19 Jan
Real Wedding: Dana & Zack

Today, another beautiful and intimate wedding – just the bride, groom, and their twelve guests. Why such a small wedding? Says the bride:

Originally we wanted to have our wedding on the beach in Hawaii with our immediate family, but when it came down to planning we worried whether the older members of our family could make the trip. So we made the decision to have a wedding in Michigan in September – I grew up there and knew the scenery and atmosphere would be perfect for who we are as a couple: laid-back and casual. We also knew that all of our grandparents could make it easily.

I have to say that the entire day was a joy. Since the wedding was at sunset, we took casual family photos with Andy [Wakeman] and goofed around, then on my own time I got ready for the big moment. There wasn’t a timeline and someone pushing me to go, go, go. I was very relaxed!

My advice for other brides is that the dress is not everything and big weddings aren’t worth the debt if you can’t easily afford them. We walked away from our wedding debt free, and without feeling like we missed out on anything. And on top of it, we got to spend a whole weekend with our 12 family members – it was wonderful!

One of the greatest things about the day was that someone [not in our party] paid for our entire dinner at the Sagamore restaurant! They were completely anonymous and did such a wonderful thing. My husband and I decided that we will pay it forward in the future should the opportunity arise.

Photography: Andy Wakeman

Venue: The Inn at Bay Harbor in Bay Harbor, Michigan

Bride’s dress: Mori Lee

Groom’s suit: Banana Republic

Flowers: BLOOM Unique Floral Creations

Congratulations Dana and Zack – thank you for showing us that simple and sweet is a wonderful way to go! And thank you to Andy Wakeman for sending over these lovely photos.

17 Comments »

18 Jan
Real Wedding: Ashley & John

Photos from my friend Jonathan Canlas always make my day, doubly so when they’re photos from a San Francisco wedding. So excited to share them with you today, especially with all the lovely details from Ashley and John.

Whenever anyone asks me for advice with coming up with a look for their wedding, I suggest using the venue first, then the season, to help shape the aesthetic. It’s the best way to end up with decor and details that are cohesive and make sense, and it’s exactly how Ashley and John determined a look for their wedding:

We first had our heart set on a winery wedding: we both love wine and the wine country, and thought it would make a beautiful backdrop for our wedding, but after months of looking unsuccessfully for a venue that met both our needs and our pocketbook, we realized that maybe we should broaden our search. We found The Hamilton Ballroom after researching many locations. The Hamilton Ballroom is an Art Deco hotel (since converted into condominiums) built in 1929, and we let it be our guide for the wedding’s style. The patio had an urban garden feel and the lobby and ballroom played up all the great Art Deco features. We took those two features and built upon them.

Our favorite moment was the ceremony. John and I worked together to write a couple’s letter, which we read at the end of the ceremony. It felt great to profess our commitment to each other. We were able to have the priest that baptized me, marry us. With it being Fleet Week our guests were treated to the Blue Angels buzzing the church during the ceremony.

John was very particular about the wine we served, and then I worked with Magpie Paper Works to design a surprise wine label for him, using a name John had come up with: “Both Coasts” to represent the two coasts we come from.

Katherine, our florist from Cherries, was amazing. She was able to transform the patio into a private vintage garden oasis. She used her collection of vintage pieces to hold the flowers, and sugared fruits down the center of our long tables.

I was able to use my grandmother’s topper on our cake. In addition to our red velvet wedding cake, we had a dessert bar that brought together our respective heritages: French macarons and Italian cannoli.

Ashley’s advice? Hire a wedding planner! It was so nice not to have myself or anyone in the wedding party dealing with the set-up/breakdown for the day.

Photography: Jonathan Canlas

Ceremony venue: St. Patrick Catholic Church in San Francisco

Reception venue: The Hamilton Ballroom in San Francisco

Planning: Kim Yee Events

Bride’s dress: Amy Kuschel

Stationery: Betsywhite

Flowers: Cherries Flowers

Custom wine labels: Magpie Paper Works

Catering: Fork & Spoon

Rentals / linen rentals: Classic Party Rentals / La Tavola

Best wishes Ashley and John – thank you for sharing your lovely wedding with us. See more beautiful details over at Betsywhite’s blog, Flights of Fancy, and tons more photos (including gorgeous San Francisco scenery pics) on Jonathan’s blog.

Betsywhite is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.

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14 Jan
Real Wedding: Melanie & Karen

Melanie and Karen’s intimate beach wedding is a perfect example of why small and simple can be just perfect. They were married in September on the beach in the little town of Tofino, British Columbia, with nine of their closest friends and siblings there to celebrate. Melanie was kind enough to share some details from the day:

We have always envisioned a beach wedding, something very quaint, intimate and charming. Although our 9-year relationship has had the love and support of all our family and friends, we knew that we weren’t interested in a big produced event. Having visited the beautiful beaches of Tofino previously, we knew this was the perfect location for us, so with a close-knit group of siblings, their partners and our best friends, we headed to Tofino where we rented a stunning beach house with direct beach access for the ceremony the next morning.

For the ceremony we created an aisle in the sand with rocks found ashore and tiki torches for a little bit of ambiance. I walked down the aisle as our friends Elaine and Marife played “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on their ukuleles.

We decorated the table in a beach theme using starfish, a white driftwood garland, burlap, seashell candles and a large candle centerpiece with sand collected from the beach outside. Wicker plate chargers were also used to play up the beach theme. Wedding favors were tiny individual jars of hot chocolate for each guest to enjoy beachside as the sun set and the tide rolled out.


