417 Bride Summer 2012 Sneak Peak

We have spent the last few weeks getting ready to style the 417 Bride Summer 2012 feature shoot that happened last week. As always, it was a great experience and I think we pulled off some beautiful themes. The issue will be on local Springfield, MO newsstands in June and we can’t wait to see how the styling turned out in images. Thank you to all the vendors and models that participated in making the shoot a success. You can check out previous issues online at 417 Bride.

Here’s a very tiny sneak peak into the shoots…

Ruche Wedding Collection

One of our favorite online stores, Ruche, is launching a wedding collection on Monday! Ruche is known for its affordability  - which is absolutely wonderful when it comes to planning a wedding on a budget.

Green Wedding Shoes recently featured a preview of the collection. It’s light, feminine and beautiful. Not to mention that the photos are gorgeous as well!Images by Stephanie Williams of This Modern Romance.

Something Borrowed: A Festival Inspired Backyard Wedding

While planning my brother-in-laws wedding, I came across this lovely celebration on Green Wedding Shoes. Shaun and Karly (my brother-in-law and soon to be sister-in-law) would absolutely love to have this kind of feel for their big day. Let’s see how much of this wedding is feasible in July with Missouri kind of weather. What a fun and extremely memorable day.

Visra + Chris live on an amazingly beautiful property in Woodside, CA and wanted to share their love of their home and property with all their family and friends on their wedding day. These are two easy going people with fast paced jobs – he’s the VP of a little site called Facebook and she’s a filmmaker that travels around the world. They wanted a mellow burning man/concert type of celebration where guests camped on the property for 3 days which I completely love! ”Tent city” was made up of numerous tents on the property and guests were welcomed to camp out for the weekend – Visra + Chris even had a special wedding night tent (the gorgeous pink tent above made of pink fabric + wood overlooking a mountain range where they put their bed and spent their wedding night “camping”!). Outdoor sinks with antique mirrors were set up along side the outdoor showers. Vintage rentals were also brought in to complete the homey and woodsy feel.

The most amazing part of the day had to be the triangular dining table. Visra + Chris spent 6 months with artist Drew Bennett designing + building the dining table for their 200+ guests. The idea was to have all the pieces connected so that their family and friends could sit down and share the dinner at one table. Their wedding also had fresh produce + oysters that were brought in for munching, mixologist’s mixed top notch cocktails, and 2 bands and DJ kept the party going into the wee hours of the morning. Visra + Chris truly had the wedding at home that they dreamed of…unlike any other. Big thanks to Jenny Kim Photo for the gorgeous photos + to the ladies of Sitting In A Tree for the wedding planning + design







Instead of registering, Visra + Chris asked guests to bring an unwrapped book for their ever expanding collection. Guests shelved the books on a rustic bookshelf.






vendors:
photographer: Jenny Kim Photo // event design: Drew Bennett + Sitting In A Tree // event planner: Sitting In A Tree // venue: private residence // floral designer: La Fleuriste // wedding dress: custom made // hair stylist: Luxe Image // invitations + paper goods: Bride’s cousin // vintage furniture rentals: One True Love Vintage Rentals // catering: Hog Island Traveling Oyster Bar, Facebook Chef - Josef Desimone // music: Baba Ken Okulolo and Nigerian Brothers; VMC; Househeads

Real Wedding: Josh and Logan

Logan and Josh were married this summer with a one-of-a-kind beautiful wedding. Logan explains her planning below with an array of amazing photos by the talented Alec Vanderboom
My wedding was July 9th of this summer, my dress was handmade by my grandmother. We ordered a 1940′s ball gown dress pattern and a gold brocade material. It turned out just like I had hoped. I didn’t want the typical white dress, and I love golds and coppers, so I just incorporated all the metallics into my wedding.

My bridesmaids dresses were a Maggie London brand that I found on Overstock for way cheaper than the original price. The mens attire was completely Josh’s idea. He knew from the beginning he wanted top hats, so we went for a search on Ebay. We found some great ones that were very inexpensive from Steampunk. I seriously became quite the bargain hunter.The shirts and pants were Express, and he found nautical belts for all the men at American Eagle. His suspenders were from a local mens clothing store.

Some details at our wedding were the cross stitching signs. Instead of using floral fabric like I had seen in a magazine, I quickly cross stitched “love” and “welcome” into them. One of my favorite details were blue wine bottles that we strung up above each table with lights in them. They worked as small little chandeliers! Also, Josh has an addiction to candy, so I set up a “Candy Stand” with all of his favorites, like cotton candy, and Kazoozles! They are the best candy around! Another detail that I liked really well was we had a unity tree instead of a candle, or sand. We didn’t want any of that to have to set up on a mantle one day or pack away, so we thought we could raise a tree, and when we finally found our special piece of land to build our dream home on, we will plant our tree!!!! There were so many little details that I just loved because I had worked so hard on it all and to see it all together was so rewarding. Josh loved all of it, and it looked just like I’d hoped. Nothing compares to that day, everything was perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Images by Alec Vanderboom

Real Wedding: Jenna and Adam

This summer I had the privilege of coordinating such a beautiful wedding. Jenna, the bride was radiant and extremely calm. She was amazing to work with and so was her whole family.  The lime green and hot pink matched her personality and the summer weather perfectly.  Jenna was so relaxed, that her and her girls enjoyed a couple of tacos from Taco Bell moments before the ceremony.  They were so funny and kept my job easy the whole day.  Congrats Jenna and Adam!
All images by Christi Sue Photography

Real Wedding: Morgan & Brandon

It was a complete privilege to be asked to coordinate the day-of for this sweet wedding. For a second, it looked like the weather might not cooperate, but sure enough, right before the ceremony, a rainbow appeared.

