New York Weddings

Mega Wedding Crush Alert. Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I fall in love with weddings on a daily basis but dare I say; this just might be my most favorite wedding of ALL TIME. Danielle and John were married at The Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, New York. With an incredible warehouse venue as the backdrop, this artsy duo put together something so unique, so gorgeous, so eclectic aaaannd they did it all on a budget. All of the lovely details were captured by the husband and wife duo behind Weddings by V & E. Still need more of that perfect, perfect shade of robin’s egg blue? Check out the gallery for the full wedding.

{Click here for even more images from this insanely gorgeous wedding}

This wedding was a small affair designed by the bride and groom on a budget. The bride is an artist and an avid antique collector. The Metropolitan building was a perfect fit since it is also houses antique furniture that may be used during the wedding. The bride’s mother created her cake topper  (the knit birds) and her veil. The bride created non-floral centerpieces to save money by using birds’ nests, branches, little birds, stones, birch bark and candles. Birds became a theme throughout the wedding… robin’s egg blue was used on the stones, as well as on the eggs that sat in a bed of moss for escort cards. A large alcove became an installation of antique birdcages and candles. Her invitations were hand-drawn, and used birds as well.

Music was also very important to the bride and groom because the groom’s family has a band. His father played guitar as they walked down the aisle and his sister sang during the ceremony. The bride’s dress was a Lela Rose sample, which she had custom altered to fit as more of a mermaid silhouette. She altered her shoes by gluing on fabric flowers, and also had a pair of sandals from Anthropologie for dancing.

Photography: e.v.s. media (weddings by v & e ) / Venue: The Metropolitan Building /  Catering:Peter Ambrose of Food For Forks / Flowers (Bouquets): Designs by Ahn / Dress: Lela Rose / Shoes: Anthropologie /  Bridesmaids: Priscilla of Boston /  Makeup: Jose Rosello /  Music: A Starry Night Music / Video: e.v.s. media (weddings by v & e)

This wedding has been written up in a handful of glossies, but when Belathee sent me the full spread…I couldn’t resist sharing even more images. They were just too lovely to not be plastered all over Style Me Pretty. It’s the wedding of Il Divo’s David Miller and actress Sarah Joy Kabanuck and is absolutely, positively one of the loveliest weddings I’ve ever seen. Romantic, elegant, timeless and utterly chic. Which doesn’t come as terribly surprising seeing that Hatch Design Studio designed it and Annie Lee of Daughter of Design planned the day. Click here to see ALL of the images.

{click here to see the full wedding}

From Annie Lee…

Sarah Joy purchased a Michelle Rahn dress from the salon Gabriella. David had his suit custom made by Giorgio Armani himself. For the ceremony, we recreated a French cafe using bistro chairs and tables, old French posters and called it Cafe Momus, which is the name of the Cafe in La Boheme. Also hung on the walls were engagement photos that Sarah Joy and David took in Paris. For the ceremony, guests walked through a wrought iron gates, like the famed gates in the opera production. Once through the gates, Barb from Hatch Creative Studio, recreated a park atmosphere for the ceremony, so rather than have rows of chairs there were park benches, garden furniture and bistro tables and chairs scattered in the room. We were envisioning having the room look like an abandoned building that the plants and vines had overgrown into the space. Barb had flowers pouring in from the open windows and vines and flowers growing on the walls. It was stunning.

The bride walked down the aisle to a song David composed for the occasion. It was called “For Sarah.” The trio and harpist were given the sheet music in advance to learn for the processional.For the ceremony readings, instead of having the best man and maid of honor read from a folder or a sheet of paper, we printed and taped the readings into the middle of a vintage book to make it appear as if they were reading straight out of the book. During the ceremony the guests were surprised by the West Village Choir that quietly slipped into the back of the room and sang Set Me As A Seal and then sang a joyful Osana for the recessional. Sarah Joy and David chose to use a local church choir group rather than professional singers to support the local arts.

The main house of 632 on Hudson really requires little decor. Barb added flowers and candles to the fireplaces and on some of the tables but otherwise there really wasn’t much to do in the space. So as an added personal touch, I asked Bernard Maisner to come to the venue the day of the event and, what I call, “Calligraffiti” the mirrors, fish tanks, windows, etc. From their first song lyrics on the mirror to opera libretto on chalkboard, there were a lot of great details we added. He was such a great sport, especially when I asked him to draw on the sidewalk!!

Ron Ben-Israel made a cake based on a cameraphone picture of a tree they loved on a drive upstate. David mentioned he wanted penguin cake toppers since penguins mate for life. The rest of us weren’t loving the idea of them on top but loved the concept he was going for and so I suggested perhaps having the penguins hide behind the thicket of branches and flowers. So it’s a bit of a Where’s Waldo but if you look on the bottom tier, right side, you can see two little penguins hiding inside. We also put a frame (held up with L brackets) infront of the cake to make it “picture perfect.” The guests had a lot of fun posing with the cake. I don’t think I’ve ever had a cake more photographed at a wedding before.

Instead of a traditional sit-down dinner, Sarah Joy and David opted for a cocktail party style reception with both passed courses and stations. Each room was themed to correspond with an opera, for example the “Madama Butterfly” Asian room, “La Boheme” Italian room and “La Traviata” French room. Creative Edge catered the event and the food could not have been more amazing. Later the long wooden table in the kitchen that was the “La Boheme” station was converted to a decadent spread of desserts. David is a big Nobu fan. When he is on tour he visits every Nobu along his way. So as a surprise in the Asian room Sarah Joy had Nobu come set up a sushi station. David in particular likes Uni with quail egg so for the surprise reveal we had a waiter come to him with the Uni with a Nobu napkin. He was thrilled!

Their first dance was “Such Great Heights” by Iron & Wine which is a very slow acoustic version of the song and at the end of the night the last song was “Such Great Heights” but the energetic Postal Service version.

Boy oh boy, are you girls in for a treat. Beyond a treat. You are in for one of the most beautiful days we’ve ever had on Style Me Pretty, which says a lot since I try so hard to make every day really beautiful on SMP. The cute, cute, way-too-talented duo over at Belathee sent us today’s featured affair. And when I tell you that it’s gorgeous. Well, that’s kind of like the understatement of the century. Designed by the FABulous Hatch Creative Studio and planned by the equally fabulous Annie Lee of Daughter of Design, this is the wedding of David Miller, one of the voices behind Il Divo, and Sarah Joy Kabanuck, a beautiful singer and stage actor…and it’s pure wedding genius.

