I can’t even begin to explain how excited I am to share this BEAUTIFUL wedding with you all! I wish I could show you all the photos from this wedding, but instead, you get just the snapshot best of the best from the super talented Becky Hill. Caitlin is one of my most wonderful friends, and one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. And I’m not just saying that. You’ll see.

Seriously.

Right? And how about those bridesmaids… and the flowers!

I mean… beautiful. And even cuter together.

Seriously how cute are they?

It was a beautiful summer wedding, with clean, simple, classic decor to match.

And cake. There always must be cake.

Vendor Info:
Photography: Becky Hill
Dress: Pronovias
Bridesmaid dresses: Coren Moore
Men’s tuxes: Men’s Wearhouse
Venues: Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Winnetka, IL) and Chicago Botanic Gardens
Caterer: Calihan Catering

So with the new WBO design, comes a whole bunch of new stuff too. The first, the return of WED favorites! We’ll be highlighting aisle inspiration from some of our favorite wedding bloggers, on everything from super stunning bridal beauties to wedding inspiration that, in the words of Katy Perry… will totally melt your popsicle. It’s just that hot.

So let’s kick-this off right with some of the super wedding heavy-weights, and my personal favorites  this week.

First up, an amazing elopement from Vané at Brooklyn Bride. Why do I love this? You mean besides the balloons and the fact they married themselves. Yes. They married themselves. You can do that in Colorado apparently. See why I love it!

See… Taxicabs and Balloons. Sigh. It’s all very Sarah Jessica. Plus they’re just adorable.

I love it.

From elopement to birdcages. This amazing decor brought to you by the Brooke Courtney Photography and Alison, The “super” Knotty Bride.

I think mostly, I just love this because of the note. Nothing like being very, very clear. Too cute.

And finally… because it’s starting to get cold, and I miss the lake, this amazing summer lake house inspiration board from Chris, the super amazing force behind Postcards & Pretties.

Ohhh I have such a fun wedding to share with you all!  I love me an off-beat bride, and Jessi was just that. Wanting to do everything and anything that was as much fun and unique as she and her fiance Benjamin, they put little bits of themselves into all of the best details of their wedding! Jessi and Benjamin married on November 14, 2009 in Washington, PA, and fab photog  Randi Voss was there to capture the day.

As soon as I saw the pink crinoline and the polka dot shoes… please. I was totally hooked.

I mean, how could you not be? So much fun!

From the bride… Benjamin and I are far from your typical couple therefore we couldn’t have a typical wedding.  I wanted to put as much of Benjamin and myself as I possibly could into our wedding as individuals and as a couple. My attire was my favorite part of our wedding.  My dress with my pink crinoline down to my polka dot shoes.  I feel like it just fit my personality.

Like many couples these days, Jessi and Benjamin opted to see each other before the ceremony.

From the beautiful bride…  I loved, for our first kiss as husband and wife Benjamin picked me up and I wrapped my  legs around his waist and kissed (our cake topper matched).  Our son, Keagan, joined us during our first dance and sang every word of our song while strumming his chest as if he were playing his guitar.

From the bride… To down play it, Benjamin and I are Dave Matthews fans.  There was no doubt that we had to incorporate the band into our wedding.  I walked down the aisle “Steady as we go”, at our reception our bridal party was introduced to “Best of what’s around” while we were introduced to “So Right”, our first dance was to “You and Me”,  and Benjamin did the garter toss to “Smooth Rider”.  We named each of the tables a DMB song.  And of course we told our DJ to play as much DMB as he wished!  Our wedding wouldn’t have been complete without DMB.

From the bride… Benjamin’s favorite part was when we were announced at our reception, we were wearing our personalized hockey jerseys… his a Flyers jersey and my Pens jersey.  We may not like the same team but we love the same game.

From the bride… It was also important for us to have a child friendly wedding.  Not only b/c we have a child but because we love children!  We had 2 flower girls and 2 ring bearers and about 20 children attending the wedding.  I had coloring books, crayons, and fun straws at the tables with children and my favorite was hula hooping with all the kids!

