Style Me Pretty: Wedding Blog for the Style-Obsessed Bride

A Rustic El Chorro Wedding With Subtle Hints of Tuscan Flair

Consider today’s stunning desert wedding at El Chorro planned by Details Darling to be your perfect blueprint for a rustic celebration with subtle notes of Tuscan charm, thoughtfully tucked into every curated detail. Carte Blanche kept the floral arrangements timeless in style with a classic color palette of blush, taupe and sage. To see all the aww-worthy details, including an adorable cactus-inspired cake topper, don’t miss out on the full gallery – all captured by Rachel Solomon Photography!

From the Bride… Vin and I met in college in New York City. We were friends at first, and after one fateful Halloween night our Sophomore year we started dating and haven’t looked back – that was 10 years ago!. As a native Arizonian, I was excited to show our east coast friends and Vin’s family the beauty of the Southwest. When Vin and I got engaged, I knew for sure that I wanted to have the celebration in my hometown.

Following our engagement, Vin and I flew to Arizona for the Christmas holiday. While we were there, we decided to spend a day visiting venues with my parents. We went to several, beautiful options, but I already knew I wanted it to be at El Chorro – I mean how could you not… It’s beautiful! Vin, being the practical one, wanted to see every option that Phoenix had to offer before visiting El Chorro, but he also fell in love the moment he stepped on sight. We booked it that day! After we booked our venue, I immediately enlisted my friend and (conveniently) amazing wedding planner, Mackenzie Swift, to help plan and design our special day. Vin and I worked together to plan the wedding of our dreams, and Kenzie was there every step of the way to take our vision and put it into action. I can’t stress enough how much of a lifesaver Mackenzie was throughout the process! Like most couples getting married over the past year, we had a slight hiccup in our planning journey, and that hiccup is called ‘Covid-19’. We ultimately postponed our wedding, but being the optimists that we are, we were excited to have additional time to fine-tune our big day!

Along the way, one thing that we did have a big opinion on was the food – something that Vin and his big Italian family were very enthusiastic about. El Chorro was super accommodating with all of our food requests. Food was such a great opportunity to blend our two backgrounds together – Southwestern Tacos during cocktail hour and a pasta course added before entrees. Sure enough, El Chorro did not disappoint on the day of the wedding, and we ate what felt like 10 different meals that day, each better tasting than the previous. I can assure you no one left the wedding hungry!

The day of the wedding was truly magical! Our rustic, Tuscan theme provided our guests with a relaxed and beautiful atmosphere. After a tumultuous year, we wanted the big day to be a celebration of friends and family, and it was just that. The JJs band was absolutely incredible, and our guests let loose on the dance floor that night! We finished off the evening with our favorite dessert, ice cream sandwiches from Churn.

Our wedding would not have been what it was without the amazing support from our friends and family, and the creative direction from our vendors, especially our wedding planner Mackenzie Swift of Details Darling, photographer Rachel Solomon of Rachel Solomon Photography, and videographers, Coltin and Brianne of White Locket Films. We were so blessed by this amazing group of people who worked seamlessly together. Because of their collaboration and flawless execution of our creative details, we were able to enjoy all the sweet and joyous moments of our beautiful day!

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Bridesmaid

Jenny Yoo

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Luxury Wedding Photographer Rebecca Yale on Being a VOW Pro+ Member and Supporting VOW’s International Day of the Girl Campaign

Every girl deserves the freedom to dream and decide her own future, including when it comes to marriage. VOW for Girls (VOW) is the growing global movement that partners with brands, couples, and the wedding industry to end the international child marriage crisis around the world.

VOW was founded by Mabel van Oranje, an avid human rights activist, who had an “aha” moment at a wedding where a couple asked for donations in lieu of gifts, which inspired her to marry the wedding industry to the international child marriage crisis, an issue she championed.

In recognition of International Day of the Girl on Monday, October 11, 2021 VOW just launched it’s 3rd annual campaign. This year’s theme, “Stop the Clock,” is a powerful response to the statistic that every three seconds a child as young as eight years old becomes a bride.

The campaign unites brands and the wedding industry to support this important cause, as well as help raise funds for programs that provide critical resources to girls at risk of child marriage. Luxury wedding designer Justin Alexander, wedding industry leader The Knot, and a generous private donor are sponsors of this year’s campaign. From October 4-11, every like, comment, and share of VOW’s social content on @vowforgirls will unlock $1 from the sponsors to help start a new future for girls everywhere, up to $100,000. 100% of all donations go directly to grassroots efforts to end child marriage.

To further build a groundswell of support for International Day of the Girl, Justin Alexander will host a virtual conversation to celebrate girls on Thursday, October 7 at 12pm ET via ZOOM that will be open to the public. Luxury wedding photographer, Style Me Pretty Little Black Book member, and VOW Pro+ member Rebecca Yale will join Justin Warshaw, CEO / Creative Director of Justin Alexander, Fanta Toure-Puri, Director of the Girls First Fund, and Clay Dunn, CEO of VOW for Girls for a conversation to learn more about the issue of child marriage and how couples and the wedding industry can come together to make a significant impact on the lives of girls around the world. For more information and to register for the event, please click here.

We sat down with Rebecca, to find out more about how she first learned about VOW, became a VOW Pro+ member, and why this cause is so close to her heart.

Esther Mbabzi

How did you first learn about VOW?

I first heard about VOW through their collaboration with The Little Market, which sells a candle that benefits VOW, so I looked into the organization a little bit. As I have been involved with nonprofits since I was a child, I’m very careful to not support one without doing thorough research first. After I saw Sarah Haywood posting about VOW and recognized the logo from my candle, I researched the organization and reached out to them directly to learn more. After our conversation and learning about what an incredible impact the organization was having, I knew I wanted to be involved right away!

Esther Mbabzi

What does it mean to you to be a VOW Pro+ Member?

