From Kelly Sauer… The engagement session happened on a cold January morning on Sullivan’s Island, with “hot chocolate on the beach” for early spring – complete with fine hot chocolate and gourmet marshmallows in Norpro My Favorite Mugs, blackberries and homemade French Baked breakfast donuts (recipe available) white tulips and pretty peachy-pink roses, seagulls and sand, a straw hat and oversized sweater, and so very much sweet love it warmed everything up. We wanted a pretty-but-casual feel for this down-to-earth bride-to-be who loves dreaming, and came up with a shoot that crossed sweet with a little French and a little homey relaxation at the sea.

Emily is a kindergarten teacher, Andy is in the army. She’s a sweet southern girl from North Carolina; he’s from California. She’s petite and energetic, he’s a well-built movie buff. They met at church, where Emily watched Andy for a year while she listened to her brother talk about him, but he didn’t make a move on her until a game night at her house, when he started subtly flirting with her. Flirting soon turned to Facebook messaging, and before they knew it, they were closer than they had imagined they could be. They started dating, knowing that it was going to land at marriage, but the ring he’d ordered didn’t come when he thought it would. This couple has a habit of being romantic in the cold – Andy took Emily to the cold beach anyway and they had a blast. A few days later, the ring arrived, and he scheduled a date. It was a teacher workday for Emily, and she wasn’t about to get proposed to in her all-day attire, so she hit a local consignment shop and dressed up for their evening walk to the gazebo, where he proposed as they gazed up at the starlight.

Wedding Photography + Floral Design: Kelly Sauer | Location: Sullivans Island Beach in Charleston, South Carolina | Floral Source: Tiger Lily Florist | Food: DIY, Recipe from Camille Styles | Hot Chocolate: Silly Cow Farm Hot Chocolate | Homemade Gourmet Marshmallows: Haypenny Confections | Bride’s Hat + Necklace: Old Navy | Hair: Self

You know what’s up next…we’re announcing this week’s winners!

Angeline and Cari are the lucky duck winners of four place settings of Noritake Colorwave in the shape and color of their choice (valued at $320) Congrats, ladies!

And guess what, Lauren? You get to snuggle up in one of Doie Lounge’s Lillian or Bettina robes. So fun!

Cheers to the weekend, and we’ll meet you back here on Monday! XOXO

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Post tags: Engagement Shoot
Post categories: Engagement Session, The Blog

Photography courtesy of Coralee & Alex

Oh, this week was ever so pretty:

a Portland wedding trailer which boasts the best one liner
a beyond gorgeous Coachella Valley wedding in a mansion
an absurdly beautiful soiree on the Connecticut shoreline
a shoot with so much inspiration straight from La Jolla
a preppy and wonderfully classic Wisconsin affair
a bit of stationery timeline advice you definitely won’t want to miss
a Newport wedding that is a true heart warmer
a super pretty engagement session in New York
a Washington fête following THE best proposal
an amazingly gorgeous Tuscany soiree
a Beacon Falls wedding that will make you smile

You’re just going to love:

a DIY fresh floral headpiece via The Everygirl
a recipe for lemon poppy seed layer cake via Lemon Fire Brigade
a dreamy Honolulu wedding via Perfect Bound

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From the Bride… While we were planning the wedding we always tried to keep in mind that we wanted this event to be fun, intimate and rustic. We wanted it to be a real reflection of who we are and not just another wedding. We spent our weekends going to flea markets hunting for vintage-like bottles, vases, cake stands, etc. and we spent our weekdays after work creating our invites/save-the-dates in illustrator, DIYing heart garland and tying a lot of bows.

I had two favorite moments from the day of the wedding. The first one was when Kevin and I saw each other for the first time. It was our “first look” and it was an incredible moment. It made all of the nervousness go away and I realized that this was going to be great no matter what happened! The second was when I peeked into the old packing shed where the reception was and saw everything come together for the first time, I’ve never felt so accomplished!

