2 Aug

Real wedding: Erica + Abrahm

categories Details + Decor, Neat Venues, Pretty Paper, Real Weddings

Oooooh. This is a good one, ladies (and perhaps a few gents?)! And by good, we mean delicious in detail and location. And there’s a burro. We rarely get tired of the unexpected theme animal. More people should include them in their wedding plans.

Erica and Abrahm were married in the unbearably romantic city of San Miguel de Allende, home of to loads of artists and travelers seeking authentic Mexico, on Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. How perfect!

They had guests fly in from LA, SF, NY, DC and as far away as Australia and India for a weekend of love and cobblestone streets, good tequila, and probably really delicious salsa. Almost everyone was a first time visitor to SMdA, which made it really fun for Erica and Abrahm to arrange all sorts of fun activities for their guests to experience.

Pretty pretty invites by our friend Viola of Chewing the Cud.

That bouquet is amazing, isn’t it? Just when we thought we were tiring of the succulent trend. We take it back. When it’s wrapped in twine and that beautifully textured, we’ll take it any day.

One of the surprises they planned for their guests was a procession through the streets of town… with the sweetest little burro in the lead. Don’t you love him? Other surprises (MAN, we wish we could have been at this wedding): mariachi band, the FLASHDANCE!, late night fireworks, and a midnight taco truck. They seriously went all out.

Erica is a designer, so she made all the paper pieces for the reception herself. Again, really nice E!

Such a beautiful celebration you two! You included the perfect amount of detail in your vision and your venue selection was pretty spot on. Thanks so much for sharing and congratulations!

Photography: Stephanie Williams
Venue: Casa Chorro
Planner: Penzi/Guadalupe Alvarez
Dress: Monique Lhullier
Shoes: Kate Spade
Grooms suit: Victor & Rolf
Shoes: Ferragamo
DJ: The Flashdance (Holla!)
Invites: Chewing the Cud

26 comments

27 Jul

DIY Cocktail Party Invite by Rifle

categories DIY Wedding, Pretty Paper

Look at these cuties from Rifle Design for the Martha Craft Dept.

Could be pretty great for a save-the-date or engagement party invite?

11 comments

22 Jul

oodles of doodles

categories Pretty Paper

Look at this cute doodley wedding invite Amanda came across the other day:

There are so many ways to tell people you’re getting married! This one is quite awesome.

by Rudi de Wet.

17 comments

20 Jul

A pretty Betsy Dunlap invite…

categories Pretty Paper

To what will clearly be an amazing wedding New Orleans. How beautiful are the lines in this suite? We’d like a sample to hang over our computers, just for gazing at something pretty.

The blind emboss is a map of the Mississippi river. Soooo beautiful.

From Betsy’s blog.

11 comments

19 Jul

Real wedding: Christina + Mark

categories Ceremony & Reception, Pretty Paper, Real Weddings

This is a very exciting wedding, cakelets. Not only is it gorgeous and Icelandic and volcanic and postcard-worthy, it was also styled by our very own Jillian. Hooray! Seriously, when you see these pictures, you’re going to cancel your current plans and opt for a small wedding in Iceland too.

Christina and Mark had a difficult time deciding where to get married. Christina is from Vancouver and Mark is from the UK, and they have close friends dotted all over the world. Finding a location that was convenient to everyone seemed impossible, but Iceland ended up being perfect. It’s between London (their old home) and New York (their current home) and represented everything they wanted in a destination wedding: romance, intrigue, tranquility and 24 hour sunlight!

Christina contacted Jillian pretty much the moment J launched her business in January. Christina is super stylish, but not really the crafty sort. While she loves the handmade look, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to pull it off herself (for a wedding in Iceland) and also couldn’t count on local vendors, who she didn’t know at all, to create the wedding she envisioned. Perfect solution: hire one very talented lady to style it up!

Their invites, designed by Sarah Hanks, were little books documenting not only the wedding festivities but also their story as a couple, a sweet poem by Cole Porter, and a few other travel essentials.

In terms of design, Christina knew she wanted to play up the amazing natural beauty of Iceland and use the land whenever possible. Jesse and Jillian even picked handfuls of the local wildflowers (which are like milkweeds to the locals, but very pretty to guests) and added them to Christina’s bouquet.

The ceremony was outside, overlooking the ocean and lava fields. How cute are the mix n’ match chairs? Definitely a perk of having such a small wedding.

They booked Hotel Budir for the entire weekend and as Christina says, they could not have been more hospitable. They treated their 50 guests like family and went out of the way to make their wedding celebration completely perfect. Plus they got to indulge in 2 am hikes to waterfalls and dancing til 6 in the morning. It’s hard to sleep when the sun is always out and you’re about to get married!

For the reception, Jillian made fun escort cards inspired by the Us Box we posted from Summer of Grey Likes Weddings. Guests picked up their escort card and then found a corresponding phrase at their seat. Christina’s said “I Heart” and “Mark”. Cute idee-er! Christina found the trinkets on Etsy.

Seriously so beauitful, everyone! Christina and Mark, what exceptional style you have! And Jillian and Jesse, amazing design skills, ladies. Congratulations newlyweds. We’re so happy we could share your pretty, perfect day.

Quite extraordinarily romantic, if you ask us.

Planning/Event Design: Jillian Event Design
Flower: Jesse of Rountree Flowers
Photo: Kyle Hale
Invites: Sara Hanks
Venue: Hotel Budir
Dress: Oscar de la Renta
Hairpiece: Sposabella Lace Place
Hair/Makeup: Emily Cheng (Christina’s sis)
Bridesmaids: Laila NY “A Feathered Affair” dress
Dj: Kristinn Thorisson (goes by Kiddi)

49 comments