To me, being a VOW Pro+ member means that I’m making a statement to the world about my business’ priorities. I came to wedding photography from the world of photojournalism and my intention right out of college was to use photography to help make the world a better place. There’s a saying in Judaism called Tikkun Olam, which means to heal the world. It’s the idea that we are born into a broken world and it is each of our responsibility to make it a little bit better. I wanted to use photography to do that, but I realized the world of documentary photography wasn’t quite right for me and I found my true calling and passion in the world of weddings. It was very important to me though for my business in the wedding industry to still enable my mission to make the world a better place and I always knew that giving back would be part of my business plan.

Esther Mbabzi

What inspired you to get involved?

I’ve been involved with many organizations over the years and it is rare to find an organization where you can feel like you’re making a real impact. I worked on a fundraising project years ago with a different nonprofit to help in the fight against child marriage and ever since, have thought that there is a natural synergy with the wedding industry, so I was very excited to find VOW and join them. I think it’s important to have giving back and being a socially responsible business as part of our business plans. I spend my life photographing beautiful celebrations of love, which is what a wedding should be. It should not be something forced upon someone and if I can be a small part in making that choice possible for more women and children, why wouldn’t I?

What would you recommend to couples who are eager to support VOW for Girls? Any specific ways they can bring awareness to the organization throughout their wedding planning journey?

There’s many different ways to incorporate giving back into your wedding planning. Weddings are expensive and you may not be able to dedicate 50% of your budget, but even something small like $20 can go a long way! There will be an estimated 2.5 million weddings in 2022 in America. If every single couple gave $20 that would be $50 million raised! Imagine how life-changing that would be for so many children across the world! You could consider making a donation in honor of your guests, perhaps a $1-$5 donation per guest and in lieu of a wedding favor and you could print something up letting them know a donation has been made in their honor. You could also encourage your guests to get in on it and ask them to donate to a charity registry in addition or as an alternative to a traditional registry. The problem seems so large and can seem far away, even though it’s very much not and exists at home in the US as well, so it can feel overwhelming and like there’s no point in trying. But if we each just do a small part it adds up quickly and that’s how we change the world!

Esther Mbabzi

Beyond the International Day of the Girl campaign, there are so many ways for individuals and wedding professionals to become involved with VOW. Couples getting married are instrumental to VOW, as the organization partners with engaged couples to align their registries with VOW or ask their wedding guests for donations in lieu of or in addition to gifts. To date more than 8K couples have engaged in VOW’s work. VOW Pro+ members are also extremely important, as they commit to making VOW part of their business by introducing our mission to their clients, featuring VOW on their digital platforms, and making VOW’s work a central focus of their personal and business philanthropy. Since January 2021, VOW has grown its VOW Pro Network to 16 countries and counting.

To learn more about VOW and how you can get involved, please visit https://vowforgirls.org/

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Rebecca Yale Photography

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This Vibrant Fairytale Celebrated the Italian Spirit With Love, Laughter, and Limoncello!

The sun shined bright on this Italian countryside villa that set the stage for a vibrant micro wedding in Puglia! Inspired by the property’s natural surroundings of fig & olive trees, Kirstie Kleine Jager designed a sumptuous celebration with fresh and fruity twists, reminiscent of warm Italian summers. Amsicora Fiori incorporated this international couple’s citrus-tone color palette into stunning floral arrangements, which were balanced with subtle blue linens that created a romantic, organic feel. George Liopetas Fine Art Photographs captured the Italian-spirit, love, and laughter that emanated from this sweet day. Don’t miss all the zesty pops, golden hour views, and limoncello favors in the full gallery!

We can’t get over this intimate wedding in warm and sunny Puglia. Beautiful stories lead to beautiful weddings, the ones you witness and feelings of an old-world romance arise. Every detail of the day perfectly captured by George Liopetas. Whimsical floral arrangements made by Amiscora Fiori and an incredible menu of local homemade dishes served by private chef Puglia Delicious.

The most amazing part? The planning and design were done by the bride herself. And believe me, dear readers, she did an amazing job.

The setting at this beautiful private villa is mesmerizing. To reach it, you’re driving down a small countryside road, with only olive trees and the occasional villa in sight. The property itself, full of fig and olive trees, adds a traditional Puglian touch. A fresh and fruity wedding design inspired by Italian summers. Modern table decor and stunning floral arrangements are set outside between the villa, pool, and scenic property. A perfect color mix of soft toned pink, peach, and orange with pops of bright coral tie into the citrus theme. The subtle washed blue linen tablecloth adds an organic feel. Custom limoncello favors and the wedding cake work seamlessly into the design. Think lemon, vanilla, and buttercream deliciousness. The minimalistic dinner menus with dried citrus slices on top add a modern element. While we’re on the topic of menus… the private chef, Davide, truly blew everyone away with an incredible 4 course menu of homemade Puglian dishes using locally sourced ingredients.

Kirstie and Niklas are an international couple from the U.S. and Germany, who met in Shanghai. They initially went back and forth with the idea of a big wedding and decided on a micro wedding vacation with just their immediate families together at this beautiful villa for a week. As they mentioned ‘Our families, living in different countries, don’t often get to spend time with each other and this quality time means a lot to us.’

After the champagne toast, the father of the groom read out a beautiful, personal fairytale that he created for Kirstie and Niklas about their lives and journey together, as 2 stars in the sky. Something they will cherish forever. This along with the perfect setting during golden hour in the warm Puglian air, was nothing short of magical.

