Click here for the FULL wedding!

From Nate of Nate Henderson Photography… Allison and Rob were married in Savannah’s first hotel, The Marshall House, which is located in the heart of the historic district. Their intimate ceremony took place in the early spring and was held in the open air atrium. They incorporated succulents along with simple white vases and flowers throughout giving a slight modern feeling among all of the history Savannah offers. We wandered the streets and squares of the city for portraits, and it paid off well! Savannah in springtime is absolutely beautiful, and this is exactly why Allison and Rob chose Savannah for their destination wedding.

From the bride… We were on an $8,000 budget, so our wedding cake was from Walmart. I shopped around all of the grocery stores/big box stores in the area in advance for prices. The morning of the wedding, my maid of honor, Abby, and I went to Walmart, bought a large cake, a small cake and cupcakes. We stacked the small cake on top of the large cake and our florist, A to Zinnias, decorated the top with flowers. My entire cake set up cost $40. We got several compliments on how good the red velvet was.

Wedding Photography: Nate Henderson Photography / Flowers: A to Zinnias / Wedding Venue: The Marshall House / Wedding Gown: Galina for David’s Bridal / Bride’s Shoes: Report (in Pewter) / Wedding Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas / Programs + Table Cards: Vicki Busby (Bride’s Step-Mother) of Studio 629 / Wedding Cake: Walmart / Maid of Honor’s Dress: Anthropologie / Men’s Custom Linen Suits: Studio Suits / Makeup: Glow Med Spa & Beauty Boutique / Hair: Salon Eden

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A to Zinnias, Anthropologie, Blue, Galina for David's Bridal, Georgia, Glow Med Spa & Beauty Boutique, Green, Marshall House, Nate Henderson Photography, Report, Salon Eden, Savannah, Studio 629, Studio Suits, Vicki Busby, Walmart, Wedding Paper Divas, White, Yellow
Post categories: Do-It-Yourself Inspired, Georgia Weddings, Savannah Weddings

Click here for the FULL wedding!

From the Bride… Spencer and I truly had a wonderful wedding in Chicago. It was amazing to be surrounded by our friends and family as we became husband and wife. Planning our wedding was an incredible amount of work, but so worth it! To see everything come together on our big day was simply amazing.

We started off the day getting ready with our wedding parties at Hotel Sax. It was such a great morning. My maid of honor, Erin, went above and beyond thinking of so many fun pre-wedding details. She made fun girly wedding CDs, had our champagne labeled with our picture and wedding date and even made sure I had a “Mrs. Brydon” hanger. After we were all ready, Spencer and I shared our first look. David and Nancy selected the ultra-modern fourth floor at Hotel Sax; it made for a perfect backdrop. I loved seeing our wedding party all ready — they looked fantastic! Our color palette was vintage blue and gray with yellow accents. The yellow was a beautiful pop of color for our July wedding. The flowers we selected were a nice blend of playful, whimsical, while still being truly classic. All the details looked gorgeous against the backdrop of The Chicago History Museum where we held our ceremony and reception. My absolute favorite part of our big day was our wedding ceremony and WOW, the emotions were flowing. Spencer and I wanted our ceremony to be about our commitment to each other. After much thought, we asked our great friend Derek to marry us. We went through the process (easy!) of getting him ordained. Spencer and I worked together, picking out what we liked from different ceremonies to create something that fit exactly what we were looking for. Derek has known us throughout our relationship and truly was able to speak about us as a couple and the commitment we were making. We chose to include a wine ceremony blending the bitter and the sweet in life. Spencer’s sister read, we wrote our own vows, and our pups, Biscuit and Bailey, stared as ring bearer and flower girl.

We enjoyed pulling together a few DIY projects with the help of our friends and family. Rocks with “A&S” and “07.16.11” stamped on them held down the programs. Erin made an amazing card box that had unbelievable detail and was so well done. We made our table numbers, incorporating our engagement pictures and parts of our invitations. We also surprised all of our Miami University friends with our band selection, The Paul Otten Band. This was the band we all sang along with until the wee hours of the morning at our favorite college bar. The Piano Man helped make the night exceptional! All the details came together to create the wedding we loved!
We are so thankful to all the vendors who put so much time and thought into our wedding day. We are incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family that helped make everything possible. Thank you all — we love you so much! Cheers to a great party kicking off a wonderful life together!

