This Week in Weddings

Ah, it's finally Friday! I know if I were still at my job, instead of home on maternity leave, this day would have come with much anticipation, especially with the impending three day weekend ahead. So congratulations working world, you made it to yet another Friday, which gives you reason to celebrate! So instead of running out and spending your hard earned cash at a gimmicky President's Day Sale, let's kick off the weekend with a look at fabulous wedding celebrations featured around the web this week.

This first wedding, featured on Ruffled Blog, caught my eye with it's vintage accents, bright colors and sweet "love bug." Then the couple stole my heart with their romantic story and traveling gnome! Photography by Frenzel Photographers.

This adorable engagement shoot comes from Grey Likes Weddings and features the work of Meagan from The Collective Photographers. I love that when looking at these photos, I can feel the genuine love this couple shares.

What stood out for me in this Minneapolis wedding by Just Bloomed was the unique color palette, the use of typography and those shoes! Yowza! I adore this wedding photographed by Erica Loeks Photography featured on Style Me Pretty. 

Sigh...I just love weddings. Happy weekend!

Bohemian Inspiration Shoot from A Girl and A Camera

I love camping and I absolutely adore weddings, so naturally this photo shoot from Jennifer of A Girl + A Camera Photography caught my eye! The colors, the rustic tent and the intimacy all make this shoot just perfect. See the full shoot here.

Real Wedding: Danny & Marisa

Danny and Marisa are truly a gorgeous couple! They also happen to be two of my favorite people I "inherited" when my husband and I started dating. I featured their adorable engagement session back in February. Today I have the privilege of featuring their beautiful vineyard wedding, which was an elegant and romantic affair for friends and family to celebrate their love for each other. And boy, are these two in love! These pictures perfectly capture this "perfect pear."

From the bride, Marisa...


It all started with the invitation. We were having a tough time drawing inspiration for our winery wedding, until we saw and fell in love with our invitation. Titled 'The Perfect Pear...' it was simple and looked hand drawn, and I felt was just really special. We pulled the chocolate browns, pear greens, and cream colors from the invitation and started with that. 

My goal for the wedding was for it to just be romantic, and beautiful, and kind of whimsical. I am not a super cookie cutter girl as far as this kind of stuff goes, so I tried to stay as far away from that kind of stuff as possible. We didn't have a real theme...I wanted the location and back drop of the Livermore valley to speak for it's self. 

I gave all of the above information to my florist and just told her to go with it, which was a little scary, but she set up our ceremony area exactly as I had imagined it in my head, and everything else ended up beautiful as well.

Florist: Flowers with a Personal Touch (Livermore, CA)
Caterer: Vintage Catering (Fremont, CA)
Photographer: Ben Krantz Studio (Oakland, CA)
Bridesmaid Dresses: Bari Jay (BariJay.Com, purchased at Gesinees Bridal- Concord, CA)
Wedding Dress: Nicole Pronovias (Purchased at Le Boutique Des Brides--San Francisco, CA)
Hair: The Beauty Lounge (Brentwood, CA)

Cranberry & Peach Inspiration from Snippet & Ink

I heart Snippet & Ink. This adorable blog, sharing daily wedding inspiration, often features creative inspiration boards that I usually oggle at for hours at a time. I am mad about the details these boards feature and the latest board is no exception. The fruit on this cake is gorgeous and I am loving the cranberry shoes!

Credits courtesy of Snippet & Ink
Top row from left: buttercream cake with late summer fruit from Martha Stewart Weddings, photo of red sweater and pin curls by Amanda Pratt, photo of Max Gill bouquet by Meg Smith
Row 2: peach garden rose via Automatism, photo of red shoes by Elizabeth Messina
Row 3: centerpiece with red dahlias by Ariella Chezar (photo by Meg Smith), vintage silverware from Napa Style, Karmann Ghia photo by Polly Alexandre
Row 4: envelope with red calligraphy and vintage stamps from Martha Stewart Weddings, red apple photo by Karen Wise, centerpiece with peach roses and pomegranates from Martha Stewart Weddings

My Wedding, Finally!

Seeing how it is the end of October, I am sure that you all have just been dying to hear about my July wedding that I have been planning since the creation of this blog. To assure you, my wedding was, in fact, the best day of my life to date! With so many friends and family members surrounding me and my husband with love and support, how could it not be the best day? And with so many custom touches that reflected our life together it was sure to be a perfect day.

Our wedding ceremony and reception was held entirely at Crooked Vine Winery in our adorable hometown in Northern California. The event included just under 200 guests, 11 groomsmen, and 9 bridesmaids. Combining my husband's Jewish background and our passion for teaching created quite a unique celebration with school-themed decor (including composition notebooks as centerpieces and a yearbook made out of our guests' high school photos for our guestbook) and a traditional hora dance. Other unique elements included a homemade photo booth and ice cream cones instead of cake. To sum it up, our wedding was a PARTY!

A few disclaimers before you view the pictures:
1. As a DND enthusiast (Dungeons and Dragons, for those of you unfamiliar with the role playing game's abbreviation), my husband has always dreamed of straddling a horse while wearing a cape and wielding a sword.
2. My apologies for the length of this post. Over 1,000 pictures were taken by our photographer and there are several that I simply HAVE TO include.

The details...
Event Planner/Coordinator: Lauren Michele Weddings (yours truly :))
Venue: Crooked Vine Winery- Livermore, CA
Photography: Casey MacKenzie Photography
Flowers: Knodt's Flowers
My Dress: Dana's Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: J. Crew
Groom & groomsmen Ties: Tux & Tulle