GSS Wedding Style :: Winter Wonderland :: Tamara Menges Designs

The temperatures are getting cooler and that means we are getting closer to the winter months. We received this submission of beautiful styling from Tamara Menges and wanted to share it with you. It just screams winter! A winter wedding is absolutely stunning and we hope you can take a few of these elements and make them your own. A little from the designer….

“I’m a Southern girl with a Southern heart, but I also have a flair for the “couture” fashion and design that comes with the major cities, such as New York. I wanted to inspire brides that may feel the same way, the brides who want to honor their upbringing of the “down home, porch sitting, iced tea sipping” way of life, but also integrate the “high-end couture” details that we all love to drool over in the magazines. In order to nod to the high-end I knew I had to use crystals, glass, and fur. I used fur fabric to cover the seat of the ghost chairs and added the lumbar pillows provided by “K & K It’s a Hit Events”. The glass balls were hung to make a “skirt” around the table, and the piece of glass on top of the crystal candlesticks was cut special for this shoot. For the cake table, I recognized the most southern flower is the magnolia, but I wanted to integrate a fresh new way to utilize them. In order to do this I sprayed them silver and glued silver glitter to the leaves. For the cake I incorporated rhinestones and silver glitter as well. For the “love letter” set, I thought “what’s more romantic than a bride writing her future husband a letter of how much he means to her, those moments when you’re completely ready and waiting to walk down the aisle to your new husband and new life.” I wanted to capture these precious moments, so we used an antique secretary and embellished with beautiful and colorful items, complete with the bride’s personal stationary and feather pen! How delightful it can be when two different worlds can merge making for a unique and sophisticated “southern couture” inspiration.”

Photography :: Sarah e. Evans Photography // Event Designer: Tamara Menges Designs // Invitation Designer:  K & K It’s a HIT Events // Equipment Rentals:  B & B Solutions // Makeup Artist:  Beauty with Grace // Museum:  The Chamber House

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GSS Weekly Recap :: Weddings Revisited

This week we found some great new wedding trends, featured a gorgeous engagement session and brought you a beautiful royal blue wedding inspiration board fit for a queen! Don’t just take our word for it….use the links below to see these great new trends and features! Happy wedding weekend to all of the couples about to embark on such an exciting time together.

GSS Featured Engagement Session :: Jessica & Jody’s Romantic Castle Session :: Pure Sugar Studios

Hooray! You are in for a treat today. This engagement session was submitted to us from Pure Sugar Studios via Two Bright Lights and it was only fitting that we run this feature as we rapidly approach the 25th anniversary of one of our favorite movies…..The Princess Bride. As we were browsing these images we were reciting a quote from the movie over and over again in our heads. The line we all know and love from The Princess Bride said by the incredibly funny Billy Crystal….”Have fun stormin’ … [Read More...]

 

GSS Wedding Trends :: Balloon Wedding Send-Off

Today we are excited to bring you a new trend in wedding send-offs. We are seeing more and more fantastic wedding exits. They can be grand and spontaneous, or low-key and quiet. We have seen sparklers, confetti, streamers, bubbles and even paper airplanes! Allison Davis with Allison Davis Photography has sent us these beautiful wedding images. The couple chose to a balloon exit with several varieties of colors in their palette. We thought of way to take this further with adding wedding wishes … [Read More...]

 

GSS Wedding Inspiration Board :: Black, White & Royal Blue

Happy Monday, Lovelies!!!  We hope everyone had a great weekend!  Black and White weddings are so trendy lately and we couldn’t agree with this trend more.  We do, however, love to add a pop of color in with this chic palette.  Check out how beautiful this palette can be with the addition of Royal Blue: Black and White Anemone Bridal Bouquet:  Image Courtesy of Q Weddings Black, White and Royal Blue Boutonniere:  Flowers by Semia           Image Courtesy of Brian … [Read More...]