Brandon and Morgan are very familiar with the wedding day process, as Brandon is a successful wedding movie-maker. Check out his work here.

Here’s what Morgan had to say about her big day.

I was so overwhelmed with the love, support, and joy I felt from our friends, family, and my groom. So so many people contributed to our day and I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced such a concentrated outpouring of joy in my life. I was definitely so thankful we scheduled our wedding in the evening. Right before the ceremony the heat broke, the looming storm changed direction, and the weather was absolutely perfect for our “I do’s”. The ceremony itself was incredibly moving. I felt so present and so connected in those moments. It was completely surreal, thrilling, and unforgetable. I had the unique privilege of having the ceremony officiated by my dad, which is something I have dreamt about all my life. The music (which our dear friends played) and the ceremony provided the perfect framework for exchaning our vows.

Oh, the dress. We shopped all the stores in town searching for the perfect dress in a price range I was willing to spend and everything came up short. I had a vision in mind and couldn’t locate it anywhere. So my mom graciously offered to make my wedding dress, my most favorite diy project of all. We searched out the perfect materials and she/we spent hours agonizing over each and every detail, cutting, recutting, sewing, and perfecting until I had the one-of-a-kind-no-other-like-it-made-to-fit-only-me dress. of. my. dreams. The price tag? $76.00. [I say that only because: a) it demonstrates what an amazing mother I have, b) it proves that the dress for one's "big day" does not have to cost a fortune to be perfect, and c) well... I'm just really proud we crafted exactly what I imagined for under $100.] I am forever indebted to her for the time, energy, and love she put into that garment. It is a treasure that makes me weepy even now as I write about it.

E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G was diy’d. I knew from the start that I wanted a low cost, personal wedding. In order to achieve both these things, we worked tirelessly on every detail ourselves. One of my favorites was the arch. From the beginning I had hoped for an arch covered with paper flowers in browns, creams, and whites. One of my best friends from college graciously helped to create the inspiration and led the team of my bridesmaids and I to the perfect arch under which I was married. My groom designed the stationary set and programs for the day, which were personal to the last detail. I loved so much that he brought my vision to life. We even created little bios about the wedding party for guests to read while fanning themselves with the program! As a wedding guest, I am always curious about the ones standing with the bride and groom. This gave our guests a way to know a little about our “chosen few” and what they mean to us in our lives.

We know firsthand how hard wedding vendors work and it was so incredibly special to have so many people who are our friends work as our “vendors”. Sesha, of Convey Studios, shot our gorgeous photos and kept the mood light and fun throughout the day. Emma, of Red Velvet Sweet Shoppe, designed and created our stunning dessert table. Nick, of the Loft at Keith Farms, was incredibly helpful and let us set up the whole week prior to the wedding (something no other venue offered in town). Sarah Lockhart did an amazing job on hair. And so so many others prepared/made the food, arranged flowers, played our ceremony, and filled in all the necessary roles to keep the day running smoothly.

Also, I am certain our day would not have been stressfree for my family/friends, or me, without the help of Social Graces as our day-of coordinators. I was not going to book a coordinator, thinking “I can manage this thing on my own.” But, as the day came closer it became clear that having a neutral third party was going to be a must in order for things to run smoothly without me feeling like I had manage the day. I am so so thankful we booked Social Graces. I know they worked tirelessly covering details I don’t even know about in order to give my groom, my family, my friends, and me the freedom to enjoy our guests and each other.
Thanks for such kind words, Morgan! It was an absolutely beautiful day!
Images by Sesha Shannon.

THE Dress: Vera Wang

I’ve seen this lovely Vera Wang dress up close and personal. It’s simply beautiful just hanging on the rack. The quality of this dress is outstanding.  The flow of the swirls on the skirt adds a fun element to this very classy dress.  The belt is also by Vera Wang, however, you could have a colored belt or no belt at all.  This dress is gorgeous!

Images by Moore Photography

Real Wedding: Claire & Zach

Images by Meg White Photography.

Claire & Zach of St. Louis  were such a sweet couple to work with. Their day was calm and joyous, just like the two of them. We hop you enjoyed a bit of inspriation from the details (and photography locations!) that Claire came up with.

Something Borrowed: With This Ring

This real wedding on With This Ring is a beautiful South African Wedding.  They used a simple element and ran with it.  The commitment to twinkle lights really paid off in the end, the reception looks beautiful and very elegant.  Who knew twinkle likes could look so good?

Images by Jean-Pierre Uys Photography