Wedding Photography: David Wittig Photography / Wedding Venue: Chicago History Museum / Wedding Flowers: The Flower Firm / Catering: Berghoff Catering / Bakery: Swirlz Cupcakes / Ceremony + Cocktail Music: Parkwest Strings / Reception Music: The Paul Otten Band / Wedding Dress: Wedding Belles / Hair: Kara Widhalm + Melissa Burgess of The Cutting Edge  / Makeup: Vanessa Morales of Nightingale Beauty / Groom’s Suit: Harleys for Men / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: J.Crew / Groomsmen’s Suits: JoS. A. Bank / Rings: Tiffany & Co. / Bridesmaids’ Jewelry: Erin Gallagher Jewelry / Wedding Menus + Programs: Wedding Paper Divas / Transportation: Chicago Trolley Co. / Hotel: Hotel Sax Chicago / Ceremony Puppy Logistics: Urban Out Sitters / Stamped Rocks: DIY / Card Box: DIY by the Maid of Honor

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Berghoff Catering, Blue, Chicago, Chicago Trolley Co., David Wittig Photography, Erin Gallagher Jewelry, Gray, Harleys for Men, Hotel Sax Chicago, Illinois, J. Crew, Jos A Bank, Kara Widham, Melissa Burgess, Nightingale Beauty, Parkwest Strings, Swirlz Cupcakes, The Chicago History Museum, The Cutting Edge, The Flower Firm, The Paul Otten Band, Tiffany & Co., Urban Out Sitters, Vanessa Morales, Wedding Belles, Wedding Paper Divas, Yellow
Post categories: Chicago Weddings, Illinois Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Click here for the FULL wedding!

From Jen of Jen Huang Photography… Melissa and Jeff, college sweethearts, were married at the Chicago History Museum, which is full of soaring ceilings and impressive architecture. Their colors, red and navy, were bold and bright; beautifully set against the Stickley furniture and details of the ballroom. The intimate wedding started off with a beautiful outdoor ceremony with the Museum behind them and continued into the light-filled ballroom where guests were seated at long tables set with Stickley chairs. Melissa and Jeff danced all night, surrounded with their close friends and families.

Wedding Photography: Jen Huang Photography /  Wedding Venue: The Chicago History Museum / Wedding Flowers: Botanicals, Inc. / Catering: Food for Thought / Wedding Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas / Band: Ron Bedal Orchestra / Cake: Flour Cake and Pastry / Wedding Gown: Boutique Victoria / Groom’s Suit: J.Crew / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Alfred Sung

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Alfred Sung, Botanicals Inc., Boutique Victoria, Chicago, Flour Cake and Pastry, Food For Thought, Illinois, J. Crew, Jen Huang Photography, Navy Blue, Red, Ron Bedal Orchestra, The Field Museum, Wedding Paper Divas
Post categories: Chicago Weddings, Illinois Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Jim and I first met in my hometown of Toronto in 2003 where we worked together at a publishing house and got to know each other over lengthy lunch breaks. Jim eventually moved back to his birth city of London, England and we lost touch. Three years later, after deciding to quit my job to travel to India for my close friend’s wedding, I was at a loose end with what to do with my life, when a friend encouraged me to move to London and invited me to stay with his family. After settling into my new life in the UK, I was out one night when a friend spotted someone looking at me on the dance floor. It was Jim! He found his way over to me and we spent the rest of the year getting to know each other again and eventually spent the rest of my stay in London side-by-side until deciding to move to Dubai together in 2009.

Over the Christmas holidays of 2010, Jim paid me a surprise visit in Toronto and proposed in the city where we had first met. With another move on the horizon in 2012, we had decided that we wanted to get married in the summer of 2011, seven months after we were engaged.

With friends and family scattered across the Americas & Europe and with us planning the wedding in Dubai, this made choosing a wedding location quite challenging. However, since majority of our guests and family would have to travel no matter where the wedding took place, it was actually quite liberating, as it meant that we had a blank slate when it came to choosing our location! We decided to have the wedding in Andalucía, Spain, as I left my heart in Spain the first time I went backpacking and wanted to share this amazing country with Jim. The dramatic landscape, hilltop villages, and amazing food and wine were an added plus as it really spoke to our idea of romance.

Language barriers, time differences, and distances meant that we needed the help of a local wedding planner. Initially disheartened after receiving templated responses and formulaic wedding proposals from various planners, we eventually received the kindest, most enthusiastic, detailed, and open-minded response imaginable from Lucia Fraga of Caprichia Marbella, who gave us confidence we could have the wedding we wanted. Choosing Lucia was the best decision we made since deciding to get married!