From Annie Lee of Daughter of Design…

Sarah Joy and David met while cast as star-crossed lovers, Mimi and Rodolfo in Baz Luhrman’s Los Angeles production of La Boheme, a tragic opera which defines bohemian romance and Parisian love affairs. Luckily though in real life the stars were aligned for Sarah Joy and David and they were wed last summer in NYC. It was a total no-brainer that the wedding’s theme would be inspired by the bohemian Parisian romance of La Boheme…sans the tragedy and tuberculosis.

SJ and D worked with Bernard Maisner in creating their very dramatic, yet elegant wedding invitations. They choose a thick black card stock with voluptuous, ornate ivory calligraphy. Very Boheme. The envelopes were black but lined with leopard print for that little touch of sexy. We couldn’t find paper sheets of a leopard print we liked so I sourced a wallpaper from Home Depot that was perfect (and actually more cost effective). Bernard used ivory calligraphy on the black envelopes for the addresses and I finished off the look with vintage stamps that not only were in shades of gold/orange that matched the leopard lining but also were music themed. My favorite was the Metropolitan Opera stamp. I almost fainted when I found it.

For the RSVP card, we spelled out Responde S’il Vous Plait, which means “Please respond” in French and where we get R.S.V.P. from. It went with the whole French thing and added a little more formalness to the card. Instead of giving the options will attend/will not attend I thought since they are such a positive and spiritual couple it would be nice to have all guests reply that “I/We will be attending” but they had to indicate whether it was “in body” or “in spirit.” Also a note if you are thinking of doing black invitations sets, that’s all fine and dandy but it’s always best to do your response cards in a lighter color so that people can write with blue and black pens without any issues. Most people don’t have white marker lying around.

Also included in the invitations were the activities card which listed the information for Friday and Saturday. Since the wedding was already set at 632 on Hudson I thought it would be neat if we continued the weekend wedding theme with the word “Hudson.” As a result we chose the Hudson Hotel for their Friday welcome party. Bernard enlarged and emphasized the word “Hudson” on both the Friday and Saturday activities to show the link. I’ve requested that Sarah Joy and David also name their first born, Hudson Miller, cute no?

So much more in a bit!

We love, love, love, love it when we receive the story of not only the who … but the why and how … behind the photographs that are submitted for features on Style Me Pretty. Most of the time ~ the images alone do a pretty fine job of telling the tale ~ we see the style, the smiles, the little touches that brides and grooms sprinkle throughout their wedding celebration ~ but when we get more detailed info to boot ~ well, we kind of feel like we’ve hit the jackpot!

And so, without further ado, today’s featured wedding from Dave Robbins Photography!

Vanessa & Ethan, July 9th, 2009 ~ Wedding @ The Old Field Vineyards, Southold, NY …

How we met:
We actually met in middle school… yes, middle school. We became friends at 12 years old… dated for one month at 14 years old… and finally began dating again at 17. We have the same values, interests, and sense of humor, so it was pretty easy to stay together, even though we attended two different art schools for college. We’ve always marveled at how lucky we are to have each other. Our wedding was our celebration of 12 years together.

How he proposed:
We always knew we’d be married some day. In the meantime, after college, we started our own business shooting other people’s weddings. We found the Old Field Vineyards years ago, and began to visit it frequently every summer… always telling Ros (the owner) that we would get married there eventually. A few days before my birthday, in April 2008, we were sitting in our backyard together eating chips and salsa. I was in pajamas, sitting down next to Ethan, and I turned to reach for another chip but the bowl was gone! Not paying attention to what was going on, I noticed he had teared up… I thought something was wrong! Until I realized there was a box in my lap… I don’t think there was ever a question or an answer …

The Wedding:
I was so excited that we were really ready to have our own wedding! Old Field was the first thing we booked… and our photographer was the second. Since both of us are photographers (weddings by v&e), it was really one of the most important decisions we had to make. I had seen Dave Robbins’ work in magazines and had immediately fallen in love with his warm, unique, and somewhat quirky style. Once we met him it was a done deal. He was extremely relaxed, professional, and overall just really nice. His portfolio was extraordinary.

Our Guest Book:
I didn’t really want a traditional guest book. I wanted a record of our guests in photographs. We decided to create a “photo-studio” where people could click off their own photographs and write messages to us. I teach full time and the custodians at my school let me have an old slate chalkboard. We propped the chalkboard up by a large tree with the vineyard as the backdrop. Two of my students (who had just graduated) stood by one of our cameras on a tri-pod to man the station and hand out the wireless remote. Ethan set up all of the equipment before our ceremony.

Wedding Design & Planning:
Ethan created most of our wedding! I designed it and came up with the ideas, and he became the hands behind it. He reclaims lumber from storm-damaged trees and mills the wood into tables. Our altar table was the most beautiful organic slab table that we now use as our coffee table. He created two thick slab tables for the coffee tables in the lounge area of our tent. Ethan also made signs that pointed guests towards various happenings on the property. My favorite sign was the lov&e sign (with the v&e) inside of a heart. This has become the idea behind the new logo we are now working on for our own photography business (weddings by v&e)!

Escort cards:  We designed the escort card table with the help of our florist, Victoria, who was also amazing! We printed the escort cards at home and Ethan collected the sticks that they stood on. Ethan’s father whittled each stick in order for them to stand up in the bed of moss. My Uncle Michael and my father helped string gauzy curtains over fishing line for a backdrop to the escort cards.

We have amazing family and friends, plus vendors that really went above and beyond for us. We drove to the property two days before the wedding in a U-haul packed full of everything from tables, to pillows, to lighting, to fishing poles! Kristy Homan from (Classic Party Rentals in Watermill) was able to bring furniture in early, giving us time to work out the final floor plan under the tent.

Ethan and I enjoy being on the beach, playing croquet, and fishing ~ so we set up croquet, horseshoes, and fishing poles on the beach next to Adirondack chairs for guests to enjoy. Some friends even brought wiffle ball. The fishing was a huge hit with our guests!

