WEDDING BLOG

Sonoma, California Vineyard Wedding at Chalk Hill Estate – Julie and John

June 25, 2013 | editorial team

The Couple: Julie and John

The Wedding: 7.14.12 – Chalk Hill Estate, Sonoma, CA

What three adjectives best describe your wedding? Elegant, relaxed, outdoors

What was your wedding color palette? White, purple, green

What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day? John proposed at Chalk Hill. We love going up to wine country and we wanted to share this special place with our closest friends and family. In particular we love the beautiful countryside, relaxed but elegant style, delicious food and wine. Our vision was Ralph Lauren meets wine country.

Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding? We loved touring several wineries with our families and the wedding party two days before the wedding. We rented two houses: one for the brides party and one for the grooms. Spending time relaxing and hanging out with our closest friends in a beautiful setting before the wedding was very special. The rehearsal dinner was a wonderful chance to say hello to most of our guests. The speeches at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding both brought tears to our eyes and left us gasping for air from laughing. The food at the rehearsal dinner and wedding was so delicious! The ceremony was lovely. We had a string quartet that did an excellent job and Julie walked down the aisle to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. The officiants remarks were inspiring and meaningful. The flowers and views at our wedding were breathtaking. We loved our first dance. We danced to Aint Nothing Bout You by Brooks and Dunn. And our cake was the best weve ever had! Julie loved handing off her bouquet to her brother’s fiancé.

What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today? Three things: (1) Hire a great wedding planner. (2) Your dress should make you feel like a beautiful bride. If you have doubts, hold out until you find one that brings tears to your eyes. (I wasted time and money on a first dress before I found THE dress.) (3) Dont worry about everything else being absolutely perfect and learn to let things go at a certain point. Trust that awesome wedding planner! Too much pressure can make you anxious and ruin what will inevitably be a lovely day.

The Wedding Team:

Photographer: Cliff Brunk Photography
Event Planner: Jess Flood Event Design
Ceremony & Reception Venue: Chalk Hill Estate
Rehearsal Dinner: Barndiva
Videographer/Film Maker: BLR Life Photography and Cinema
Officiant: family friend
Invitation Designer: Bella Figura
Calligraphy: Barbara Callow Calligraphy
Catering: Componere Fine Catering
Florals & Furniture: Blueprint Studios
Cake: Perfect Endings
Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Bridal Accessories: Veil – Vera Wang, Shoes – JCrew and Valentino, Jewelry – Bloomingdales
Bridesmaids Apparel & Accessories: Alfred Sung via Bella Bridesmaid
Groom & Groomsmen Apparel & Accessories: Hugo Boss and Jos. A Bank
Hair & Make-up: Its A Date at the Powder Room
Live Music: Bill Hopkins Rockn Orchestra and Music to Go
Transportation: Sausalito Limosines
Dance Instruction: Metronome Dance Collective
Rentals: Wine Country Party
Lighting: Got Light?
Tenting: Zephyr Tents
Rings: Richard Dolgin

Thank you Julie and John for sharing your wonderful vineyard wedding with us!

Looking to plan a wine country wedding? Use our Wedding Planning Hotlist for Napa and Sonoma!

South Africa Destination Weddings – Advice from Wedding Concepts

June 24, 2013 | editorial team

South Africa is an amazing destination wedding location, and whether you choose a wedding at one of the Capes world-renowned wine estates or pristine beaches, at an urban venue in Johannesburg, or a wild bush setting, no one brings a South African celebration to life like the Wedding Concepts team. Wedding Concepts is known and respected for their professionalism, personal approach, attention to detail, and incredible creativity, and we’re proud to call them Junebug members. They’ve produced over 400 weddings and are absolute experts when it comes to events in South Africa.

For any of you out there considering this fascinating area of the world for your wedding or honeymoon, we are excited to announce that Wedding Concepts’ own Kim Werner will be in New York City this July, to consult with couples and share her knowledge! To give you all a little more background, I asked Kim a few questions about South African weddings, and had her share some recent wedding photos of events she’s loved…

Junebug: Tell us a little bit about your company, Wedding Concepts.

Kim: As South Africa’s premier Wedding Planners, we pride ourselves in handcrafting weddings of distinction for a select and limited group of clients from across the globe. From conceptualization and supplier selection to briefing and organization of the day, Wedding Concepts is a full service Wedding Planning business catering to the discerning couple.

Junebug: So, why South Africa? What makes it such a unique destination wedding location?

