We love sharing photos of the real weddings and letterpress invitations that our fabulous Bella brides send us, but we especially love when we get to feature the wedding of someone we know personally! For today’s real wedding, we worked with Lin Logan of The Stationery Company in Denver and her daughter Jennifer for Jennifer’s letterpress wedding invitations, and we are so thrilled to share details from the big day! Jennifer chose our elegant Jolie design for her October celebration, and we letterpress printed her wedding invitations in pewter and champagne inks. Spencerian hand calligraphy accents by Debi Zeinert added a gorgeous touch of elegance to the sophisticated set, which included a festive reception card and a handy info card that let guests know about accommodations, transportation, and the couple’s wedding website. We are completely smitten with this gorgeous fall wedding — read on to learn about the inspiration behind this fabulous event!

Can you share with us a bit about your wedding and your inspiration for the event?

Our absolute favorite time of year is the fall, so John and I decided that we definitely wanted a fall wedding. With so many of our friends’ weddings taking place in the summer months, we felt like having it at this time of year would allow us to really be creative and different and also give our guests an evening they would never forget during a time when life seems to move at a bit slower pace.  That really served as our inspiration for the entire event. We wanted to find a venue that truly showcased the beautiful fall colors of Colorado while also conveying a sense of casual-elegance that would make everyone feel right at home. When we came across Crooked Willow Farm, we felt no other venue could have captured all of these things more perfectly…so with that decision crossed off the list, we then began planning the wedding of our dreams in a Big Red Barn in beautiful Larkspur, Colorado. What could be more “Fall” than that?

How did you choose your invitation design & ink colors?

I think that when most of us think of fall, we think of the traditional fall color palette of reds, oranges and yellows. Once again, trying to think a bit more out of the box, we came up with the color palette of charcoal gray and butter yellow.  We felt the palette was warm and inviting and best of all, DIFFERENT! Choosing letterpress on luxurious cotton paper by Bella Figura only enhanced our vision, and they worked with us on such a personal yet effortless level that I felt no stress with regard to the invitations.  Our initial vision for the invitation was achieved.  When dreaming about how this palette would be reflected in all aspects of our wedding…from the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers and of course, the invitations, we were sold on it immediately. From there we watched all the details unfold so beautifully in sticking with this color theme. We wouldn’t have changed a thing.

What surprised you most about your wedding?

What surprised us most was how quickly the day went. We wanted to hang on every moment of the day as long as we could but all in all, each moment passed along to the next so much faster than we anticipated. What also surprised me was how nervous I felt moments before I walked down the isle. And furthermore, I was also surprised by the immediate calm I felt just moments later as I saw John for the first time and was walking down the isle with our eyes locked on one another. Read the rest of this entry »

We’re bundling up for the cold winter weather that’s starting to make its way to Central New York, but this wedding has us dreaming of warm summer days and fun celebrations. Candice & Sean included tons of festive design elements for their summertime wedding that made for amazing, cheerful photos filled with love and warmth. Candice gave us the scoop on what went into planning this colorful backyard bash (complete with intricate Papel Picado for decor!) and we’re in love with every last detail.

Can you share with us a bit about your wedding and your inspiration for the event?
We chose a church wedding in acknowledgement of our Catholic and Episcopal traditions and in accordance with our personal faith. We asked guests to come and celebrate our lives, our commitments, and our love. Our invitations requested that guests arrive in colorful attire, and all of the women were invited to walk Candice to the church. We had many people do small readings, and since everyone present was an old best friend or family member, we did not have attendants. Instead, all of the women who walked Candice to the church carried small roses. Our bible verse for the day, “This is my beloved and this is my friend” was a verse that framed all of our celebrations and much of our wedding planning.

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This next real wedding united two Air Force members, so it seemed only fitting that we feature it on Veterans Day! Overflowing with glamorous details and thoughtful touches that reflect Brenna & Larry’s interests, it’s a celebration filled with timeless style. Brenna designed the stylish yet classic invitations and came to us for printing (we featured her beautiful invites on our blog back in March), and they really set the perfect tone for this 1930′s inspired wedding.