We didn’t want to do the cake-cutting ceremony, and Miche Bacher (Sacred Sweets) made the most incredible cakes we just couldn’t decide on one. I had always wanted a few cakes and lots of mini cakes and cookies instead… I loved the idea of a bakery styled table for dessert. She created the most beautiful table full of mini-cheesecakes, red velvet cupcakes, carrot cake cupcakes, outstanding cookies, and three small wedding cakes (including my favorites… chocolate cake with peanut-butter mousse and dulce de leche AND a vanilla coconut cake with passion fruit filling). I think the dessert was one of the most memorable parts of the whole day. Ethan and I skipped the line and went behind the table of desserts. Dave caught a photo of Ethan actually feeding me some cake, and then we stood there and served dessert to each guest. Ethan was cutting the slices of cake, and I was pointing out what each item was to everyone… it was really fun and completely spontaneous. We were ridiculously happy. (One of my favorite photos of the back of my dress is us standing behind this table with the guests on line in the background)

The most impressive thing that Ethan created for our wedding was our “bridal suite”. I mentioned one day how great it would be if I had a place to change at the end of the night… somewhere that had a full-length mirror and lighting. He milled wood and created a bridal suite that could be easily put together on site the day before. We used IKEA curtains and an IKEA mirror inside, along with a table (that he had made) and carnival lights surrounding an antiqued mirrored star lantern. One of my favorite photographs is us standing inside the opening… just our silhouettes.

My favorite things about the Old Field Vineyards ~ the family that owns it is one of the sweetest most relaxed we’ve ever met. They are kind, sincere, and completely unpretentious.  The property is “authentic” to the north fork of Long Island. It is rustic … the buildings are original and it has been in the family for five generations. The owners are also all about sustainable farming and even have biodegradable cups made from corn in their tasting room.  You have everything beautiful about the north fork in one location… a vineyard, large old trees, old barns and chicken coops (including the chickens and roosters), and a beautiful beach with views of Shelter Island.

At the end of the night we drove off in our U-haul… exhausted and elated. Our lovely friends and family met us in the morning back at the vineyard to help clean up, re-pack the van and head home!

See Vanessa & Ethan’s complete wedding gallery from Dave Robbins Photography here!

Event Planner: The bride along with her family!  Day of Coordinator: Vanessa’s Aunt Annie, Photographer: Dave Robbins Photography, Floral Designer: Victoria of Designs By Ahn, Cake Designer: Miche Bacher at Sacred Sweets, Caterer: Pete Ambrose at Food For Forks (I would also consider him a day-of coordinator… his team made everything run so smoothly!), Event Rentals: Classic Party Rentals (Kristy Homan), Invitations/Menus/Placecards: Designed by the bride (Invitations were printed at Lion in the Sun), Hair: Tommy Sipala and Katie Murphy from Monet Salon in Northport, Make-up: Sally Duvall, Wedding Dress: Junko Yoshioka from Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier, Band: Arcadia (Lead Singer: Gus St. Angelo), Tent: Sperry Tents, Hair flower: Twigs and Honey, Bridesmaid Dresses: Vera Wang, Shoes: J.Crew, Slab furniture, signs and outdoor “bridal suite” created by the groom, Weddings by V&E

I am crazy about this wedding for three very simple reasons. It’s a foodie wedding. Awesome. The bride is as lovely as they come. Which I love. And the photography by Erik Ekroth is simply stunning. It’s one of those weddings that you just wish you had a ticket to, that you just know was a magical night. Love, love, love. Click here to see tons and tons of additional images.

{click here to see the full, completely gorgeous wedding}

I guess you would call our wedding “down home meets downtown.” We were catering mainly to both a NYC and Nashville crowd. We chose Blue Hill because a.) we love the food and Dan Barber – Blue Hill is our favorite restaurant, b) we love that we could have a country setting that’s so close to Manhattan and c.) we wanted an intimate setting—we wanted it to feel like a dinner party with our closest friends, but taken up a notch because, hey, it’s a wedding! Also, it was nice to have “something blue” in Blue Hill (even though I later took the blue theme a little further with the shoes!).

The big question throughout the day was … the weather — we were planning to have an outdoor ceremony and, although it wasn’t raining, it was misting all day. People kept saying “oh i see the sun!” but I knew it was doomed. The event organizer at blue hill was so nice — she said we could do it outdoor and set up the space for both options but i didn’t want guests to be uncomfortable so we ended up having the ceremony indoors. It soon dried up (of course), and so we moved outside for the cocktail hour.

Our programs were designed last minute by a former art director at Real Simple. (I was literally at Kinko’s on the morning of the wedding getting them printed and then corner-rounded them.) The programs were a play off of the invitations that we had created. We had so much fun making the invitations — I think that’s when the wedding became a real project for us — working with the letterpress co., the calligrapher, getting addresses, and designing the invites, all inspired by a design we saw on A Farm Fresh Wedding (they lent us the design). Our goal was to make the event sincere and intimate, but also light and whimsical. We didn’t do the traditional reply card, but instead asked people to check whether they “wouldn’t miss it for the world” or whether they would “be there in spirit.” I worked with the calligrapher to come up with a style that matched our invitations…the right mix of formal but whimsical. That was in keeping with our overall wedding vibe. We wanted something really nice and traditional, but not at all stuffy and hopefully the calligraphy reflected that.

Also, instead of using numbers for table cards, we asked the calligrapher to prepare cards that named tables for various cities that my husband and i visited together. So guests were asked to sit at “barcelona” or “mykonos” — the idea was that each table would have a photo of us in that city. Because blue hill had such a nice ambience all on its own, we really didn’t want to disrupt the scenery and had only a few ways to infuse our creative touches…

As for my favorite style detail…my shoes. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on ivory satin shoes that I might only wear once. Anyway I went to Christian Louboutin in search of baby blue satin d’orsays when I discovered the shoes I ended up wearing — they were just fun and a great way to get my “something blue.” I justified them by saying that they doubled as “wedding shoes” but, perhaps more importantly, as “anniversary shoes” — I plan to wear them each and every year when we celebrate the big day!