With Lucia’s help, we found our dream location in Casares, a small Spanish pueblo blanco (white village) nestled in the Andalucían hills. We were married in a ruined castle on a mountaintop overlooking the town. For the reception, we did some digging and found the Molino Los Medicos, a beautiful converted olive mill in a nearby town called Gaucin, which had a gorgeous inner courtyard for an outdoor dinner, and a large outdoor space with unspoiled views for the cocktail hour and dancing. The villa coupled as our accommodation for the week, which was a dream on two accounts: we were able to live in luxury and have the space we needed to organize things before the big day. We also found the Molino Del Carmen, another villa in Gaucin, which agreed to let our family and friends have sole use of their property for the week building up to the wedding.

As Dubai has a very small bridal market, I knew that I might have to find my wedding dress elsewhere, which was the only real pressure I felt planning my wedding. But with a trip to London, New York and then Toronto planned for some major dress shopping, I knew as long as I remained open-minded, positive, and relied on my gut feeling, I would be fine. A trip to New York with my sister found me a backless Pnina Tornai sold exclusively at Kleinfeld’s. When the designer herself walked out to add the cathedral-length veil, I was sold!

Planning the wedding away from our families wasn’t so bad, as we engaged our family in as much preparation as we could, so they would feel involved in our big day. My mother helped with the invitations, and my sister, mother and grandmothers helped sew decorations for the reception and the welcome picnic. Jim’s brother helped make a sign for the welcome picnic, and the table name-card holders (later adorned with Laura Hooper’s beautiful calligraphy) for the reception dinner, and his mother made us our guest book.

The day of our wedding, Jim’s uncle served as officiant, while two friends gave readings from D.H. Lawrence and Plato, and another friend acted as videographer. Since we were wed on a mountaintop (and thus far away from any power source), we hired a cellist to accompany our ceremony. Jim had asked his talented friend Carl to arrange a special solo cello version of Sigur Ros’ Hoppipolla to use as our recessional song, as it’s the most joyous piece of music I’ve ever heard!

Lucia found a local florist to provide rustic-looking Mataline roses in soft shades, with berries, eucalyptus and other foliage, and verdant ivy to wrap around the ceremony chairs. As an unexpected bonus, a big festival was underway in the town on the same day, so the town was decorated and I got plenty of attention from the local revelers as I was escorted through the town on a golf cart.

After the ceremony, the flowers arrangements were transported to the reception site, where we had fairy lights and candles dotted all around, including floating candles in the fountain, and Victorian-style tea-light holders hanging above the head table. When our guests arrived, we shared with them a cava and cocktail hour with over twenty different canapés and custom drinks, followed by an exquisite four-course meal with local flavours from Lepanto Catering. We gave each guest a bottle of Andalucían red wine with their name hand-written in calligraphy on vintage-style luggage tags. A Gordon Ramsey-designed iced lemon meringue followed dinner with raspberries for dessert, with coffee and a late night snack offered to guests in the wee hours. Before we had our dance, Jim surprised me by turning up with his guitar, and serenading me in front of our guests with a beautiful song he had written just for the occasion.

Our wedding photographer, Anna Gazda, who we found online, captured the whole day in her energetic and candid style and we’re able to relive the incredible experience through her work.

Wedding Planner: Lucia Fraga of Caprichia Marbella, Couture Destination Wedding & Event Planning / Ceremony Venue: Castillo Casares, Casares, Andalucia, Spain / Reception Venue: Molino Los Medicos / Wedding Gown: Pnina Tornai, Kleinfeld Bridal / Groom’s Suit: Dior / Bride’s Shoes: Ellie Saab / Groom’s Shoes: Paul Smith / Bridesmaid’s Dresses: Thayer Godess Dress, Shopbop / Groomsmen Suits: Tristan / Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas / Calligraphy: Laura Hooper Calligraphy / Catering: Lepanto Catering / Photographer: Anna Gazda from Limelight / Makeup: Lyndsey Cavanagh

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Andalucia, Anna Gazda, Caprichia Marbella, Caprichia Marbella Couture Destination Wedding & Event Planning, Casares, Castillo Casares, Castle, Cats, Destination, Dior, Ellie Saab, Kleinfeld Bridal, Laura Hooper Calligraphy, Lepanto Catering, Limelight, Lyndsey Cavanagh, Molino Los Medicos, mountains, Muted Colors, Outdoor Wedding, Paul Smith, Pnina Tornai, Shopbop, Spain, Spanish Weddings, Thayer Godess Dress, Tristian, Wedding Calligraphy, Wedding Paper Divas, Wedding Stationery
Post categories: Destination, Little Black Book Blog

Click here for the FULL wedding!