This day was extra special for us as we announced at dinner for the first time that Karen and I were expecting our first child. It was a beautiful moment shared amongst us all – tears, laughter and lots of love. After dinner we all changed into more comfortable clothes and simply walked along the beach as the sun slowly set. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!

Photography: Kristy Fox for Verve Photo Co.

Venue: Chesterman Beach in Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Green dress: BCBGMaxAzria

Hair / makeup: Jessica Taylor of Salty Dolls Hair Salon

Flowers: Heather’s The Flower Shop (604) 603-4995

Best wishes Melanie and Karen, and congratulations on your newest addition! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful wedding with us. See more photos over at Melanie’s blog (Melanie is the other half of Verve Photo Co.)!

15 Comments »

12 Jan
Real Wedding: Jillian & Rick

I just want to eat Elizabeth Messina’s gorgeous photos, and Jillian and Rick’s wedding is no exception. Classic elegance with a touch of modern design, including lovely paper elements from the bride’s own letterpress collection, Gigi Press. Jillian was kind enough to share some details about the day:

We really wanted our wedding celebration to be special not only for us but also for our guests. It was a treat to see our guests really enjoying themselves, starting by being greeted with champagne with fresh springs of lavender when they arrived at the ceremony, to when the doors of the reception opened up to the fabulous band, continuing through dinner and afterward when the men enjoyed fresh rolled cigars, and finally at the end of the night when In-N-Out cheeseburgers came out of the kitchen.

I have a letterpress stationery collection of my own, Gigi Press, but when it came to my own invitations I knew I needed another set of eyes, so I collaborated with Passing Notes on my wedding invitation suite. My goal was to letterpress everything imaginable: welcome notes for guests, CD covers, menus, seating cards, cigar labels…you name it! The table numbers were etched in walnut, as were many coordinating signs. Invitations, seating cards and menus were hand calligraphed with guests names by Grace Connell.

Jillian chose different dresses for each of her bridesmaids based on their body type and personal style. The dress designers include: Badgley Mischka, Marchesa, Robert Rodriguez, and Kay Unger.

Says Jillian: It rained on our wedding day…the cocktail reception was completely rained out. I was a total stress case the day before, and Elizabeth [Messina] helped remind me that it’s not about the rain ruining the day…it’s all about you and the love of your life. Now, every time it rains, I think of the day we got married, and it’s a beautiful memory.

Floral design was by Square Root Designs. They did an amazing job – we were married between two pepperberry trees adorned with hydrangeas, succulents, and roses. My bouquet consisted of white baby ranunculus and lily of the valley. And my favorite touch was our chair treatments, a garland of fresh rosemary.

You’ve gotta love Jillian’s advice to other brides: Always keep things in perspective…keep your eyes on the prize…your groom!

Photography: Elizabeth Messina

Venue: Montage in Laguna Beach, California

Planning: Kelly Michelle Weddings

Bride’s dress / shoes: Monique Lhuillier / Manolo Blahnik

Groom’s suit: Calvin Klein

Flower girl dress: Flora & Henri

Stationery: Gigi Press in collaboration with Passing Notes

Calligraphy: Grace Connell

Flowers: Square Root Design

Cake / cake topper: Montage / Fancy Flours

Thanks so much to Jillian for sharing so many details about her wedding, and of course to my friend Elizabeth Messina for sending over these beautiful photos.

Elizabeth Messina’s blog, Kiss the Groom, is a sponsor of Snippet & Ink.

28 Comments »

11 Jan
Real Wedding: Jenna & Kyle

Adrienne Page sent over the photos from this timelessly elegant Miami wedding, and the bride Jenna shared all of the details. Isn’t it lovely?! From Jenna:

Both of our families live in Miami, and I have always loved the Biltmore Hotel since I was a little girl – my mom used to take me there for tea, friends had birthday parties there by the pool. It’s also iconic old-school Miami. I always wanted to have my wedding there and I feel so fortunate that I was able to. The venue and my dress pretty much inspired the rest of the wedding – we wanted to go with something that felt vintage and elegant, but was also us. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and I didn’t want the wedding to feel stuffy; I wanted it to be us, but elegant us.

My dad restores old cars, so he drove me to the church in his 1940 Ford.

All of our place cards and reception items actually got lost two days before the wedding – our calligrapher, Laura Hooper, re-did everything and over-nighted a whole other set. She was great! I had a very specific vision going into the planning process – I knew I wanted white anemones and mercury glass, and I knew my color scheme (white, cream, gray, black, silver). Our florist was able to just go with what I wanted and it turned out spectacular.

Our cake was key lime cake with key lime curd and fresh cream cheese frosting – amazing and yummy and very Floridian. Kyle loved his Krispy Kreme donut groom’s cake with dinosaur toys on top that my bridesmaids made.

Photography: Adrienne Page

Ceremony venue: Coral Gables Congregational Church

Reception venue: The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida

Bride’s dress / bridesmaid dresses: Priscilla of Boston

Bride’s shoes: Badgley Mischka

Hair / makeup: Miller’s Hair Studio

Flowers: Parrish Designs

Calligraphy: Laura Hooper

Cake: We Take the Cake

Thank you to Adrienne Page for these beautiful photos, and to Jenna and Kyle for sharing your lovely day with us. You can see lots more photos from their wedding on Adrienne’s blog, and also check out their wedding video by Portal Films right here.

9 Comments »

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