Ranch Engagement Session by Jason & Anna Photography

I'm off to Italy in September on account of these two trusting me to plan their amazing Italian destination wedding. And I really couldn't be more excited for them! Before this engagement shoot we went shopping quite a few times trying to find the perfect outfits to fit the ranch scene. I'm loving everything we picked! I was very excited to see their engagement session as a taste of what is to come on their wedding day. The location is a friend's ranch, which also happens to be the same location he proposed! Jason & Anna Photography really kicked it up a notch with this shoot. I CAN NOT wait for them to work their magic in Italy. Get ready guys, this is going to blow you away.

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Simple Colorful Cake

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 Source: Southern Weddings

Cake! Lets talk about cake for a minute, shall we? My fiance was home on military leave this past week, so we took the opportunity to cross many things off our wedding to-do list. One of those things was cake tasting - something we couldn't easily do over skype.

tallpastel

Source: Sweetapolita

cake 1

Source: Manchik Photography

We met with 3 bakers in our area with the focus on choosing the most delicious cake and frosting. We've decided to do simple single-tier cakes with fun textures, colors, and toppers on vintage cake stands to give a whole spread of eye catching smaller cakes. This way we can play with a bunch of fun flavors (chocolate, vanilla, lemon, tiramisu, you name it!) and also keep things modern and budget-friendly.

ruffleslice

Source: Sweetapolita

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Source: Sweetapolita

These are some ideas I've saved for textured buttercream and ombre colors. See more on my Cakes! Pinterest Board.

The Lab Event \\ Rockstar Glam by Gem Photo

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Today I'm sharing another shoot from the awesome bridal event I co-founded, The Lab Event. The purpose of our event is to create a bridal experience where vendors bring their work to life and show of to brides. No booths and awkward conversations here! Nope, we have music, drinks, yummy food and SO much inspiration for our Northern California brides!

This design was based on a "Rockstar Glam" inspiration board. I love what Kate Miller Events did here. And Gem Photo captured it all oh so well. Take a look at the vendors below. Like what you see? They will definitely be there to help create the most awesome wedding for you.

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Event Design: Kate Miller Events Photography: Gem Photo Floral: PoppyStone Floral Design  Cakes: Shannie Cakes Paper Design: Mink Cards Rentals: Classic Party Rentals Lighting: Creative Lighting Design DJ: Josh Dukes - Boutique DJs Venue: Cline Cellars

Designed and shot for The Lab Event

Wedding Wine Tasting

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 Source for all images: Better Homes & Gardens

 Last week I mentioned that we wanted to take advantage of summer weather in Seattle to have my bridal shower, even though we still have months until the wedding. It was completely amazing and I can't wait to share details! Since the sun shines on, we've also talked about another summer party: a BBQ hosted with the purpose to pick our wedding wines.

Alfresco Dining 1

We're going to send invites with a per bottle price maximum and do a blind test with our friends and bridal party to try and choose the bottles that we'll buy for the big day (our venue lets us bring our own alcohol). We felt like this would be a fun way to get the families together, enjoy the sunshine, and give some involvement into the planning process.

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Alfresco Dining 2

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In anticipation, I've been pinning ideas for decor and food for this little outdoor soiree. Can't wait to share which bottles we chose!

Pennsylvania Estate Wedding by Morrissey Photo

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There were so many endearing homemade details in this wedding, it was truly the work of the entire family. The groom reupholstered chairs, built the bar and even their amazing sweetheart table that features the iron frame of an old Singer sewing machine table. (I have one of those as well, so I was delighted to see this awesome detail!) Morrissey Photo really rocked this one!

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Our theme was based around “Our Love Story”. We had been together for six years and through those years created an amazing life together. I loved the rustic/antique look, and after finding our venue, we began to plan the details of our wedding that were most important to us.

