Tag Archives: wedding style

Hues of Blues Sunset Ranch Wedding- Fredericksburg, Texas

This was the perfect day! Victoria and Jonathan had a few unexpected roller coasters thrown at them during the planning process (which included a venue change and the beginning of Covid) and they absolutely deserved a perfect day. Sunset Ranch ultimately ended up being just the right fit for them and their team was such a breath of fresh air; they are such lovely folks to work with and the space is gorgeous!

Pulling together Victoria’s vision and coming up with the mood board was so much fun. She loved getting into the details- notice her perfectly coordinated maids getting ready outfits- all the way down to their socks! I also discovered that she shares my affinity for pillows and tea towels (even at the dismay of our husbands). Ha!

Lori Blythe Photography did such an amazing job (as usual) with these photos and even hand painted the blue styling board to photograph the details. I really love when a photographer can photograph the details well! Reiley and Rose Floral brought the best of the best and added the blue larkspur flowers (those blue stalk type flowers) to the ceremony arrangements at the last minute. They coordinated so perfectly with the sky and the dresses and brought it all together!

So rarely are the ceremony pictures my favorite from a wedding, but its not hard to believe at Sunset Ranch’s beautiful site. It was picturesque. We couldn’t have asked for better weather; the cloud cover made the temperature comfortable and the photos amazing. The blue hues in the dresses and the flowers just highlighted the blues in the water fountain and the landscape. Sometimes it comes together not only envisioned, but EVEN better. This was one of those times!

Hands down my favorite shot of the wedding is the photo above with the flower petals. This shot is one of Lori’s signature shots and is so unique and priceless!

We did a cocktail style reception inspired by Jonathan’s New Orleans heritage. Victoria envisioned styled lounge areas with unique furniture pieces and Bee Lavish Vintage Rentals had everything we needed to bring her vision to life. She hand picked the pillows and all of the beautiful candles.

I love cocktail style receptions. It’s like having a dreamy house party. It reminds me of the parties you see in the movies of the 1950’s where people are eating and dancing and someone is playing the piano. When cigarettes and champagne saucers were stylish. Anyone else know what I’m talking about here? Think Breakfast and Tiffany’s and White Christmas. Also, the food is so fun for cocktail style events. Cartewheels brought their A-game with Shrimp and Grits and Chicken and Waffles stations- YUM.

Another fun detail was that this wedding was on 3.14 – PI Day! Victoria is a teacher so we had to geek out on this one, just a little bit. We served mini pies at dessert and as the late night snack (Sophie’s Bakery).

The neon light was kind of a last minute addition. We had the perfect spot for it at Sunset Ranch and with a great name like “Bacon” it was just so fun!

The band was unbelievable. Matchmaker always brings down the house and they were no disappointment this time. We ended the night with a New Orlean’s style 2nd line out to the romantic car brought by Circle J Vintage Cars. It really was a perfect night!

Thanks to all of the vendors that helped Victoria’s dream come to life!
Venue: Sunset Ranch 
Planning & Design: Emily Burgess with Hill Country Bride
Photography: Lori Blythe Photography
Videographer: Gamm Films
Florals: Reiley & Rose
Cake: Sophie’s Bakery
Transportation: Fredericksburg Trolleys 
Vintage Car: Circle J Ranch Vintage Cars 
Table Linen: La Tavola Linen
Vintage Rentals: Bee Lavish Vintage Rentals
Stage Rental: Whim Hospitality
Band: Matchmaker

Pretty Pink & Red Wedding at Hoffman Haus

I got these photos back this week and was so excited to share them! This fall wedding at Hoffman Haus, photographed by Benjamin Garrett Photography, was filled with such happy colors and smiles. The bride, Grace Anne, is one of those girls that is so pretty, especially when she isn’t trying to be! Some of my favorite shots are the candids of her just laughing with her gals. Feast on the lovely florals by Sprout; Michelle’s use of the really dark greens in the bouquets, centerpieces, and ceremony arch tied in perfectly to the greens on the invitations and the dark ivy foliage at Hoffman Haus. Whoever said red and pink don’t match (my mom never let me wear red and pink together) just didn’t know how to do it well (Sorry, Mom). The champagne  undertones in Grace Anne’s dress complimented the palette perfectly! Champagne was also the linen color we chose from the Nuovo collection from La Tavola Fine Linens. It’s a great neutral that lends just slightly to the feminine. Sophie’s made the lovely, and tasty, cake and Feast & Merriment catering designed those beautiful cocktails and the food was amazing!