I wish I could say you don’t have to obsess about every little detail. It’s futile – of course you are going to obsess over every. little. detail. But at some point (for me, it was the morning of the wedding), it became important to just let it go and have fun. The most important thing is simply being surrounded by your friends and family. Follow your instincts and don’t do things just because you think you should or because someone else wants you to do it. For example, about four weeks before the wedding, I changed my mind about my dress (!!!). This reconsideration resulted in panicked last-minute appointments at Vera Wang and Kleinfeld’s. I was a nervous wreck even after purchasing the second dress because all I could do was think “is this IT? is it PERFECT?” Of course it’s hard to say whether something is “it” or “perfect,” but I am glad that I made sure to find a dress I really, really loved.

Wedding Gown by Amy Michelson / Shoes by Christian Louboutin / Hairstylist – Kerrie Urban / Ceremony Music by John Ragusa Music / Invitations based on a design by A Farm Fresh Wedding and with a letterpress company, Cour Noir (Brooklyn) / Flowers by Sandy Clothier / Programs by Michele Walthers / Calligraphy by Pretty Pen Jen (Austin, TX) / Favors by Lulu’s Bakery & Kate’s Paperie / Photography by Erik Ekroth

Our second of two featured weddings from Little Black Book Blog member, 4 Eyes Photography!

We always love to learn more about each of the couples we feature on Style Me Pretty. In particular, we love to hear how they met. Today’s bride & groom, Sarah and Anton, might just win the grand prize!

From the beautiful bride … We met May 21, 2008 in the wee hours of the morning as we passed each other in the JFK airport. Anton and I spotted each other, smiled and exchanged “good-morning’s”.  He was overwhelmed by this sense to turn back toward me, before I went through security. We talked and quickly exchanged numbers. Christmas day of that same year ~ 7 months later ~ we were engaged!

Aren’t these two … the prettiest, sweetest thing you’ve ever seen? A glimpse of each other was all it took.

Kellie and Rupert ~ their fantastic photographers ~ told us this … Sarah and Anton got ready in separate rooms at The W Hotel on Union Square and had pre-wedding pictures taken on the streets near the lovely Gramercy Park ( which is usually locked and not open to the public). While we were taking the shots the owner of the nearby historic National Arts Club came by, whom we knew from a previous wedding. He ran off and got the key to the park and let us in – which made for some beautiful pictures. Next we jumped in a vintage Rolls Royce for more pictures with the families, by the fountain in Stuyvesant Park.

The wedding festivities were all within the Gramercy Park area of NYC. The ceremony was at an historic church on East 17th Street right opposite the park, then guests walked the few blocks back to the reception at The W.

Just a few more of the details from Sarah … We wanted something classic, formal, elegant, 1930’s fashion. The designer of my dress is Jenny Yoo (the salon is located on 39th st in midtown) and the designer of my birdcage veil was Sara Gabriel (based in Denver, CO). Our floral designer was Omar from Allan’s Florist on E. 40th st. The cupcakes/top tier of our cake were made to match our black and white theme (figuratively & literally) and were from Magnolia Bakery. They topped the cake with a JetBlue airplane figurine (found on ebay) since we met in the JetBlue terminal of JFK airport!  Our band was Soul Revival.

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You can see more close-ups of their gorgeous 1930’s fashion shots, family and wedding festivities from 4 Eyes Photography in their SMP photo gallery!

Our thanks to Kellie & Rupert for sharing both Sarah & Anton’s and Marika & Jim’s wedding celebrations with us today!!

These Vendors are members of our Little Black Book.
For membership information, click here

Bridesmaid

Jenny Yoo

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So sorry for the delay in sharing Mariko and Jim’s beautiful, beautiful wedding day! If you’ve already visited the 4 Eyes Photography blog feature, you’ll already know that Mariko and Jim were married at The Bowery Hotel in New York.

4 Eyes Photography ~ their amazingly talented photographers ~ had this to tell us …

Mariko & Jim share a cool NYC loft together on The Bowery near SoHo in NY. Mariko got ready in one room while Jim and his pals dressed and toasted in the living room. The couple had a limo to ferry us and them around the city for some fun pictures on the cobbled streets of Mercer Street in SoHo, a traffic light in the East Village and all around Washington Square Park. The ceremony & reception were at the new Bowery Hotel, just a few doors down from their apartment . The hotel is designed like a very trendy English castle, complete with authentic rugs, furniture and stone medieval fireplaces. The ceremony was performed by a family friend and then we shot family pictures by the roaring fire in another area of the hotel. Guests were seated at long banquet tables for the dinner and toasts…… and then the doors were opened to a DJ and later buffet dessert, to round off the evening with dancing and cake.

Love, love, love this wedding celebration! Congratulations to Jim & Mariko on a beautiful day! Remember, you can see all 60+ images from their wedding in our photo gallery right here!

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A quick update ~ We just heard from Mariko ~ answering a few of your questions …

Gown – Vera Wang, Shoes – Valentino, Hair & Makeup – Takamichi Salon – NYC,  Jim’s Suit/Shirt – Balenciaga, Bow tie – Bottega Veneta, Shoes – Vans, Florist – Adore Floral, Cake – Michelle Doll Cakes

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We have another fabulous wedding from 4 Eyes Photography coming right up ~ Sarah & Anton’s New York City wedding.

This wedding is all sweetness and love. Seriously. It just makes me smile in that, oh-how-completely-lovely kind of way. And the photographs by Rebecca at Docuvitae are rich, they are full of color and emotion and style and substance. And they tell the story to perfection. Although I have chosen only the color images so that you could see all of the steal worthy ideas, Rebecca also captured the most beautiful black and whites you’ve ever seen. Little works of art. Click here to see more pics from this wedding and to drool over all of the gorgeousness.

{click here for more photos from this gorgeous wedding}

Beautiful right? Well not shockingly, the bride and groom are super talented, super stylish people so they just KNEW how to do it right. Mark is a brilliant photographer in his own right and Amelia a fantastic actress, stylist and writer (check out her awesome blog, Clotheshorse NYC.

Venue…We knew that we wanted to be married in Montauk, we both fell in love with the community the first time we visited because it was our ideal mix of high and low; beautiful scenery but also a laid back vibe. That pretty much sums up my approach in planning the whole event. I would say in hindsight that my theme was “relaxed luxury.” A friend recommended Sole East and we put money down without ever having visited there. That was another constant in planning the wedding, don’t over think things, go with the gut.

Gown…I had tried on a few “form fitting” dresses and then I came out in this one. Everyone sort of burst into tears with exclamations of “thats the one”!! After you get a reaction like that you get the dress! It was made by Jim Hjelm and it was a new design. It also had pockets another huge plus and I felt gorgeous in it. Also, I would have hated to actually wear something tight all night.

