Source: snippetandink.blogspot.com

Brooke and Raf wanted a wedding that had a down-home feel and was full of thoughtful, handmade details, and that’s just the day they created. Ken Kienow sent over these beautiful photos (wait until you see the sunset shots at the end), and I’m so happy to share them with you today.

Brooke, her mother and her sister have been interested in card making for several years, and even host Card Clubs with friends and co-workers in their respective home towns, and they even get together for an annual holiday card making weekend over Veteran’s Day every year… so it made perfect sense that they would make Brooke and Raf’s wedding stationery.

Brooke’s bouquet was made by April at April Flowers in San Luis Obispo.

Brooke wore Pronovias‘ Oceano dress, and her shoes were from the BP collection at Nordstrom. The bridesmaids wore dresses from Anthropologie (Brooke says she’s still bitter that she didn’t buy one for herself).

The guys all wore ties from Geoffrey Beene.

Brooke and Raf found their wedding venue, Flying Caballos, while searching on VRBO. It’s a renovated farm property that really had the feel they wanted for the day, and they were able to come in and start setting things up two days in advance!

Brooke’s veil, purchased from Etsy vendor Bella Bridal Veils, was blowing everywhere during the ceremony. Brooke says one of her favorite parts of the day was “my un-tamable veil during the ceremony and the way it magically eased our tension with genuine laughter.”

Aside from Brooke’s bouquet, all of the flowers were purchased at Skyline Flowers, a local farm, and arranged by the bride’s best friend, Nena, in bottles collected by family and friends. Brooke says the idea for the burlap table runner came straight from Snippet & Ink!

Brooke was able to get in touch with another bride whose wedding was to take place at Flying Caballos the following weekend. They were able to share the mismatched plates that Brooke’s family thrifted and the vintage silverware that the other bride’s mother found on eBay. What a great way to be both economical and eco-friendly!

Brooke has a habit of buying postcards whenever she travels and then never sending them, so instead of a guest book, she pre-addressed and stamped postcards from all over the world, and asked guests to take one and write notes on them, and then mail them to the couple. Brooke says, “It’s been so fun to read them as they start rolling in!”

Brooke and Raf enlisted friends to help with desserts. Six friends each baked two dozen cupcakes, choosing their own recipes, and even holding taste tests with their own families!

For Brooke’s birthday last year, Raf took her to a cold-process soap making class, so one of the favors they made for their guests were hand made bars of soap wrapped in burlap, jute, and scraps of the same fabric used in the invitations.

Says Brooke, “My favorite time spent with Raf is slow dancing in the kitchen while we’re cooking, so we compiled a little mix with lots of our favorite kitchen dancing songs, and others that have memories from the past six years attached to them. I bought the blank CD holders from Stumptown Printers, and my mom came up with a stamp design for the cover. We had the whole family in assembly mode putting them together a few days before the wedding.”

Thank you so much to Brooke and Raf for sharing this beautiful day with us – I just loved learning about all of these sweet and personal details about your wedding. Congratulations to you both! And of course, thank you to Ken Kienow for sending over these lovely photos – aren’t those sunset shots just to die for?!

Source:  snippetandink.blogspot.com

Get ready – this wedding is full of so many wonderful details, and I had the hardest time narrowing down which images to post, so I just made it a big post with lots of gorgeous photos. By the talented Joel Flory, of course! And it’s in one of the most incredibly beautiful places, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. But I don’t need to tell you about it – see for yourself!

The bride wore a strapless dress by San Francisco-based designer, Amy Kuschel, and accessorized with comfortable white flip-flops from Tracey Asai Designs. Chestnut & Vine did all of the gorgeous flowers.

Adrienne and Jake had their first look at the gorgeous Cavallo Point in Sausalito.

In true San Francisco style, fog rolled in from the bay, making for some beautiful photos.

The wedding took place at the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts. The bride’s mother spent tons of time making flowers from a variety of patterned papers which decorate the benches at the ceremony.

Guests found envelopes of vintage handkerchiefs waiting for them at the ceremony – Adrienne lined the envelopes with images from vintage wedding greeting cards. The programs were embellished with buttons from her mother’s collection.

As Adrienne and her dad were about to walk down the aisle, there was a long pause in the music. The bride says, “I couldn’t deal with everyone staring it me, so I said Hi everyone! and everyone laughed.”

Multi-colored tissue paper pom-poms decorated the altar space.

Carrying the fonts and flower motif over from their invitations, Adrienne and Jake made the programs, menus, and escort cards. Adrienne found an old set of cabinet doors, mounted them with fabric and ribbon, and clothespinned the escort cards to the ribbon – what a clever display!

