Weddings

Newport is one of the prettiest beachside spots in all the land. With a mix of glamor and Pacific Ocean views, it takes a seaside affair to a whole new level of pretty. Of course, that level couldn’t be reached all on its own. It took a team of crafty vendors like Park Place Planning, FlowerWild and Amy & Stuart Photography to bring it all to fruition. And it’s a mighty fine view. See it right here. ColorsSeasonsSpringSummerSettingsBeachResortStylesTraditional Elegance From the Bride…We wanted a wedding that truly “us” – a thoughtful, traditional ceremony followed by an absolutely rockin’ party on the beach. We chose to hold the festivities on Balboa Island, a location that held a lot of memories for our families and us – with the ceremony taking place at St. John Vianney Chapel on Balboa Island and the reception at the fabulous Balboa Bay Club. Decked out with romantic florals from FlowerWild and lit up by cafe lights and lanterns, the BBC’s lawn provided the perfect backdrop of the bay, boats and even some visiting dolphins for the “beach elegant” reception. Having worked at ShoeDazzle, the stylists at the company designed custom ivory wedges for me and blush ones for all of my ladies to complement their dresses. Later in the night, I switched to flip flops while the groom sported sharp black Sperry boat shoes. Having known me for her entire life, Stephanie from Park Place Planning worked with us all the way from Minnesota to plan our dream wedding on the beaches of California. Together, we created a day full of thoughtful, personal touches. We provided pashminas and flip flops to keep guests comfortable. The cocktail tables showed off framed photos of us and our families enjoying Balboa Island through the years and guests relaxed at the beach lounge areas that were made cozy with custom pillows and accessed by a lantern-lit boardwalk. At the bar, guests enjoyed “his and hers” signature cocktails – the “Olive You” Martini, and a “Old Fashioned” Gentleman. For dinner, guests dined on delicious filets provided by my family who own Brandt Beef and finished with a slice from the impressive four-tier flower-adorned traditional wedding cake. To take with home, each guests received homemade toffee made by the mother-in-law of my sister, Anneke. After toasts, we danced the night away with our guests under the stars… Photography: Amy & Stuart Photography | Planning: Park Place Planning | Florals: FlowerWild | Rentals: Town & Country | Ceremony: St. John Vianney Chapel | Reception & Catering: Balboa Bay Club | Cake: Sweet Art | Ceremony Music: Angelica Strings | Reception Band: DeBois Entertainment | Stationery: Carmody & Co. | Lighting: Classic Rentals + SWANK | Transportation: United Limousine and Charter | Bride + Bridesmaids’ Shoes: Custom made by ShoeDazzle © Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2013. | Permalink | Comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags: Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance

Awesome work Tim :)

This affair is answering all of my light-filled wedding fantasies. Dreamy is another adjective that comes to mind and it’s woven into everything, from the adorable DIY elements incorporated into the day to the images by Foreveryday Photography. It’s a happy collaboration of color, smiles and a rainbow of heels. See so much more in the full gallery! ColorsSeasonsSpringSummerSettingsEstateStylesCasualDIY From the Bride…After Nev and I got engaged in November 2012, I didn’t jump on the wedding planning mode immediately like most brides-to-be. Though we knew we wanted to get married the following year, we didn’t have any planned dates yet; we just wanted to enjoy the engagement bliss. But months went by so fast, and the next thing we know, we’ve been engaged for 8 months and had 6 months left before the year ends. So we finally decided to get married under the cool breeze of December and that’s the only time planning started.   We wanted to have a relaxed and cozy wedding with a handful of people we dearly love. This was the focal point of our whole planning, so everything we did was centered on making our guests feel our love and gratitude to them. We chose a small Catholic church for our ceremony, and found a big house with a bare garden and a great view of the famous and scenic Taal Volcano. The bare garden was perfect for all the DIY styling I had in mind; and the natural breeze, the hilly surround, and the laid-back and dainty feel of the place was the right fit for our countryside theme. With the help of friends and family, we planned our wedding and gathered everything we needed. Weekends and lazy weekday afternoons were spent doing DIY décor, from the makeshift chandeliers to the wooden panels to the hanging lights to the pompoms; and even the invite, which I worked on w/ Nev’s brother, who also luckily happens to be a freelance graphic artist! Some weekends, Nev and I will go to flea markets and buy small decorative items, while our families went on a mission to collect recycled bottles and jars, as well as create hundreds of paper flowers. She also took me to her grandma’s place, which was just filled w/ amazing furniture perfect for our theme, and she happily let us borrow them. We also talked about our ideas to our suppliers, and even had a DIY dry run of the reception setup at home for our caterer to see! I would buy flowers, arrange them, take photos and send them to our caterer, who did a great job in translating our vision into reality. We, together w/ a couple of our siblings, were at our reception venue three days before our wedding to make sure my vision becomes a reality, and up to the night before the wedding, we were setting up and making sure the place looked pretty.    We had a very short program, something atypical in a Filipino wedding. After a couple of speeches the first dance, we spent the rest of the time just chatting with guests and letting everybody have a good time. The setup of the venue definitely helped put everybody at ease. We placed cocktail tables on one area, a bench on another, and tables under a tent under the night sky. We think it’s safe to assume our guests really had a great time. When we left the venue, our guests stayed to enjoy the breeze, the hand-picked bottles of wines, and the company. In fact, when we went back to the venue the next day, our friends and family were still there cooking breakfast! We love our wedding to bits! All of the details we incorporated enhanced the overall feel and mood of the occasion. Now I have a bunch of mason jars and photo frames at home, and the beautiful photos by Foreveryday Photography, which all remind me of the day when I married the man of my dreams. Photography: Foreveryday Photography | Floral Design: Yohan’s Flower Shop  | Event Design: DIY | Event Planning: Once a Bride Weddings | Ceremony Location: Chapel on a Hill | Reception Location: Tagaytay Estate | Invitations: Jonathan Manaois (design), Amis Print (pr

Photo: Courtesy of Yifat Oren Do you dream of a luxurious destination wedding with as little stress and planning as possible? You're in luck: Yifat Oren—the sought-after wedding planning mastermind behind Anne Hathaway, Drew Barrymore, and Natalie Portman's weddings—is teaming up with exclusive Cabo San Lucas resort Capella Pedregal. Their new partnership allows husband and wife-to-be to work directly with Oren's all-star team. The result? A completely bespoke affair on the breathtaking resort's grounds. "The stunning resort of Capella Pedregal provides a natural canvas from which to create magnificent weddings," said Oren, founder and principal, Yifat Oren & Associates. "We are looking forward to developing events that will capture the beauty of Baja, highlight the well-appointed grounds of Capella Pedregal and create enduring memories for brides and grooms." Want a sneak peak at the resort's spectacular grounds? Take a look, below! Photos: Courtesy of Capella Pedregal Resort —Lauren Frankfort You Might Also Like: Destination Wedding Décor Inspiration Wedding Dresses for a Destination Wedding Hairstyles for a Destination Wedding

I love all of these photos! xo www.PlumPrettySugar.blogspot.com

Palm Springs is where pretty weddings come to life. Somewhere between the desert skies and lush palm trees is a happy place that makes nearly every wedding there perfection. And this pretty little number captured by Docuvitae Photography represents everything a modern wedding should be. Fun, laid back, and oozing with that nontraditional, eclectic elegance. With the help of Artisan Event Floral Decor and The Bride and I, this couple was able to write their own rules and craft a day true to “them” inside and out. Get caught up in all the gorgeousness right here. ColorsSeasonsSpringSummerSettingsHotelStylesDestinationModern From the Bride… Ryan and I live in Chicago, but from the minute we got engaged knew we wanted to have a small, intimate destination wedding with our closest friends and family. Of everywhere we looked – the Palm Springs vibe seemed the most like us – laid back, fun and a place we thought all our friends and family would enjoy a warm weather trip to. I work at a hotel (The James in Chicago – a SMP Little Black Book vendor, so was very particular when it came to choosing the venue. The Parker was exactly what we were looking for – unique design, great service, great food and an all in one destination. Pulling up to the huge orange doors when we first arrived was a definite highlight of the week and I just can’t say enough nice things about the staff there. Since we were planning from afar, we selected vendors whose overall aesthetic and philosophy fit into what we were envisioning for the day – a funky but elegant (think Dorothy Draper meets Martha Stewart) event that was above all fun for those in attendance. Joey from Artisan and April from The Bride and I were amazing to work with. I had an idea of what I wanted each component of the wedding to look/feel like and they were instrumental in really bringing it to life. Gennia from Docuvitae Photography (who was also in the midst of planning her wedding at The Parker!) shot the day perfectly – very documentary-style and capturing the real moments as they occurred which was very important to us. Dress shopping was one of my favorite parts of the planning process – though I was very singular in knowing that I didn’t want a white dress upfront, just as I didn’t want a diamond engagement ring when we got engaged. (Mine is a sapphire.) So that narrowed down the options quite a bit. My style leans towards a little bit more eclectic and I was worried I would regret not getting something more traditional. But, I think looking back, the nontraditional color and big, sparkly vintage earrings will always feel more like me than a white ballgown ever would. In keeping with the nontraditional – Ryan and I decided we didn’t want to require anyone in our bridal parties to wear the same thing. We just wanted everyone to look and feel like themselves that day – and to be there with us to celebrate. No bride ever wants to be upstaged – but I’m pretty sure Ryan upstaged me on our wedding day. His very stylish friend helped him pick out his suit at a store in Chicago called Suit Supply. And his friend also has a great tie company called Artfully Disheveled – which is where he got the awesome bow tie The Spark – with little spark plugs all over it. I highly recommend it for a unique take on classic wedding wear. My favorite part of the day was when Ryan’s sister read The Lovely Other Dinosaur during our ceremony. Nothing about any of the traditional wedding readings resonated with us as we were planning. The Lovely Other Dinosaur is an illustrated book about two dinosaurs that was one of the first presents I got for Ryan when we first started dating. (My mom actually found it and pointed it out to me since she said it seemed like us.) When Ryan proposed to me, he wrote his own version of the book that told our story of how we met and got engaged. Everyo

When you’re staring down the barrel of a two year (or more!) engagement, it’s tough to make any absolute plans at the beginning. Not that that stops any of us from looking for inspiration, right? And as much as I love to fill in all those who, what, when, and where questions*, the big one is how. Image via stock.xchng | Photography by Cieleke The who is easy: Bride & groom. An officiant. Everyone else is technically optional, but we know it’s more than that; having an idea of the size of your guest list is a good idea right now, but the details aren’t absolutely necessary just yet. The what? Simply put, a wedding. Another blank filled in. (Though if you have a theme or something, this would be a good place to put it.) The when? With a long engagement, you almost have your pick of dates unless you’re in a major metro area where venues book up to two years in advance anyway. Still, have a goal date in mind and your first and second pick for time of day. When = done. The where could be broad—a city or country preference—or specific to a location. What I keep finding, though, is that the where has a lot to do with the how. I, at times, can be the most optimistic person on the planet. We all have those rather Pollyanna moments, I think, looking at a situation and thinking, “Hmmm, I could make this work—it could be fabulous!” even if it’s not what I was really looking for. Turns out, doing this with men is not such a great idea. Doing it with venues? Could be, indeed, fabulous! Especially in the early stages of planning, it’s great to keep an open mind on the details but have some priorities. For instance, our priorities looked like this: Great food and drinks Pretty location that can do ceremony and reception Just the people we really want there With those three things in mind, each location presented various opportunities. A semi-local (within 30 minutes for most of us) event hall would give us plenty of space to have an outdoor ceremony with a seated supper complete with centerpieces and seating cards and twinkle lights aplenty. On the other hand, a set of lake houses we considered renting for the long weekend could become an extended, low-key affair where we could host our out-of-town guests for a couple of days and have more of a house-party-style cocktail reception that lasts until the last one drops. Finally, a local garden spot would give us an opportunity to do a whole-group processional and recessional, second line-style, as we travel from the pre-ceremony mix and mingle to the ceremony site and back for the swanky reception. And each of these scenarios had a certain charm. Sure, there would be concessions made for one location over another, but looking at the day through rose-colored glasses meant I could envision the best possible outcome for each. After checking out four locations, we still hadn’t decided on a where, which meant my how was still very much up in the air, too! And, oh, the possibilities are still swirling around my head. Some things, however, are non-negotiable, no matter how tinted the glasses or bubbly the libation in your toasting flute. These stark realities include: Capacity: If your preliminary guest list is 300, why are you even looking at a courtyard that will barely hold 50? On the other hand, a hall for 500 would feel very empty if you’re having an intimate wedding of 20. Facilities: Renting or borrowing a house to have your way with makes for a lovely venue, but if you’ve only got one bathroom for 100 people, you’ll need to add the dreaded port-o-lets to avoid trouble. Not to mention what kind of kitchen facilities there might be and, oh yes, parking. Budget: Yes, yes, I know it’s not a fun thought, but if the venue you’re perusing is 90% of your budget, why torture yourself? Posted rates are not always carved in stone, but there’s haggling for a discount and haggling for a handout. Let’s keep our dignity here, shall we? We went round and round but eventually

Nicole is selling a strapless wedding dress with pickups. She is asking $600 for the size-6 gown. Have a wedding item for sale? Post it with pictures in the Weddingbee Classifieds, and you might see it featured on the blog! Other great items for sale: Rustic washboard containers, wishing tree branches, cards, etc., make an offer Watters Torreon gown, size 8, asking $2,000 Pink ruffle one-shoulder bridesmaids’ dress, size 2-4, asking $30 28 glass cylinder vases with lace, asking $150

Photo: Centric Photography The ladies at Rook & Rose Floral Design, in British Columbia, Canada, designed this lovely rose-based bouquet, ideal for a casual country or English garden wedding. Along with blush roses, they used lisianthus, phalaenopsis orchids, hydrangeas, astilbes, the herb bupleurum, and just a few ostrich feathers. Lead designer Erica Smolders describes the palette as "romantic neutrals." For the layman, that's vintage white, crisp white, taupe, champagne, caramel, and fresh spring green with hints of blush. We love how simple and feminine this is. (Approximate cost, $150) —Denise Penny Shepard You Might Also Like: Browse flower and bouquet ideas for your wedding Floral Inspiration for a Summer Wedding Wedding Bouquets for All Budgets

By: Danyelle Mathews Wanting to make your wedding a little more green? Up cycle wine bottles to create these eye catching centerpieces. Supplies: Wine bottles (Start saving ‘em or call around to local restaurants and offer to pick up empty bottles) • spray paint (Choose a combination of satin and glossy paint to add more interest) • primer • gold metallic paint • round paint sponges Step One. In a well ventilated area, paint your bottles in light even coats. Don’t apply the paint too heavily or you’ll end up with drips. If your bottles are dark colored glass like brown or green, use primer first. Step Two. When the bottles are dry gather your metallic paint and sponge brushes. Pour a small amount of the metallic paint onto a paper plate. Step Three. Lightly dab one of the round sponge brushes into the metallic paint. Tap excess paint onto the paper plate. Step Four.  Gently dab the round paint sponge onto the bottle. Repeat to create a pattern you love. Step Five. Add water and flowers; then arrange a mix of taller and shorter bottles on the reception tables. Photos and Project by Danyelle Mathews