Real Wedding: Leigh & Dan

I had the pleasure of planning a gorgeous wedding for Leigh & Dan this past weekend, which took place at the historic Wrigley Mansion high atop a mountain in Phoenix. It was not only a sentimental, beautiful wedding but a fantastic, crazy party afterward.

You can see the inspiration boards we created for the wedding and how the boards truly create a look and feeling and ambiance to the evening, which helps everyone make selections along the way to ensure every element is cohesive and synergistic in making a fabulous event.

A huge thank you to the fabulous Christine Pinalto of Christine Kay Photography for shooting such beautiful images. Thanks also to her excellent second shooters from Amy Glover Photography. I must say, the vendors (artists) who contributed to this wonderful evening are top-notch. Here's a quick listing:
Flowers by: The Garage By Ivy
Entertainment: String Serenade and Mancini Entertainment
Videography: Esthetics in Motion
Cake: Classic Cakes and Confections

And now for the good stuff... click the photos to see enlarged. Enjoy!

Fanciful French Fete

I am forever in love with all things francais. This board was inspired by the amazing charm bracelet I found at One Hundred Wishes - a site I drool over. The bracelet is the focal point in this Vintage French Country Fete board. If I could live inside this board, I most definitely would.

Colors: Aquamarine, Early Morning Sunshine, Antique Pearl, Prism Pink

Credits: Mariabella, Lisa Lefkowitz (5), Jose Villa (3), Meg Baisden Photography (2), Karen Wise, Sweet Monday Photography, Open Air Photography (2)

Valentine's Day Wedding Inspiration

I have a fabulous Valentine's Day wedding couple who are just.so.cute. I've just completed their inspiration board with their color palate and it's a wintery-feeling Asian fusion theme. Instead of the basic hum-drum bright red and carnation pink Valentine's Day palate, we wanted something unique and still Valentines-ey, but with a very sophisticated twist. Plus, the bride just loves burgundy and brown.

So, here's the inspiration...

Colors: Burgundy, Peony, Crimson, Chocolate
Mood: Winter Turning Spring
Focal Elements: Cherry Blossom trees, Hints of Crystal, Beautiful Vertical-Hanging Oriental Lanterns

Credits: Caroline Tran, Karen Wise Photography, Karen Wise, Caroline Tran, Jose Villa

Orchard Collection by Lucky Luxe

Ladies and not likely very many gentlemen,

I am so proud to say that one of my amazing bride and groom couples inspired today's blog post by the utterly fabulous Lucky Luxe (Erin Raspberry Napier), designer of Couture Correspondence for weddings. I found Erin long ago when searching for the perfect Save The Date for this couple - she designed their pieces on authentic vintage hankies. (To die for!)

Anyhow, Erin's post features the first invitation suite design she proposed for their wedding, and while they ended up with another beautiful design direction, I have to say I'm absolutely in love with this concept too. Erin apparently liked it as well, since she is now featuring it as a line in her collection. :)

Here's some eye candy from the new Orchard Collection by Lucky Luxe ...

Charcoal & Sage Inspiration

I've created a new inspiration board for one of my brides getting married outdoors on a cool November morning, surrounded by an intimate family group. The ceremony will take place at a beautiful private Villa looking up to Camelback Mountain at the gorgeous Montelucia resort in Paradise Valley. The ceremony will be followed by a large reception the next evening, allowing them to invite lots of friends. Plus, Robyn gets to wear a short, floofy party wedding dress for the reception... who doesn't love that?

The beautiful couple's color palate is Sage (and all the silvery hues of succulents) and Charcoal, with a little Winter White.



What's really cool is that they are incorporating some truly special mementos of some very special people in their lives... the bride will be featuring a single pale yellow rose in her bouquet to tip her Texas hat to her late grandmother who was affectionately called "The Yellow Rose" as a nickname. Robyn will also have a few oranges lining the ceremony aisle to pay homage to her grandparents who used to live on an orange orchard that was steeped in her childhood memories. Now that is sweet.

The MOST Beautiful Invitations. Ever.

Someone, please pick me up from the ground, as I seem to have fallen off my chair. And my heartbeat is just a wee bit too fast. Am I OK? Perhaps not.

The problem started when I visited this Etsy shop to check out some homemade wedding fare. And I haven't been able to pick my jaw up off the floor since. I'm so utterly in love, dare I say I want to marry this person? Seeing as I'm already married, no, but it's darn close. Enfin, La Voila! is the name of this Etsy shop, and it is so chic, so very very chic. Gorgeous, handmade French-inspired calling cards, wedding invitations and more. Simply delicious.

And it is there that I found THE MOST BEAUTIFUL wedding invitation I've ever seen. Period. I'm serious. Oh please, beautiful brides, won't you please choose this wedding invitation? If not, I'll just die. It's utterly and unabashedly feminine and all things lovely. Swoon.......



And these beauties...


Oh if I could only get her to design some wallpaper for my office now. Sigh.

Trend Spotting 2

After gown shopping with a new bride yesterday, I'm loving the new gown lines even more. Seeing a bride in "the dress" still gives me goosebumps!

Continuing on the Spring '10 Bridal Gowns trends theme, here are some additional trends to watch for...

Let's talk skirts. Designers are really putting emphasis on them and making them textured... layered... different... points of interest other than just their silhouette or how they're bussled, which is very cool.

Some other trends that aren't so major, but that are still making a showing are one-strap gowns and lots of sweetheart necklines. Granted, both have been around forever, but I think Michelle Obama's love of the one strap dress has inspired bridal designers to bring it back. The sweetheart neckline may be the result of 40's and 50's-inspired fashion coming back. And remember the bow trend... showing up again today.

Now for some divine Badgley Mishka...




The incredible Monique Lhuillier...






And some Ines de Santo going for the one-strap looks... admittedly not my favorite, but this first little Oscar de la Renta number is pretty hot...






And finally, some 40's/50's fashion throw-backs that are simply... endearing. Immediately when I saw these, I flashed back to Audrey Hepburn, and to beautiful old photos of my older aunts and grandparents, impossibly skinny, in their gorgeous black & white wedding photos. In fact, this first gown from the Monique Lhuillier collection literally takes my breath away. Take it all in.

Trend Spotting: Spring '10 Bridal Lines

I love this time of year where the bridal designers have all their new lines out! There are always some fascinating trends each year, considering how difficult it must be to create them with a mostly all-white long gown as your starting point. But alas, I've spotted several unique trends this season that I'm going to share with you in a few installments this week.

There are 3 major fashion trends I see happening with the big-name designers...
1. BOWS - and I mean serious bows.
2. Textured skirts
3. 1940's/1950's throwbacks

We're starting with bows today! Vera Wang is the clear trend setter in the use of bows big and small in practically all of her designs this year. It's almost as if she's presenting brides as precious gifts to their grooms, which I adore. You'll notice Vera also is giving her skirts a much more textured feel (another trend). Take a looksee...








Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment of fashion trend spotting in this year's bridal gowns!