VENDORS:
Photographer: Randi Voss- ” I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else.  She is absolutely outstanding!”
DJ: Andy Hutelmyer- “He was fantastic!”
Bridal Salon: Sorelle Bridal Salon- “They went above and beyond anything I could’ve asked for!”

I’m so excited to share this wedding with you today! I’ve been waiting awhile to share this very special day with you all. Chris and Jill are two wonderful and super fun people that I have the pleasure of having around in real life. Which is pretty great.

Chris and Jill got married at St. James Church in Binghamton, NY and then boarded a trolley with their bridal party to head to Brackney, PA for a lakeside reception with their closest family and friends, at Quaker Lake, where Chris’s family lives.But not without a quick stop at the State Street bar, Tom & Marty’s where the couple met at Wednesday Night Trivia.

Mother Nature was not cooperating that day.The side panels of their dinner tent went up and down about three times before the sun peaked through and everything dried up just in time for cocktails. It turned out to be a perfect summer night… finally!

Here are some beautiful photos from Maria at Strinni Studio Photography. Enjoy!

Groomsmen aboard the trolley which carried the couple and their bridal party from the ceremony to the reception and everything in between.

The couple met at Tom & Marty’s a local bar, where the bridal party and close friends joined the couple following the ceremony.

The bridal party enjoyed cocktails on the dock at a close family friend’s home while the bride and groom took pictures. The newlyweds joined them aboard a pontoon boat, to head to the reception.

Guests were bused from town, where the ceremony was held, to the lake for the reception, on a school bus. This was perfect, and easy to come by for the groom, a local elementary school vice-principal.

Fireworks closed out the evening…

My dear friend Katie and her boyfriend of… a very long time- we’ll call it over ten years for our purposes- got married as only they could- in a beautifully rustic setting in rural New Hampshire. I affectionately refer to this wedding as the “The Wedding in the Woods,” because that’s what it was, and it perfectly fit Katie and Chris’s laid back personalities.

Katie and Chris chose a beautiful camp on Lake Winnipesaukee for their wedding, which was casually chic, just like the them. While Mother Nature had  other plans,the little bit of rain didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. These amazing photos come to us from photographer Kari  Herer, who not only photographs amazingly beautiful things, she also creates them. Check out her Etsy Shop too!

Here’s an early look at some of Kari’s amazing images. More to come!

Seriously. I feel like I have been on 18 months of straight weddings. Oh wait I have. And the next leg of wedding season is about to kick-off again. One of my dearest friends… I’ve known him since first grade… is getting married in just three weeks! Kind of hard to believe! Then, my college roomate ties the knot two weeks later at what I’m expecting will be a very laid back and beautiful wedding in the woods of New Hampshire. The couple rented out a camp for their guests for the entire weekend. More details to come on that.

Then we have a little lull, until November, when one of my newest and sweetest most wonderful friends marries at a ski resort in Maryland. Up and down the east coast… here we go

I love it.

In the meantime, I’m taking a much anticipated and much needed little break from the vacation wedding- which is all I’ve been on lately- out west to California for a few days of relaxing with a little wine, and a little shopping… ahh.

That said, I might be missing for a few days, but don’t panic. I’ll have lots of West Coast wisdom to share when I return.

Happy early weekend!

Um. Yes. What is wrong with you?

Alright. Here’s the thing. Thank you notes can be a huge pain. HOWEVER. There is really no excuse to NOT send thank you notes out after your wedding. It’s your WEDDING. It doesn’t get any bigger than that.

The very first wedding I attended as an “adult” (I was in my early twenties) required money for a shower gift, wedding gift and travel to leave my wallet forever.  I never got a thank you note for the shower gift, and I never got one for the wedding gift. But neither did anyone else. Seriously. What is up with that?

Let me break it down for you. 150 of your closest friends just bought you a seriously expensive gift that YOU picked out, slapped some serious cash into a card, rearranged their schedules, paid for a rental car, a hotel, a new dress, stomached plastic tasting potatoes and watered down vodka tonics, and paid attention to you for at least one whole day. (two days in some extreme cases).

You best find 5 minutes to say thank you.