 

GSS Wedding Cake Trend :: Hand Painted Wedding Cakes

We LOVE cake (Okay, we’re OBESSESSED with it!) and we especially love beautiful designs that incorporate unique ideas.  So when we ran across Nevie-Pie Cakes while surfing the internet, our jaws dropped.  These hand painted cakes are just to die for!  Take a look at some of her beautiful creations: Natasha, the creator of Nevie-Pie Cakes worked as a textile designer for many years and has been a lifelong baker.  After giving up on early career plans to be a dentist, Natasha … [Read More...]

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GSS Wedding Cake Trend :: Hand Painted Wedding Cakes

We LOVE cake (Okay, we’re OBESSESSED with it!) and we especially love beautiful designs that incorporate unique ideas.  So when we ran across Nevie-Pie Cakes while surfing the internet, our jaws dropped.  These hand painted cakes are just to die for!  Take a look at some of her beautiful creations:


Natasha, the creator of Nevie-Pie Cakes worked as a textile designer for many years and has been a lifelong baker.  After giving up on early career plans to be a dentist, Natasha began studying Illustration.  After graduating from University she fell into Textile Design.  She worked in both furnishing and fashion textiles for ten years, finally ending up as the Senior Designer in the London studio of a New York fashion textile house.  Once married and had children, she became a stay at home mother and started looking for a creative  began making cakes for the kid’s parties.  She started making more and more adventurous cakes and eventually decided that they were good enough to sell. She began to play with her strengths and experimented with painting on cakes. She was delighted when it worked, and has since started the Nevie-Pie Cakes specialist bakery to sell her work through.  Nevie-Pie Cakes is based out of Berkhamsted Hertfordshire, UK.

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GSS Featured Engagement Session :: Jessica & Jody’s Romantic Castle Session :: Pure Sugar Studios

Hooray! You are in for a treat today. This engagement session was submitted to us from Pure Sugar Studios via Two Bright Lights and it was only fitting that we run this feature as we rapidly approach the 25th anniversary of one of our favorite movies…..The Princess Bride. As we were browsing these images we were reciting a quote from the movie over and over again in our heads. The line we all know and love from The Princess Bride said by the incredibly funny Billy Crystal….”Have fun stormin’ da castle!” For those of you that are not familiar with this movie, from 1987 with a star-studded cast. Its a classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess, and yes, some kissing. Now, can’t you see this session fitting with the movie….well minus the swordplay, giants and evil prince.

These two definitely looked like they had a blast Stormin’ Da Castle. Jessica and Jody’s engagement session is filled with romance, love, laughter, bikes and a truly romantic location….a REAL CASTLE Saint Augustine Florida!

Thank you Pure Sugar Studios for sharing this session with us! We just love a great romance story. This session is truly unique and we are so excited to share it with all of our Groom Sold Separately readers. Jessica and Jody, thank you for sharing your love for our readers to see and we wish you a lifetime of love and laughter and may each day be better than the last! “Have fun stormin’ da castle!”

If you have an engagement, wedding, day after, or anniversary session that you would like featured, Please send it to us at submissions@groomsoldseparately.com.  We HEART submissions! If you are already a member on Two Bright Lights, its even easier to submit there! We can’t wait to see what you send us!!

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GSS Wedding Trends :: Balloon Wedding Send-Off

Today we are excited to bring you a new trend in wedding send-offs. We are seeing more and more fantastic wedding exits. They can be grand and spontaneous, or low-key and quiet. We have seen sparklers, confetti, streamers, bubbles and even paper airplanes! Allison Davis with Allison Davis Photography has sent us these beautiful wedding images. The couple chose to a balloon exit with several varieties of colors in their palette. We thought of way to take this further with adding wedding wishes and tying them to the streamers. Each of your guests can write a sweet wish to the couple and then tie them and the wishes could go up with the balloons.

Thanks so much Allison for sending us these great images of such a fun wedding trend. You can find Allison in our Texas Regional Wedding Vendor Directory.

 

 

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GSS Weekly Recap :: Weddings Revisited

This week we brought you many fabulous trends and inspiration. We showed you some handmade details, featured a vintage Texas Wedding, trends in guestbooks, and even a fabulous inspiration board with the cherry colors of yellow and teal! As always our Fridays are dedicated to wrapping up the week and packaging these beautiful posts for you to check out for yourself. To the couples about to embark on matrimony this weekend….we wish you all a lifetime full of love and laughter and may each day be better than the last!

