Search for melanie returned 5 posts | View all recent posts
Friday, June, 25, 2010 | Engagement Sessions
Chantal & Gregory - Getting "Hitched" Tomorrow!
| Chantal & Gregory are getting "hitiched" on tomorrow....congrats to them.....we wish them all the happiness and joy on their special day and capturing it all is one of my favorite ladies, the oh-so-talented and beautiful, Melani Lust of Melani Lust Photography. Melanie is the sweetest....the cafe "hearts" her...her work is always so beautiful and she truly has a passion for capturing all those special moments....Melani sent over the beautiful images of Chantal & Gregory's engagement session and their "engagement sign-in book"....let's check it out...Enjoy!
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| Melani...thanks so much for stopping by and we can't wait to see the images from the wedding on tomorrow...guys, make sure you check out Melani Lust Photography to see more of Melani's beautiful work!!
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Tuesday, February, 16, 2010 | Wedding Films
Melanie & Devin's Wedding Story
I am a huge fan of beautiful wedding films...I totally get caught up in the "moments" and it's so nice to be able to go back and relive all the beautiful memories of that special day. So, this week we are going to share a few of my favorite wedding films with you! The beautiful and talented and oh-so-sweet, Julie Hill of Elysium Productions, sent over the GORGEOUS wedding film of Melanie & Devin. Now let me put you on notice...this film is twenty minutes long.....and it is so worth it....you don't want to miss a second of it...I felt like I was a guest at the wedding....so go grab a cup of tea or coffe and a little snack...sit back and enjoy the gorgeous wedding story of Melanie & Devin!
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Melanie shares their love story with us......"Devin and I met over 4 years ago when we both attended Chapman University. He proposed to me in the South of France at a breathtaking spot overlooking the Mediterranean and the twinkling lights of Nice. We have been happily married for over 6 months now. It has been a wonderful (especially since 3 of those months we were honeymooning in Lake Como, Florence, Tuscany, Venice, Paris and NYC!). Since returning from our honeymoon we now reside in Orange County, California and work together on multiple business ventures including several e-commerce apparel sites, Custom Greek Threads.
While planning our wedding, Devin and I focused on staying sane and keeping it all in perspective.There are so many wonderful choices and vendors out there that it can be very overwhelming. It is so easy to get caught up in all of the little details and forget what is really important. I knew that I wanted a very glamorous and dramatic event. Originally we were interested in having our wedding in Italy, but we anticipated a logistical nightmare so we decided that Napa, California would be our best bet. It has all the beauty of the region of Tuscany while still being a only few hour flight for most of our guests. We enlisted the help of Sasha Souza to translate our idea into reality. Sasha did a wonderful job combining the drama and glamour of a formal ballroom in the serene gardens of a private estate and vineyard. The juxtaposition of the glitz of the decor set against nature was spectacular.
While the day of the wedding was phenomenal, it was a complete whirlwind. Our most cherished memories of our wedding occurred at the private estate we rented. We had our parents, grandparents, pastor and wedding party stay at the estate for the week prior to the actual day of the wedding. Devin and I agree that the time spent with our friends and family at the estate was our favorite part. We had a private chef cook for the week so we could just lounge and enjoy everyone's company. Your wedding is the one time in your life that you will be surrounded by those most important to you. Enjoy it (and make sure you have a fabulous photographer like Susan Stripling and an awesome videographer like Julie Hill).
Thank you Julie for doing such an amazing job capturing the essence of our special day."
Julie, thank you SO much for stopping by today and sharing such a beautiful wedding story with us...we look forward to your next visit and we are so happy to have you a part of the The Bride's Cafe Crème de la Crème Vendor Directory....and to Melanie & Devin...we wish you a lifetime filled with happiness and joy!!
Also, a huge THANK YOU to the incredibly talented and beautiful, Sasha Souza of Sasha Souza Events and Editor of Sparkliatti for designing such a beautiful wedding...Sasha's work is ALWAYS so gorgeous!
Check back later Guys....more gorgeous inspiration for you at the cafe.......xoxoxo
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Tuesday, December, 15, 2009 | Weddings
Real Wedding: Katie & Dave
| Say hello to Katie & Dave...they are a beautiful couple and I am happy to share their wedding story at the cafe today....Katie is such a sweetheart and she's a "fan of the cafe"....it's so wonderful to hear from my wonderful readers letting me know that they were inspired by the lovely features! Katie & Dave's wedding story was captured by the oh-so-talented and beautiful, Melani Lust of Melani Lust Photography. I adore Melani...she is so sweet and just a joy to work with...her work is gorgeous and always "picture perfect"....let's check out the beautiful images Melani sent over to share with us....Enjoy!
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| I love this image of Katie...isn't she gorgeous!!