We were planning a fall wedding so we incorporated teal and a deep orange color into our flowers and décor. I loved the look of blue ball jars and clear glass vases outside for cocktail hour, and inside the tent we kept it elegant with antique mercury glass vases and bottles for candles, votives and flowers on the tables that were a similar blue color, with greens and shades of white.

My dress was an elegant gown of hand-placed French Corded Lace designed by Christos named Femme for Neiman Marcus. The thoughtful placement of the lace created a chevron pattern throughout the gown. The fit-to-flare silhouette was accented by a sculpted bodice featuring delicate lace eyelashes along the neckline and a soft sweep train added a touch of unexpected drama. We decided to add a Swarovski belt and covered buttons down the back where the zipper was.

Paul has worked in catering and he knew that he wanted to bring an amazing catering company in that would work with us on each element of the catering and décor. Brulee Catering was the company that we chose for our reception.

Furniture was refurbished by Paul & his father to be placed on the lawn or in the tent. This furniture was planned to later be used in our future home. Paul personally made the bar from barn wood and fabric panels. He also made the sweet heart table with wood & a singer sewing table iron base and carved our initials in along with our wedding date, his & her chairs, old windows with guests names for table arrangements, personalized hor dourves trays made by Paul that included elements of our life together, lanterns, antique lace table cloths, and home made seat cushions for all the outdoor furniture.

Venue: Applewood Estate Photographer:  Morrissey Photo Musicians: Party Wave Band Caterer: Brulee Catering Hair Stylist: Jolie Salon & Spa Cake Designer: The Masters Baker Floral Designer: The Rhoads Garden

 

I'm Getting Married!

 

Vendors1Source

I can't believe this week is finally here! After a year and three months of planning, we leave for our wedding weekend today! I'm so excited for it all to come together and have my family and friends in one place for an entire weekend.

Here are some of the images that have inspired me and shaped our wedding over the past year...

f7a3cdcef946d7d5a74725ce80a6ad28 Groom-Style1Source: top, bottom three

 Steph&ScotWedding-185Source

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Last E&I Post!2Sources: top left, top right, lower left, lower right

Last E&I Post!3Sources: left, right

Last E&I Post!Source: left, right

It's been so much fun being a part of the E&I community! Thank you for following along on my journey to the alter. Cheers!

Rachel

Williamsburg Elopment by Michael and Carina Photography

I think it takes a lot of guts to elope. I just love the idea of eloping and today we have a super one good one here on the blog. The couple sought out Michael and Carina Photography  to shoot some photos and Storybook Events to officiant their ceremony. 

From The Photographer: "Pilar and Jarad eloped last December. They decided it was time to tie the knot after 7 years. They wanted to ring in the new year as a married couple - and surprise their friends and family with the news on Christmas day. As they have close ties to William and Mary, they decided to elope near the William and Mary Campus in Colonial Williamsburg. Only the officiant and the photographers joined them on the warm December afternoon. They wanted their big day to be simple and all about them. They are perfect together, so laid-back and fun."

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Wedding Shower Wears

My bridal shower is this weekend! I know that seems crazy because I'm not getting married until April. But in Seattle, when you really only get 2 months of solid sunshine, you want to take advantage of it. This will likely be my only outdoor wedding event, so we figured why not have it early and just prolong the celebrating. My girls have put together what I'm sure will be an amazing afternoon - I can't wait to share. Since they haven't let me lift a finger, the main thing I've been focused on is finding a cute dress to wear for the occasion. Originally I was leaning toward finding a pretty white or ivory dress, because I figure this is the one time in your life you can unabashedly wear white. After sifting through a few options, though, i just wasn't thrilled with anything. I went back to the drawing board and noticed that there are a ton of styles right now to choose from in our colors. So, instead of traditional bridal white I'm looking to pick up a summer frock that mimics the motifs in the pattern we had designed.

Here are a few of the favorite affordable options I've found and loved:

Summer Bridal ShowerSources (Clockwise from top left): One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Whats your shower style? Does it have to be formal bridal white, or can you get into the theme of the big day a bit?