Real Wedding: Chaitra and Joshua

I love, love, LOVE being able to share special moments from those events that I am lucky enough to be a part of.  Chaitra and Joshua were clients of mine in the wee days of 2010.  She is definitely a perfectionist, and I think not only did we get her invitations perfect, she totally nailed every detail of this gorgeous destination wedding.

Her invitation colors were Mandarin, Teal, and Chocolate, and although I was a bit nervous about

 the combo at first, she was very right.  What a fabulous look (metallic cardstock pocket fold with a dual satin ribbon wrap and rhinestone buckle).  Love!

I love her idea of including a Mad-Lib ("Send Us A Note") enclosure card (I have used it in several samples since we designed her invitations).  Guests send back a fill-in-the-blank card that the couple can then keep in their wedding keepsake collection.  So cute!

Bride and father as they walk down the aisle

Chaitra and Joshua shared their magical moment with an intimate group of family and friends in St. Lucia. A friend captured this timeless moment while celebrating the rehearsal on a catamaran cruise the couple hosted. I sooo want her glasses (and smile)!

Wanting to incorporate some of the unique local flavor into their special day, they had a local secondary school participate musically during the ceremony.

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Chaitra and Joshua were lucky enough to book Alain Martinez, the illustrious and oh-so-talented international photographer as their destination photographer.  I have seen a lot of wedding photography, and there is something so timeless, and so speechless about his work.  I will now shut up and show... 

this was actually a DIY project with dollar store flowers!  The look is FAB, for so little $$.  We LOVE!!

If you want to see more scrumptous photographic art, I highly recommend taking a stroll-on-down to Alain's blog.  He is constantly globetrotting and adding delicious visual stimuli to his blog. Yum, yum, YUM! 

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Shana And Travis's Wedding

I am so excited to share some of the fab photo's of my girl Shana's gorgeous resort wedding. Not only was it gorgeous, it looked like hella fun! Congrats guys!!!

The dudes hit the pool before the ceremony...

He was pretty excited to see her for the first time (who wouldn't be... she's stunning!!)

Lovely!  White on white... my fav!

Love the color she chose... a gorgeous indigo with gold accents for the reception.  Love!

Here's my favorite!  The menus (of course by Revelry Invitation Studio) mirror the invitations with tons of layers in gorgeous Persian Blue and Gold.  The invitations had a custom damask pattern embossed on them... we had to use a cake stencil to make it work.  We shared that with the bride, who then ordered the same stencil to use on her cake.  And I must say, it is too pretty to eat!!! 

I love that the band was the "spasmatics" and I LOVE, LOVE that everyone spazzed out on the dance floor!  Looks like a fabulous wedding for a fabulous couple! 

Photography: Dana Grant Photography

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Wish Upon A Wedding...

So I just signed up as a volunteer with a fabulous network of wedding vendors who'd like to make a real impact on someone's life.   Wish Upon A Wedding is an organization that provides weddings at destinations across the United States for individuals facing life-threatening illness. It is a chance for couples to enjoy a very special day, without any thoughts of existing health issues, while surrounded by their closest family and friends. Since January, when it was founded in San Fransisco, 15 chapters have popped up across the country, and with such an awesome goal, I anticipate a ton more will sprout up by the end of the year.

Beth and Nick were the Chicago chapter's first "wish" wedding.  They were married April 18, 2010 (Congrats)!!!! 

 

Beth and Nick had been together for almost 10 years when Beth was diagnosed with urachal adenocarcinoma. A few short weeks later, as she was about to undergo surgery to remove part of her bladder, her navel and several lymph nodes, Nick quietly returned to the jewelry store they had visited together and purchased the engagement ring. That evening, Nick proposed.  And although it has undoubtedly been a difficult road and Beth will continue the fight for her life, Beth and Nick had the wedding they always dreamed of thanks to vendors who donated their time, money, expertise, and compassion via Wish Upon A Wedding.  

Here are a couple pics of items and services donated that made this dream-come-true wedding come true...

Floral and Event Design: Blumen Floral and Event Design, Amy Crum

Wedding Dress: Bridal Mansion of Lisle, Jane Skarosi

Wedding Cake: Take the Cake, Mary Winslow

Rentals and Linens: Classic Party Rental, Sandy Sobczak

Wedding Location and Food: Giovan’s Restaurant, Giovan Cullota

Lighting: Frost Lighting, Samantha Steele

Photography: Gerber and Scarpelli Weddings, Kurt Gerber

Makeup: Starlight Makeup, Lillian Toma

You can read their story, and see a complete list of the vendor's who shared their services on the Wish upon a Wedding website.

The story touched my heart... it's honestly hard not to tear up thinking about it.  Knowing there is an organization where I can donate my time and expertise to a couple who will forever cherish those precious moments together, makes me feel good about the world.  We often get wrapped up in deadlines, number-crunching, production, and all the general hulabaloo of the wedding industry and forget the whole reason we're in it.  To make dreams come true. 

I hope all you vendors out there will check out the org, and sign up as a wish granter. 

Thanks for reading ;)

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Real Weddings: Amber and Tom's Wedding

I came across a gorgeous post on Wedding Bee featuring one of my brides.  Amber was a fabulous client and created the most amazing invitations, menus, and placecards using our silk panels.  I have gotten a ton of referrals from her because of her creative use of our products, and I hope to work with her far into the future as she launches her own wedding accessory biz.  You go girl! 

 Here are some of her jaw-droppingly gorgeous wedding pics that paint the picture of a fairytale wedding in Boston. 

  

The ivory dupioni silk flower girl dresses were made by Etsy seller BklynDoll. Check out that pettiskirt.  man I would have died to wear this dress when I was little.  Love!

 

Amber's dress, flower headpiece, and cathedral length veil are by Pnina Tornai

 

Amber painstakingly screen printed her wedding invitations, (which you can see at: http://sites.google.com/a/colatosti.com/wedding/all-things-paper) programs, menus, candy buffet bags, and cocktail napkins using a Gocco printer and lots of gold ink.

 

 

 

Amber did most of the details (like favor tags) herself.  She is so crafty... and I simply can't believe this was in large part a DIY wedding.

 

Love this wedding!  If you want to see more pics and get truly immersed in the fabulosity of the event, check out the full pictorial on Wedding Bee.  And if you love the details as much as I do, Amber has set-up shop on etsy and offers some of her fantastic accessories. Check out Bella Bride Designs.

Photography: Dorie Hamm – Dorie Lynn Photography

Florist: Rachel Heikkila - RCH Designs

Cake: Cakes to Remember - Ellen Bartlett

Lighting: RCUplighting

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