After that, they didn’t see each other again for several years. However, as fate would have it, they met again, and they both happened to be in the right place at the right time and a college-crush developed into true love.

And yet, once again, career opportunities and obstacles got in the way, and for a while it seemed that is where this story would end. Three years of long distance phone calls and all too brief weekend trips ensued. Finally those came to a halt when Maya joined Jonathan in Northern California. Together again, they decided not to wait any longer to start a new chapter in their lives.

On May 1, 2009, among a small circle of friends and family … in a low-key ceremony in San Francisco, they were married at San Francisco’s City Hall …

After the wedding, they left for the romantic island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia, and spent an unforgettable week in paradise.

From Zoom Photography’s blog … “They found their piece of paradise watching the sunrises and sunsets from a bungalow deck, overlooking a perfectly azure lagoon.”

Ahhh Lauri …. quite the story-teller, aren’t you!

Our sincere congratulations to Maya & Jon!!

* * *

Lauri Levenfeld’s expert and powerful images are splashed all over the pages of Style Me Pretty! Her work is pure, unequivocable art. To see 15 of her MOST incredible weddings, go to her website and click on ZOOM. Then click on WEDDINGS. Then just take your pick! They’re all incredible … from California to around the globe. Pure art.

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Post tags: City Hall, Lauri Levenfeld, San Francisco, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog

Lauri is the creative and ever so amazing spirit at Zoom Photography. If you’ve been with Style Me Pretty for ANY length of time, you’ve seen her features. So when she sent us some of the shots from Jennifer and Matt’s San Francisco E*Shoot we wanted to share.

Here’s a bit of their story from Lauri …

Matt and Jennifer both attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and were introduced by mutual friends. Four months after they first met, they saw each other again at a party. Riding home that evening on their beach cruisers, Matt wanted to give her a kiss goodnight, but he paused a little too long. So, teetering on her bicycle she leaned over, gave him a kiss and pedaled away!

On December 5, 2008, after six years of dating, Matt proposed to Jennifer in the Marin headlands overlooking the San Francisco skyline. Close friends were waiting at Harry Denton’s Starlight Room with champagne to celebrate their engagement!

Jennifer and Matt will be married on October 17, 2009 at the Holman Ranch in Carmel Valley, California. The couple fell in love with the property’s Spanish Hacienda charm reminiscent of their time spent in Santa Barbara. They are looking forward to exchanging vows overlooking the stunning hills and autumn colored vineyards of the Carmel Valley.

Pretty darned cute! Our best wishes to Jennifer & Matt!

* * *

Lauri has a self-proclaimed obsession with weddings and babies!

Weddings:  good thing for us ~ she’s totally one of our favorites in the LBB.

Babies: good thing for her ~ because she’s a new mom and a wee bit sleep deprived!

Congratulations Lauri from all of us here at SMP!!

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Post tags: California, Engagement Shoot, Harry Denton's Starlight Room, Holman Ranch, Lauri Levenfeld, San Francisco, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Photography

Melissa & Brano’s spring wedding was at the absolutely breathtaking Grace Episcopal Cathedral in downtown San Francisco with the reception following at historic and equally magnificent, City Hall.

Lauri captured the awesome beauty of Grace Cathedral as well as the sensational details of the day …

Invitations and other beautiful wedding stationery pieces from Little Black Book member, A Day In May.

Bridesmaids dresses by the fabulous Jenny Yoo from Bella Bridesmaid.

From the beautiful bride, Melissa …

Brano proposed on a rainy February afternoon in Napa … it was a perfect proposal! We wanted our wedding to be elegant, romantic and classic. We fell in love with the grand atmosphere in San Francisco’s Grace Episcopal Cathedral for our wedding. For the reception, City Hall was an instant connection … full of charm and simply amazing architecture.

To bring out the existing elegance at City Hall, we chose gold and white as our main palette with lots of candles. Cherries Flowers helped create designs that were clean and traditional with a hint of modern. The flowers were all white with a bit of green in the bridesmaids’ bouquets to bring out the green in their dresses.

This gorgeous cake is from Butterfly Cakes.

Melissa and Brano’s stunning wedding was choreographed by Melissa Panico of MAP Events.

What a fantastic wedding party!! Melissa’s gorgeous gown is by Jin Wang.  Other wedding vendors include: Barbara Callow, calligraphy; McCall’s, catering; Jim Avila, make-up/hair.

Congratulations Melissa & Brano!!

And a huge thank you to Lauri Levenfeld and second-shooter Page Bertelsen of Zoom Photography. We kind of have to agree with Daily Candy’s quote on the front page of Lauri’s website … “If Lauri’s not available … change the date!”

Lauri is one of SMP’s Little Black Book Destination Photographers ~ for more of her gorgeous weddings, take a long look at her website and blog.