Photography…I had been introduced to a female photog named Cheyenne Elllis whose work I really admired so I contacted her on the off chance that she shot weddings. Turns out she did and was represented by a company called Docuvitae. We were in LA on vacation and went to meet with the studio manager at Docuvitae, Rebecca Rotenberg, to discuss our event. Turns out Cheyenne was way out of our price range and Rebecca offered us some other options, including herself! We spent almost two hours talking with Rebecca that day and both got a really warm vibe so we left feeling like she was a great choice. Needless to say we were thrilled with the way our photos came out. Another gut decision.

Food…We had both our rehearsal bbq and our wedding dinner at Sole East. It poured the night of the rehearsal dinner but chef Larry was out in the rain grilling all night long. For the wedding dinner we opted for family style mainly because everything was so good. While we were taking pictures we served our guests passed hor d’euves, which included mini butternut squash soups. We also served a specialty cocktail that Sole East created just for us, a lemon and coconut martini. For dinner there was grilled  mahi mahi, churrasco steak, farfalle pasta, also bok choy and mashed potatoes as sides. I got a lot of “best wedding food ever” and I think someone even said it was the “best meal of their life” which is pretty impressive. We are big foodies so this made us really happy. Also most of the food and all of the wine was local.

The Cake…I hate wedding cake. My favorite cake in the world is a coconut cake from a Baltimore restaurant called Clementines. The owners not only baked eight coconut cakes and lots of lemon squares for my wedding they hand delivered them to Montauk! Which was great because no one in my family wanted the responsibility:) Amazing! I couldn’t believe their generosity of spirit.

The Flowers…The flowers were done by the wonderful Lisa Kattmann, a friend of ours from Texas. We used eco friendly confetti. Lisa also had the great idea to leave stamped postcards on each table in lieu of a guestbook. She then went around and collected the postcards and mailed them to us. This made the warm wishes last longer since we received the notecards in the mail when we got home.

photography by Rebecca for Docuvitae, photo slideshow / venue & catering by Sole East, contact Dave & Cindi Ceva (owners) / flowers by Lisa Kattmann / bride’s dress by Jim Hjelm / bride’s shoes by Steve Madden

We have an ahhhhmazing day on SMP today. Aside from featuring some of the most adorable wedding inspirations a girl could ever want, we also have a pretty great announcement and giveaway coming up this afternoon (or this morning for you West Coasters). It’s a very good day on Style Me Pretty so make a little mental note to check back more than once. First up, I thought we could start the day with the most charming, sweet, totally lovely wedding that Denise Fasanello (whose work I am newly obsessed with) sent our way.

We never thought a reception without flowers could be so pretty, but Denise totally pulled it off with a sense of style and budget friendly design that I knew you guys would love. Here’s what she had to say about it…

October rain could not dampen the mood for this amazing couple. Carrie and Adam came to me requesting no flowers for their wedding! Imagine, me a flower designer hearing those words. But I was eager to translate their design desires for all greens, succulents and interesting seed pods and the like. It was a dreamy green affair.

Vendors: Photography by Punam Beam Photography / Flowers and Event Design by Denise Fasanello Floral Design / Ceremony + Reception Location: New Leaf Cafe

I am so glad that you all loved this beautiful wedding as much as I did. Particularly this beautiful bride. And her beautiful dress. And you know what…it just keeps getting better. Lindsey and Scott’s ballroom reception was the epitome of elegance and romance. They even took a little break to capture an affair to remember style photograph right on the street in New York City. It seriously doesn’t get any more romantic than this and luckily for all of us, Karen Wise was on hand to capture the gorgeousness.

click here for more gorgeous images of the NY affair

Our reception was held at Twenty Four Fifth, a carefully restored ballroom on lower Fifth Avenue near Washington Square Park. The room has a warm, inviting glow and is in the style of an old supper club with the dance floor a few steps down from where our guests sat. For music, we used Hank Lane Entertainment and a band called Fifth Avenue. They managed to keep our guests out of their chairs and on the dance floor for most of the night, which was fantastic.

All of our paper goods (save-the-dates, invitations, menus, programs, etc) were designed by a dear friend and helped to create and sustain a common look and theme from engagement to wedding day. For our wedding favors, my mother, sister-in-law and I baked hundreds of linzer cookies and packaged them in white boxes tied with silver ribbon. The idea of giving out homemade cookies appealed to us, so we turned our kitchen into a bakery for a day.

Our photographer was Karen Wise, from Karen Wise Photography, in Brooklyn, NY. She and her assistant, did a fabulous job documenting our day. She captured unforgettable memories that we will treasure forever. The bouquets and flowers at the chapel and reception were all done by Anthony Swick of Bay Bouquet in Tampa, FL. He and his two lovely assistants drove all the way up from Florida to help set the stage for our day. When we hired Anthony, I had a vision in my mind of how I wanted the flowers to look—neutral lavenders, greens, whites and creams with various textures—and he by far exceeded our expectations.

All in all, our wedding was an amazing, magical day that took a lot of hard work to coordinate but came together beautifully.

Vendors: Dress by Designer Junko Yoshioka from Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier / Bridesmaids dresses by J. Crew / Make up by Katherine Bouloukos / Scott’s suit by Ermengildo Zegna / Flowers by Bay Bouquet in Tampa, FL (Anthony Swick) / Hair by Sarah Martineau / Wedding Invitations and Paper Goods by Maggie Traidman /Photography by Karen Wise

I’ve said this about past weddings and I can’t help but say it again. It was IMPOSSIBLE to choose the images that I wanted to feature from today’s Karen Wise photographed wedding. They were all so gorgeous. Even slight variations in movement or smiles changed the photograph entirely and made it completely impossible for me to choose my favorites. But here are just a few…

click here to see the whole wedding in the gallery

We have lived in Manhattan for many years and decided that we wanted to show off our favorite parts of the city. We had a vision of elegant, classic New York with some modern twists as an underlying wedding theme. Thus, we began the search for the perfect places to showcase our city while also staying within a set budget. Scott attended undergrad at Columbia University, so we chose St. Paul’s Chapel for our ceremony. It’s a picturesque spot on campus surrounded by green grass and trees. Lucky for us, our wedding day was one of those spectacular New York fall days—70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. The chapel is relatively small and felt intimate with our 170 guests and the sounds of a string quartet, Anthology Strings, led by Antonia Nelson, filling the air.