Can you share with us a bit about your wedding and your inspiration for the event?
The wedding was held at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. I was an art major in college, and my husband studied in Germany for his degree. The hotel is in an artful German hunting lodge style, so that was inspiring in itself. We both have a love for Art Deco style, and 1930′s music and movies.

A special performance by Brenna’s sister (a trained opera singer!) added a lovely personal touch to Brenna & Larry’s ceremony – she sang a solo from Handel’s “Messiah”.

What advice do you have for couples currently planning a wedding?
Pick something inspirational and plan the wedding around it. For us, it was Busby Berkeley Films. All the black and white contrast and lavish sets helped make all the decisions about design quickly. Keep your venue in mind, too, and work with the details therein.

How did you choose your invitation design & ink colors?
I made the design myself, and trusted it to Bella Figura to make it happen in the highest caliber. The rest of the wedding stationery matched the design, so it was easy to continue the theme. I wanted the invitation to show off the good design, so it was a cream and black letterpress; very classic and always in style.

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We love having the opportunity to share real weddings from our Bella brides! This next wedding is filled with so much vintage prettiness — Shawna (a member of the amazing Style Me Pretty team) included lots of personal touches, soft pretty colors, lace, and the perfect dose of Southern charm for her & Matt’s springtime celebration. She even started a new family tradition! Shawna decided on our Harlow design for her invitations, and they fit her wedding style to a T. Read on for all of the pretty little details, and don’t miss Shawna’s advice if you’re currently planning your own wedding – she’s got some great tips!

Can you share with us a bit about your wedding and your inspiration for the event?

Matt and I had our wedding in Hill Country in Fredericksburg, Texas. The ceremony and reception was at the Hoffman Haus, a cottage property that’s close to the main street.  We wanted a charming, home style wedding that we would love always. Our vintage and warm colored décor was inspired by the property; we had doilies, burlap, lace, vintage silver and haybales. Guests were greeted with peach lemonade and mini peach ice cream cones.  The ceremony was a dream, violins played a combination of traditional and beatles songs. It was a simple, pretty garden wedding. Matt looked so handsome in his dark brown 3-piece suit and I loved my dress. The crystals on the belt were from my grandma and my short blusher veil made me feel glamorous.

Our vows were more on the traditional side and we had a tree planting with a gardenia shrub. I added photo books, handmade wedding facts about both of our families and matchbooks as additional décor.  The hors d’oeuvres at our cocktail hour and our dinner menu featured a blend of Italian and Texas cuisine. Texas beers and wine were also served. The food stations were fun; we had a yummy bruschetta bar and a Bellini bar that was so pretty. Our first dance was a waltz. We danced with friends to all kinds of music including hip hop, country. Matt played the Texas Tech fighting song before the garter toss. I started a mother/daughters dance tradition in our family: me, my mom and two sisters jammed to Poison by Bobbi Brown. I think everyone had seconds of the wedding cake, it was delicious

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We absolutely love seeing the fabulous celebrations that go hand-in-hand with the invitations we get to print everyday, and we’re always especially excited to see Bella Figura weddings on Style Me Pretty!  Anne & Tommy’s Redondo Beach wedding was absolutely gorgeous, so today we’re sharing some of our favorite photos from their big day. The couple chose our elegant Irving invitation to set the tone for their wedding. The design was printed in pale gray and amethyst inks on our white paper for a chic look that coordinated perfectly with the rest of their wedding day elements.

Congratulations to Anne & Tommy!

Vendors:

Photography: Kaysha Weiner Photographer
Flowers: Rebecca’s Bloomers Floral Design and Decor
Event Planning: Tiffany Weddings
Ceremony & Reception Location: Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club
Dress: Adele Wechsler
Make-Up & Hair: Serene Bridal Beauty
Favors: Isabella’s Cookie Company

We are absolutely delighted to share this next real wedding. We printed invitations and programs in our String Calligraphy design to set the tone for Sionne & Nick’s elegant summer wedding, and we were so thrilled when Sionne sent us photos from the big day. She was kind enough to share some of the details of what went into planning this stunning celebration.