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Post tags: Barbara Callow, Butterfly Cakes, Cherries Flowers, City Hall, Grace Episcopal Church, Jenny Yoo, Jim avila, Jin Wang, MAP Events, McCall's, Page Bertelsen, San Francisco, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Bridal Party, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Photography

This very beautiful cake was from Michele’s Corner Custom Cakes.

from Jenne …

Michele and Dave’s relationship with the Sebastiani family allowed for some special perks. The couple was allowed to take 28 of their closest friends and family aboard the Sebastiani trolley ~ Sebastiani, Bartholomew Park, Ravenswood, and Buena Vista Wineries all rolled out their red carpets for them.

Their wedding weekend included a luxurious day filled with massages for the ladies, exclusive vineyard tours and wine-tasting, days filled with fabulous food and friendship.

At the reception, a “Wish Bowl” was available for guests to write their sentiments for the couple to open on their first anniversary.

A scrapbooking station kept guests busy in between dances. By the end of the night, guests had created a beautiful memento filled with Polaroid photos, colorful stickers and hand-written sentiments.  After many many heartfelt toasts, Michele and David danced the night away on a dance floor bedecked with her favorite colors ~ green and purple.

Congratulations to Michele and David! And a huge thank you to Jenne for sending us their wedding!

If a Wine Country Wedding is in your future … DEFINITELY … get in touch with Jenne Hohn Events for a dreamy destination celebration.

And Lauri … what can we say …?  GORGEOUS images to last a lifetime … as always, thank you!!

Lauri Levenfeld is one of our premiere Little Black Book Destination Photographers.

Did you know Style Me Pretty has a whole section devoted to Destination Wedding Professionals?

You can see Lauri’s fabulous talent all over Style Me Pretty’s pages {just type Zoom Photography into the Search box} … or see her website and blog {p.s. Lauri has another great wedding … and a great pair of shoes on her blog right  now!}

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Post tags: California, Destination Weddings, Jenne Hohn Events, Lauri Levenfeld, Sebastiani, Wine Country, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography, Wedding Planners & Designers, Wedding Style

We’ll have all of the delightful details coming right up!

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Post tags: Jenne Hohn Events, Lauri Levenfeld, Parasols, Sebastiani, Wedding Colors Purple Green, Wine Country, Winery, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance, Little Black Book Blog, Real Weddings, Wedding Photography, Wedding Planners & Designers

We have a gorgeous travel themed affair coming up in a bit, but before we get to it, I wanted to share some fun travel inspired details that I’ve found along the way…

top left and bottom right photography by Azzura Photography and invitations crafted by Brown Sugar Design / top right and bottom left by the wonderful Courtney Matevey

First set of photographs by the amazing Lauri Levenfeld at Zoom Photography, Luggage Tage by Pigweed Press and Vintage Inspired Travel Detail designed by Chewing the Cud and Jubilee Lau Events and photographed by Kevin Chin

All photographs by the FABULOUS Karen Wise

We have more details on the way, along with a SPECTACULAR travel inspired real wedding!

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Post tags: Azzura Photography, Chewing The Cud, Courtney Matevey, Jubilee Lau Events, Karen Wise, Kevin Chin, Pigweed Press, Zoom Photography
Post categories: The Blog, Wedding Decor, Wedding Details

From the bride…

At the reception and dinner, we wanted to showcase the very best NZ and Waiheke Island ingredients and highlight produce from the winery’s vegetable garden.  We served the Mudbrick’s own award winning Rose, Chardonnay and Syrah, as well as a special wine from Anna’s family vineyard in honor of Anna’s late brother Kiet who planted the grapes as a boy.

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

The Mudbrick Restaurant and main dining room, where we hosted our reception, has a wonderful ambience, and has been described as “one of the most romantic places on earth”.  The main dining room offers the most spectacular sea views throughout the wedding dinner overlooks Waiheke’s rolling vineyards and Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. The restaurant has French doors that completely peel back and a roof that opens to the stars.  We added only candlelight, white lillies, and white covered chairs to compliment the natural traditional beauty of the Mudbrick venue.

More to come from the FABULOUS Lauri Levenfeld of Zoom Photography.

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Post tags: Anna and James, Laurie Levenf, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

Here is a look at the stunning reception that Anna and James threw….

It’s simple, it’s effortless, it’s completely chic. Here are a few more bits of eye candy…

More to come!

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

A few more little tidbits and details from the bride…

The wedding took place at a winery on Waiheke Island (a 30-min ferry ride from downtown Auckland in NZ). The property has the most spectaculars views and extensive gardens, a beautiful cellar and restaurant.

Our guests all rented houses for the entire week around the gorgeous Oneroa Bay and Beach. Many friends stayed in an eight bedroom home with wrap around decks that we rented for several friends which quickly became “party central” (it actually resembled a ravaged bar most mornings!)