Scott and I both wanted to be sure that every one of our guests knew how much we appreciated their love and support not only on our wedding day, but also throughout our relationship. Our guests were thought about in every wedding detail—from giving out pink prosecco at the hotels to start the celebratory weekend to writing individual notes to each guest on their reception place card.

My dress was by designer Junko Yoshioka and I found it at Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier. It was the last dress I tried on and very different from what I was leaning toward, but its clean lines and detailed beading won me over. The bridesmaids and flower girl were outfitted by J. Crew. I was drawn to the graphite gray chiffon because it was a lovely neutral tone that looked great on all of them. They all wore the same chiffon material but chose from two different styled dresses. As a hobby, I make jewelry, so I made each of them a unique pair of earrings using green amethyst, smoky quartz, and gold to warm up the gray tone of their dresses.

Vendors: Dress by Designer Junko Yoshioka from Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier / Bridesmaids dresses by J. Crew / Make up by Katherine Bouloukos / Scott’s suit by Ermengildo Zegna / Wedding Invitations and Paper Goods by Maggie Traidman / Flowers by Bay Bouquet in Tampa, FL (Anthony Swick) / Hair by Sarah Martineau / Photography by Karen Wise

I don’t really know where to start with this wedding. And to be perfectly honest, it isn’t even the wedding itself that I have been obsessing over for months now. It’s the bride. And her dress. And her flowers. And the INSANELY gorgeous images by New York wedding photographer, Karen Wise.  So rather than go on and on an on, like I normally do, I think I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

click here to see this whole gorgeous wedding in the gallery

Scott proposed at the top of the Soho Grand Hotel in New York City. It was the biggest surprise of my life and, as I reflect on that day, I realize I shouldn’t have been so surprised because I’m sure Scott wouldn’t have done it any other way. He hid the proposal within another surprise, his sister’s 30th birthday celebration, so I wasn’t the least bit suspicious. Scott and I have dated since high school and all along the way he’s been full of surprises, like asking me to his senior prom in a jar of mayonnaise. Immediately following his proposal all of our family and closest friends joined us on the rooftop for a party, and even a rainbow. This festive time filled with family and friends set the tone for our wedding plans; being surrounded by the people we love was key.

So much more to come.

I am putting the finishing touches on THE most amazing Karen Wise wedding that we’ll have up in just a few minutes but I thought I should give you a sneek peak at the gorgeousness. The dress, the flowers, the everything. Just you wait.

If you read BACKSTAGE you know that I went on an on about the fabulous event that I recently attended at The Breakers, held by Claudia and Jennifer of The Wedding Library. Well, today I thought I’d share all of the goodness with you, as they have officially announced their upcoming New York show and I am dying to convince you to go! If the New York Party is anything like this last one…it’s a definite must-have.

French & American vintage jazz by Bon Musique.

The details tucked inside the event were total insanity. Cakes by Sylvia Weinstock, Invitations by Ceci New York, Bridesmaids Gifts by Bubbles and Beauties, Photography by Carlos Varela, Mel Barlow, and Allan Zepeda and Video by Open Eye, and Music by Elan Artists, rentals by Taylor Creative (amazing rentals by the way) and little nuggets of goodness like handmade bags of lavender to toss and perfectly crafted mini cheeseburgers to devour. They even had a donut station which was like a dream come true.

But I think that my favorite find of the evening would have to be, the adorableness that is Franklin and Gower. I don’t know where I’ve been without this awesome little company. Their custom groom and groomsmen attire is almost too perfect for words and Paco, co-founder and super cool dude, even made us a margarita so that we could enjoy the product that much more. Although I really didn’t need it, it was love at first site.

And the table designs that The Wedding Library crafted, with the help of the most awesome Taylor Creative props you’ve ever seen, welll…they were flawless. And I was pleasantly surprised to see how well “modern” fit the ornate backdrop of The Breakers. Good to know!

But for sure, the pièce de résistance of the day…was the Kleinfeld Fashion Show. Umm, heaven. Seriously, the dresses were total heaven.

Gown by Kenneth Pool for Amsale, Style #31775190

Gown by Pnina Tornai Exclusively for Kleinfeld, Style# 31800113

Gown by Badgley Mischka, Style: Yvonne

Gown by Elizabeth Fillmore, Style# 31800766

So there you have it kids. Pure wedding gorgeousness. And lucky for us, the fun isn’t over! The Wedding Party New York will be held on February 20th at the Palace and will include speaking appearances by the best in the biz (think Colin Cowie and Darcy Miller) as well as the most incredible vendor line up a girl could ever wish for. And the ideas tucked inside of the event are sure to be swoon-worthy. Without a doubt.

A HUGE thank you to Josh Friedman and the team at Elan Artists including Mel Barlow, Allan Zepeda and Carlos Varela for shooting the gorgeous images above. We spent an evening with Josh, Mel and team and when I tell you that they are great, I am hardly doing these pros justice. We’re even hoping to get Josh to guest blog on SMP one of these days! If you’re hungry for more you can see all the video of the event right here.

And lastly, another hearty thank you to Joan Bevers and the fabulous team at The Breakers for comping our stay. You guys made our stay so incredibly special and we can’t wait to come down again for Engage ‘10! We think we’ve officially fallen in love with your stomping ground!

So, today is a big day for Christian. He actually just rolled out a pretty, sparkly, completely gorgeous new website that showcases his work, along with the incredibly photographers that shoot with his brand. If you are ever feeling even a little bit in need of some wedding inspirations, start with Christian’s site. It’s pure wedding insanity.

And to add to the eye candy that we’ve been sharing today, here are a few more of his absolutely lovely weddings. This one, shot by Shawn Connell for Christian Oth, was held at the Plaza and lived up to the beauty of the venue beyond compare.

This next little work of art was shot by Michael Falco for Christian Oth and was held at the Harold Pratt House. And I am obsessed.