I hope you enjoy these lovely reds and pinks in the spirit of Valentine’s Day!

Benjamin Garrett Photography

Cedar & Stone Workshop Stylist- Sneak Peek!

Happy Fall everyone! I can’t get enough of this 70 something weather right now. I fear the heat returning, so I’m wearing scarfs and making yummy fall treats to celebrate. One of my girlfriends always says, “buy the pumpkins and the weather will follow!” I hope that’s true!

Another exciting thing about this fall is the Cedar and Stone workshop that I’m styling! I’m super pumped about working with the amazing team of vendors (see some listed here) we have lined up. It’s going to be a weekend of hard work and hanging with cool people, but I’m most excited about the creative side. It’s so fun to create something original and have people engage with it. We will be setting up our styled shoots at three really great Hill Country Wedding Venues- Montessino Ranch, Pecan Springs Ranch, and The Liney Moon.

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Since I mentioned it last week as a teaser, I thought I would share a little inspiration with you for one of the shoots! I can’t share all of the details, because that would ruin the fun, but here are some of the inspiration images, colors, and patterns that showed up on our mood board.

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For those of you that aren’t familiar, mood boards are super helpful in setting the tone for a shoot or event. They guide all of the vendors on the “feel” and the color story, but are never meant for copying. We want to come up with something original, but this allows us to communicate the vision. Then each vendor can come up with an original design inspired by the mood board. It’s really neat to see the initial mood board and compare it to the final product. I can’t wait to show you the results!

There are a couple of spots still available if you are interested in attending. It’s going to be super inspiring and amazing!

Inspiration thanks to: HappyWedd.Com; Elizabeth Anne Designs; One Summer Day Photo; My Sequined Life; Green Wedding Shoes; Amy Lynn Photography; United With Love; Luck & Love Photography;

La Tavola Linen’s Dreamy 2016 Collection!

In the past month I took a “work trip” up north a few hours to visit some amazing vendors in Dallas (I say this in parenthesis because I really just met cool people and played with fun linens). I had a great time doing a little private mentoring workshop with Lindsey Brunk (if you don’t know her name, you should, she is pretty much the bee’s knees of the planning and style world). I also got to visit the La Tavola fine linens show room and fell in loovveeee.wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0062

I often use linens as the inspiration piece for designs in weddings and in my home. When designing a wedding or a room in my house I almost always start with a table runner I’m in love with (or some other form of wedding linen) or a pillow that I paid way too much for. I’m a sucker for pillows especially. Some girls have shoes. Some girls have jewelry. I have pillows. And will never have enough. PS- La Tavola has pillows you can rent for your party. This shouldn’t be an “extra” but a necessary in my opinion… Okay maybe not for everyone. One day, I will do a blog post entirely on the purpose of a pillow at a wedding. Feel free to drool here at this stunning assortment.

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So they are the shiz in fine linens for weddings. They search the world for the latest patterns, colors and textures and manufacture them in the sunshine state of California. I would sleep in their soft linen Tuscany collection any day. Even their basic poly blend linen is woven to feel like pressed cotton. I can tell you folks, one big way to make your event Style Me Pretty worthy, pick out a decent linen. The best part? La Tavola’s basic linen starts at just $13.00 (plus shipping) WHAT. A. STEAL.

Here are some photos from their 2016 Linen Collection Release Party that happened in Napa (sorry I couldn’t make that one!). Thanks to Studio EMP for the pretty photos. Credit to Found Vintage Rentals for the furniture, Casa de Perrin for the tabletop decor, Paula Le Duc for the catering, and of course La Tavola for the showstopping linens.

Geometric fun! wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0066

Fall inspiration!

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And my personal favorite… these botanical prints! I have been dreaming of mid century modern wedding (or styled shoot) lately with lush tropical botanicals and a green color palette…

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A particular velvet table runner (from La Tavola) has actually been the inspiration piece for styled shoot/workshop I am styling this November (Cedar & Stone Workshop). Maybe I’ll post some sneak peeks soon!

Elegant Film Wedding at Hoffman Haus

I was so excited to work with Sarah Goss Photography on this wedding back in the early spring. This was our first event to work together and she did an amazing job on these photos! I absolutely adore the richness in the colors in the film, almost as much as I adored this couple. Shannon and Harris found me via referral of Hoffman Haus, but after getting to know them, we found out that they actually worked for the same company as my mom and knew her! A company all the way in north Texas. Small freakin’ world.