I don’t really understand why etiquette is dying. I’m not saying the prim and proper laws of Emily Post still stand, but remember what your mother taught you… always say “please” and “thank you”.

Kind of necessary kids.

Here’s why you’re ultimately screwing yourself over if you don’t send a thank you note after your wedding.

Someday… most of you will have children. You’ll invite a lot of those people that came to your wedding and bought you pretty, sparkly things to your baby shower too. This is a sure fire way to ensure your child will come into this world with a room full of rattles and bibs without a crib to sleep in. I’m not saying one is entirely related to the other… HOWEVER, how likely would you be to spend money on a gift for someone who can’t even bother to say thank you from the first go around?

That’s what I thought.

Don’t do it.

Technically, you have a year to send a thank you note from your wedding. Personally, I think it’s best to get it done early. I’m not saying you should spend your honeymoon licking stamps, but you should get it done as soon as you get back. If you keep putting it off, you’ll never do it, and your friends will wonder allowed if their note got lost in the mail someday, inadvertently igniting a series of whispering conversations about how no one has received a thank you card yet…

Do you really want your friends talking about your poor wedding form? 

Oh, also. Email thank you notes are not allowed. If you want to go the extra mile and send out both, absolutely go for it. My Invitation Link has great personalized options for digital thank you notes. But you better buy bulk to send out some handwritten thank you notes to ANYONE who bought you a gift.

It’s really bad form not to.

Check out My Invitation Link’s latest  blog post about this too.

 Sigh. So this Real Wedding is pretty special because I have known the bride for a very long time!  We used to play tennis and listen to Wilson Phillip’s tapes (yes TAPES) together when Wilson Phillips was the jam. Ahh the good old days…

 Anyway, when I saw her wedding photo’s I HAD to share them with you. Such magical, magical photos from photographers, Alisha Clark and Luke Walker of Luke Walker Photography (together they make up Lillie Studios.) Very different shooting styles, yet completely enchanting from every angle!

Don’t miss the link to Annie & Dan’s amazing wedding video (at the bottom of the post) from Lillie Studios and videographer Chris! It’s incredible and so touching given their joint musical background! 

From the beautiful bride on how she met her groom…

“Dan and I met in college at Ithaca. We were in the same violin studio (Dan’s also a violinist; turned to Architectural Acoustic Design, but different circles of friends. We were friends but never really thought about dating each other due to relationships we were in. We were both single during our senior year, and happened to be working together on a project together – my graduate audition CD. Post recording session, we decided to go out for a drink. We had a great time hanging out, we decided to hang out again the next night… and the next…. and before you know it, we were dating. After college, we dated long distance, and worked very hard to keep the relationship strong. About a year after I finished grad school, Dan surprised me with a proposal on the beach on New Year’s Eve, while we were visiting our relatives in FL. He apparently had asked my Dad for permission to marry during Thanksgiving. So everyone knew, except for me. Soon after the engagement, we set a date and started planning.”

Photo Courtesy of Alisha Clark

From the bride… “Our main mantra throughout the wedding process was to be as practical as possible. We did a lot of research on pricing and so before we dove into actually booking anyone, we made sure to plan a reasonable budget. We knew we wanted to splurge a bit more in certain areas like photography and food. Less in other areas like flowers, invitations, decorations, reception venue, etc. We didn’t want to start off in debt. Especially with today’s economy. So having the budget really kept us on track.”

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

From the lovely and very budget conscious bride…(WE LOVE THIS)

“I found my dress at a liquidation sale from a discount bridal store that was going out of business. I actually didn’t expect to find a dress there. But the ladies at the store let me loose in their store and I came out with 2 dresses. I ended buying both dresses because it cost me only $500 for both and I couldn’t make up my mind because they were so different. So I was a 2 dress bride. Now, I chose my dress over the other because the other dress was your typical wedding dress- silk, diamond white, plain. The dress I ended up wearing is a Casablanca Bridal Dress, and it had lovely lace on it with a bit of sequins. Just enough to catch some light. Plus it had a really pretty hem. So I felt more drawn to it after trying it on many times.” 