I always thought it was so cliche when someone would say “Your wedding day is the best day of your life” but marrying your best friend + having all of your favorite people in one place + great food + music = The best day ever!

Wedding Photography: Sweet Little Photographs | Wedding Venue + Catering: Riley’s Farm in Yucaipa, California | Wedding Design: Bride | Floral Design: Brier Rose Design | Wedding Cake + Desserts: SusieCakes + Riley’s Farm + Bride’s Family | Musicians: Matt Brookes Band | Wedding Dress: Lazaro | Bridesmaids’ Attire: Thayer | Bridesmaids’ Jewelry: Bones and Feathers | Maid of Honor Jewelry: Luv Aj | Groom + Groomsmen Attire: Dolce Vita | Makeup: Ashlee Rose Clay (Bridesmaid)

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From the Bride…The reason why we wanted to celebrate our love in Palm Springs aside from the beautiful weather is that we fell in love with the retro look of the town. Both of us loving vintage 1960s decor we thought the viceroy was chic elegant and providing us with an intimate setting. We love California, for that is where we fell madly in love with each other! As we started being romantic and dating in California in 2009, we thought it would be a great homage to our love to get married under the sun, also the breath taking hotel of the viceroy seemed to be exactly what we wanted since we had a small intimate outdoors wedding with NO RAIN in mind! My mother and I did most of the planning. For the theme and the color I wanted something fresh but not too feminine, I went through a lot of wedding blogs for inspiration and created my own vision around tones of lavender and purple.

The ceremony was short and intimate. My sister, the made of honor read this small poem: “A soul mate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soul mate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soul mate is the one who makes life come to life.” The best man read this passage of the bible in French 1 Corinthians 13. Alexander and I went for both traditional catholic vows and also wrote each other some personal ones, it was very important to us to make these promises twice.

DIY-projects we tackled: I made some shirts for the bridesmaids, groomsmen, the groom and I. We had put a nice bowtie to the ‘viceroy’ emblematic greyhound dog. Me, my sister, my mother and best friends have decorated the aisle with pomfettis. I also had made as wedding gift to my parents handkerchiefs with personal notes to have them remember this day and thank them for this beautiful wedding. I wanted to let them know I will always be their daughter and how much I love them.

For my wedding gift to Sasha I had a ‘love map made’, small heart with roadmaps representing all the key moment of our relationship. The last one said: ‘This is the beginning of our forever.’ Finally my mother did a fantastic job with the men’s boutonnieres I did not want flowers for the groom and his wedding party therefore we had oversize hearts in the colors of the wedding made by my mother instead of boutonnieres. Our wedding cake was very simple but rather hard to execute. All white with 3 tier cake with a ‘waterfall’ of white petals on the front. I had given a picture to the baker they did an AMAZING job.

Photography: Melissa of Happy Confetti Photography | Ceremony + Reception + Catering: The Viceroy | Coordination: The Bride and I | Officiant: Pastor Mike Coppersmith | Hair: Topper House | Makeup: DIY | Invitations + All Paper Products: Alexandra Castonguay, Formidée Communication | Guest Book: Smythson | Ceremony + Reception Music: DJ Chris Paul | Cake: Jeannette at Juliette Bakery | Favors: Donation to a foundation very dear to my heart, this is the foundation of my best friend who passed away 4 years ago: Valérie Castongay Scholarship at the University of Montreal | Wedding Dress: Anna Maier Ulla Maija “Anastase” | Reception Dress: BCBG | Veil: Gabriella New York | Shoes: Kate Spade | Bridesmaid Dresses: Jenny Yoo | Jewelry: Ogilvy | Rings: Chateau d’Ivoire | Mother of the Bride Dress: Jenna les Collections  | Groom + Groomsmen attire: Me [4] You Menswear

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Post tags: Al Fresco, Outdoor Ceremony
Post categories: Modern, Real Weddings, The Blog

These are basically just a series of versatile toppings that you can keep in your fridge and use to dress up store bought chocolate cake, ice cream, pound cake or in this case… cheesecake. We bought ours frozen from wholefoods and thawed it in the fridge overnight. We also made all of our sauces ahead of time so when my inlaws & our neighbors dropped by, on separate days no less, I was ready!