Instead of a traditional guest book, the couple had a “Filofax” – guests were asked to write notes on cards made from a variety of colorful paper, and then to file them alphabetically.

The family-style meal was catered by Katie Powers. Everything was organic and local, from the heirloom tomato and summer melon salad to the penne with corn and caramelized red onions.

An entire table was devoted to a cupcake buffet, all thoughtfully presented on vintage cake stands that Adrienne collected on eBay. The cupcakes were from the couple’s favorite bakery, La Farine.

The guests could take home little kraft paper bags of the couple’s favorite candies, customized with a rubber stamp from Berkeley Stamp & Engraving and an orange tag, and arranged in a vintage 7up crate.

Another favor that Adrienne and Jake had for their guests were CDs of some of their favorite songs. The kraft paper covers were decorated with vintage food labels the bride found on eBay.

Outside the venue, a bench was made more welcoming with family quilts and plants potted in galvanized buckets – guests were encouraged to sit, relax, and take in the view. I think this photo is probably a good example of some advice that Adrienne has for other brides: “Try to savor the moments and be in the moment as much as you can. It goes by so fast!”

Congratulations Adrienne and Jake! Your wedding was full of so many thoughtful details, and I’m not sure you could have picked a better venue. And thank you so much to Joel Flory for sharing these gorgeous photos. Joel is so talented – be sure to check out his blog for even more incredible eye candy from Adrienne and Jake’s wedding.

Source: snippetandink.blogspot.com

Duston Todd sent over these beautiful wedding photos, and I just love the vintage twist to this whole event…

Both Alex and Leon graduated from the University of Utah, so they liked the idea of getting married somewhere on the campus. The June ceremony took place at the Fort Douglas Post Chapel, situated on the university’s campus.

Alex wore one of her favorite pieces of jewelry: a cameo choker necklace that originally belonged to her mother, and was given to her years ago – and she was wearing it the night she and Leon got engaged!

The reception took place at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts – one of the couple’s favorite places to visit in Salt Lake City, and a place they wanted to share with family and friends. The cake was made by a decades-old, family-run bakery, Mrs. Backer’s Pastry Shop (801-532-2022).

A candy buffet included lollipops and honey sticks from a local farmers market – honey has a long history of wedding symbolism, and Alex and Leon wanted to incorporate it into their day.

Thank you so much to Duston Todd for sharing these beautiful photos with us – you can see lots more over on Duston’s blog. And of course, congratulations to Alex and Leon!

Source: http://www.swsmag.net/blog/2009/9/21/details-emily-nathan-part-ii.html

Yes, yes, the bride + the groom (and the photography, and the flowers, and the venue!) are drop-dead gorgeous!  I guess it’s not too surprising, then, that Emily + Nathan’s reception was equally breathtaking.  We love the simple hydrangea centerpieces and our lovely Art Director has already decided the couple’s four-tier cake is the cake (yes, THE cake) she would have at her own wedding.   A girl can dream, right?  Thank you again to Leigh Miller for sharing this California gem!

Describe your wedding flowers: I wanted to hold a classic bouquet of white roses. I also wanted the flowers to have a very airy, casual feel to them, so I thought my bridesmaids should carry baby’s breath, which tied in beautifully with the aisle flowers.
Describe your wedding cake: This cake really turned out just perfectly! It was very elegant, but simple. I found the inspiration for this cake from another wedding I had seen but my baker put her own flair on it. The cake topper featured two doves in honor of my husband’s Armenian heritage. Releasing two doves at a wedding signifies peace and happiness in the marriage, and the two doves made a beautiful cake topper!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Having a tight budget was somewhat challenging, but I would have to say that everything went incredibly smoothly, thankfully!
Were there any wedding traditions or new ideas you included in the wedding? I wanted our wedding to feel very comfortable and real, rather than too rehearsed or forced. I had the girls wear the same color, but they were free to choose their own dresses and accessories. I think this made them feel very comfortable and it helped set the tone for the entire day!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? I really enjoyed when Nathan and I went with our photographer to take our couple-shots. It was so nice for us to have time to get away from the crowd and excitement to really focus on what our wedding day was really about. The next most memorable moment was right before my father walked me down the aisle.  I was so nervous so he said a brief prayer. I will always remember that very special moment.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future? I am really looking forward to become a unit and having time before we start a family to bond and travel and have spur-of-the-moment getaways! But I am also excited to start a family in a few years.

Congratulations, Emily + Nathan!  Enjoy traveling together as husband and wife!