Hey LA Brides! Have you heard about Bride Boutique LA? Bride is an at home bridal boutique specializing in non-traditional, eco-conscious, vintage, and independent designer bridal attire. Bride strives to provide women with unique, quality, and affordable wedding pieces that express their individual style and personality. With a balance of rare bridal fashions and an intimate atmosphere, Bride provides women with a truly original shopping experience.

Owned and run out of the home of experienced designer and tailor/seamstress, Maria Diaz, Bride carries pieces from independent designers such as Peppermint Pretty, Holly Stalder, Makool Loves you, and Ktjean. Maria started Bride to give women an opportunity to find and try on vintage or independent designer wedding dresses, or work with clients to create the perfect custom piece. We love it!!

If you’re interested in visiting Bride, you can now make an appointment by contacting Maria at info@brideboutiquela.com or calling 909-684-6451.

Bride is located just outside of downtown Los Angeles, at 728 Hartford Ave, 90017. The boutique is open by appointment only.

No Comments | In: Accessories, Clothing, Dresses, Love this | | #

We are seriously over the moon today that one of our all time favorite wedding blogs Style Me Pretty has featured one of our all time favorite weddings on their blog today! We showed you the amazing video that FortyOneTwenty  produced and now Style Me Pretty is sharing Chandra and Tony’s wedding with the whole wedding world and we couldn’t be happier!

No Comments | In: All You Need Is love, Featured, Introducing Mr and Mrs, Love this, Real Weddings, Weddings | | #

We are SUPER excited that the bride and groom for this weekend’s wedding are choosing to hang 1001 cranes at their reception site. If you don’t know the beautiful meaning behind the 1001 cranes, here it is!

The 1001 crane display is one such cultural phenomenon in the Japanese American community. In preparation of a friend’s or relative’s wedding, members of the wedding party get together to fold gold cranes for a special wall display, which results in the granting of a wish by a mystical crane. The time and energy put into the thousand hand-folded origami cranes symbolizes the patience and trust necessary to sustain a happy marriage.

Senbazuru, or a thousand cranes, became an especially important symbol to represent peace in connection with Sadako Sasaki, the young girl from Hiroshima who eventually died from radiation sickness from the atomic bomb. While she was struggling with her illness, her friends and families folded a thousand cranes for her to get better. Even though she didn’t survive, senbazuru lived in the hearts of people all over the world.

Cranes are associated with fidelity because they choose a mate for life and longevity because cranes are said to live a thousand years. From the 1970s, the Japanese American community took this image of a thousand cranes, and put their own unique twist on it. They began creating displays of 1001 cranes, the extra one for good luck. It’s about celebration and joy. We’re excited to display our client’s this weekend at the Smog Shoppe, but here’s some other ideas of what people have done:

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3 Comments | In: Accessories, All You Need Is love, decorations, DIY, Love this | | #

We had the absolute pleasure of working with Keetgi from Monkey Business Press on our brand spanking new and super fabulous business cards (we debuted them on our Twitter page!) and we couldn’t have had a better experience. She was everything you hope a vendor to be – easy to work with, professional, quick turn around, under budget, and most importantly, extremely talented!

The beauty of fine paper and stationery has been a passion of Keetgi’s for a long time. She had the opportunity to study letterpress printing under Gerald Lange (considered by many to be the finest letterpress printer in the country) at Otis College of Design and her love of paper turned into a passion for letterpress printing and inscribing words and images on paper with a technique both ancient and timeless. Her philosophy of letterpress printing is this: each piece should be beautiful, functional and represent your personal style.

Keetgi does EVERYTHING by hand – she mixes the ink, cranks the letterpress machine, and prints each piece – all by hand! It’s a laborious and time consuming process but the result is well worth it. She also uses 100% tree-free cotton paper and environmentally friendly soy based inks. So what are you waiting for? Check out some of Keetgi’s work below and then head to her site to see even more. We HIGHLY recommend her for all your printing needs.

2 Comments | In: All You Need Is love, Cards, Feature Friday, Love this, Stationary | | #

Our first wedding of the 2012 season is approaching quickly and we are overjoyed that it’s with this super adorable couple – Ayumi and Brian! They are so sweet – we seriously cannot wait until they tie the knot! Oh plus, they are master DIYers! Just check out the paper balloons used in their engagement session and soon to be used in their wedding. Amazing, right?

Check out their insanely cute engagement photos shot by super talented photographer Adrienne Gunde and get ready for photos  from what we already know will be a super fab wedding (hint…Smog Shoppe, DIYs galore, and 1001 cranes…we’re bursting with excitement!!).

{see more photos on Adrienne’s blog here}

No Comments | In: All You Need Is love, DIY, Engagement, Engagement photos, Love this, Photo | | #

We were SO excited to attend this years Soolip Wedding at the Bel Air Bay Club and believe us, this year was the best yet! The weather was perfect, the brides were excited, vendors were stellar and we just had an overall great time seeing so many friends and vendors.

Our friend, Jen O’Sullivan took these fabulous photos of the event – thanks Jen! See them all here.

{Food by Made by Meg}

{Cakes by The Butter End}

{Wedding gown fashion show by JLM Couture}

{Candy bar by Candee by Sandee}

{Flowers by Wisteria Lane Flower Shop}

{Linens by Napa Valley Linens}

{Couple’s garden by Bu’s Blend and Green Tree Landscaping}

{Drinks by Veev Acai Spirit}

No Comments | In: All You Need Is love, Inspired, Love this, Planning, Weddings | | #

We introduced you to this lovely couple a few days ago, but here are the rest of the photos from their beautiful day at Ojai Valley Inn and Spa.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom led their guests through the resort with a mariachi band in tow. The band played through the fun and casual cocktail hour and as guests made their way into the reception room. After a delicious meal (grilled asparagus with prosciutto and parmigiano-reggiano, braised beef short ribs, white sea bass, broccolini, truffle mac & cheese…can you say droooooool?), a full night of dancing ensued, followed by a sweet (!) dessert station with chocolate chip cookies, milk, lemon meringue tarts, and mexican wedding cookies. The night couldn’t have been more perfect!

And thank you to our amazing bride and groom for this glowing review – “Simply put, Shannon and Vikki are exceptional at what they do – when you combine their team approach with their personal touches, the result is excellence and an unforgettable event. Worth every penny. If you are looking for a coordinator, stop looking and just hire Shannon and Vikki – you won’t regret it.”

1 Comment | In: All You Need Is love, Cocktail Hour, Desserts, Featured, Introducing Mr and Mrs, Love this, Ojai, Real Weddings, Reception, Reviews, Weddings | | #

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When I saw this, I had one of those moments of “I wish I could redo my wedding and add this adorable idea”. Treat your guests to a challenge of the game “I Spy” and ask them to take photographs of moments your photographer might not be able to get in the hustle and bussle of it all. You could then create a public flicker account so everyone can load their photographs for you to see. Adorable

No Comments | In: Cocktail Hour, decorations, DIY, favors, Inspired, Love this, Photo, Reception, Stationary | | #

We are swooning over this one! Have your flower girl deliver a secret message to your groom before you walk down the aisle!

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No Comments | In: Flower Girls, Inspired, Love this | | #

Looking for a personal touch for your special day? Write a list of things you love most bout your groom, have him do the same, and create this little beauty! Romantic. Simplistic. So Swoon Worthy. Just the way we like it!

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1 Comment | In: decorations, DIY, Love this, Reception | | #