Who wouldn’t love a portrait of themselves on their wedding day, as amazing as one of these? Whether classic, casual or completely abstract, there is just nothing like an expertly captured portrait. The following images were submitted as part of the Best of the Best Wedding Photo Collection, and we couldn’t resist sharing them with you!
We’re continuing the holiday fun today, and this time it’s all about the boys! For day two of our holiday giveaway week, we have a collection treasured gift ideas for your groom, or his guys. We think the men in your life will love these ideas, because who couldn’t use a little spoiling this season! The winner of today’s “gifts for the guys” giveaway package will receive:
Read on to learn more about each item, and to enter to win just leave us a comment here telling us what your guy will be wearing on your wedding day! We’ll accept entries all week long, and choose our winner randomly next Monday, December 24th, 2012. Happy Holidays everyone!
Looking fantastic on your wedding day isn’t just for the bride! Specializing in creative, less traditional wedding looks for men, The Grunion Run is a fantastic online shop where you can find super stylish looks for all the men in your wedding. Having noticed that there were already plenty of options out there for brides and bridesmaids but not nearly enough for the guys, husband and wife team Kevin and Yun set out to create a shop specifically designed for the stylish groomsman! The lucky winner of today’s giveaway will receive three amazing items from The Grunion Run: a lightweight white cotton dress shirt with elegant purple and gray pinstripes, a modern pink cotton tie, and to top it off, a pair of fun pink, red and orange striped socks by Happy Socks.
To make sure the men in your wedding look their very best, check out The Grunion Run’s trend-setting designs in their lookbook and in their online shop!
What man likes sipping on a watered down drink? No man – and that’s why we adore the genius husband and wife team at Polar Stones! For a groomsman gift that your guys will use time and time again, Whiskey Stones are perfect – they chill your drink to the perfect temperature without diluting it, and are made from a non-porous soapstone material, giving them no odor or taste. In addition, Polar Stones also offers stainless steel flasks wrapped in leather, which you can have customized with your groomsman’s initials. The winner of today’s giveaway will receive one groomsman set, which includes a set of whiskey stones and one personalized leather flask. Cheers!
Most guys seem to go crazy for a good shave, and the family-owned business, Dirty Deeds Soaps, knows just how to create wonderful men’s soaps and shaving products that will have them looking (and smelling!) great. Each Dirty Deeds bar of soap is cut by hand, and one variety in particular that makes them popular with the guys is their masculine beer soap! Today’s winner will receive a Dirty Deeds men’s shaving kit, which includes one round wooden soap dish, one shave soap, one starter boar bristle brush and one “The Art of the Manly Shave” instructions.
Remember, all you have to do to enter is leave us a comment about what your groom will be wearing on your wedding day. And don’t forget that we have a new giveaway each day this week!
While planning our Fashion Report photo shoot that took place last Friday (and that we’ll have up on the site soon!) I’ve had men’s wear for weddings on my mind, so when I learned about the online shop The Grunion Run I was excited to see another great resource for fun men’s fashion. Based in L.A. and run by husband and wife team Kevin and Yun, The Grunion Run offer grooms and groomsmen “a convenient and affordable way to find unique, stylish, non-traditional groomsmen apparel that would be great both for and after the wedding.” If you’re looking for apparel or accessories for your groom or groomsmen, check out their website to see for yourself!
Continuing with yesterday’s theme of gifts for your gals, today we have a giveaway full of gifts for your guys! No doubt your groomsmen play a huge roll in your life as well as in your wedding, so we found some fantastic and creative thank you gifts to show them your appreciation. One lucky Junebug winner will soon receive:
Read on to learn more about each item, and to enter to win just leave us a comment here telling us what you love about the men in your wedding party and your ideas for showing them your gratitude. We’ll accept entries all week long, and choose our winner randomly next Monday, December 19th, 2011. Let’s hear it for the boys!