Kim: From small, intimate weddings with a few family members and friends, to full blown celebrations with hundreds of international guests, South Africa offers spectacular possibilities at unrivaled value. A value for money haven, in SA you’ll get away with paying 40-50% less for a similar wedding in US, lest we forget that the lovely weather and unsurpassed setting come free of charge south of the equator.

We also say that in South Africa summer never ends. Days are marked by an average of 12 hours of sunshine, moderate temperatures and, in the Western Cape, virtually no rain falls between September and April. The combination of the superb surroundings and fantastic weather allows for memorable outdoor ceremonies overlooking mountain ranges, vineyards or the ocean.

Cape Town specifically is synonymous with cutting edge design, décor and creativity. It has recently been voted the worlds design capital of 2014! Respected around the world for its gastronomic and culinary delicacies not to even mention its wines you can literally pick and choose your service providers from an array of acclaimed caterers, internationally awarded restaurants, funky musicians, polished hiring companies, and top notch, award-winning photographers to name a few.

Junebug: For couples interested in meeting with you in New York, what can they expect to learn?

Kim: During our consultation, you will have the opportunity to discuss the specific requirements of your celebration, and I’ll give you guidance and explain the advantages of Wedding Concepts professional coordination service. We’ll talk about what is practical, cost-effective and innovative, and discuss the many beautiful wedding locations throughout South Africa. I’ll make sure you gain direction and fresh ideas, and will feel equipped with lots of valuable insight to make your African destination wedding planning experience stress-free right from the start.

I’ll also tell you about our sister company Travel Concepts, who will ensure your African adventure is unforgettable for both you and your guests. The Travel Concepts team can assist in planning and booking highly bespoke itineraries in and around Africa for each and every guest, with the wedding centered as the focal point. Needless to say that tailoring your African honeymoon would also be part and parcel of their service crafting the travel memories of a lifetime!

Thank you Kim!

Kim will be available for New York City consultations from the July 8th to the 18th, 2013. For more information, call her at + 27 (0)21 426 57 83 or e-mail [email protected]. And for great wedding photography, check out our member wedding photographers in South Africa!

(Images in this post by Ryan Graham, Christopher Munton Photography, Tyme Photography, Jean-Pierre Uys, and We Love Pictures)

Creative DIY Wedding at Spruce Meadows in Alberta, Canada – Kayla and Jason

June 23, 2013 | editorial team

gray light pink yellow

The Couple: Kayla and Jason

The Wedding: 07.20.12 – Spruce Meadows – Alberta, Canada

What three adjectives best describe your wedding? Elegant, Fresh and Crafty!

What was your wedding color palette? Blush Rose, Yellow and Gold

What inspired your personal wedding style, and how did you incorporate your style and personalities into your big day? We knew that we wanted our wedding to represent a feeling of who we are as a couple; creative, crafty, intimate, easy-going and happy! We both felt that a couples wedding day is truly a celebration and wanted our family and friends to be able to do just that, celebrate! Honestly, my engagement ring was where we got most of our initial inspiration. It is elegant and classy, yet simple and minimal. We both realised those qualities would make the perfect wedding. Our venue really captured the elegance we were going for with its floor to ceiling windows and chandeliers. To incorporate the unadorned feeling we wanted, we chose white chairs and white tablecloths, and the majority of colour came from the florals and little details. Our colour scheme was blush, yellow and glitter gold, is what really brought out that happy and bright feeling we wanted our guest to experience. Little DIY wedding touches like craft paper album favors and seating tags brought out the natural aspect of who we are. Elegant, yet simple with crafty aspects? Even we weren’t sure it could be pulled off!

Looking back, what are the moments, decisions or memories that you love the most about your wedding? The stolen, unplanned moments like sneaking away from dinner to take photos with our daughter. Or, after our sparkler send off we turned around and ran back in because we weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to all of our loved ones. Even though we had made an exact timeline of the day, so many things were late or early and that was okay! We have told so many friends that have recently gotten engaged that the best thing they can do is have their photos taken before the wedding. It also meant that we got to do a first look before the ceremony. A last moment together. We thought seeing each other for the first time in front of everyone would be so overwhelming. And we both agreed that when the couple rushes off to take photos afterwards everything is hurried and the day broken up. That was definitely the best decision we made!

What piece of advice would you give to a bride planning her wedding today? Don’t lose sight of what your wedding day truly represents. After all the planning, appointments and long nights, the day will arrive and you owe it to you and your husband to bask in all your hard work and accept that not everything will be as you imagined it. If, at the end of the night, you drive away married to your best friend and man of your dreams, everything went perfectly.