From the bride… We’re an international couple, from the US and Germany. We met in Shanghai and spent a month there together. On our last day there together, when parting ways at the train station, I told him I really hoped we would see each other again. He told me he knew we would. I took it with a grain of salt, the thought international relationship seemed daunting. He stuck to his word and flew to NY after a few months apart and stayed with me for the 3 months his visa allowed. A few months later after graduating, we both moved to Berlin together. I had never been there before, was unsure if I would get a visa, and had no clue what life would look like, but I trusted that we would figure it out together – and that’s what we did. Fast forward 4 years and we’ve moved together to Zurich mid-pandemic with many complications, visa issues, etc. Through all the hurdles and uncertainties, we’ve gained so much patience. We’ve grown so much individually and together along our journey so far and are excited for what the future brings. We are forever grateful for that trip to Shangahi that led us together. Onto the next chapter as Husband and Wife.

The atmosphere, incorporating elements specific to Puglia, and that everyone has an amazing time together. We look forward to a memorable week in Puglia, with just our immediate families. We initially went back and forth with the idea of a big wedding and decided on a micro wedding / vacation hybrid given the ever changing restrictions. Our families, living in different countries, don’t often get to spend time with each other and this quality time means a lot to us. We will spend a week together in a villa and will drive from Zurich all the way to Puglia seeing lots of beautiful Italian cities along the way. Looking forward to lots of love, laughs, and limoncello.

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George Liopetas Fine Art Photographs

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A Whimsical Wonderland On Italy’s Lake Como

Anastasia and Alexey got married on the shores of Lake Como at a historic villa on a warm September day. They transformed Villa Balbiano into a fanciful fairytale complete with fairies, fawns, and other magical creatures! From the all-white ceremony with flowers designed by Haute Couture Flower that seemed to grow from where the couple stood to the reception filled with touches of luxurious gold, every inch of this wedding designed and planned by Happy Moments Collector feels enchanted. Andrew Bayda artfully captured the whimsy of the day in his elegant imagery, get lost in all the fun in the full gallery.

From Happy Moments Collector… Before the ceremony, guests were welcomed by the fairies, fawns, and unique magical lady creatures. The magical creatures showed the way to the ceremony and at a certain moment opened the gates to the villa, so the guests could proceed to the area with the magnificent view of the lake.

After the ceremony there was a traditional Italian aperitif time with lots of food and drinks. On the “secret garden” gates there were two fairies acting. An immersive theater act happened in between the guests when a couple of artists started singing and performing a duel with swords.

Before the cut of the cake actors performed once again in some special led light costumes after which they guided the guests to the cut of the cake area where the truly special moment happened. The cake cutting moment finished with fireworks after which all of the guests danced the night away.

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The Heritage Collection

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That Wedding Moment When Your Guests See Their Table for the First Time, with the SMP Shop at Michaels

There will be many moments popping up during your wedding day that have guests taking little mental snapshots (you know, like Jim and Pam in their Niagara Falls wedding episode of The Office?). When you or your partner walk down the aisle, when your officiant says “You’re now married, you may kiss the bride!,” when they get a first taste of the cornucopia of cuisine and signature sips that comprises your cocktail hour, and when they finally walk into your reception space and find their seats (among many others, of course) for your grand entrance. They won’t just pull out their chairs and plant themselves according to their place cards, either. Nope! They’ll all gather around the table, stealing glances of the celebration space in its entirety, and then take stock of the tablescape – from the candles and centerpieces to the table numbers, table linens and place settings. It’ll be one of those major “Wow, they truly didn’t overlook any detail of this day, did they?” moments in time, and while you’ll obviously want your guests to have fun – a packed dance floor will tell you that – you’ll also want them to feel totally at home at their table.

Here are some of our favorite tablescaping helpers from our own Style Me Pretty Collection at Michaels! Whether you’re having your reception in a beautiful open-air venue, an equally intimate and intriguing warehouse or loft space, or an enchanting, natural light-filled ballroom or tented garden, you can be certain any table you set with these pretty pieces of decor will sparkle. And the best part?! You can shop the collection in store and see all of the beautiful details in person!

Photo by Clary Pfeiffer

Candles

Candles are just the thing to light up your day and the love story that brought you there. From matte and metallic tea light holders to elegant cream tapers in wooden or delicate gold candle holders, however you choose to illuminate your tables is sure to set everyone’s hearts aglow.

Photo by Julie Livingston Photography

Photo by Courtney Leigh

Black Matte Magic

If you’re after some modern edge and a fashionable touch to your tabletops, matte black candle holders will do it. They can also bring a level of mood and festiveness to undressed wooden tables, intermixed with flowing garlands and green botanicals. The look is so fresh and crisp, especially for fall nuptials when you might not want to saturate the scene with too many call-backs to foliage.

Photo by Courtney Leigh

Table Numbers

Table numbers help your guests find their seats straight away and with several styles to match your setting, modern, boho, romantic, and traditional, you don’t have to opt for what your venue already provides. Scalloped edge silver or gold metallic numbers are classic, but tweaking in the most subtle ways with wooden or acrylic table number holders can make the effect more rustic or minimalist.

Photo by Tanya Menoni

Black and White Table Numbers

We’re fangirling hard for our brand-new black and white table numbers featuring calligraphed numbers beneath the stunningly-scripted ‘table’ – both in charcoal hues. The border is just barely antiqued, making the numbers a perfect blend of something old and something new.

Photo by Courtney Leigh

Place Cards

Place cards offer the most poignant hint of personalization at every guest’s seat. Fitting for a formal wedding reception, ours can easily work for seating assignments at other pre-wedding festivities, including the small-group bridal luncheon or rehearsal dinner. Scalloped edging and either gold or silver foil borders can be mixed and matched with acrylic and wooden holders to vibe with your venue.

White with Black Border Place Cards.

Just like the torn edges on the new table numbers, the new, faintly-tattered place cards with black borders translate into traditional and contemporary styling, all at once.

Photo by Courtney Leigh

Whether you’re embracing the beauty of long banquet tables or tailoring a petite setup for your Sunday brunch wedding, your choices for curating a reception table look you and your guests will love are endless. Turn your tablescaping skills up a whole notch with fail-proof designing how-tos from our editors and the perfect products to turn your vision into reality!