If the groomsmen in your life are connoisseurs of old-fashioned, handmade, high-quality craftsmanship and design, then take a look at all the incredible gift possibilities at Kaufmann Mercantile! This Brooklyn based Men’s accessory shop is dedicated to bringing its customers a thoughtful selection of products that last a lifetime, and today they’re giving our lucky Junebug winner a sophisticated shaving set of a Muehle Safety Razor and Valobra Shaving Soaps. Nice! Like adding a little bit of Mad Men style to your grooming routine.
Designer Derek Shaw from Waskerd is passionate about making the highest quality leather wallets, with the highest quality tools and materials, with his own two talented hands, and we love the results. Each wallet is one of a kind and made to help you keep things simple and de-clutter your life. Derek loves working with wedding parties too, so Waskerd offers a free wallet for the groom when he purchases one for all his groomsmen, and you can even get them monogrammed with your groomsmen’s initials! And today Waskered is generous giving our Junebug winner the wallet of their choice from waskerd.com, complete with custom monogram. Thanks Derek!
Got a group of guys spread out around the country, or buddies who love to travel? These super fun custom made map cuff links by Beth Holloway from Tomato-Made are the perfect gift for globe trotting pals. They’re made with a vintage map of the location of your choice, set in sterling silver and preserved under a dome of glossy resin.Grooms, groomsmen, fathers and grandfathers, who wouldn’t love this fun fashion accessory? Thanks to Tomato-Made, our giveaway winner will get to try them out for themselves!
Weddings, as we’ve all seen time and time again, are often thought of as more of the bride’s day, so I love it when I see wedding photos from an event that honor the friendships and rituals of the men on the wedding day as well as the women. Couple Lauren and Chris returned to Boulder, Colorado from New York to get married, and their friends obviously played a major role in their celebration. The groom and his groomsmen had a blast bonding while preparing for the ceremony, and talented photographers Daniel and Heidi Chowen of Chowen Photography did an amazing job capturing all of their fun…
From Daniel and Heidi: “The guys had a full day consisting of sun bathing, swim races, time at the gun range, a steaming limo radiator, and an evening full of gentleman toasts. They handled themselves with style and class the whole way. I loved every minute of the day.”
Today’s post showcases all of those manly moments in celebration of how wonderful photos of guys on the wedding day can be…
And of course we must include some photos of the happy couple together. What a stunning pair Lauren and Chris make!
If the men in your life are connoisseurs of old-fashioned, handmade, high-quality craftsmanship and design, then take yourself for an online shopping trip for groom and groomsmen’s gifts at Kaufmann Mercantile! This Brooklyn based Men’s accessory shop, run by Sebastian Kaufmann, is dedicated to bringing it’s customers a thoughtful selection of products to last a lifetime – evident in the way they describe themselves and their purpose.
“Everyday objects should be designed well and manufactured to last a long time. We believe good design means beautiful aesthetics and well-chosen materials for products that are built for functionality and durability. Most of our products are handmade, and we never sell cheaply made alternatives. A well-made object can be passed down, and shouldn’t have to be replaced, so there’s one less thing in the landfills.
Kaufmann’s current inventory ranges from pewter flasks, handmade leather footballs, and Italian shaving soaps to tools for the kitchen, garden and art studio – heaven for a modern day renaissance man. And if you sign up for their newsletter you’ll receive a $7 credit for the store. Take a look and let us know what you find!
Designers across the world have always looked to Pantone for color inspiration, and with every shade under the sun precisely represented, it’s a great place to look for ideas for your wedding decor and color palette as well. From your flowers to your bridesmaids’ dresses to your invitations and more, you can zero in on that exact tone you’re crazy for. If your groom is into color and design too, don’t miss our latest favorite find – these playful cuff links from Pantone and Sonia Spencer! With enameled colors and etched stainless steel, these cufflinks are meant to last, and come in bright and bold shades like Mandarin Orange, Blue Iris, Cherry Tomato, Bud Green and Regal Orchid. We love their paint chip-like look of these cufflinks and their modern take on a traditional men’s accessory. With, quite literally, a rainbow of color choices available, there is sure to be one to fit your wedding style!