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They were darling and in love. Shannon had amazing taste. The antler sheds on the centerpieces were prizes of her Dads from his many years of hunting and the silver flower containers belonged to her mother’s family. Her family was boisterous and bubbly and so much fun to be around. Sweet Magnolia provided the pretty florals!

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The colors were neutral grey with just a hint of lavender. Perfect for a hill country wedding! Hoffman Haus was the ideal venue for this classic wedding. Sophie’s made this dreamy cake (it was soo tasty too!). They had these adorable bar napkins made with their faces drawn on. Ha too funny! Notice all of the pillows in the following photos… (if you don’t regularly follow me, you may not know, I have a pillow problem…I’m a pillowaholic). wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0065 wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0068 wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0067wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0066

The evening was a blast- fun people, fun vendors! Cartewheels Catering made the yummy food and provided amazing service, as usual! wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0070 wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0069 wedding_planner_fredericksburg_0071

 

Whimsical Baby Shower Featured on Style Me Pretty Living

It was so exciting to see this baby shower I styled for a dear friend published to Style Me Pretty Living.  What’s even cooler was that they published it on her birthday! Happy Birthday Jen!  Here’s what they said about me: “Three things: children’s books, a gender neutral theme and friend chicken. That is what this mama-to-be wanted and Emily Burgess of Hill Country Bride so delivered. Playing off the theme of Alice in Wonderland, she incorporated whimsical garden details, a beautiful gray and white neutral palette, a cake bar and yes, fried chicken. Sounds like the perfect combo.” Ahhh, how cool. 200,000 instagram followers saw my work. Proud moment y’all! And so grateful to Lori Blythe Photography from Fredericksburg for the amazing photos!

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Even without knowing it would get published, it was such an honor to be asked to style this baby shower for Jennifer and her coming little one. When we started planning this shower we asked the mom to be if she had any specific requests. She mentioned three things: she would love to have baby books with personalized inscriptions instead of cards, she would like it to be gender neutral as they were waiting to find out the gender of the baby, and fried chicken. Yep, fried chicken. That was her pregnancy craving food that she couldn’t get enough of!

With these three requests in mind, we had a lot of freedom to design, but a good starting place to give us direction. Since she mentioned the baby books, we found out that her own favorite children’s book was Alice in Wonderland. As we explored these elements, we came up with a design theme of an Alice inspired tea party, in neutral color tones (gray and white) and an evening of comfort food.

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The Color Story

We chose neutrals, because of the unknown gender of the baby. From there we narrowed it down to black, white, and gray, to honor the original printing of Alice illustrations that were in black and white. We also snuck in just a couple of robin egg’s blue details reminiscent of Alice’s blue dress in the first movie version. We asked all of the guests to wear white/gray to include the attendees as a part of the design of the evening, and asked the momma to wear a bright pop of color as the center of attention and affection!

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The Venue

Another friend’s garden backyard in the heart of historical Fredericksburg, Texas was the perfect setting for this event. It even came with a garden door that was like a real life door into wonderland!

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The Linens

We really wanted to use a fun linen on the table, something that felt like Wonderland. When we came across a gray on gray roses, we were sold! It so reminded us of “Paint the roses!…” in the Queen’s garden. It was perfect!

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The Favors

When considering guest favors, we came up with tea cup potted plants. The tea cup after the Mad Hatter’s tea party, of course, and the plants as a symbolic inspiration of new life. Jennifer is also a lover of nature and totally appreciated the incorporation of a gift that keeps giving life!

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The Florals

The Flower Pail (a Fredericksburg florist) did a great job of executing our vision for the florals. She made a whimsical arrangement using white roses (referring to the white roses in the Queen’s garden again!) and untamed greens in white milk glass. Thanks to Sister’s Vintage for the milk glass, candlesticks, beautiful gold rimmed plates and gold flatware!

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The Eats

We did a family style meal of comfort food, just as our Momma to be requested! This was a crowd pleaser for sure! We also had a variety of tea party style desserts served on a restored 1950’s vanity (this is when the first theatrical version came out) and incorporated our story through little “eat me” signs! Restored Fredericksburg found this beautiful vanity piece for us!