And lastly, this absolutely gorgeous wedding shot by Alison Mayfield was held at the Capitale…

I really wanted today to be a canvas for incredible wedding photography on Style Me Pretty. We owe photographers like Christian so much for allowing us to feature their work, to inspire brides through the photographs they capture. So although I didn’t go into detail about the weddings we featured today, I hope that you were brought to tears, made to smile or inspired to create a relationship with your photographer that will allow for images like these to come shining through.

And a huge thank you to Christian and his team for spending the day with us! Don’t forget to check out their fancy new site…aside from individual portfolios for each of the photographers he works with, Christian has also included a list of his favorite wedding resources. It’s genius.

After the incredibly thoughtful feature that Christian did for us about how to work with (and get the most out of) your photographer, I thought it might be fun to show you a few of the real weddings that the Christian Oth team has shot. Perfect examples of just how important finding that relationship is in getting the most beautiful wedding photographs ever.

This wedding was held at the Harold Pratt House in New York, shot by Alison Mayfield. The images are romantic, dramatic, utterly gorgeous. And although we could go on and on bragging about the work that the photographers with Christian Oth put out there, we thought that instead, we’d just start a conversation. So feel free to ask the team questions in our comments section about working with your photographer. They are on hand to answer!

The fabulous Lyndsey Hamilton is responsible for the planning and coordination and Matthew Robbins of Artfool is behind those gorgeous flowers and the unbelievable event design…top to bottom. The gorgeous calligraphy and invitation design is by Laura Hooper.

Can you imagine having images like this to grace your walls. To show off to your friends. Amazing. It’s as if each one tells a story, gives us a little window into the pure beauty of the day. Alison blew me away with this wedding, which isn’t shocking considering we feature pretty much anything that Christian Oth Studios sends our way. Anyway, we thought that this affair was a perfect example of how beneficial it is to form that relationship with your photographer. The images are intimate and personal, they show those little moments that make you feel like you know the couple. And it’s that intimacy that is the key to getting really great photographs from your photographer.

So again! If you have questions about finding the right photographer, forming that relationships, the questions that you should ask…leave a comment below. Christian and his team are on hand to help!

Oh and don’t forget to check out Christian Oth’s brand spanking new (and totally awesome) site. The work that you’ll see is downright gorgeous.

Vendor Credits: Photography by Alison Mayfield for Christia Oth Studio / Event Coordination Lyndsey Hamilton Events / Floral Design by Matthew Robbins of Artfool / Venue, Harold Pratt House in New York

I couldn’t believe my luck when this little gem of a wedding popped into my inbox. It’s kind a Style Me Pretty dream come true, actually. Gorgeous, super chic bride and groom. Flowers by the beloved Saipua design studio in Brooklyn. An eclectic, adorable group of bridesmaids. And a style that I can’t seem to get enough of. We have fallen madly in love with this bride and her wedding and can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

Andrew and I live together in Queens, NY, we work in Manhattan, and we were married in Brooklyn. What can I say – we are New Yorker’s through and through! We fell in love in this city, so it only seemed right to be married here. Our wedding reception was actually held about 50 feet from where we were engaged, at a restaurant called Bubby’s. It is nestled amongst old cobblestone streets, and between the Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges, with a panoramic view of Manhattan. Our ceremony was held in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, inside a Grecian Structure (aka. the Peristyle), which was built in 1904. It was a special place for us, because we had enjoyed many runs together in this park and had often marveled at the beauty of this structure.

Andrew was laid off from his job last January, so our already tight budget became even tighter. We kept our wedding small and intimate, but we really were able to keep our budget low while still creating our perfect wedding by making a LOT of wedding details ourselves. The company I work for, Kay Unger NY, was so gracious to make the bridesmaid dresses for our wedding. I chose different shades of mauve’s, pale pinks, peaches, and plums for the girls’ dresses – all the dresses were the same body, but different color combos.

I made all the paper details for our wedding myself – the save-the-dates, wedding invitations, table numbers, place cards, menus, and the signs around the reception. I also DIY-ed our table runners using copper colored burlap fabric. I cut the burlap in strips and stitched around its edges with copper metallic thread, which I then frayed. I made fabric boutonnieres for Andrew and the wedding party from different fabrics that I layered and stitched together. I then rolled up twine and glued it as the center of each boutonniere. I made a shrug for myself, out of appliqued lace fabric I purchased from Mood Fabrics in NYC. The idea of the different applique details contained in my dress, hair piece, shrug and clutch was that they would all work together to create a textural, unified look..even though they were different patterns. This idea of eclecticism was carried throughout our wedding style and decor.

As wedding favors, Andrew and I collected tea cups all year, mostly from the clearance room in Fish’s Eddy in Manhattan. All of the tea cups were mismatched, which was an overall theme of the wedding. We wanted everything to be mismatched, but still go well together and create a vintage vibe. I wrote every guest’s name on a tea cup with metallic gold pen, and the tea cups were part of the table decor.

Our photographer was Natalia Russo, of Natalia Russo Photography. She came down from Syracuse, NY to capture our special day. She was so wonderful, and she really captured our day perfectly. All flowers (ceremony bouquets & reception flowers) were done by Saipua of Brooklyn, NY. The flowers were so textural and seasonal – I was absolutely in love with them.

Rather than blab on and on about this wedding, I want to just dive right in. But I did want to quickly mention that one…it’s indoors (finally) and two…it’s modern and DIY. And really freaking gorgeous. Oh and the bride has been sweet enough to share all of the behind the scenes details so grab a cup of coffee and have a seat. This is a really good one.

Luis and I had a singular focus on making our wedding modern, fun, and festive. We didn’t want just a wedding like everyone else’s, we wanted a party that happened to include a celebration of our marriage. As a graphic designer – and coming from a family of graphic designers and artists – there is no way I would ever turn over creative reins to anyone! Between me, my mother, and my sister in law, we designed everything to be beautiful and cohesive, pulling our illustration theme and color scheme throughout all aspects of the wedding.

The color scheme we selected was apple green, dove grey, black, and white – colors which played nicely off the illustration, the polished concrete floors in our industrial venue, and a bright springtime color that warms my heart whenever I see it. Once I had settled on apple green, we knew that apples would play a major part in all of our decor choices. Indeed, there was an enormous vase of apples on the escort table at the entry, and apples adorned all of the tables – a cheap and beautiful decorative choice.