Photo by Courtney Leigh

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Courtney Leigh Photography

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A Fairytale Wedding Under Tuscan Sun

Imagine falling in love with a dress that you saw in a magazine, finding out it wasn’t even on the market yet, and then becoming the first ever real bride to wear it on her wedding day! Oh, and then it subsequently becoming majorly instagram-famous. Well, that’s the story of our beautiful SMP bride, Maria! To see all the swoon-worthy details from their fairytale wedding under the tuscan sun planned by Happy Moments Collector – complete with blooms by Haute Couture Flower, sparkling string lights and a peacock – head on over to the full gallery of inspo, all taken by Andrew Bayda and Artur Nechaev!

From Anastasia of Happy Moments Collector… When we met the very first time Maria and Stas – we just fell in love. Pure beauty of Maria just simply took our breath away. First we started thinking of Lake Como as a place of the event but after we found the unique villa in Tuscany and the couple visited it – the decision was made immediately. Bride and Groom wanted to gather all the closest family and friends in one villa and to enjoy couple of memorable days all together to celebrate their love! Maria chose as the main colour palette blush, peach and greenery that perfectly matched the villa itself and the surroundings.

The flower arrangements were meant to be natural looking and fresh, inspired by the venue and the Tuscan hills. We can’t help mentioning the peacocks that live on the territory of the villa! And we were lucky enough to have them posing together with the bride for some pictures and making the event in time they have their beautiful tails. I guess, you may not know that the tail of the peacock is beautiful only during some certain period of time during the year. By August/September they lose it in order to grow it once again by Spring time.

Ceremony was followed by Italian style rich aperitif hour and the dinner accompanied by an Italian band singing famous songs. After we proceeded with dancing near the pool – and OMG, you haven’t seen that amazing dance performed by the couple. It was just something out of words! By the way, it was really hard for Maria to find the dress of her dreams.

Her heart was stolen by the dress of Galia Lahav and it was not yet on the market, only in catalogues and it seemed impossible to be found by the date of the wedding. But Maria managed and found the dress and she was the first ever real bride wearing this masterpiece by Galia Lahav. This dress looked like it was made for Maria.

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An Intimate Wedding On A Tropical Island Off Florida’s Coast

Welcome to paradise. This tropical wedding off of Florida’s coast is just brimming with beauty. From hand-picked sand dollars with custom hand-calligraphed name tags sitting upon a display of blue hydrangeas as escort cards to an entryway into the reception tent lined with green ferns and a floral archway by the ever-talented Botanica, this special day is elegance all the way. Nicole Kaney planned a day filled with special touches and carefully curated details all artfully captured in the imagery by Justin DeMutiis. Visit the full gallery for a closer look at all the fun.

From Justin DeMutiis… Charley and John, along with their families, hosted an intimate and fun-filled weekend in Boca Grande. Covid caused Charley and John to reduce their guest count from the intended 175, down to just 34 (including Charley’s beloved dog, Peaches!)

The ceremony was held outside in the middle of the iconic Banyan Street; Closing the street down to the public allowed for a complete transformation with a stunning arch with bursting hydrangea blooms, aisle florals, and a white aisle runner lined with rose petals. The bride’s father and brother surprised everyone by playing a song once the bride joined her groom at the altar, leaving not a dry eye in the crowd.

The tables contained large, statement centerpieces with tropical palms, hydrangeas, and orchids galore, as well as the custom embroidered napkins. When guests weren’t on the dance floor, they could be found seated in the lounge furniture or by the dessert bar. Charley and John’s day was truly magical!

Double The Arch, Double The Style At This Dreamy San Diego Wedding

This San Diego wedding is dripping with darling details. From the dreamy watercolor invitation suite by Fourthings Paper to the double floral arches dreamed up by The Little Fleur Co the entire day feels like a fabulous fairytale. Our favorite part? A garlic bread bar with tons of tasty toppings. Nicole Manalo Events created a day that proves a smaller guest list doesn’t mean you have to skimp on style. Every magical moment is perfectly captured in the imagery by Charissa Magno Photography. Visit the full gallery for a closer look at all the lovely.

From Nicole Manalo Events… A tiny wedding, with big details! Having gone through the pandemic and still having smaller intimate weddings, we wanted to showcase that couples can have a big beautiful wedding but on a smaller scale.

No matter big or small you should have a wedding that embodies you and the guests experience what you like for the day. In this shoot, you’ll see the couple’s favorite snack (garlic bread), favorite drink (champagne), and them riding in style in their favorite car.

It was a beautiful day filled with joy and inspiration. The amazing team of vendors came together to create magic.

Ethereal Romance In The Mountains Of North Carolina

With soft lush florals and a mountain-range view, it doesn’t get more romantic than this North Carolina wedding! We’ve fallen head over heels for this dreamy aesthetic planned by Silk & Sabal and with just one look it’s easy to see why. Carefully curated details fill the day, from the couple’s custom monogram to a fabulous floral installation by Petal And Fern turning the reception into a real-life fairytale. Kristen Weaver perfectly captures the tender moments in her elegant imagery. Be prepared to fall in love in the full gallery.

From Kristen Weaver… Elizabeth and Ed were married in a luxury mountain-top wedding in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina! Their custom monogram included their dog, Cash, their horse, and lots of Floridian details- it was even printed on the server’s aprons and tea-towels!

The ceremony ended with a huge confetti recessional. Guests were transported to the venue where they were greeted with refreshing Sangria cocktails.

Their floral details were soft and lush, and the Chateau was filled with white linens, stone plates and candles. 150 guests traveled from Miami, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to celebrate with the couple with a Hora Loca including Samba dancers, drummers, and coffee cart.

