Kara + Chris’s Sonoma wedding is absolutely darling. From the soft sage and cream color palette to their sweets table covered in delicious pies and handmade apple butter favors. And want to know what else is neat? They sourced all of their vendors locally, from Sonoma County and the Bay Area, including their talented photographer, Em the Gem.
Kara’s bridal bouquet recipe: heirloom roses, hydrangeas, dahlias, amaranth, scabiosa seed pods, geraniums, and succulents.
Nicole + Manny’s wedding could have possibly taken place where they got engaged, somewhere in the southern United States. They loved its charm, history and beauty, but their search quickly expanded to the Caribbean, then to Portugal. Don’t you just love how that can happen? This was his family from Portugal and hers from Romania were able to make it. Their wedding venue was obviously a beaut – Colunata Eventos, a picturesque garden on a mountain overlooking the city of Braga. And they didn’t let the venue do all the talking, oh no. The decor, florals, fashion, photography by Branco Prata… it was all just as romantic as could be.
It’s always fun to see the wedding of high school sweethearts, isn’t it? Well, Christine + Fred aren’t that couple. In fact, they’ve got those couples beat. They met in kindergarten (awe)! So yeah, their wedding was kind of a big deal for all their friends and family (and pup, Miles), that have been dying to see them tie the knot. As Creative Director of the new social marketplace, Luvocracy + one of the most followed pinners on Pinterest, you can just imagine how much fun she had planning her wedding. It included elements of everything they love. From their family dogs to their Latin culture. It was the perfect love story captured beautifully by Feather & Stone Photography.
That’s Miles, their handsome little pup with the cutest little underbite. You better believe he was in the wedding… and wearing a tuxedo!
Love a gal in gold sparkly Kate Spade heels!
The bridesmaid bouquets weren’t as grand as Christine’s, but just as pretty with Sweet Peas, Dahlias, Garden Roses, Ranunculus, Dusty Miller and Geraniums.
Christine wanted a ton of color and lots of texture in her bridal bouquet, and her floral designer, Kiana Underwood of Tulipina really pulled it off by creating a bouquet with Ranunculus, Peonies, Freesia, Dahlias, Poppy Pods, Brunia, and smoke (the fuzzy stuff).
My husband and I grew up together, so we’ve been listening to music together for a long time. We’re big fans of 90′s R&B (the kind of music we slow-danced to at the many high school dances we went to together), so we had a couple of friends play an acoustic guitar version “All My Life” by K-Ci and Jojo at the start of the ceremony while our wedding party was coming down the aisle. They then transitioned into “Just Like Heaven” by the Cure when it was my turn to walk down. It truly was just like heaven! At the end of the ceremony, we all walked out to “Today” by The Smashing Pumpkins.
My husband and I both come from a family of serious dog lovers. Between us, we have 15 dogs in our family! Each table was named after one of our family dogs and the place cards had their photos along with a little dog quote for a bit of pooch personality.
Mmm, a pan dulce dessert table (and mariachi, of course) is the sweetest way to bring in some Latin culture.
I used lyrics from one of our favorite songs (Mint Car by The Cure) to create a personal poster that we were excited to hang in our home after the wedding.
Christine’s bit of wedding day advice:
Step away from everything with your groom for at least 15 minutes at some point on your wedding day. Take in that moment, look at each other, and privately celebrate the fact that you’re about to start the rest of your lives together. They may just be the best 15 minutes of your day.
Congratulations Christine + Fred!
Photography: Feather and Stone / Venue: Dunsmuir-Hellman Estate in Oakland / Floral Designer: Tulipina / Caterer: Wild Thyme Catering / DJ: Mel Corpus / Tables and Chairs: Zephyr Tents / Bride’s Dress: Amy Kuschel / Bride’s and Grooms Wedding Rings: Cat Bird / Brides Shoes and Jewelry: Kate Spade / Reception Dress: Bebe / Bridesmaids Dresses: Donna Morgan at Nordstrom / Bridesmaids Necklaces: Bauble Bar / Hair Accessories: ban.do / Groom’s Bow Tie and Groomsmen’s Ties: General Knot / Dog Tuxedo Vest: Poochie Heaven
Celebrating your first anniversary is pretty exciting. You get to relive your wedding day, flip through your photos and watch your wedding video all over again. It’s bliss. But so is celebrating with a party. Remember Olga + Sende’s Italian wedding? Hint: It was also one of our favorite weddings of 2012. Well they decided to go back to Italy for their 1st anniversary with their very fashionable family & friends. Clara Boatto of Chic Weddings in Italy did such a beautiful job with their wedding that Olga brought her on to plan & design their elegant bohemian style banquet party.
Now check out the party in motion in this sweet video by Origami Videography:
A few words from Clara on designing their anniversary party:
The party was very different from their wedding day, still very elegant but crazier. We organised a gyspy style banquet, with bongos for the aperitif and a make over corner. Everything was set up among the vineyards, with ancient rugs on the grass, mismatched chairs, centrepieces rich of fruit and flowers, old maroccan teapots and church candelabras. It was too beautiful to be real…and all of a sudden, before they even started to eat it rained! Strong rain that wiped out the whole setting…but the atmosphere was just too great to be ruined and we decided to continue partying inside. In 10 minutes we moved all the decor in the ancient mill room where they ended up having dinner. After hours of delicious homemade food, they then moved outside again for the dessert corner and to dance until morning.
Photography: Studio AQ / Location: Veneto, near Treviso / Venue & Catering: Locanda Rosa Rosae / Planning + Design + Florals: Chic Weddings in Italy / Videography: Origami / Make Up & Hair: Francesca / Music: Flavio Di Nardo / Olga’s blue dress: Matthew Williamson / Olga’s shoes: Jimmy Choo / Sende’s suit: Lanvin
Alrighty… time to get our holiday inspiration on, Cakelets! We put together this gorgy shoot with the help of Erin Hearts Court, Brown Paper Design, and Sara Forte of Sprouted Kitchen. Dream team! It’s impossible to resist the romance of champagne and sweets, so we dressed up that time-tested party theme with our Holiday Bubbly Bar.
Right?! If this isn’t a recipe for a smash-hit party, we’re not sure what is. That centerpiece Danielle created had us pretty much gasping for air when it appeared at our shoot. And Sara’s beautiful deserts were as tasty as they are pretty.
This is actually a pretty manageable party theme. Grab a few (or 10) bottles of champagne and gather a handful of complementary syrups and liquors for mixing. Then add a few yummy garnishes and you’ve got a sparkly party on your hands.
Tal from the Pharmacie (our favorite cocktail guru) suggests soaking a sugar cube in bitters in the glass, then topping with bubbly. Or just add a splash of fruit-based liquor to your champagne for a DIY Royale.
Sara whipped up Pumpkin Gingersnap Trifle, Almond Date Truffles, Chocolate Peppermint Molten Cake, and a yummy cheese and fruit platter.
And we created a few sparkly party details to make sipping even more fun.
Isn’t that cake dome amazing? Bountiful in Venice loaned us a bunch of beautiful cake plates and domes for the shoot. And guess what? They’re have a HALF off holiday sale right now!
Pretty, pretty, right? We’d love to actually attend this party. Anyone want to throw one? We’ll be sharing the rest of the shoot (yes, there’s more!), and a few DIY tutorials this week too. Plus we’re giving away a copy of Sara‘s beautiful new cookbook. Stay tuned!
Hop over to our Facebook page for more photos from this shoot.
Photography: Erin Hearts Court / Flowers: Brown Paper Design / Desserts: Sprouted Kitchen / Glassware: Bountiful
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