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The Paper Products

Our paper designer brought her own unique touch to our inspiration! She had lovely whimsical mommy and baby rabbit graphic for the menu and used a floral robin’s egg blue envelope liner for the invite. She used a gold metal clip to incorporate the menu with a prayer card for the guests to send prayers with the Mommy to be. Lara at Bobo Workshop in Fredericksburg, Texas did an amazing job!

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The Charm

Since literature is so special to Jennifer, we really wanted to make this evident in the story of the evening. We pulled inspiring quotes from the Alice in Wonderland book and posted them about the party. These quotes were the perfect fit for the magical celebration of a little one! We found these lovely white funky chairs and mix-matched chairs, including a big high-backed chair for the guest of honor, just like the original illustrations of the Mad Hatter’s tea party.

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From New Mama, Jennifer Phillips… Two years ago my husband and I moved from Dallas back to a small Texas town and I didn’t dare dream we would find such a marvelous group of friends to share our life with here. But after less than a year we had fallen in with a great group of people and when the ladies of said group banded together to throw me a baby shower, I knew it would be a dream come true. When I arrived I was completely enchanted. It really was the kind of idyllic soire you see in magazines or read about in a Fitzgerald novel. To celebrate the arrival of our sweet baby, these talented women had created a stunning evening filled with candlelight, laughter, a thousand beautiful details, my favorite foods, and–best of all–friends. Hosted by Katie Turpin, Sarah Dale, Sara Harding, Emily Burgess

Photography: Lori Blythe Photography | Floral Design: The Flower Pail | Invitations: Bobo Workshop | Furniture & Styling: Restored Fredericksburg | Rentals: Sisters Vintage Party | Stylist: Hill Country Bride

 

 

Fredericksburg, Texas Wedding Styled Shoot Featured on Swooned Magazine

This style shoot was one of the most fun and crazy awesome things I have done in a while. We planned it in two weeks! Working with Lori Blythe Photography and Sara at Restored Fredericksburg, we made it happen! We were so happy to get this picked up by Swooned Magazine. And Bonus! It was an inspiration piece for Bella Mystique Events for their Big Fake Wedding coming up in a couple of weeks! Pretty cool to do something people are inspired by!

The Flower Pail did a stunning job on the arrangements and bouquets; Sister’s Vintage Party contributed the vintage pieces and glimmering gold flatware; Restored Fredericksburg let us borrow that B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L farmhouse table; Bobo Workshop did that stunning marbled paper product; Sarah & Kaleb Dale were our newlywed models; Native Fredericksburg made the custom geode jewelry; The Barn at Rock House Hideaway provided that lovely venue and sunset field; Lori Blythe Photography recorded the magic with her stunning photos!   

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Why a Texas Wedding? From the Guy’s Eyes

I am a born and raised Texan. Emily is not. We met in of our less great norther neighbor states. Emily met Texas through me, and they became great friends very quickly. Texas and Emily were as meant to be as Emily and I. We would walk the streets of downtown Fredericksburg on our visits and she would declare to me, “This feels so much like home.” And so it became our home. We got married in the Hill Country on family land, and although Emily was a wedding professional before Texas, this was when her career as a Hill Country wedding planner began.

Having lived beyond the borders of our state, I can testify to the fact that some folks have a poor perception of it. Many a friend of mine hath declared Texas an ugly state having only experienced Amarillo or Dallas. When I would describe for them the hills and beauty of this area they scarcely believed me. In fact, I brought a friend to visit once from Kentucky who said it reminded him of Africa. An interesting comparison. The point being, the Hill Country is a beautiful and unique venue for a wedding. You won’t find a place like it, except Africa apparently.

So why get married in the Texas Hill Country? Perhaps we should be asking you the question since you have likely chosen our little heaven as your venue. Was it local for you? It fit your budget? Or was there a culture or a theme that you found here? Some of these features were true for Emily and I. In fact, all of them. But there are many more reasons why a Hill Country wedding, so we’ve listed just a few.

Weather: You will hear folks all across our nation gripe about Texas being hot. And, yes, they are correct- it is stinking hot. Depending on your threshold of heat, it’s only unbearably hot three months out of the year. And if you’re going to do an outdoor wedding in those months I would recommend a naked theme. But, for the most part, in the Hill Country you can get hitched outdoors in the middle of January, or in the middle of April, or perhaps October. Fewer people are getting married indoors these days. We loved saying our vows outside under and age old oak tree that has witnessed many generations of Burgess’. Texas has a lot of “availability” if you are seeking a day to conduct a big outdoor celebration.

