Real Wedding: Annie and Brandon in Carmel

So after plenty of leading you all on, and after two years, I'm finally sharing our wedding pictures! From the start, Brandon and I knew we wanted a wedding in Carmel, and we wanted it to have a vintage, timeless feel. We both love history (Brandon was actually a history major when I met him), and our venue, La Playa Hotel in Carmel, is on the list of Historic Hotels of America. Taking cues from the 40's and 50's, the hotel and Carmel itself, I put together an ivory, light blue and mint green color scheme with hints of peach. Magnolia garlands, hydrangeas, garden roses, freesia and verbena visually enhanced (and scented) the whole day perfectly. Above all, I wanted a timeless look and feel for our wedding so I could have something I could look back on 10, 20, or 50 years from now and not think "that was so 2008". I'm so happy with how it turned out, especially since we were on a budget. ♥

My aunt gave me this locket at my shower, it had belonged to my grandmother who passed away before I was born, and the bracelet (and all my jewelry) was made from pearls my grandfather had given my aunt. Inside she put pictures of my grandparents on their wedding day in 1947 which took place in Carmel.

My bouquet had white garden roses, freesia and hydrangea in an antique silver bouquet holder.

Brandon and the groomsmen's boutonierres all had hydrangea, freesia and lemon verbena in them - they smelled amazing!

My maid of honor Morgan wore the green color of the girls' Jim Hjelm dresses (which had pockets!), and the best man Jesse wore a green Robert Talbott tie.

The bridesmaids' bouquets had blue and green hydrangeas with peach Juliet garden roses.

The girls all wore knockoffs of my Manolo Blahnik shoes ♥

The ceremony gazebo was decorated on both sides with magnolia garlands, blue and white hydrangeas and white garden roses.

Everyone laughing because I rushed my vows and cut off the priest by saying "I do" too early ♥

My favorite picture of the day ♥

To save money and serve something yummier than punch, I bought fresh strawberries and mint at the farmer's market, cut them up and had the hotel add them to water that morning. I saved over $30 doing this, and everyone loved it.

Our signature cocktail was a key lime martini - our favorite cocktail from the restaurant where we had our first date. Using extra invitations, I made signs for the bar, seating chart, and table numbers.

During cocktail hour, we snuck away to Carmel beach for a few pictures.

All of the table centerpieces were heirloom silver bowls and tea sets from my grandmother's, mother's, aunt's and my collections. It helped add to the vintage feel and cut down on costs.

Pictures of our grandparents on their wedding days ♥

Our favors were Sand Dollar lemon sugar cookies from Grandma LuLu's - a nod to Carmel.

Our guest book was a photo coffee table book about Carmel - guests signed pages and we have a great keepsake that we can keep out and look at now.

Our first dance to "Baby I Love Your Way" by Peter Frampton ♥

My brother Charlie getting down. Literally.

This 1940's vintage cake topper was the first item I bought for our wedding (about a month before we got engaged).

Our cake was literally the most amazing wedding cake I've ever tasted - not even trying to be biased here. It was covered in marzipan (mmm!) and had two flavors: Lemon sponge cake with fresh lemon curd and raspberries and Vanilla sponge cake with vanilla custard, almond meringue and Kirsch.

Our ribbon wand getaway ♥

Vendors: Photography - Tom O'Neal and Marc Howard of TGO Photography, Venue - La Playa Hotel in Carmel, California, Florist - Flower Farm Design Studio, Invitations - Invitation Consultants, Cake - Patisserie Bechler, Hair - Kim Larson, Dress - Watters, Shoes - Manolo Blahnik, Veil and custom jewelry - Meghan Lawlor Collections, Birdcage veil - Brenda's Bridal Veils, Bridesmaids dresses - Jim Hjelm, Men's ties - Robert Talbott Carmel

Inspiration Board: Sweet Magnolia

I'm finally back from our anniversary vacation! And I am still going to share my wedding pictures - I promise! (Sorry for being such a tease about them last week). In the mean time, here is a sweet southern magnolia inspired board. I blame my friend Claire of A Realistic Wedding for my newfound obsession with southern weddings - in a good way! Magnolia blooms make such a statement and they just feel so traditional and timeless. A wedding planned around them would be so lovely!

