous the silhouettes are? Probably not, but humor me anyway. The silhouettes are RIDICULOUS. They are a dream, a total picture perfect dream. With tight fitting bodices and voluminous skirts, with teeny tiny cocktail dresses that are made of beading and crystal, with asymmetrical straps and sexy low backs…every dress has a body of it’s own.

We are taking a little breather from these amazing gowns, as my dress hangover is in full effect. We’ll pick back up next week with even more works of art plus some pretty fabulous bridesmaid dresses. A HUGE, from the bottom of my heart thank you to Matthew Grazier for provided such incredible eye candy. We love you!

Oh and for those of you that are interested in seeing possibly the most original wedding I’ve ever seen…head on over to the Grazier’s blog. Think rock climbing in a wedding dress.

Coming up next…a GIVEAWAY!!

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Post tags: 2010 Collection, Graziers, Ines Di Santo, Matthew Grazier, wedding dress
Post categories: The Blog

The dress is by Timeless Vixen and if you aren’t afraid of jumping out of your chair into full on spirit sprinkles, you should definitely check her work out!

And although they aren’t exactly wedding dresses, I am la-la-loving these babies…

Thanks for the tip, Robin! For those of you that are looking for some really great inspirations, check out Robin’s Style Circle Blog!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Etsy, Short Wedding Dress, Style Circle, Timeless Vixen, wedding dress
Post categories: Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion

Abby and Tait were married in August 2005 at the magnificent Old South Church in Boston. I love the expression on Tait’s face as he sees Abby walking toward him. I’ve seen him look at her like this many times since then, but this time … was the best.

The majority of Abby and Tait’s family live in Massachusetts.  An August wedding in her home town, Houston, would have been out of the question. Everyone in Massachusetts assured us that by the end of August, it would definitely have started cooling off. An unairconditioned church would be no problem … wrong.  This beautiful church was so hot.

Abby had several special touches during her wedding. Her cousin read a love poem written by her aunt who had passed away from breast cancer. A dear friend of hers sang the “Irish Wedding Song”… that brought us all to tears. Abby allowed me to select most of the music, because classical music was such a huge part of my memories of her grandfather. But probably the most special thing that she did was to present me with a lace handkerchief to carry, that was made from the lace on her gown… she’s quite a girl!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Abby Larson, Boston, Massachusetts Weddings, Old South Church, Vera Wang, Wedding Ceremony, wedding dress
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Abby’s bridal party included her sisters, Tait’s sisters, her best friend from home, and many of her friends from Vanderbilt. As we waited in the church library before the ceremony, they all broke into a lively rendition of “Going to the chapel … !” Apparently it’s a Vanderbilt-friend’s rite of passage to sing this right before the walk down the aisle.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Abby Larson, Boston, Bridesmaids Dresses, Color Palette Pink Brown, Massachusetts Weddings, Summer Wedding, Vera Wang, wedding dress
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Wedding dresses! We ALL love looking at wedding dresses. We all LOVE spring collections of wedding dresses. That is why today is such a lovely day! Believe it or not, the snow and ice that is slamming much of the country will melt and spring WILL arrive. What better way to spend a few minutes brightening up your day than oohh-ing and aahh-ing over the 2009 Spring Collection from Janell Berté. We have the distinct pleasure of saying that Janell — an award winning couture dress designer — is one of the founding members of Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book.  Janell’s private bridal studio and workshop is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Brides from as far away as New York City and Baltimore have traveled to her salon to work with her in fashioning their very own, perfect, dream-come-true wedding dress.

The Spring 2009 Collection from Janell Berté …

photography by Nick Gould

I spoke with Janell a few days ago and found her to be absolutely delightful. Very approachable. Very enthusiastic about her designs (her ‘babies’)! I asked if she had a favorite design from her 2009 collection and she replied that it would be impossible to name just one. Her gowns are her babies and each stands on it’s own merits. She loves them all.

We’ll be back in a bit with more …

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bridal Gowns, Janell Berte, Lancaster, Nick Gould, Pennsylvania, wedding dress
Post categories: Wedding Dresses, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Style