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.

Guests returned from the church to the sounds of a steel drum band and bright Papel Picado hung from the fence. Tables were decorated with water-colored signs, each named for one of the fruits of the spirit — patience, love, joy, faithfulness, gentleness, kindness, goodness, and peace. As the sun went down, Sean’s nephew Keanu handed out lightup bracelets and led the way on breaking open the homemade and colorful pinata crafted by Candice’s teacher friend, Laura.

How did you choose your invitation design & ink colors?
I love red, orange, and yellow, and so most decisions stemmed from that. Bright warm colors filled the day. Also, the particular invitation we decided on (our Nouveau design by Amy Graham Stigler, pictured below) resembled the paper cut out Papel Picado.

What advice do you have for couples currently planning a wedding?
I advise couples to remember to include the personal touches. We had pictures of us from throughout our relationship on a table at the reception and we had the food set up in our backyard near the garden we built. Also, remember that you may need help and that DIY will require some time. I water-colored the numbers for the tables and made various decorations. Make sure you do as many of the incidentals a couple weeks or more beforehand. And use spreadsheets!

What surprised you most about your wedding?
I was surprised to see how much people love to help out. Setting out flowers and putting together the tables required a lot of help, but our friends said that being able to do the labor and build the event led them to really feel apart of things. Some even stayed to break down afterwards. It was in those quiet moments that we felt loved and others truly felt like they were part of our day.

Candice & Sean, thank you for sharing your day with us! From everyone at Bella Figura, congratulations & best wishes for a lifetime of happiness to you both!

Vendors:
Photography: Bella Pictures
Food: Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue
Flowers: Whole foods and Eliza Dangler
Music: Steelin Jazz

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.

Favorite design element of your big day?
I chose to contrast the stark geometric art deco design with jewel tones and peacock feathers. Since my husband and I are both Air Force (I am a pilot), we created named tables with graphic engineering pictures of Boeing aircraft from 1930s-1960s. A lot of our history buff knowledge was incorporated into the event.

What surprised you most about your wedding?
How quickly the evening went by! The swing band ended up staying an extra hour because everyone was still dancing and having a great time. Like they say, a great party starts with great people, but an open bar and great music always helps.

What’s next for the newlyweds?
My husband is currently deployed in Afghanistan, and I am deploying in a month as well. We’ll be apart for ten months; most of our time dating & engaged we have been apart! It’s just part of being in the service. Appreciate one another while you have that precious time together!

Congratulations to Brenna & Larry! We thank you for sharing your special day with us and for your service, and wish you a lifetime of happiness together!

Vendors:
Photographer: Laurie Johnson Photography, Asheville, NC
Videographer: Signature Wedding Films, Boiling Springs, SC
Swing Band: Gary Lewis & Swing On!

Claire and Brad’s gorgeous New Zealand wedding is one of those celebrations that is just beyond dreamy. Inspired by lace, elegance, English tea parties and summer, Claire planned a stunning vintage chic wedding with whimsical touches in a sophisticated color palette of white, cream and ivory with hints of soft powder blue. They chose our Cartoccio letterpress wedding invitations, printed in xanadu ink on our ivory cotton paper, to tie in with their chic and elegant affair. Claire wore a 1920s inspired dress from Phillipa Lepley Couture and the bridesmaids wore vintage style dresses from Whistles. The guys donned slim line powder blue suits that felt incredibly fashionable and only slightly like Las Vegas (in a good way). Claire and Brad met while attending university and Brad’s father officiated at their ceremony. A sweet love story paired with a neutral color palette and pretty vintage touches make this wedding an affair to remember.

We had a few questions for Claire after planning and designing such a beautiful wedding…

What advice do you have for brides still planning their weddings?
Let things go when you need to, don’t over research, trust your gut instincts with decision making and try to agree on things together where you can – we got quite creative in the end. A mood board is your friend, try to keep true to the original vision – it’s all too tempting to go in different directions. Sometimes less is more. Don’t scrimp on the things that are really important to you, prioritize your top five and save on the rest. Make sure you feel entirely comfortable with every aspect of your dress so you don’t fiddle on the day. Savor every part of the process and the buzz, it goes so quickly towards the end…keep taking 5…stepping back to soak it all in.

What surprised you most about your wedding?
Brad singing ‘It Had to be You’ as the intro to his speech…first time I’ve seen/heard him sing in public…he would have been so far out of his comfort zone. That meant a lot.

What’s your favorite memory from your day?
There was no one point in particular, the whole day was magic. The speeches have stayed with me. Everyone who spoke trumped each other, I was blown away with the thought and story behind each

Thank you so much for sharing, Claire, and a huge congratulations from all of us here at Bella Figura! We wish you all the best and a lifetime of happiness in the years ahead.

Vendors -
Dress: Phillipa Lepley Couture, style Summertime (A stunning backless silk slipper gown lined in silk slipper satin with feather Chantilly lace overlay. Silk satin ties and tail to the shoulder. Satin sash low slung on waist.)
Accessories: House of Waris earrings
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Hair/makeup: Maza White (makeup), Natasha Radonich (hair)
Bridesmaid dresses: Whistles
Photography: Kate MacPherson
Flowers: Flowers on Franklin
Cake: City Cake Company
Catering: Mantells
Entertainment: Blackbird Strings

{Photos by Kate MacPherson.}

We loved seeing these gorgeous photos by Jonathan Young from Leticia and Mark’s recent wedding sent over by one of our amazing Bella Figura calligraphers, Patricia Mumau of Primele. Leticia and Mark were married in June at the picturesque Blue Hill at Stone Barns just outside of New York City and chose our New Calligraphy letterpress invitations by another of our long time favorite calligraphers, Debi Zeinert of The Blooming Quill. The invitations were printed in cardinal ink and the couple then worked with Patricia for the calligraphy addressing and gorgeous escort cards featuring crisp white ink on red envelopes. We love the rich, vibrant jewel tones Mark and Leticia chose for their celebration and the fun pairing of Debi and Patricia’s calligraphy. Thank you for sharing, Patricia, and congratulations, Leticia and Mark!

{Photos by Jonathan Young.}