GSS’s Things We LOVE :: Wedding Sundae’s Handmade Details

You may or may not have noticed, but on Monday’s Teal and Yellow inspiration board, we featured a beautiful boutonniere and an escort card holder by Natacha of Wedding Sundae.  We absolutely adore her handmade wedding details and wanted to share more with you.  She can take care of almost all of your details for you- she has Save the Dates, Invitations, Programs, Menu Cards, Escort Cards, Table Numbers, Thank You Cards, Boutonnieres, Napkin Rings AND Escort Card Holders! Whew- that’s a … [Read More...]

GSS Featured Wedding :: Caroline & Jeremy’s Vintage Farmhouse Wedding :: Kate Takes Photos

You’re all in for a treat today!!!  Man, our submissions just keep getting better and better!!!  Today’s fabulous featured wedding comes from Kate Miller of Kate Takes Photos, a Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas based wedding photographer.  Kate has been so sweet and accommodating to GSS and we have truly enjoyed working with her on this feature. Caroline and Jeremy were married on June 24, 2011 at an 1800′s Texas farmhouse and their wedding was FILLED to the brim … [Read More...]

GSS Fun Find :: Make Your Sign In Book Scrappy!

Above Scrapbooking paper from Michael’s If you have been to a wedding this decade, we are sure you have seen the sign-in books wrapped in white fabric with the fancy feather pen sitting next to it. It greets you as you enter the wedding and politely whispers for you to sign your name on the line. Now, those of us that have seen couples get creative with their sign-in books love it! Something different, something fun! This past weekend we saw a cute way for guests to sign in. The couple used … [Read More...]

GSS Wedding Inspiration Board :: Teal & Yellow with Black Accents

We hope you had a fabulous weekend.  Today’s inspiration board color palette was suggested to us by a loyal reader!  We LOVE your suggestions!  So, today we’re featuring the gorgeous color palette of Teal and Yellow with Black accents.  These colors are so bright and lively and we just love how well they compliment each other.  This wedding color palette would be perfect for any season of the year and any wedding location!  We absolutely adore this color … [Read More...]

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GSS’s Things We LOVE :: Wedding Sundae’s Handmade Details

You may or may not have noticed, but on Monday’s Teal and Yellow inspiration board, we featured a beautiful boutonniere and an escort card holder by Natacha of Wedding Sundae.  We absolutely adore her handmade wedding details and wanted to share more with you.  She can take care of almost all of your details for you- she has Save the Dates, Invitations, Programs, Menu Cards, Escort Cards, Table Numbers, Thank You Cards, Boutonnieres, Napkin Rings AND Escort Card Holders! Whew- that’s a lot!  She can custom make anything by matching the colors, theme and concept of your wedding.  Check out these gorgeous handmade details for a Peacock themed wedding (LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!):

 

 

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GSS Featured Wedding :: Caroline & Jeremy’s Vintage Farmhouse Wedding :: Kate Takes Photos

Happy Hump Day, Lovelies!!!  You’re all in for a treat today!!!  Man, our submissions just keep getting better and better!!!  Today’s fabulous featured wedding comes from Kate Miller of Kate Takes Photos, a Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas based wedding photographer.  Kate has been so sweet and accommodating to GSS and we have truly enjoyed working with her on this feature.

Caroline and Jeremy were married on June 24, 2011 at an 1800′s Texas farmhouse and their wedding was FILLED to the brim with amazing details!  (Side Note:  Remember Emily and Landry’s awesome Ranch Wedding that we featured last year? The groom of this feature, Jeremy, is the brother of Emily.  Apparently amazing wedding planning runs in their veins! Side Note 2:  Make sure you read about Jeremy’s proposal.  Sweetest. Proposal. EVER.)  Caroline was kind enough to answer a few questions for us:

How did you and Jeremy meet? We both went to Texas Christian University—we were introduced through a mutual friend and got to know each other through Disciples on Campus, University Christian Church, and the TCU Religion Department.