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Photographer Alisha Clark

Photo Courtesy of Photographer, Alisha Clark

Photo Courtesy of Photographer, Alisha Clark

 From the bride…“Our church (Westminster Presbyterian Church, Albany, NY) was a combined effort. We fell in love with it the first time we stepped through it’s doors. We knew that it was our church, and it worked out in our favor. March was a less busy month for weddings, so they were quite open to doing a wedding. “

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

 From the bride… “We went with a florist that had a background in horticulture for the bouquet, bouts, corsages, and church decoration. We wanted something a bit more unusual and not your typical rose bouquet, etc. So I took clippings from bridal magazines and brought it to him, and basically told him to be creative. We didn’t want it to be too matchy matchy. Dan and I liked more modern designs with shape and simplicity in mind. The day of the wedding, I was blown away with all the bouquets, bouts, and church decoration. It was better than we imagined.” 

Photo Courtesy of Photographer Alisha Clark

 From the bride… “Our reception venue (The Appel Inn in Altamont, NY) was actually chosen by Dan, who’s actually been there prior to planning the wedding. So when we started the process he suggested for us to take a visit, and I loved it and booked the place. From there, we connected with our DJ, reception florist, and limo – and because we were working with the reception venue, we were able to get some good deals and great service.” 

Photo Courtesy of Photographer Alisha Clark

 From the bride… “I can’t really pin point a favorite moment because of how fast the day went, and there was so many things going on. But, I really enjoyed my first dance as husband and wife with Dan to our song “Such Great Heights” by Iron & Wine. It was beautiful and touching and completely sweet. It was also when I felt relief from the day, from the planning, and from experiencing a life changing experience. It was very emotional for me- especially after having planned the wedding for over a year and to finally see everything come together. ”

Photo Courtesy of Luke Walker Photography

From the bride on her photographers… 

“We chose Luke Walker after an intensive search and interview process for about 3 months. We had about 10 photographers on our list, local and non-locals. In the end Luke stayed in our mind because of many reasons. 1) he did photojournalism, which we were in love with. His work was fairly vibrant and colorful, and we appreciated that a lot. 2) he was moving to the area from NYC, so he was local! 3) we talked to him over the phone and he was so laid back and candid with us 4) we had a common connection: ITHACA. He used to live in the Ithaca area, and both Dan and I were Ithaca College alumni 5) he was open minded to a different package set up. In the end we ended up with a very nice package with items that were important to us. Luke has now become good friends of ours through this whole process. We frequently go on double dates. That’s how we became friends with Alisha, and how she came to be the other photographer in our wedding. ”

Check out Annie & Dan’s Wedding video from Lillie Studios. It’s amazing and so beautiful. It completely blew me away…

Hello Hello lovelies! Hope you are all well. I just got my new LaFlor cosmetic bag today! I LOVE IT! It’s even better in person. Seriously. These are adorable. I opted for the second fabric pattern – the dark pink and light pink swirly whirly. So great.

I’m also working on some really amazing Real Weddings to share with you very soon! I can’t wait to show you these incredible photos. They will make you excited to attend the 9,000 weddings you have to go to this year. I mean… I’m excited for the ones I have. And there are plenty. These are just the ones I know about… but the year is young and the potential for over-sized envelopes is great.

I honestly thought this year would be a little bit lighter in the wedding load department. Such a lie.

I have just as many, except this year, they’re all on the same days. Here’s my 2009 Wedding breakdown:

Memorial Day hometown kick-off in May, a lakeside wedding for June, a set of same day weddings (one Boston Bruh-ha-ha and a down home southern Tennessee throw-down) for July, three in August (The NH Wedding in the Woods and the 1000 Islands Wedding are same day – think I can make both?) and a Tarrytown, NY weekender wedding. Closing it all out is a Maryland Wedding Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Now, if that doesn’t sound like the best way to spend my vacation days I don’t know what does

I kid. 

I was born to go to weddings.

I know I already posted a yellow edition of the Spring Flowers post…BUT it’s really cold today and yellow makes me happy…and warm.

So here are some more of my favorite flowers to keep you “thinking” warm in this brutal cold weather.

Photo's courtesy of Brides.com