From La Fête… Allison and Braxton were married in a rustic urban loft space in downtown Raleigh, NC. While guests were mingling downstairs in the Mahler Art Gallery for cocktail hour, we transformed the loft from ceremony space to reception space. Ceiling height burlap drapes were used to transition the venue from an intimate ceremony space into a rustic reception reminiscent of an enchanted forest, filled with soft sparkling lights and natural tones. Allison’s love for all things vintage created a beautiful, earthy feel that was so unique to this urban venue. Hundreds of strands of market lights hung from the ceiling, and every surface was covered in candles. To enhance the twinkly effect, we brought in large, mis-matched wood-framed mirrors to reflect all of the light. Farm tables were adorned with burlap runners and topped with wheat grass from the local farmers market and bark vases filled with pale pink flowers. We created two lounge areas using a selection of vintage furniture and old whisky barrels, where guests could sit, relax and take in the view of bustling Fayetteville Street. Most importantly, Allison and Braxton wanted their wedding day to be a simple yet unique celebration of their families and friends, and everyone chipped in to make this a reality.

Wedding Photography: Becci Ames Photography / Event Planning + Design + Floral Design: Events by La Fête / Wedding Ceremony + Reception Venue: The Stockroom at 230 / Cocktail Hour: Mahler Art Gallery / Caterer: Rocky Top Hospitality / Desserts: Sugarland  / Invitations: DIY by the bride / Wedding Dress: Custom by Enchanting Moments / Rentals: Party Reflections + Table of Contents / Decor (Lighting, Lounge Furniture, Props + Custom Draping): Themeworks / Entertainment: DJ K Stone

From the bride, Annie: Both my husband and I work in the entertainment industry in LA and so we really felt this need for storytelling in our own wedding. The journey of planning our wedding wasn’t guided by a color palette or a desire to impress but rather a celebration that “Love is Awesome”- the way my husband Gus and I felt about each other and truly about the amazing community of people around us.

From that standpoint, we hand-crafted our wedding with the utmost care and concern for our guests. It was important that they felt included, welcomed, loved, as much as we loved each other as we were taking an important step in our lives. We rethought every wedding decision because we didn’t want to do each tradition for the sake of doing them or because it’s what you do at weddings. Our wedding invitation was actually a handmade booklet that told the quirky story of how we met. We asked for creative replies our RSVP’s and surprised all of our guests by having all of their messages secretly printed on the fabric pinned beneath our chuppah. We even scoured Facebook for everyone’s photographs to create individual Polaroid magnets that doubled as escort cards.

Our wedding was without a doubt very us (we had Muppet wedding cakes, we entered the reception to Indiana Jones’ music complete with matching fedoras, etc.) but it was more-so a celebration of what makes us “us”- all of the amazing love and support that brought us to the moment of our marriage and that we know will keep us strong and happy in our lifetime together.

Wedding Location: Durham, NC / Wedding Photographer and Photobooth: Brett & Jessica / Wedding Venue: The Cotton Room / First Look Location: The Washington Duke Inn / Wedding Coordinator: Katie Dunn of La Fête / Wedding Flowers: Tre Bella / Hair and Makeup: Posh the Salon / Wedding Cake: Cinda’s Creative Cakes / Out of Town Box Treats: Carolina Popcorn Shoppe / Ceremony Musician: Laura Anzaldi and Chris Mike / DJ: DJ Frank Meldau of Joe Bunn Co. / Invitations, Paper Goods, Escort Magnets, and Calligraphy: the bride, Anniemade / Cinematographer: Inkspot Crow Films / Officiants: Father Michael Martin and Rabbi Andrew Ettin

Have you ever seen pictures of wedding dresses from different decades? You know exactly the ones I’m talking about. The dresses that you can almost pinpoint the decade based on its puffy sleeves, hoop skirts or other details. That’s what has made the wedding dress such a great industry.

For today’s post, we are going to hand it over to an expert. Alexia Joyce started her first store almost ten years ago, Alexia’s, based in the value of excellent customer service. Over the years the store has become known for its Couture designers such as Vera Wang, Monique Lhuillier and Carolina Herrera. Yet, customer service is still their focus. In the past few years, Alexia has opened a second store, Lana Addison Bridal, for a more budget conscience bride. No matter which store you are at- you can expect the best customer service in the business. Here are Alexia’s views on this year’s wedding gown trends and what she thinks will be coming up in 2014.

My favorite wedding fashions for 2013 is the increase of sleeves and build-ups.  Even though strapless is now a timeless look and always a favorite among brides; it is nice to see more cap sleeves, short sleeves, scoop necks, V-necks, and build-ups.  Strapless is a very flattering style (even though most do not think so until they actually try them on), but cap sleeves and V-necks are becoming increasingly popular as well.  It is nice to see an addition to strapless.