How long have you been together? 2.5 years

How did Jeremy propose?  One day in early 2009, several of our friends were planning an evening at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.  By the time we left TCU, however, all but two of our group had cancelled. Who was left? You guessed it: Me and Jeremy. We decided to go anyway, just the two of us. Jeremy loves photography, so, of course, he brought his camera. In one of the halls of the museum that looks out over the reflection pool is a piece of art created from THOUSANDS of pieces of green, cellophane-wrapped hard candies. You can take the candy as a memento or as a snack, and the museum replenishes it intermittently. Jeremy took a great photo of me that day–a photo which later graced his nightstand. We had an incredible time laughing, talking, enjoying the art and each other’s company. We have come to call this our first “pseudo-date.”

A few pseudo-dates and a few regular dates later, we are in December 2010, completely in love. Unfortunately we are also in two states separated by 1,700 miles, since he was starting a masters program in Berkeley, and I was finishing up at TCU in Fort Worth, TX. Anxious for December 20, when we were to meet at SFO airport, I was trying to make it through the last couple weeks of class.

Over Thanksgiving, my best friend, Sarah Parker, asked me if we could go to the Modern on her next day off, which happened to be the next Thursday. I said we could go between my classes since I have a four hour break. We headed to the
museum, and I was excited for a girls’ afternoon. We stopped and talked about a few of our favorite pieces, but Sarah did not linger long at any of them. Then, we turned a corner. There, by the windows, standing where I am standing in the picture from 22 months earlier is Jeremy (wearing my favorite shirt of his!).

I stood there in shock for a moment, confused at how he was there. He was supposed to be in Berkeley. He was supposed to be cramming in research for his term papers. He had just texted me on Tuesday that I should make three weeks go by faster. Tricky. When I was convinced I was not hallucinating, I asked him what he was doing here. He responded, “I think you know why I’m here.”

Getting down on one knee, he told me he loves me and that I make him smile like nobody else can. Then he said I would find a special present hidden among the green candies. I started eyeing every pocket and dent in the sea of green, looking for a spot that looked like it had been messed with. Realizing how long this task would really take, I turned back to Jeremy and pleaded, “You have GOT to be kidding me!” He laughed, said “Yes,” pulled the perfect ring from his pocket, and asked if we could be married.

I think you can guess my answer. :)

What sold you on your wedding venue? It was outdoors. Jeremy and I really wanted an outdoor wedding, and our venue had a beautiful grove of trees, which was perfect for the ceremony and had a great pavilion for our casual, fun reception.

Your dress is gorgeous (seriously, we’re obsessed with it!), where did you get it and how did you know it was “the one”? I’ll be honest. The one thing I HAD dreamed about was the dress. For the few months prior to the proposal, I had my suspicions and I started scouting dresses. I love the vintage, Audrey Hepburn look. With my figure, higher necklines are more flattering and more comfortable, so I knew I wanted a bateau neck. My back is one of my favorite parts of my body, so I wanted to show that off. And, I knew I wanted a tea-length dress, for many reasons (the TX heat in June, my inability to dance in a long dress, etc.) SO,
this dress was perfect. I found it on UniqueVintage.com, and ordered it right away (I mean within a week of the proposal!). When it came in, I found that dress sizes have changed DRAMATICALY since the 50s, so I had MAJOR alterations done (lowering the V in the back, adding the lace at the waist, letting out EVERY seam allowance) at Margo West Bridal Alterations in Dallas.

I absolutely love it. It is truly one-of-a-kind. Plus, the lace we added was salvaged from my aunt’s graduation dress slip (I wore thedress for the rehearsal dinner)! Hooray for repurposing!

What was your “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue”? I had multiple “something olds:” my dress (and the lace), my veil (tulle was taken from a hat that belonged to my great-grandmother), vintage pearl necklace.

“something new:” my fabulous purple shoes! (from Anthropologie).

“something borrowed:” I wore my mother’s pearl earings.

“something blue:” I carried a baby blue hankie.