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This Luxurious London Wedding Looks Like A Modern Fairytale

Kemilia and Jonny love each other so much they decided to get married three times! The couple had a legal wedding, a traditional Nigerian wedding, and lastly a classic “white dress” wedding and all we can say is wow. The sophisticated yet joyful garden party at Syon Park was nothing short of spectacular. Bramble & Moss Florists wove a botanical theme throughout the wedding with lush greenery creating the look of a modern fairytale. All of the precious picture-perfect moments of the day were captured by the incredible Zosia Zacharia. The day was also captured on film by the fantastic Dan Dolan Films. Take a luxurious trip to London in the full gallery.

From the bride… Jonny and I always knew we would get married three times – a legal registry wedding, a traditional Nigerian wedding ceremony, and finally a classic “white dress” Christian wedding. We wanted to go out with a bang and make our third and final wedding the most spectacular of them all! This is how we ended up choosing to host the wedding at Syon Park.

Once the venue was confirmed, we incorporated the botanical theme throughout our wedding aesthetic. From the tropical King Protea flowers in the bride and bridesmaids’ bouquets courtesy of Bramble & Moss Florists to the groom’s bespoke deep green wedding suit, we added touches of luxurious gold, green and blush tones wherever we could. We also wanted to reflect our diverse backgrounds so subtle references to Nigerian, African-American, Jamaican, and English culture are featured in the decor and wedding breakfast menu.

Guests were given a historical tour of Syon Park before being led to a cocktail hour in the courtyard where they could sip signature cocktails and enjoy a saxophonist and lawn games. After dinner we set up a Cuban rum and cigar bar on the lawn as well as a gelato truck and snack station to keep the guests’ hunger at bay after all the dancing!

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Classic Meets Modern At This Chic Cape Cod Wedding

Kevin and Carolyn turned their Cape Cod wedding into a modern retreat with classic details we can’t get enough of. Lovers of timeless touches with a twist, the couple filled their day with a blue and white color scheme, lots of fresh greenery, and even more love. Kinship Floral helped bring the vision to life with show-stopping centerpieces that were not only beautiful but also full of sentiment. The bride was very close to her grandmother and to honor her memory tiny glass angels were hidden within the flowers. All of the meaningful moments were artfully captured in the imagery by Lynne Reznick Photography. Take a closer look at all the contemporary cool in the full gallery.

From Lynne Reznick Photography… Chatham Bars Inn is a gorgeous luxury resort on Cape Cod and offered plenty of beautiful options for Carolyn and Kevin to get ready with their friends on the morning of their wedding. Carolyn and the girls relaxed in cute lace-edged dusty blue robes as they had their hair and makeup done. Then they went out on the veranda of the bridal suite to pop some champagne before getting into their dresses and heading to the church.

As an event consultant, it’s not surprising that Carolyn has a love for party planning. So it was no surprise that Carolyn and her mom planned an absolutely gorgeous and personal event with lots of sentimental touches – including hand-blown glass ornament wedding favors packed in a little white box and wrapped with a bow.

The bride brought together a team of vendors who are all friends and created an absolutely beautiful celebration that was really fun to capture and work together on. The theme throughout was about hosting a wonderful celebration for guests and going “classic…but make it modern”.

You’ll Never Believe This Magnificent Italianate Palace is in the Rural Part of Virginia, Atop Mountains!

You won’t believe this Italian palazzi-inspired wedding took place in the Virginian mountains! Channeling luxurious intimacy and balancing timelessness with modernity, Fleur Avenue Events reimagined a traditional Italian wedding for this fashion-forward couple at the Swannanoa. Drama was infused into every grand detail — from the bride’s French lace cathedral veil and not one — but two — ornately-crafted gowns, to the venue’s lofty archways and artistically-styled florals. Nikki Santerre captured the ultra-chicness of the celebration with a fine-art style. Experience the splendor of this beautiful day at the full gallery!

From Nikki Santerre… Inspired by classic bridal look, epic architecture of Italian palazzi, and couture wardrobe, this editorial designed and planned by Fleur Avenue Events channeled the luxurious intimate celebration at former splendor and now decaying grandeur of Swannanoa Palace behind the modern interpretation of a traditional Italian wedding for a fashion-driven couple.

Featuring stylish ornate wedding gown, a show-stopping cathedral veil with French lace detail, lush and dramatic reception setup in between archways of the majestic Italianate summer villa, and vibrant fine art style of film photographer Nikki Santerre, modern wedding planning couples are invited to take inspiration from sumptuous iconic locations to create an elegant heirloom-driven day for their marriage celebration.

3 Reasons You’ll Want to Plan On Having Your First Just-Engaged Shopping Trip at Michaels

There are so many amazing moments to look forward to when you’re engaged (visiting venues for the first time, deciding on a date, choosing your bridal party, etc.), but one that’s especially standout? When you go shopping for the first time with that ring (or whatever type of special proposal bauble your S.O. surprised you with 😍) on your finger and that new role of fiancé dancing around in your head. You may have already started gathering ideas and inspiration about your wedding day via social media or real wedding content online (hint hint!), but once you start shopping, you can actually start building your vision board for the big day. And there really isn’t a better place to do it than Michaels. We’ve been making real-life wedding magic with the arbiters of all things arts and crafts for years now, and we’re so excited to bring even more Style Me Pretty stamps to the brand’s in-store aisles.

Photo by Courtney Leigh

Have any plans to go shopping with your partner, your besties, or your MOB anytime soon? Because you might want to make a stop at Michaels first and foremost!

You’ll have a whole hype team of support surrounding you

When you shop in a Michaels store, especially as a bride-to-be, you can just feel all the palpable make-it-you, make-it-yours energy from the minute you walk through the doors and start weaving your way through aisles. And that’s what we LOVE about our partnership. All of us are thrilled to see you turn the page in your love story, and we can’t wait to see what personal and signature flourishes you make to your event.