Todays Real Wedding of LeeAnn and Doug is definitely one-of-a-kind. After all, how often do you hear about a wedding that was a complete surprise to the bride, not to mention one that was planned entirely by the groom? Man-of-the-year Doug Steding secretly took the reins to plan this wedding for his fiancée from top to bottom, and as youll see below, he carried it off with style and success!
Lets elope or you can surprise me was the end result of a conversation between LeeAnn and Doug as they discussed wedding possibilities one snowy December night. At first Doug thought he would have to be crazy to try to surprise her, so the couple planned to elope to Fiji on April 17. After giving it a bit more thought, Doug decided he could make the surprise happen and he began to set plans in motion. With a great team of professionals supporting him every step of the way, Doug says his planning was relatively easy. In fact, many of the businesses he worked with, especially photographer Jim Garner of J. Garner Photography and the staff at Seattle’s Hotel 1000, really got into the story and offered him valuable advice along the way.
Family and friends were all in on the secret as well. One friend helped LeeAnn pick out a Monique Lhuillier dress that would work not just on a beach in Fiji, but also, secretly, in Seattle. The day before the wedding was to take place, LeeAnns girlfriends scheduled a girls spa day, with a plan to gather for cocktails at the Seattle Art Museum that evening, leaving the groom (who was supposedly out of town) free to make last-minute wedding arrangements. At 4pm, LeeAnn was delivered to the Grand Staircase at SAM by her friends, where waiting on a landing half-way up with a ring and an invitation to her own wedding the next day, was Doug. After letting the surprise sink in over glasses of champagne, LeeAnn and Doug had engagement photos taken by Jim Garner and then joined their waiting friends and families for a rehearsal dinner at SAM’s restaurant, Taste.
The ceremony at Hotel 1000 the next day was a small and simple affair, complimented with many lovely personal touches. Doug carried his grandfathers pocket-watch, guests received homemade packages of Almond Roca, and a ribbon that LeeAnn loved had been incorporated into her bouquet by Juniper Flowers. Doug had thought of everything right down to the wedding color palette. As an interior designer, LeeAnn often uses her favorite colors green, brown and cream in her work, a detail Doug picked up on and incorporated when designing the wedding.
In the end, everyone agrees it was a great decision to go for the surprise, and the experience of being able to be a guest at her own wedding was a delicious treat for LeeAnn. When asked what his two biggest goals in planning the wedding were, Doug answered, “To keep the secret, and to keep the secret.” Mission accomplished! Amazing job Doug!
To learn about all of the businesses that contributed to this fantastic surprise wedding, be sure to visit our Real Weddings section.
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible adventure with us LeeAnn and Doug!
Readers, for help planning your own Seattle or Southern California wedding, don’t miss the trusted recommendations in our Plan Your Wedding hot list!
If you’re looking for something special to give to your guy, your groomsmen, or really anyone of the male persuasion, you’ll find a treasure trove of ideas at Uncrate.com. From hollowed out book safes to funky fashion accessories, to grill tools, home decor, bar ware and electronics, the finds on this blog are pretty much endless. Take a look when you have time to spare, I can tell you from experience, it’s likely you’ll get lost for hours!
Bridesmaids, maids of honor, and other members of your wedding party can have big responsibilities on your big day, so why not invite them to accept the honor with an invitation that’s as special as they are? Wedding invitation designers (and Junebug members!) Wiley Valentine recently created these amazing custom invites for a bride so she could tell each of her girlfriends how much she loved them and what an honor it would be to have them standing up for her at her wedding. Staying true to her fun personality she also joked about the other “perks” of being a bridesmaid (having to buy a dress they might never wear again and getting hit on by guys at the wedding!) which makes the invitations even more unique. Love it! How are you asking your loved ones to be a part of your wedding?