Style: Along with the trend of outdoor weddings, the prominence of creative styles has become quite the movement. For a while we saw brides hiding flip-flops under their dresses, then it was converse all-stars. Good ole cowboy boots took the trend for a while (we still like that one). The rise of outdoor weddings has brought up the challenge of making a wedding fun and comfortable. For example, my groomsmen wore only vests, instead of suits with jackets. They looked awesome and they didn’t want to murder me for putting them in bondage to a tuxedo. This flies in Texas. Texas has very cool style. You see cowboy hats being worn in HEB, boots in church, and suspenders keeping us from seeing more of the old men than any of us could or should handle. Texas has style, and a lot of variety. Just drive through Austin if you doubt me.

Music: This was a big one for me. We wanted people to dance at our wedding. Weddings bring people from several generations together, so you may find yourself in a predicament for music, assuming your Granny Margaret won’t likely shake her junk to Kesha. Texas music on the other hand is easy for everyone to dance to. If you’re not from Texas you might think, well not everyone likes country music. Which is true. But if you have ever experienced two-stepping in Texas, it’s not a factor of whether you like country music or not. Two-stepping is beyond fun- and bonus, it’s likely that your uncles and aunts and grannies and gramps will two step right along-side the young-uns. Texas music makes a great backdrop for lots of folks to enjoy. I did my mother/son dance to Willie Nelson. It was perfect. In Case you aren’t super familiar with the genre of Texas Country, check out Wade Bowen, Cody Canada and the Departed, and Reckless Kelley- these are some of the newer faces and we love them!

The number one reason that Emily and I chose a Texas Hill Country Wedding was because it’s HOME. Family and friends made our wedding the beautiful memory it is for us. Maybe it’s not home for all of you. If you’re not a native, one little Texas wedding might sink the roots of your soul into the Texas soil so deep you won’t ever leave. It happens quite a lot around these parts. Share with us why you love a Texas Hill Country wedding. And for those of you who have found our little heaven in Central Texas, we will hope to see you out there, dancing under the wide open Texas skies.

The Runway to the Aisle- Hill Country Wedding Planner

Today I was chatting with my interior design friend, Candy about bedding and wedding trends. Candy is one of those people is who always fabulous. I hardly ever see her wear the same outfit twice and you can count on her to be on top of the latest and greatest trends. Honestly, I didn’t expect to meet anyone like her, right here in the heart of Texas, but I am so glad I did. Her eye for interior design has challenged me to think about colors and lighting and texture in a whole new light. It has also challenged my pocketbook as I fall in love with all of the high end bedding she is showing me! Things I never knew about, I suddenly “have to have”. Maybe another day I will write about bedding and how marvelous great bedding is and how you should definitely put some good stuff on your registry.

Back to her eye, colors and lighting and texture are all tools that can be used to make a wedding design go from good to well, fabulous. There is no other word that really describes it properly. We were discussing how much wedding and interior design trends crossover. I posed the question “where does it start?” and she promptly said, “Paris of course”. “O yeah, of course!” I replied, all the while thinking “really?” every time I see fashion show clips the girls look gothic and the clothes look like they were pasted on with crazy glue while the artist was intoxicated. Come on, does anyone else think that? Exhibit A:hill-country-weddings-chanel-fall-2015-39

 

See what I mean?

I set out this evening to find out the correlation. To see if I could find how the trickle-down effect worked. I started out searching by designer and season on Vogue.com under the fashion show tab. Then again I thought, “Really?” but after some hard searching I began to see it. Although our everyday fashion doesn’t look like the models in Vogue I can see the inspiration- now that I am looking for it.

Examining the Spring 2015 line from Versace and Valentino, the colors and designs are described as “en plein air” with soft colors and warm undertones, taking cues from nature.

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Did anyone see bridesmaids dresses like this in this their pinterest or facebook feed this past summer? Like all the time.

Etsy.com

Etsy.com

Apryl Ann Photography

Apryl Ann Photography

Ruffled.com

Ruffled.com

Do you see the similarities? I’m definitely not an expert on Vogue fashion, but I am officially fascinated. Fashion week is coming up in New York very soon. Maybe I will write a blog about predictions for the next season!