You’ll have decorative elements and festive touches at your fingertips—to last throughout your entire engagement

Your wedding day is the main event, of course, but when you visit a place like Michaels, with all of its blank-canvas potential, you might feel inspired to have an engagement party, to go all out with gifts or unique proposal props to make your prospective wedding party smile when you ask [for their participation in your day] and when you thank them [for being supportive through it all], to embrace DIY when it makes sense (and when it’s fun, playful, and non-stressful). It opens a lot of doors, so to speak, when you’re planning something as big as a wedding.

Photo by Courtney Leigh

You’ll have pretty point-of-reference pieces to guide the rest of your planning decisions

Not every couple has a clear-cut vision of their vows from the beginning—and that’s completely OK. In fact, if you don’t have a particular style (be it romantic, whimsical, classic, rustic, etc.) in mind yet, it’s actually super helpful to be able to shop around and peruse through items for your ceremony and reception first. This way, you can really see what things make your eyes light up and your heart happy. It’s that gravitation and that pull to things like signage, tablescape embellishments like candles, table numbers and place cards, and even cake toppers that can help you refine your aesthetic and give you a solid starting point for design conversations with all of your vendors

Oh! And one last thing… you can count on the collaboration between Style Me Pretty and Michaels to be accessible and within reach. Those hanging installations or statement accessories you’ve been double tapping on the Gram can all be made into reality, affordably, for your big day! So, please, go shopping!!

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

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Born From a Real Love Story, Edenwood Paperie is Helping You Share Your Own With Fabulous Wedding Stationery!

It’s all in the details! We’re firm believers that personalized touches are the best ways to add a ‘je ne sais quoi’ to your special day. So, don’t forget to set the tone for YOUR unique love story with wedding invitations and stationery that express who you are as a couple! And with help and expertise from Edenwood Paperie, you’ll be sharing the love with stationery that is hand-designed, affordably priced, and endlessly beautiful.

Born from love (in the literal and figurative sense) in August 2019, Edenwood Paperie was inspired by its Founder’s real life wedding journey. She sought out to plan her dream wedding and along the way, realized there was a gap in the market for beautiful, high-quality wedding essentials that fit within a budget. Edenwood Paperie reflects a love for design & celebrations and a desire to create budget-friendly products for your wedding that you’ll fall in love with and remember forever.

YOU are at the center of Edenwood Paperie’s creative process with the ability to customize professionally designed templates at a low cost. And, personalizing your wedding stationery has never been so easy with an intuitive web-based software that allows you to edit, download, and print all in the same day! Check invites off the list and feel good knowing you’re getting fabulous for a fraction of the price!

Photography: Wild Spruce Photography | Stationery: Edenwood Paperie

This Lush ‘Springtime in the City’ Editorial Beautifully Captures The Universal Feeling of Love!

Love is for everyone! With iconic Central Park locations and a breathtaking skyline view, Jacqueline Denise planned a ‘Spring in the City’ editorial that exquisitely captures the universal feeling of love. From the light & airy color palette and bright floral displays by DESIGNS BY AHN to the cherry blossom trees scattered throughout Central Park, every detail exuded the blissful effervescence of the season — AND love! This shoot celebrated the real-life couple with a classic & elegant aesthetic that sprinkled in whimsical hints with the most adorable macarons by We The Birds and rosy-hued table settings. Inquisited blew us away with her heavenly stationery suite, per usual. Stop by the full gallery to see all the springtime magic that By Halie shot on this lush day!

From Inquisited… When Jacqueline Denise of Jacqueline Denise Events started planning this editorial it was early January, 2021. The pandemic was still a very real way of life and it was the day after the riots in the US capital. Standing in the center of Central Park collecting her own thoughts about what 2021 was going to bring the world, there was a moment where she looked around her and realized that no matter what was going on in the world, one thing was still and always will be true – Love is universal. It’s unconditional, and it deserves to be celebrated. With the idea that love is universal, Jacqueline Denise began creating the design board for the springtime Central Park Shoot with the overall goal of showing people how beautiful something small and intimate can be as well as celebrate all forms of love. To celebrate all forms of love, she chose to highlight a lesbian wedding with brides of different races and sizes.

With so many gorgeous couples out there it was important to Jacqueline Denise, that Jacqueline Denise Events clearly show that weddings are for everyone. Jacqueline Denise pulled inspiration from springtime in Central Park to create the feelings of classic, elegant and just a hint of whimsical. The colors therefore were all bright, light and airy to reflect the refreshing feeling spring gifts us. Jacqueline thought about Bow Bridge, the Boathouse, yellow taxi cabs, and cherry blossom trees for the color palette. For the final locations and set up of the shoot, Jacqueline Denise took it one step further and loved the idea of having the first look in Central Park and then the Ceremony and Reception in a private park along the hudson in West New York, NJ, so that the NYC skyline could be highlighted and celebrated as well. Fun fact – it was just a 20 minute drive between both locations! The paper, designed by Inquisited, was romantic and the perfect compliment to the soft pink and gold scalloped plates from Uniquely Chic Vintage Rentals. Uniquely Chic Vintage Rentals also provided all of the tablescape pieces, arch support, table and chairs. We purposefully chose a love seat on one side of the table and 3 chairs on the other so that a couple could see they had options and could sit apart or cozied up!

To add a fun whimsical surprise to the table, custom macarons flown in from Dallas, made by We the Birds, were used in place of place cards. The names chosen were all mentors that encouraged Jacqueline Denise Events to be created. In weddings it’s always fun to see something unexpected and reimagining the place cards was a great opportunity for that. One of the best parts of the day was watching Victoria and her team at Victoria Ahn Designs, create the most gorgeous floral arrangements for the Arch, bridal bouquets and tablescape. Using a mix of peonies, and other fresh spring flowers, every petal of every flower was thoughtfully considered and their work was absolutely exquisite. For the dresses and the models, Bridal Reflections absolutely nailed it and chose gowns for both bride models that were stunning on their own and complemented each other beautifully when together. Mayumi, who was born and raised in Brazil, looked stunning in the Ghalia Lahav gown. And Stephanie, a New York local and major model in the plus size modeling world looked spectacular in the Calla Blanche gown. Hair and make-up was completed by Jade Kai, Marylou Liriano and Glam by Alexandria. Overall, the editorial was truly a labor of love, and so much fun! As a team we are all so pleased with how beautifully it was designed by Jacqueline Denise Events and captured and photographed by the lovely By Halie.