How did you choose your wedding color palette? Purple is (and always has been) my favorite color, plus it is the school color for TCU. Green is Jeremy’s favorite color, and we both liked the combination of moss
green with purple and lavender. We added some pale blue with vintage glass jars and some cranberry/pink with my dad’s zinnias and the gladiolas in the ceremony just to add some brightness.

Do you have any advice for bride and grooms that are in the planning process?

  1. RECRUIT HELPERS! Especially if you do everything DYI, like we did, helpers are invaluable. My mother is a school teacher, so we both had the few weeks prior to the wedding off, and we worked tirelessly for those
    few weeks.
  2. Do things according to your strengths—Jeremy, who is very artistic, drew our invitations, save-the-dates and painted the signs for the reception, etc. I am more artsy-craftsy, so I put the invitations together, made napkins, etc. But, be sure to do some things together, as well. It makes the whole process more fun.
  3. Don’t take things too seriously. You will forget things the day of—we forgot to put out the 15 pounds of grapes we bought! Oops! But, remember that while the little things are wonderful and create an amazing atmosphere, they are not really what the day is all about.

What song did you dance to for your first dance? “The Very Thought of You” by Billie Holiday.

What was your favorite part of your big day? Really, the whole day was wonderful. Even setting up was fun! Our whole wedding party helped, along with our families, and we had a great time. The ceremony was
beautiful, with many meaningful words and actions, and the reception was a blast! That being said, my favorite moment:

We served communion during our ceremony, so after a friend of mine sang a few songs, everything was quiet. Jeremy and I really had a special moment to ourselves when we could just be together. Even though everyone was still there, it felt like a very private moment. To make the perfect moment more surreal, a cool breeze came through (blessed relief!) and two cardinals started calling back and forth in the trees.

 

Vendors:

Venue: 1899 Farmhouse, Princeton, TX

Dress: UniqueVintage.com

Cake: Jeremy’s mother made the “wedding cake” and various friends and family members baked the rest of the tasty treats on our dessert bar. (My mother made upwards of 600 cookies!)

Floral: We bought the flowers from 7th Street Flower Market in Fort Worth, and our good friend Anna Ross did the arrangements and bouquets.

Linens: provided by 1899 Farmhouse

Catering: DIY

DJ/Band: 1899 Farmhouse provided basic sound equipment, and we had a friend manage an iTunes playlist we created

Videographer: n/a

Invitations/Wedding Stationery: DIY

Event Planner: n/a

Thank you so much, Kate, for sharing this amazing wedding with us!  Please stop by her website and show her some love!  And thank you, Caroline, for taking your time to answer our questions!  We wish you and Jeremy a lifetime full of love, laughter, and happiness!!!  May every day be better than the last!

If you have an engagement, wedding, day after, or anniversary session that you would like featured- Please send it to us at submissions@groomsoldseparately.com.  We HEART submissions!

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GSS Fun Find :: Make Your Sign In Book Scrappy!


Above Scrapbooking paper from Michael’s

If you have been to a wedding this decade, we are sure you have seen the sign-in books wrapped in white fabric with the fancy feather pen sitting next to it. It greets you as you enter the wedding and politely whispers for you to sign your name on the line. Now, those of us that have seen couples get creative with their sign-in books love it! Something different, something fun! This past weekend we saw a cute way for guests to sign in. The couple used scrapbook paper, colorful pens and a slip-in photo album. All of these items can be found at most craft stores. We did some research for this post and found some fun paper for your guests to write some words of a wisdom, maybe a wish for the couple, or just a doodle for you remember them by during your wedding day. We just searched Google for “scrapbooking paper” and found a plethora of ideas for you to use. The above collage shows three different paper types we put together based on the sign in book we saw at the wedding this weekend. You could find a theme pack and take the guess work out of coordinating anything. Have the pens near the paper, and the guests will do the rest. After the wedding, slip these beauties into your album and viola….a pretty sign-in book you can keep forever!

All Images by Amy Karp Photography :: Design by Branching Out Events

Just remember, this your wedding. Incorporate your theme, your colors, your personality! Its fun and a great way for your guests to leave you a little token of wisdom in writing for you to keep forever. Have fun with it and we can’t wait to hear about what you did to make it your own.

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