From the bride… There are a few things Kyle and I love most in the world: good friends, family, food, North Carolina and the mountains. We wanted our wedding to be an event that celebrated our love for one another while sharing the things we love best with our closest friends and families. When we drove up the long gravel driveway to the event barn and field at Claxton Farm, the venue search was over before it really began. Hugged by the mountains and secluded from everyday life, this venue was the perfect place to share our wedding with those most important to us.

Our vendors took care of all the big stuff, but we wanted to have a hand in the wedding as well, so we got to work buying, borrowing, and making all the small details for the wedding. The charger plates were purchased second-hand, and I painted them a charcoal gray to match our color scheme. I made all the table numbers, and we printed and stamped the place cards. The favors were home-brewed beer by Kyle and a friend, and we also had fig, peach, and pear preserves that my grandmother made. We also designed and printed all the labels for the beer bottles and jars of preserves. We used the cake knife Kyle’s grandmother offered for us to use that has been used at her family’s weddings for well over 100 years. All the signs were either handmade, borrowed, or written on old windows we found on Craigslist. The guest book was bought from Etsy and we made luminaries to line the pathways with. I even cut all the lace off the bottom of my mother’s wedding dress and had it sewn onto my veil. When Claxton Farm put all our details together with the hard work of our vendors, it was exactly what we had hoped it would be. A combination of old and new, natural and elegant, and we felt it was a step away from the traditionally elegant weddings we had recently been to.

Despite a little rain, the day was perfect. There were no nerves, no worries, just complete and total bliss.  I couldn’t wait to walk down the aisle and see Kyle. Our ceremony was written/assembled 100% by us. The readings were selected to represent our feelings on love and marriage, the overall tone was what we wanted to share with our guests, and we wrote our own vows. There were a few raindrops during the ceremony, but right before the end, the sun peeked out from the clouds. It was one of those perfect moments, the kind of thing you won’t forget. The evening proceeded with dinner, socializing, and finished up with lots of dancing. The team at Claxton Farm stoked up the fire and before we knew it, the night was over and we were off. It’s true what they say about your wedding flying by.

Photographer: Chicago wedding photographer Caroline Ghetes / Venue: Claxton Farm / Makeup: DIY by the bride / Hair: L’eau de Vie / Cake + Dessert: Cakes by Jane / Caterer: M7 Events / Florist: Jessica Gregory of Aria Floral /Officiant: Susie Greene / Ceremony Musician: Blue Ridge Tradition / DJ: Brian O’Toole (919-740-6260) / Wedding Dress: Tara Keely via Victorian Rose Bridal / Veil: Lace from mother’s wedding gown added to a veil from Victorian Rose Bridal / Shoes: Nordstrom / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Priscilla of Boston / Groom + Groomsmen Suits: Men’s Wearhouse / Groom’s shoes: Zappos / Stationery: Wedding Paper Divas / Save the Dates: NattyMichelle / Transportation: Elite Limousine / Bride’s DIY Resources: Michaels, A.C. Moore, Lowes, Etsy + eBay

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A.C. Moore, Aria Floral, Asheville, Blue Ridge Tradition, Brian O'Toole, Cakes by Jane, Caroline Ghetes, Claxton Farm, Ebay, Elite Limousine, Etsy, L'eau de Vie, Lowes, M7 Events, Men's Wearhouse, Michaels, NattyMichelle, Nordstrom, North Carolina, Priscilla of Boston, Susie Greene, Tara Keely, Victorian Rose Bridal, Wedding Paper Divas, Zappos
Post categories: Casual Elegance

Click here for the FULL wedding!

From the bride… I had initially wanted an extremely small, simple and intimate wedding. My suggestion for a destination wedding with only our immediate family and closest friends was quickly turned down by Carl and our parents. My biggest challenge was coming to terms with feeding, entertaining, and being in front of 100+ guests for an entire night. Throughout the entire planning process, I was very worried about the number of people we had invited and was still dreaming of a simpler wedding. Now that it’s all done, I am so glad to have no regrets. We had the time of our lives and felt so blessed that we were able to celebrate with so many wonderful people who love us as much as we love them!