College Sweethearts Tie The Knot Where Their Love Story Began

College sweethearts Emily and Mike decided to honor their alma mater with a wedding where their love story began, Notre Dame. They chose a color palette that softly played off the tones of late summer, the surrounding architecture, and of course Notre Dame gold. Kelly Lenard created stunning floral vignettes that flowed naturally throughout each space, from a show-stopping entrance to flowing pops of summer toned florals, greens, and candles through cocktails and dinner. The entire experience was artfully designed and planned by Krissy Campbell, who filled every moment with unique and personalized touches. As you can see through the beautifully captured photos and video from the Bon Photage team, Emily and Mike were incredibly thoughtful as they chose each detail of their celebration from beginning to end. You’ll fall in love with every moment in the full gallery.

From … Emily & Mike first met at the end of their freshman year at the University of Notre Dame during tutoring for biochemistry. After a mutual friend introduced them, Emily and Mike remained on campus that summer, getting to know one another, and the rest is history! Fast forward, and they were engaged in early 2020 right where it all began, on the campus of Notre Dame.

Living in the Midwest since, with family not too far from the area, it was an easy decision in choosing the stunning Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame for their ceremony followed by a tented reception on the stunning Le Mans Green on the campus of Saint Mary’s College, just adjacent to Notre Dame, where Emily’s late mother attended years ago.

The stories of their love and the love of their families that surrounded them created the basis for this beautiful celebration while the timeless, romantic history, Old World architecture and natural landscape felt perfectly fit Emily and Mike’s sophisticated, yet authentic style.

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

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Starr Lake Vineyards Classic California Wedding

Romantic elegance meets classic cool at this California wedding. Mandy Scott Events helped plan a day filled with calming colors of lavender and neutral cream tones which stand out against the natural elements of the mountains, greenery, and florals creating a dreamlike aesthetic we can’t get enough of. Florals by Angella Floral Arts bring a whimsical presence to the reception tables with soft white peonies, lisianthus, and compliments of echinops putting a pop of color at each table. All of the details were artfully captured in the imagery by Blue Note Weddings, you can get lost in all the lovely in the full gallery.

From … Having a wedding at the magical Starr Lake Vineyards in Windsor California is nothing short of a dream. This new and fabulous wine country lake and vineyard estate rests on over 22 acres surrounded by rolling hills and spectacular views of Mt. St. Helena. With the gorgeous 4 acre lake surrounding the Estate, Starr Lake Vineyards was one of the new up-and-coming luxury wedding venues to hit the wedding scene.

The ceremony took place on the lawn above the lake where the couple exchanged their vows in dappled light. Guests sat comfortably in the warm shade under the trees where they witnessed Lexi and Brenden exchange their vows and rings.

The reception took place in front of the new modern barn filled with French country farm tables that were decorated beautifully including decadent French-style white chargers with accents of lavender at each place setting. The light that danced off the tops of the vines in the vineyards created green and gold hues of light that poured in while guests enjoyed dinner..

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Lead Attribution: an Essential Wedding Vendor Marketing Concept

“Lead attribution refers to the credit that’s given for a customer’s interaction with your brand at various phases within their buying journey.” – Demand and Jump

Let’s break that down.

What is a customer’s interaction with your brand? It doesn’t have to just be a booking or purchase, it might be that they started to follow you on Instagram, visited your website or pinned one of your images to their Pinterest board. And why does this matter? Because it demonstrates interest and kicks off their customer journey with your brand!

So what is a customer buying journey? We like to call those sales funnels — all the steps that potential clients take as they discover, interact with, convert to paying clients, and advocate for your business or service.

Most common sales funnels:

Instagram
Referrals: previous clients and vendor referrals
Search
Vendor Directories
Features

And why is lead attribution so important?

Lead attribution is crucial to scaling (and investing in) marketing strategies because without the knowledge of how effective a specific marketing strategy is, you lack the certainty that said strategy will actually perform. By tracking and analyzing each sales funnel and how clients discover your business, you can make educated decisions on the best and most effective routes. We call this measuring your ROI (return on investment) or ROAS (return on ad spend).

Particularly with any paid advertising, it’s vitally important to calculate your ROAS by dividing the amount of revenue you generated by the amount you spent on advertising. A ROAS of more than 1 can be considered a positive return. Of course, not all advertising is focused on creating a conversion. Some activities might purely be targeting growing your brand awareness, collecting more emails, getting more followers etc. These types of campaigns don’t always have a positive ROAS on their own but can be a significant driver in getting people into your purchase funnel who might convert at a later date. This is particularly true in the wedding industry where the sales cycle can be longer than 12 months, depending on when your potential client’s wedding date actually is.

According to our most recent reader survey, 56% of couples tell us they hired a vendor that they actually discovered natively on social media. We don’t even have data on what percentage of couples hire a vendor that they discovered elsewhere, then went to Instagram to do a little research but you can be sure that number is high.

What is so hard about lead attribution and ROAS?

Unfortunately the fragmentation of the digital landscape has made it harder and harder to track exactly where your leads are coming from. For example, let’s say a customer sees a picture of your work on Style Me Pretty’s Instagram and starts to follow your page, after a few weeks they send you a message via the contact form from your website. Even if you proactively ask them where they found you – what will they say? They could say Style Me Pretty, they could just say Instagram, they could even say your website. We can no longer rely on consumers to accurately report where their customer buying journey began because the process is non-linear across multiple platforms, publications and profiles.

