You’ll probably recognize this pretty face, her lengthy blonde locks and fab ‘work-wear’ style as the editor behind Memorandum. She rocks a panama hat and red lip like no other, and today, we’re welcoming Mary Orton to our gorgeous team of Blogger Brides here at SMP! We’re over-the-moon excited to follow along in her wedding planning journey. Get to know Mary (and her handsome Groom-to-be) a bit better and see more of her style in the gallery from Jenny Morgan and Melanie Riccardi.
From Mary Orton…I’m the founder and editor of Memorandum, a fashion blog that’s all about style from a working gal’s perspective. I’m not talking about a bunch of grey sheath dresses and and pant suits, but seamlessly incorporating the fashion and personal style that you might typically leave for nights and weekends into your everyday! I’m a huge fan of personal style blogs, but after graduating college and starting my career in NYC, I didn’t feel like there was much out there that helped me “up” my style game during the workweek. To fill this void and speak to other professional women like me, I started Memorandum, where I tackle everything from how to make trends work-appropriate, to how to style accessories and workwear pieces casually on the weekends. This August, I’ll be tying the knot with my fiancé Rich, and I’m thrilled to join the SMP family to share all of the tips and tricks I’ve learned during the wedding planning process!
Rich and I were introduced by one of my best friends from college after we graduated and were both working for different investment banks in New York City. It wasn’t an intentional “set-up,” but when life gives you a killer eighties cover band, an aggressive dance floor, and an open bar, love has to be in the air… right? A little trash talk about our respective hometown NFL teams later (for the record, my Packers won the Super Bowl that year), and Rich asked to take me to dinner the following weekend.
We quickly became inseparable and dated in NYC for two years before work brought Rich back to San Francisco, where he’s originally from. After another two years of bi-coastal long-distance (woof), Rich came to NYC to celebrate my birthday last November. After a beautiful dinner and a Broadway show, Rich arranged for us to gain backstage entry to the Broadway Theater where we had attended our first show together four years prior. I’ve always been an enormous musical theater fan, and lucky for me, Rich developed a love for it as well after we started dating.
Since the two of us had gone to innumerable shows together, it wasn’t tough for Rich to convince me that we were going backstage for a post-show behind-the-scenes “tour” as a little birthday surprise. However, instead of a tour, we walked onto an empty stage and he dropped to one knee as we looked out onto the completely empty, but still beautifully lit-up Broadway Theater. He had timed it perfectly with the stage managers to make sure the theater was completely empty, since he knew I wasn’t a “public proposal” kind of girl. I said yes (on the condition that we raise our children Packer fans of course) and soon after, I finally moved from NYC to join him on the left coast in San Francisco, where I now live and work.
We’re getting married this August in Wisconsin, which is where I grew up and where my family lives. Although planning from afar isn’t the easiest, the wedding process has been so much fun, and I’m excited to share all of it here on Style Me Pretty! While I’ve truly enjoyed the journey, I have to say that I did not come into the engagement with 18 wedding Pinterest boards already sketching out my future nuptials like some of my girlfriends who have been “planning their weddings” for basically their whole lives! Additionally, very few of my best friends are married already, so I haven’t had the advantage of going through the process with someone else before. I started at square one and have had so much to learn! But, with the help of resources like SMP and lots of tips from friends and family, I’ve learned so much, and hope to pass along some ideas to all of you in the coming months!
Photography: Jenny Morgan | Photography: Melanie Riccardi | Styling: Mary Orton