We wanted our flowers and cake to be very understated and natural. We wanted to take advantage of the beauty of the gardens and didn’t want to down play the gorgeous setting with lots of large flowers and different colors. Unfortunately, I know nothing about flowers and had only found about two pictures of bouquets and boutonnieres that I liked. After meeting our florist, Dawn, I just felt that she totally understood my vision. I showed her some of our other details and explained my idea for mostly white flowers with green accents and lots of texture. Dawn exceeded all my expectations and built our florals just how I imagined. The bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces all had the organic feeling I had wanted but were still timeless and traditional. She wrapped the bouquets and boutonnieres in twine to match our rustic theme and played up all of the different sizes and shapes of our antique bottles with a wide variety of flowers and greenery. Our cake was another easy decision. We knew we wanted a fairly simple, round design and chocolate. Our baker showed us a picture of a recent one cake she had made, and my mom and I both loved that the subtle, vertical lines were reminiscent of the pleatings in my dress. It turned out lovely and was, most importantly, delicious!

Our cocktail hour and reception had lots of personal details starting with our “signature cocktail,” PBR tall boys. Carl is known for his love of PBR among all of our friends, and the butler-passed cans of PBR were the perfect welcome to our laid-back garden reception. Our guests were also able to enjoy our favorite yard games, including a monogrammed corn hole set made by Carl. We highlighted some of Carl’s carpentry skills with our homemade signs, rustic menu chalkboards, wood bowls, and wood tags. I put lots of my flea market finds to good use by re-purposing plantation shutters for a photo display and vintage milk bottles for our centerpieces. My mom made all of the burlap runners to continue our rustic theme to each table, and I used the extra fabric to make a few burlap wreaths for extra decor. We added string bulb lighting across the dance floor that created the perfect glow for our late summer/early fall dance party. We decided to give monogrammed, reusable aluminum water bottles as favors. We can’t live without ours and thought it would be a great sustainable gift to match our garden wedding. We wanted our dinner menu to include some “Sunday Supper” classics. Some of our favorites included the mac n’ cheese, BBQ pork tenderloin, blue cheese potato chips and cole slaw. Near the end of the night, we served boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts, a true Atlanta staple, with individual cartons of milk.

Photography: Laura Leslie Photography / Event Planning: Erin Stroup of It’s All in the Details Event Planning (now based in Seattle) / Venue: Cator Woolford Gardens / Florist: Candler Park Flowers / Wedding Cake: Chef Nancy of The Flour Shoppe / Catering: Bold American Events / Paper Products: Wedding Paper Divas / Hair + Makeup: Ashlee Kidd and Lindsey Byrom of Renee Paige Salon (770-632-5999) / Wedding Gown: WTOO (Holly) via J. Andrews Bridal / Bride’s Hair Accessories + Veil: DIY by mother of the bride / Bride’s Shoes: Kelly & Kate via DSW / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Bill Levkoff, Watters + WTOO via J. Andrews Bridal / Groom + Groomsmen’s Ties: Tommy Hilfiger / Groom + Groomsmen Attire: J & R Clothing

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ashlee Kidd, Atlanta, Bill Levkoff, Bold American Events, Candler Park Flowers, Cator Woolford Gardens, DSW, Erin Stroup, Georgia, It's All in the Details Event Planning, J & R Clothing, J. Andrews Bridal, Kelly & Kate, Laura Leslie Photography, Lindsey Byrom, Renee Paige Salon, The Flour Shoppe, Tommy Hilfiger, Watters, Wedding Paper Divas, WToo
Post categories: Atlanta Weddings, Casual Elegance, Georgia Weddings

Are you ready for the most amazing wedding story we’ve seen in a long time?

My wedding day is every bride’s worst nightmare. What transpired on that picture perfect Friday afternoon was nothing short of a miracle. The beautiful pictures you see depict not what I imagined it would be, but what I wouldn’t trade for the world. After all, behind all the glitz and glamour of a modern day wedding, is it not really just about two people vowing to love, cherish and honor each other for the rest of their lives? Well that’s the lesson, unfortunately, I learned the hard way.

The dreaded call came in around 1:00PM on Friday, August 26th, the day before Hurricane Irene was predicated to hit the coastal towns of New Jersey, and just FOUR hours before my wedding ceremony was scheduled to begin. Due to the “red alert” and evacuation orders issued for Atlantic City, our five-star venue was forced to cancel our wedding ceremony and reception… I can still hear the words “Your event has been cancelled” ringing in my diamond-clad ear. For as most brides know, four hours before your ceremony begins, your hair has been coiffed, your makeup has been perfected and you are trying to relax while sipping on your mimosa.