And this example also assumes they only needed to see your work once to decide to “consider” you. While we don’t have exact data on how many times a bride/groom engages before they decide to contact a vendor, we do know that with traditional advertising a consumer needs to interact with a brand on average 7 times for it to be impactful in producing a conversion. This is called the “7 Times” rule.

And what if all 7 of those times take place in a different medium? Who is responsible for the lead?! The simple answer is there is no simple answer. We have to measure your holistic marketing efforts, rather than looking at each individual investment or activity in a vacuum. And to make things even more confusing, ROAS isn’t the only metric you’re going to want to track.

What else to measure?

Number of leads
Conversion rate (number of clients converted/number of leads in funnel)
Revenue
Cost

All of these data points are going to give you more facts about how your overall marketing efforts are performing. Tracking these over time, and particularly in time where you are changing your strategy, will give you a better view of the specific types of messaging and touch points that work for your brand and your audience.

Despite the fact that lead attribution has become increasingly difficult to track, there are a number of tools that can help you to get a better picture of where your audience is coming from and to help you move them through the sales funnel to a potential transaction.

Applications to track customer information & leads

Here are some helpful tools or simple processes to get started:

Customer Relationship Management: The gold standard would be investing in a CRM – we use Freshsales. Competitive products include: Salesforce, Honeybook, Dubsauto. A CRM is designed to automate the admin associated with lead attribution and relationship management. This can be a huge time saving, particularly if you receive a lot of interest via a web form, and can make sure that your leads are qualified, and have all the information they need, before you lift a finger to get them to convert.
Referral Tracking: If you’re not interested in adapting a whole new system at the moment (ok, fair), you can start today with a process even as simple as simply asking your clients where they discovered you and recording on a spreadsheet. Make sure you give them a list to choose from that also includes any publications you’ve recently been featured on. Ask them to select as many that apply.
Google Analytics: use your GA to your advantage to see how users are navigating your website, where they came from and where they spend the most time. Here is a great tutorial.
UTM builder: A UTM tag is a code that can be attached to any URL for tracking purposes within Google Analytics. We recommend using unique UTM tags for anywhere you place your website URL, whether it’s on your own social or on vendor directories that you’re listed within. You can create your UTM tags via the GA UTM builder and add them to your URLS here.

You can then find your campaigns in GA and see what drove the most traffic – check out this article for more details.

In conclusion…

So to conclude, if you want to feel good about your marketing investments, you need to make sure you’re measuring the effectiveness and paying attention to where your audience is coming from and how they behave before they convert. Tracking social media leads may feel like a minefield and is only getting trickier as brides/groom move away from traditional planning sites to places like Pinterest and Instagram.

However, the more you can educate yourself on what your successful marketing efforts look like, the better assumptions you can make as well. If your number one source of leads is Instagram, you can feel good about investing your precious time into building a following and a strong brand identity and investing in programs that broadcast your content to larger audiences (aka, Style Me Pretty!).

Images by LBB member Ether & Smith | see the original feature here

Fresh And Fun Lemon Themed Mediterranean Wedding In Sunny California

If a Mediterranean wedding sounds as dreamy to you as it does to us, you’re in for a stunning treat! This couple has always wanted to travel to the Mediterranean to get married, but the pandemic put a wrench in their plans, so with the help of Jillian Nicole Events they brought the Mediterranean to California. Lemons were woven into every element of the decor, from the elegant invitation suite by Spilled Ink Calligraphy to a reception with real lemon trees brought in by Brubaker Floral Co.. You can feel the love and happiness radiating in the beautiful imagery by Lorin Kelly Photography. Take a trip to the Mediterranean in the full gallery.

From Jillian Nicole Events… Not only did this wedding have that amazing Italian feel, but this couple also had stunning views for their ceremony on top of the Sofitel LA Hotel. To keep the Mediterranean vibe going, Spilled Ink Calligraphy added hand-painted lemons onto the invitation suite & menus.

Wedding Planner and Designer, Jillian Nicole Events has always dreamed of setting up a tablescape with vintage plates and lemon trees for centerpieces. When it came to designing, Jillian reached out to 3 Little Birds, who provided mix & match vintage blue plates and blue-tinted glassware.

You can’t have a Mediterranean wedding without some specialty coffee and spiked lemonade! Jesse’s Grind provided both homemade drink options for the guests. To top off the Mediterranean-themed wedding, Mija Bakes provided a buttercream cake and lemon cupcakes.

English Garden Wedding Inspiration at the Enchanting Conestoga House and Gardens

Today’s dreamy wedding inspiration at Conestoga House and Gardens is giving us alllll the English countryside vibes. Forte Florals created the most ethereal yet timeless arrangements that perfectly complimented the lush setting. Our favorite part? The bride’s vintage floral embroidered gown – I mean… does it get any better?! To see all the pretty from this garden-inspired soirée, head on over to the full gallery, all captured by Addy Rae Photo!

From Published & Pretty… This dreamy editorial is everything we love about the softness and romance of spring. Drawing inspiration from the stunning Conestoga House and Gardens, it only made sense that the vibe of this wedding editorial was an intimate English countryside wedding. The vendor team wanted to bring out the beauty of the grounds with a pastel palette and lots of floral elements.

From the invitation suite by Dill Paper Company and the handmade paper menus, to the bride’s vintage floral embroidered dress from Ephemerl, nods to florals are seen throughout the design. Among the other pretty rentals (loving the pops of gold and vintage accents), the floral linens from Select Event Group made the tablescape something so unique and beautiful.

We love how the engagement ring from L. Priori Jewelry even resembled a flower! With all the pretty floral elements, Forte Florals nailed the bouquets and centerpieces with timeless designs that complimented, rather than competed with the overall design. Makeup By Leah and Allison Ferrari Hair helped get our model bride and bridesmaid wedding ready with a beautiful natural glow and soft, loose curls. All these details were captured by the talented Addy Rae Photo.