What was your favorite part of the day?

We loved the entire weekend that we celebrated with our family and friends – it was so special to get to share one of our favorite places with everyone!  Our favorite memory of the day, however, is our actual wedding ceremony.  One of our best friends, Charles Collins-Chase, officiated our wedding and did the most incredible job.  He centered our ceremony on narratives that he requested that we both write – and not discuss with each other – to explain why we wanted to get married and what getting married meant to each of us.  Hearing each other’s sentiments for the first time in front of our guests made the ceremony really feel like our relationship was culminating in a union that everyone was witnessing.  People kept commenting that it was the most emotional ceremony that they had ever attended and it really brought the focus of the day back on our marriage, rather than just the celebration around it (which was, of course, a favorite memory as well!).

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Chris had the pleasure of working with Elizabeth & Alaina on their Canopy invitations for their super-sweet, homegrown wedding, and we’re thrilled to share photographs from their big day. This wedding is seriously overflowing with creativity – Elizabeth and Alaina spent two years planning, and their hard work paid off. They put special thought into every last detail (just wait til you see the paper goods…the place cards + table numbers = genius!), and Elizabeth was kind enough to fill us in on everything that went into planning their beautiful, backyard wedding.

Can you share with us a bit about your wedding and your inspiration for the event?
We had a backyard wedding for our friends and family at my parent’s house in Olympia, Washington. My parents live just outside of town where my mom raises chickens and has a huge garden. We spent two years before the wedding replanting the flower beds and getting the yard ready.  We DIY-ed almost every aspect of the wedding from the yard to the decorations. I read a lot of wedding blogs leading up to the wedding, so I’m sure I was influenced by them in a lot of ways, but our wedding decor and feeling was very uniquely “us”.

My mother and I have a love of blue mason jars and both have a large collection, so we used those for flower vases. I thrifted some soda bottles for cheap and used those, too. I’m a librarian so we had books on the tables, and my wife is a math teacher – so flash cards as table numbers were perfect. There wasn’t a detail of the wedding that didn’t have meaning to us in some way.

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We were absolutely thrilled to see this real wedding on Style Me Pretty recently – a stunning white affair that took place in beautiful Santa Barbara. The couple’s Majorca wedding invitations set the tone for their intimate celebration, and romantic hints of blush were found throughout the decor. The bridesmaids wore stunning, custom-made dresses by Lauren Bradley, and the bride wore an incredible pair of bright blue Christian Loubouton peep toe shoes, a gift given to her by the groom while they were dating.  We love their coordinating day-of pieces, too – gorgeous table cards and menus are the perfect way to tie everything together.

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Last fall, we had the pleasure of designing and printing these gorgeous invitations for Vanessa & David’s November wedding at the iconic Sydney Opera House. The invitations were a custom design, featuring elements from our ever-popular Deveril design and an intricate custom pattern. The pattern was printed in black on extra-wide belly bands that we created to keep everything packaged neatly together, and was also printed in blind deboss on the back of each card to create an ultra-chic look. We loved seeing all of the amazing photographs of the big day on Style Me Pretty – dreamy white peonies, a stunning 5-tier cake, and soft, romantic candlelight added so much elegance to this black tie affair. An indulgent dinner reception at Guillaume at Bennelong was followed by homemade limoncello (created by the bride’s father) – a delicious treat and a nod to the bride’s Italian heritage.

{Photos by Bella Figura}

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We absolutely love it when a Bella Figura couple sends us their wedding pictures featuring their letterpress wedding invitations. Today we have the privilege to show you a Real (local) Wedding from Syracuse! Christian and Giovanna chose our sophisticated Pavilion (by Amy Graham Stigler) design in Espresso and Dusty Pink inks on our 1-ply ivory paper. They carried the floral theme all the way through with delicate hand painted porcelain vessels wedding favors.

Hendricks Chapel was the perfect location to exchange rings and vows. Giovanna’s family traveled from Italy to witness their love.

These striking photos were taken at Syracuse University – one of the many gorgeous locations in our lovely city.

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