2 cups of berries (we used strawberries & blueberries)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water

1. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat.

2. Continue to boil for 20 minutes until the mixture becomes thicker.

3. Let cool for 30 minutes.

4. Transfer to a blender and pulse 1-2 times to slightly puree the syrup while still maintaining a few berry bits.

5. Enjoy!

1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. Stir brown sugar and whipping cream over medium heat until sugar disolves.

2. Bring to a gentle boil for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce reduces to approximately 1 cup.

3. Remove from heat and stir in sweetened condensed milk.

4. Let cool for 30 minutes or so.

5. Pour over your dessert of choice and enjoy!

1 cup whipped cream
1 cup sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until smooth.

 

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From the beautiful bride … Dave began working an Israeli startup in 2010, forcing him to make three to four business trips a year. In November of 2011 he was called out again and asked me to join him there. I was fussy about the distance and taking time off from work- I had no clue he planned to propose in a place that is very special to my Jewish family and me.

It rained all week, and on the rainy second-to-last night of the trip we went out to dinner at one of the “foodiest” restaurants in Tel Aviv. After the dessert course, Dave asked me if I wanted to see the photos he’d been taking. Oblivious, I say ok and flip through the photos on his iPhone. I stop at one that I don’t recognize. He sees my confusion and asks if I want a better look- and pulls out the small box that’s pictured in the photo.

It’s a wooden box that my mother gave to him to use for this very purpose. On the lid was Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss,” and inside was my ring. Even though we were seated at a big, round bar and surrounded by people, no one seemed to notice us and the moment was very intimate. This was something we were both so sure of and still it was unexpected and exciting. We turned to the bartender for sparkling wine to celebrate, and the restaurant erupted with cheers of “Mazel Tov!”

The wedding colors were purple, yellow, white and silver. I love yellow as a happy wedding color and yellow autumn leaves. I loved the combo of dark purple and yellow, complimentary. And lots of birch! I remember birch trees from growing up in Latvia, and it’s such a beautiful natural texture & pattern. I tried to incorporate it where possible to make the wedding more seasonal: the invitation paper had a slight wood-grain texture and yellow birch leaves that we found in botanical drawings; the bride’s and bridesmaids’ bouquets were wrapped with birch bark; the chuppah was simple made of birch and moss; our ketubah featured two joined birch trees; our guest place card holders were real Vermont birch branches cut in half (I hand-stamped the place cards a few days before the wedding, oy!); I found large birch-like vases that matched our ketubah and we used them on the ketubah display table; our cake had was decorated with real twigs made to look like trees; a porcelain vase painted with a birch pattern held my bouquet on our sweetheart table during dinner. Did I mention I used a lot of birch? 

Dave didn’t have many requests for the wedding, but he insisted that he shouldn’t see my in my dress until I walked down the aisle. I’m a photographer myself and I knew that meant we wouldn’t have more than an hour for our couples’ portraits during the cocktail hour between ceremony and reception. He insisted, and it meant a lot to him, so I stopped trying to change his mind. It was hard to keep details about the dress or my hair from passing his view during the planning months- but the moment he saw me come down the aisle, I realized why he wanted it that way. He got emotional and held back tears during the whole ceremony, which helped me keep it together since one of us had to smile!

Photography: STAK Photography | Ceremony + Reception: The Roundhouse | Florist: Monica Chimes Floral | Dress: Elie Saab, Pronovias | Headpieces: Nina hair pins | Shoes: Joan & David, Kate Spade | Suit: DKNY | Hair: Feliciana Evaristo | Makeup: Meredith Hayman | Stationery: Jenuine Paper Company | Favors: L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolate

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Post tags: Chuppah, Foliage, Wedding Photography
Post categories: Real Weddings, Traditional Elegance