Sources: Click, then rollover for credits/links.

Guest Post: Love Session by Brancoprata

Hi readers! I'm winding down my anniversary trip right now (which has been so much fun) but luckily I have some lovely goodness by the fantastic Portuguese duo Brancoprata for you to enjoy in my absence! I'm thrilled to have them guest posting today, and you will be too once you take one look at this love session.

From Sofia and André of Brancoprata: "Hello, we are Brancoprata and we are thrilled to be here, guest posting on Marry you Me. We like to think of Annie as one of our closest friends and we love her sense of style!! Today we decided to bring you a love session we did last August with Rita and João when they celebrated their six month anniversary! This is one cute, happy & fun couple and we always love to work with them.

André did the shoot in Porto, our hometown! This session had two important settings: the beach, Leça da Palmeira, the spot where João asked Rita to marry him and Faculdade de Ciências (at University of Porto) which is also where they met! Rita had a beautiful wedding dress and a little hair jewelry from the amazing Ligia at Cem Cerimónias.

Oh and just for fun, you can see the actual wedding day here and here. Hope you enjoy!! And thank you Annie for allowing us to share our work in the always inspiring Marry You Me! Happy anniversary my dear!! xo Sofia e André"

Thank you soooo much to Sofia and André of Brancoprata for guest posting here on Marry You Me. And my wedding pics are still on their way... check back Friday :)

Our Two Year Anniversary ♥

I can't believe it has been two years since we got married. I'm sharing my wedding pics later this week when I get back from our anniversary trip, but I wanted to give a little sneak peek at them. We wanted our wedding to be full of love with a classic yet vintage feel since we both love history. The historic La Playa Hotel in Carmel, California set the scene for our lovely day... Marrying the love of my life amidst magnolia garlands, lush garden roses, hydrangeas and lemon verbena, antique silver bowls and tea sets for centerpiece vessels, an ivory, baby blue and soft mint green color palette, an antique cake topper complete with matching blonde couple, my silver Carrie Bradshaw Manolos, amazingly clear blue skies and a beribboned wedding wand sendoff made this the sweetest day.

Hope you are all having a great Labor day!

Friday Faves

It's here! Labor Day weekend and our 2nd wedding anniversary (both on Monday). The husband and I are headed on a road trip for some backpacking (eek!) and regular camping in Olympic National Park (oh and I get to see Forks, WA but as my husband reminds me "This isn't some vampire trip"), then we're off for relaxing resort luxe-ness at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington. Oh and next week, I'm taking the plunge and finally sharing our wedding photos with the world. So stop by if you'd like to see me in bride mode :) Enjoy some of my faves from this week and have a happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

A gorgeous Oregon wedding by Robert McNary Photography on Style Me Pretty

One of the coolest cupcake displays ever! By Topping the Cake

I'm pretty much in love with dahlias right now in bouquets. Like this one above by Poppies & Posies, and the one below from Hillary Duff's wedding via Niche White.

Inspiration Board: Get Your Kicks

On Route 66. Today I'm continuing the vintage road trip theme from yesterday's ultra stylish retro road trip e-session. This board was inspired by my love of things Americana and kitsch, and the love of history and fun road trips that my husband and I share. A Route 66 themed destination wedding with vintage touches like postcard save the dates, luggage as decor (also fun for you to have for the honeymoon or in your newlywed nest), a cool retro rental convertible, local candy favors and map invitations, and postcards from the Mother Road decorating each place setting.

We're going on an anniversary road trip this weekend! We're driving to Washington and spending two nights camping in Olympic National Park, then heading to the luxe Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum, Washington for our actual anniversary and another night. I can't wait!

Credits: Car and motel photo from Arizona Bride, bouquet photo by Dia Rio Photography, vintage luggage photo via Apartment Therapy, vintage Flagstaff postcard via A Mountain Bride, favors from Martha Stewart Weddings, table setting photo by Sedona Bride.