We had events each night at different homes, and served lots of fabulous local NZ food and wine such as NZ “Fish ‘n Chips” (local Red Snapper), Waiheke grass fed beef (provided by the Waiheke Butcher), and so on.  Fortunately, there were a lot of cooks, luckily as we were cooking for 50+ guests most nights.  We had the most wonderful rehearsal luncheon at Cable Bay vineyards a contrast design wise to Mudbrick, Cable Bay is uber-modern and feature spectacular modern art and sculpture by some very well know NZ artists. The lunch was a wonderful way for everyone to get to know each other and took pressure off us to see everyone on the wedding day.

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

From the gorgeous bride…At our ceremony, a reading was performed by 13-year-old Eliza Wheeler, the daughter of our dear friends Halstead and Faith Wheeler of San Francisco, who read excerpts of “Gifts From The Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  In addition, our  friend and talented musician Michael Tate (a tenor for the SF Gay Men’s Choir) serenaded the guests with “My Funny Valentine” (by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart) as we signed our marriage license and raced indoors for cocktails and canapés to escape a brief Waiheke rain shower at the completion of the ceremony!  As the short tropical shower passed, we moved outside to the patio to enjoy the stunning views, take photos, and continue the celebration.

Laurie Levenfeld of Zoom Photography shot this wedding and I have to say, it’s simply gorgeous. Her photographs are so vibrant, so unbelievably vivid and alive. As if you are standing right beside the beautiful bride. So, so, so much more to come!

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

From Anna, the amazingly lovely bride…

Waiheke Island is a magical place, only a 30-minute ferry ride from Auckland, populated with just fewer than 8,000 permanent residents, and the home to more than 30 vineyards – Truly Wine Island!  Anna always knew she wanted to marry on Waiheke Island and it was important to both of us that all of our friends and loved ones got the opportunity to experience this paradise over the course of an entire week (as opposed to one day!). 

Our ceremony took place on a cellar roof lawn at The Mudbrick Winery.  The Mudbrick Winery is one of those places you read about but never seem to actually visit in real life (think Wizard of Oz!).  The Mudbrick has it’s own heartbeat – and has the most warm and lovely fell surrounding it when you visit. The Mudbrick overlooks the Hauraki Gulf and Rangitoto (an active volcano), along with the Auckland city skyline in the distance.

So much more to come!

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: The Blog

all of the amazing photographs were shot by the fabulous Lauri Levenfeld of Zoom Photography

Here is a little background on their amazing engagement story…

We got engaged in the garden at the Louvre in Paris in September 2007, our first trip to Paris together. Paris  It was magical and overwhelming.  James surprised me with a few days in Paris before taking me to Provence to meet myfamily (who had traveled from New Zealand) to watch the NZ All-Blacks Rugby team play in the 2007 World Cup of Rugby in France.  After I stopped screaming and staring at my over the top diamond, we strolled across La Seine to Restaurant “Les Deux Magots” at 6 place Saint-Germain-des-Présmargot and to drink Billicart Salmon rose champagne (my favorite!) and devour Foie Gras and oysters.  The trip only got more perfect when on the train to Provence we were seated next to my idol, Gourmet Magazine’s Editor in Chief Ruth Reichl, who gave us fabulous advice on the best restaurants and cafes in Provence!

Is this right out of a fairytale? I feel like these two are the epitome of all things chic, all things absolutely, positively lovely. A little jealous, but a lot completely smitten. More to come!

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: The Blog

Okay, back to the wedding…

From Anna…

My aesthetic has always been “fresh, clean, and green” so there was no need to fight with the spectacular scenery offered by Waiheke.  I chose colors consistent with the very 60’s combination of Kelly green and bright white to compliment the special glacial turquoise NZ oceans of the Hauraki Gulf.

Overall, we wanted our wedding day to feel intimate and relaxed.  As a couple who has lived all over the world (James in Malawi, Jordan, New York City, London, and San Francisco) and Anna (New Zealand, New York City, and San Francisco), our wedding was about bringing all the people we love together to spend meaningful time together on the little island where Anna was raised as a child, Waiheke Island.

Ahhh. Swoon.

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Post tags: Anna and James, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance

From the lovely Anna…

My dress was as I had always envisioned it – bright white, silk chiffon, 60’s goddess style with intricate draping at the bust and an empire line  – it was designed by Amy Kuschel in SF and I added my own design touches like the straps and the deeper sweetheart neckline to it.  I could not find the perfect accessories for love or money, so at my last fitting my photographer and dear friend Lauri Levenfeld brought along some Bing Bang earrings that were absolutely perfect, a little bohemian and a lot fabulous! My makeup was pretty and natural. It was done by my oldest friend in New Zealand– Television make-up artist Vicky Morgan.  She knows me well and I think it showed. I felt comfortable and the prettiest version of myself.

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Post tags: Amy Kuschel, Anna and James, Bing Bang, Lauri Levenfeld, New Zealand, Zoom Photography
Post categories: Casual Elegance