My mom and I decided to save money and keep our creative control by doing all of the flowers ourselves as well. We ordered dozens and dozens of assorted white flowers from an internet supplier, as well as green hypericum berries and Bells of Ireland. We used the berries along with white ranunculus to make the boutonnieres, and the Bells of Ireland made gorgeous and dramatic bridesmaids’ bouquets. My bridal bouquet was entirely comprised of white freesia, and I left the bouquet untied until just before the ceremony so that me and my bridesmaids could complete the ribbon wrapping and tying together as a group effort. Finally, each table received a modern, asymmetrical arrangement in a rectangular glass vase anchored with dark grey river rocks. The overall effect was modern, clean, and beautiful without being overly feminine.

As you’ll see from the photos, the Foundry is a tall space. In order to warm up the space without spending a lot of money or making it lose its industrial character, we relied on candles – some 400 of them! We also wanted a dramatic centerpiece for the room that would frame the “altar” space where the actual ceremony would take place. My mom undertook what I refer to as the great manzanita project, creating gorgeous 8.5 foot tall pieces entirely out of silk flowers and non-perishables. She and my dad assembled everything themselves. They built the “stumps” and covered them with moss. They placed the trees within using cement and sandbags to anchor them. They lovingly glued individual blossoms and leaves to the branches. And they strung tiny white blossoms onto fishing line for the draped effect you’ll see in the photos. They were gorgeous and really helped frame and fill the massive Foundry space.

Music is a tremendous part of our lives. It was incredibly fun for us to put together our entire wedding mix, which was run off of my laptop in the corner. That’s right – no DJ! We got compliments from all of our friends and family on the thoughtfulness of our choices, and how “us” the entire mood of the evening seemed. Luis walked in to the opening strains of “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica. Luis’ sister sang “I’ll Cover You” from the musical RENT during our ceremony. Our reception started to Ozzy shrieking “All aboard” in his song, “Crazy Train.” During dinner, we played Bauhaus and Joy Division.

My gown was designed by Demetrios with a few modifications added by my mother and me. The dress features a tiered ruffle section down the left side – we augmented each tier with added layers of birdcage netting and white feathers. In the end, the dress looked really beautiful but didn’t bust our modest budget.

Vendors: Venue, The Foundry, Long Island City / Catering by Real Food Catering / Photography by Kate & Georgina / Videography by Love In Progress / Cake by City Sweets / Gown by Demetrios / Veil by Artikal Millinery / Hair by Stacy Pitt, Styles on B / Officiant Pastor April, Church of Ancient Ways

We’ve had SUCH a variety of stylish weddings in our list of faves. I was so surprised no one picked the same wedding… each member of the SMP team had a completely unique affair in mind when we asked them to tell us about their favorite wedding. Much like the rest of us, Shawna, one of our fabulous LBB research colleagues, was head over heels for more than one, but in the end this super chic NYC wedding was still calling her name.

From Shawna…

This is it, the moment I fell in love with anemones and loft weddings. I’m a happy girl when there is a whole day feature on a wedding that is so flawless and classic.

Tara really did it right when she incorporated the fancy modern calligraphy in a mostly black and white scheme. This important detail added tons of style to her wedding.

I love that the CB2 table runner brings in a large floral element to the table without actually doing large florals. This wedding made me keep checking back on SMP for more throughout the day….the ideas are so do-able!

Vendor Credits: Event Design by Barbara of Hatch Creative Studio / photography by Heather Waraksa /Artwork by Mike Shankman / Calligraphy by Paperfinger

You can read more about the couple and their vision behind the day right here in the original post from March (we know the wedding’s not from 2009, but that’s when we featured it so it’s fair game).

I always get a little giddy when Heather over at One Love Photo sends us one of her weddings. And that giddiness turned to pure glee when I saw this one. This wedding, in Westchester New York, just might be the prettiest wedding ever…with the prettiest dress, the prettiest bride, the prettiest pictures. And a dream boat of a groom.

I had always had a bit of a crush on New York City. Growing up in Australia I would often fantasize about living in the ‘Big Apple’, so it was only natural that when I finally found my way here I fell madly in love with Manhattan. Little did I know then that I would fall madly in love with another New Yorker, Brian! After proposing under the Brooklyn Bridge on one of those beautiful sunny fall November days, we had lots of decisions to make. With family and friends in Australia, Ireland and across the US we literally considered every possible location between NYC and Australia! With a million options to consider fate intervened when we discovered the Larchmont Yacht Club. We knew we wanted our wedding to be elegant but not too formal, chic but not too modern and with just a touch of whimsical, so when we found the Yacht Club in Westchester, NY we knew it would be perfect! Our vision for the day came from a combination of our own style and from drooling over blogs like SMP! Plus who doesn’t swoon at the site of a lanterns hanging from high beamed ceilings over dark wood floors looking out over the sparkling bay?! We were smitten. The date was set for Labor Day weekend.

We both knew that we wanted a wedding that was as much a family reunion and gathering for those meeting for the first time as it was a celebration of our marriage. We involved all 6 of our sibling and our two nieces in the wedding. Even my 86 year old grandparents got on a plane and traveled across the world to be here! The band was fabulous, John Wall the coordinator at the YC was incredible, Jon and Heather from One Love not only captured our memories but kept us smiling the whole time. Every single vendor that worked with us totally got our vision. It was the perfect ending to a week of fun and frivolity in the city and as the weatherman kept repeating “top three weather weekends of the year!”. We were truly blessed.

Our ceremony was at the beautiful St Augustine’s Church, just minutes away from the Yacht Club, so after the ceremony guests wandered through the beautiful leafy streets of Larchmont down to the water where the party was being held. Cocktails and Jazz on the lawns was followed by sit down dinner and dancing. Many of the trinkets and smaller details like the hanging lanterns, the photo frames filled with out families weddings, the beautiful bird cage candle holders and the vintage like drink dispensers I found at Anthropology and Home Good. My favorite detail was a coffee table book of New York hot spots – bars, restaurants’, shops and hotels that make up the New York that Brian and I will always remember as the New York of when we were dating. We asked our guests to sign it as our guest book.

Vendors: Photography by One Love Photo / Music by Faze 4 / Flowers by Port Chester, (914) 481-5528‎ /  Cake by Corner Stone Caterers / Tux by Calvin Klein / Feather Hair Piece by MJ Trimmings Bridal Salon / Reception at Larchmont Yacht Club