As for predicting 2014 trends, I believe there will be a huge comeback in blush colored gowns.  Designers have always tried to introduce color into bridal; there have been green gowns, blue accents, black sashes, pink floral patterns…just to name a few!  And of course, Vera Wang had an entire black season and red season!  But the real bride (for the most part) has really only accepted color in accessories such as champagne colored sashes, colored jewelry, and black-toned metal on crystal belts and brooches…until now.

Recently, we have had such an increase in brides wanting blush-toned gowns (colors such as blush, nude and champagne) that designers have actually asked me if I think certain dresses would do well in a blush tone!  If designers are producing past styles in blush, they should definitely be moving forward in this direction. I foresee entire gowns in subtle shades of blush, and I am excited about that!  Blush is a color that looks great on all skin tones yet is still subtle enough to remain traditional.

Would you wear a blush-toned gown? What are you excited about when shopping for a wedding dress?

And what could be more fun than a wedding show with all different types of vendors for every aspect of your wedding that you may not have even known existed?

If you haven’t decided to elope yet, I have five tips to make attending a wedding show less stressful and even more enjoyable.

1. Research vendors in advance. This will save time and you will know exactly whom you’d like to target. Plus, those vendors might send you to some of the other great spots at the show.
2. Keep a notepad & take notes. After you taste about five different cakes- you might forget the flavor of the one you liked best. Write down your likes, dislikes, etc. so later you can remember later, once everything has settled down.
3. Take photos! Many vendors offer tablescapes purely for inspiration- so be inspired! This will help you later when you can show other vendors what you are looking for.
4. Jot down some questions. Make sure you have written down a few questions for different vendors. Trying to remember everything in the moment can be very overwhelming.
5. Save the cards! Make sure you save the different business cards or handouts that you are given. They will be good references later on.

These are my tips…does anyone have any others for brides-to-be?

Lan knew she wanted to use shades of blue in her wedding.  Our first stop was save the dates and invitations.  While we were looking at invitations, we found a graphic design that she really wanted to use.   With the help of Maria Scheel Invitations we created these custom invitations with the graphic and were able to use the same graphic throughout the rest of the wedding design!   The pool blue color Lan decided to use for the invitations was carried throughout the rest of the reception decor as well.

When planning the aesthetic of the room, we wanted to keep the tone formal and include the shades of blue Lan was so drawn to.  We decided a basic navy blue linen (from CE rental) was sophisticated and would be the perfect building block for the rest of the design, not to mention the darker linen really made the light blue flowers pop!  Fresh Affairs created beautiful arrangements in the light blue and white families and added just the right amount of height needed in Old Well Ballroom.  To tie in the details, we found a beautiful light blue fabric that favored the design on the invitation, so we used this to create custom table numbers and matching chair caps for the Bride and Groom!  The groom, who just happened to be great with graphic design, made menu cards that were a perfect replica of the invitation.  Amber uplighting was also incorporated to give the room a soft candlelit glow.

Finally, when we met with Swank Cake, we brought an image of the invitation and they used that as the inspiration for the cake design making it truly one of a kind!

Beautiful images provided by Luster Studios!

xo

Katie

Bridal Trend Forecast 2013

By Taylor Arnold

Sept. 22, 2012
Lan Zhu and Kenny Lui

Lan Zhu and Kenny Lui both attended Enloe High School in Raleigh, but didn’t know each other well until mutual friends brought them together as students at UNC-Chapel Hill. The couple dated for more than three years, and after a typical afternoon bike ride, Kenny proposed by presenting Lan with a photo album chronicling their relationship and ending with a photo of a Tiffany & Co. box.

The couple, who loves to spend time outdoors, wanted a fall wedding and an outdoor ceremony followed by a formal, romantic dinner. Walking into the reception and seeing the dinner tables and floral centerpieces was a real “wow moment” for the bride. “I didn’t imagine it would look that grand!” said Lan.

Guest books featuring the couple’s engagement and baby pictures with Mad Libs-style fill-in-the-blanks provided a personalized way to connect with guests.

“The best thing was everything was so smooth. There were absolutely no hiccups in the road. It was carefree in the sense that I really wasn’t stressed out at all during the day,” said Lan.

Ceremony
The Carolina Inn

Reception
The Carolina Inn

Planner
La Fête, Katie Dunn

Photographer
Luster Studios, Craig Carpenter

Floral Design
Fresh Affairs

Gown
Victorian Rose Bridals

Cake
Swank Cake Design

Calligraphy
Calligraphy by Carrie