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| Melanie...thanks so much for stopping by today and sharing Katie & Dave's wedding story with us...guys, please make sure you check out Melanie's site to see more of her gorgeous work.......and to Katie & Dave...we wish you a lifetime filled with happiness and joy....xoxo
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Tuesday, October, 13, 2009 | Weddings
Kathi & Gil's Wedding Story
I had the pleasure of meeting Kathi Littwin back in April and she showed me a few images from her gorgeous wedding....as many of you know, Kathi is an AMAZING photographer and it was fun talking to her about how she selected her vendors for her and Gil's wedding....she went from being a wedding vendor to a client....Kathi shares her wedding story with us...let's check out what she has to say...Enjoy!!!
"I have been photographing weddings for over 12 years now. On April 11th 2009 I finally had a wedding of my own. I have seen the other side and it has changed the way I look at what I do now.
First let me start with the planning. Being an insider certainly has its’ plusses. I joke and say it took 12 years to plan my wedding – and that’s not too far from the truth, because from the very first wedding I shot, I started making mental notes – what would I do at my wedding?
When the time came I already had very specific ideas about how many people I wanted to invite and what kind of party it would be. My dream fantasy wedding has an unlimited budget and involves flying everybody to a private island for a long weekend of hanging out, sunshine, a ceremony on the beach and a fabulous cool party late into the evening.
Reality inspires other things. We had a good number of people who would be flying in. I wanted to make it easy for them after they got here. I picked a venue that I loved, City Hall Restaurant in Tribeca. Found the nearby hotels. Set a date and got down to the details. I would say the main difference between myself and someone not in the business is that I already had my mind made up about who I wanted to do what.
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We start with paper. Sloane Madureira has been my graphic designer from way back. She designed my logo, website and stationery items and I was excited to do this project with her and her company Press New York. We picked out some design elements, I told her my color palette and then let her do what she does. I LOVE my paper goods and actually got choked up when I opened the box of invites.
The dress was next. I have seen thousands of beautiful dresses over the years but what did I want to wear. As I kid I remember thinking that I might want to wear a short dress – I liked being different even back then but also thought it would be nice to show off my legs. Why hide a good feature? Isn’t that the point? When I saw the picture of the Ramona Keveza dress on Martha Stewart’s web site, I didn’t need to look anymore. I booked my appt at Bridal Reflections, took one good friend with me and sealed the deal on the spot. I not only bought the first dress I tried on, it was the only dress I tried on.
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Raychel Wade of Cheek to Chic made me gorgeous. It was truly “Me on my Best Day”. Gil, oh did I forget to mention the groom, said I looked amazing. I told Ray that I have to put her on a retainer for all my best days to come.
Speaking of Gil, he had a suit made by Astor & Black. He too looked wonderful and was very pleased that he chose the custom route. It fit him perfectly and unlike me he’ll have many opportunities to wear it again.
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| Flowers were a little harder to choose because I know and love tons of people that I’ve worked with. I picked Melanie Arden of Melarosa because I felt her vision was closest to mine, she’s a lovely person and great to work with. We had fun putting it all together and the results were juicy and perfect.
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| My cake, desserts and favors were all by my good friend and colleague Dawn Casale and her company One Girl Cookies. Her shop is around the corner from me and I’ve had the opportunity to eat most of what they have in the shop. We worked on her web site together so I had a very clear idea of what we could do. The dessert buffet was a big hit and the favor boxes were adorable.
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The last and biggest question. Who shoots the photographer’s wedding? I had a few ideas of how to handle pictures. The first was to have all my photographer friends shoot but split up when, so that I didn’t have a paparazzi style event. Second was to hire someone whose work I loved but someone that I didn’t know – just keep it business.
The idea that finally made the most sense was to have my dear friend Marie Labbancz (who was the friend I took to help me with the wedding dress decision) shoot our portraits before the ceremony. I LOVE LOVE LOVE what she does with her couples and I wanted us to be one of them. I also wanted her to enjoy being a guest so after the ceremony she got to have her Mojito and Joanna Wilson, my former associate, took over. I must confess that I shot some of the details myself…couldn’t help it…once a shooter always a shooter.
So what words of wisdom do I have now that I’ve seen the other side? It’s actually not so different than what I used to say before. Choose great people who’s work you love and trust them to do their thing. On the day let go and just live it. Will everything go as planned? Probably not, but ride the bumps and have a good time. It’s a little like life in a nutshell, and you just got someone to ride through it with you."
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| Thanks SO much Kathi for stopping by the cafe today and sharing the beautiful wedding story of you and Gil. I totally LOVED it...all the gorgeous details and you are "rocking" that dress!!!.....We wish all the happiness and joy for you guys.....xoxoxo
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Website • Email
Featured Vendor
Kate Osborne Photography
| Check out The Bride's Cafe featured vendor, Katie Osborne Photography! Katie's work is STUNNING!!...I love how she captures the couple's wedding story...Katie is located in NC and she travels the world capturing gorgeous wedding stories....Not only is Katie an AMAZING photographer, she is such a sweetheart, a joy to work with......you will totally love her.....make certain you add Kate Osborne Photography to your must see vendor list and let Katie tell your beautiful wedding story! MORE |
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