So what do you do when your dream has been crushed? Well, most families may regretfully inform the guests of the unfortunate news. However, as you can see by the pictures, we’re not like most families. I remember the moment so vividly. My sister, and maid of honor, looked at me frankly and said, “What do you want to do? You know, we’ve always said someone should get married at Lynette’s house.” (Lynette is a close family friend with an AMAZING outdoor landscape.) And that was all took…

The ball was rolling. Our families frantically took to the phones, rerouting the minister, ordering chairs, trying to piece together some semblance of a ceremony. The most amazing moment was when we pulled up to the house, having no idea what our wedding would look like, and seeing the beautiful ceremony space arranged on the lawn and the smiles of our friends and family. You can see by the pictures, they did an amazing job!

When you’re in the throes of planning the big, glamorous wedding affair that you dreamt of, it is so easy to forget the real meaning and purpose behind the day. We were blessed with the wonderful reminder that it is not really about the venue, or the 5 course meal, but rather being surrounded and supported by the people that care for you as you embark on this journey called marriage with the one you love the most!

Photography: Kay English Photography / Cinematography: Lucky Productions Cinematography / Flowers: Gerads Florist & Decorator / Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas / Cake: The Bake Works / Wedding Gown Designer: Marisa, from Bridal Garden / Bridesmaid’s Dress Designer: Jessica Simpson Designs / Hairpiece: portobella

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 69 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Atlantic City, Beach Wedding, Bridal Garden, Chuppah, Color Palette Purple Blue, Dogs, Etsy, Gerads Florist & Decorator, Hurricane Irene, Hydrangeas, Jessica Simpson, Jessica Simpson Deisgns, Kay English Photography, Lucky Productions Cinematography, Marisa, New Jersey, portobella, Rainbow, Roses, Starfish, The Bake Works, Water, Water Wedding, Watercolor, Wedding Cinematography, Wedding Paper Divas, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Cinematography

Mike and I met when he was relocated from Galveston to Austin after Hurricane Ike. We met while working at the same hospital and we had our first date at Stubb’s music venue and saw a Ben Folds concert. Mike proposed to me in June 2010 on the beach at my family’s summer home on Cape Cod. The proposal was romantic, thoughtful and a complete surprise! We knew almost immediately that we wanted a small and intimate wedding to share with our close friends and family. We are both very close with our families and given they are on different coasts, mine on the East Coast, his on the West Coast, we decided our home city of Austin, Texas made for the perfect place in the middle to have our wedding. Mike and I both have a very traditional and classic style and found that Barr Mansion’s organic and vintage feel made for a perfect venue! We were very fortunate to have family support in planning our wedding and especially my mother and brother who helped in making our vision come to life. We had envisioned the beautiful glass artisan ballroom to be transformed into an environment that felt enchanted and whimsical. We chose to have both our ceremony and reception in the artisan ballroom as we feared our guests, especially those from the Northeast, would melt in the Texas heat! The details were our favorite part as we incorporated personal photos from our travels and engagement session. The table assignment cards were displayed in a box containing the same sand from the beach where Mike proposed. My bridesmaids wore vintage pins on their dresses and I had used family heirlooms as part of my something old, new, borrowed and blue. Mike and I had our first dance to the Ben Folds song, “The Luckiest”, and we did a break out dance to Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” to display our crazy dance moves and set the tone for a night of dancing! We felt that our wedding was a true reflection of who we are even down to our wedding attire. Overall, we loved every minute of our wedding and will forever cherish the many moments that were captured by our wedding photographers, Jona and Jerry Blackwell! Photographer: Forever Photography Studio / Floral Designer: Last Petal / Lighting: ILD Lighting / Make-Up: Maris Malone Calderon / Hair: Jen Hoover / Invitation Designer: Wedding Paper Divas / Cake: Barr Mansion / Wedding favors: Cake balls from The Mixing Bowl / Wedding Gown Designer: Siri from Unbridaled / Bride’s Shoes: Stuart Weitzman / Bridesmaid’s Dresses: J.Crew / Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss / Groom’s Tie: Burberry / Special Jewelry: Austin Diamond District / DJ: Texas Pro DJ

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Austin, Austin Diamond District, Barr Mansion, burberry, Casual Elegance, Color Palette Blue White, contemporary, DIY Favors, Forever Photography Studio, Hugo Boss, ILD Lighting, J. Crew, Jen Hoover, Last Petal, Maris Malone Calderon, Modern, Siri, Stuart Weitzman, Texas, Texas Pro DJ, Unbridaled, Vintage Chic, Wedding Flowers, Wedding Paper Divas, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog