We just absolutely love hearing from brides and their families that went through the planning process arm in arm with SMP. It gives us the warm and fuzzies, and this wedding by Christina Bohn Photography is sure give you the warm and fuzzies as well. With a picture perfect bride and a backyard wedding full of sweet details, I would say all of their arm in arm planning paid off. For even more of this pretty backyard affair, be sure to check out the full gallery of images.
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From the Mother of the Bride… I am the mother of the bride… what an honor. We joked about having a “Style Me Pretty” wedding. Your site is an adjective. There wasn’t just one wedding we wanted to emulate, it was all of them. Each one had something special to admire and swoon over. My daughter and I spent hours and days upon days sending each other links and printing out inspiration photos from your site. We started collecting elements of things we loved and wondered how it would all come together as one cohesive idea, since we loved so many different ideas. Would it be rustic, tea party, garden party, elegant, or casual? Along the way we found out it would be all those things, our favorite things, and in the end they fit perfectly together as if they were meant to be. Once we discovered your inspiring blog, I found it impossible to concentrate on anything else. There were just so many beautiful things to see and dream about.
The words we heard most from the guests at the wedding…magical, exquisite, unique, a little girls dream come true. It was truly a spectacular and joyous party. However, as much fun as the wedding was, the journey to get there was just as special and important. I am blessed to have been able to plan this wonderful event with my daughter and good friend, Helayne, wedding planner extraordinaire. Helayne is knowledgeable, resourceful, organized, calm, and so kind. To be part of such an important time in my daughter’s life fills me with happiness. I felt privileged to be able to share this with her and grateful to have Helayne’s guidance along the way.
Ali has been looking at bridal magazines since she was 2-years-old. I do not exaggerate. When she was old enough to have boyfriends she asked to hide them (we had many) so as not to scare anyone away! She really was the little girl with the fairytale wedding in her head. This is a very difficult expectation to meet. Instead, we somehow exceeded it with help and inspiration from Style Me Pretty.
First came the dress, one of her favorite parts. The dress she found was just right. It was romantic and almost had a 50’s styling. It was perfect for a garden setting. To this day she can’t understand why every bride wouldn’t choose this same dress. There was never a doubt. Just love. The rest of the planning was easy and fun. Ali wanted an eco-friendly at home party and wanted to do a lot of the decorating on her own. We did not want assigned seating and instead planned passed food and food stations scattered throughout the yard. Food and Photography were top priorities.
Our photographer, Christina Bohn, was fantastic. Her personality meshed so well with Tom and Ali. She somehow faded into the background, yet captured everything. She made them feel so comfortable that she was able to capture them being real and not one photograph was a lined up group of people with fake smiles. She is so creative and was able to capture the love and warm feelings of the day. I have never seen Ali and Tom looking so happy and having such a fantastic time. Christina is an exceptional photographer and at the end of the day all your have left are the photos to keep the wonderful memories alive.
It is a tremendous amount of work to have a backyard wedding. We had close to 200 guests and the most amazing caterer, Food for Forks, and catering staff to help. Especially helpful was Mike Jessup who acted as the day of coordinator. Not only were they all truly professional, they listened carefully to my few requests and executed each thing to perfection. They helped decorate each food station to perfection and they never left a dirty dish or glass around. They were courteous and so friendly to our guests. The food was beyond delicious. I am still dreaming of the next party I can have, just so I can hire Peter Ambrose and his staff again.
We didn’t have to worry about flowers at all. Ali works with a fabulous florist and figured that was the one area she didn’t have to be concerned with. She totally trusted Nancy to make all decisions relating to the type and style of flowers. Ali wanted everything to be simple and natural and we spent months collecting bottles and vessels to house the beautiful blooms. We couldn’t get over the beautiful bouquets that Nancy created, they were just perfect. Nancy used so many different beautiful flowers that it is impossible to list them all here. She is creative, talented and so easy to work with.
Ali was the calmest bride I have ever seen. She truly enjoyed every moment from planning to the celebration. Having an at home party allows one to spread the joy. We had family and friends helping throughout and laughed through heat waves and crazy projects.
Ali and Tom’s ceremony was beautiful and personalized. Tom’s brother, Mike, was the officiant. It was very special having someone that knew them both so well performing the ceremony. I don’t think I was truly prepared for the intense emotions I felt that day. It was overwhelming, standing with my husband, in this perfect setting, watching our daughter looking so beautiful and happy. We were surrounded by our closest family and friends. I think I cried tears of joy all night long.
Wedding Photography: Christina Bohn Photography / Event Planning: Helayne Damianos (HelayneDamianos@me.com) / Floral Design: Nancy Munch of Open House Country Flowers / Wedding Ceremony & Reception Location: Private Residence / Catering: Peter Ambrose of Food For Forks / Rentals: Party Rental Ltd. / Guest Restrooms: Norsic / Tent Rentals: The New York Tent Company / Band: Stan Weist / Wedding Invitations: The Writing Place / Makeup: Jamie Mazlin (Jamie_Mazlin@yahoo.com) / Wedding Dress: Christos (Desiree) / Bride’s Shoes: Tracy Reese / Bridesmaid Dresses: Wtoo by Watters + Bill Levkoff / Bridesmaid Sandals: J.Crew / Groom’s Attire: J.Crew + Banana Republic