Utterly Engaged } The 1st Online Wedding & Bridal Magazine. Inspiring Brides with Style.

Home is where the heart is. So it’s only fitting to bring your wedding celebration home. Tessa and Jared were married at Tessa’s family home  with lots of personal touches like felt hearts garlands hanging throughout, their wedding date carved into a heart-shaped section of a tree trunk, old family photos, and much more. One of the best parts was the antique, convertible Thunderbird that Tessa and Jared rode to the reception at a nearby pavilion. The Thunderbird used to be Tessa’s grandmother’s car, but the current owner brought the car over for the special day and drove the couple himself! A belly dancer and a traditional bread cake that went along with the Babushka dance were special treats during the reception. Love all the little thoughtful details they put into their wedding. To see more pics from their wedding, go here.

Photos by Jenny Kim Photography

CREDITS
Caterer:  Capers Catering
Event Designer:  Lauren Herbert
Floral Designer:  The Flower Shop at Kennedy’s Country Gardens
Invitation Designer:  Tessa Sestina
Cinema and Video:  Chris Berntsen Films
Other:  Rosa Noreen - Belly Dance
Cake Designer:  Crumbs Bake Shop

We’ve always been a huge fan of ShopRuche.com! So when we found out that they’re launching a Bridal Collection, we were beyond ecstatic! Everything in the bridal collection is oh-so-swoon-worthy and makes me wish that I’m getting married now instead of 3 years ago! And with such a talented team behind the shoot, we just can’t get over how gorgeous everything looks! Make sure to flip through the lookbook and check out the Affordable Bridal Collection from ShopRuche.com!

Photography: Stephanie Williams
Event designer and Paper Details: Sugar and Fluff
Florals: Bunch Studio
Cakes: Sweet and Saucy
Makeup/Hair: KC Witkamp
Vintage Rentals: Ribbons and Rust
Location: Kimberly Crest
Horse Rentals: Giddy Up Ranch
Models: Madeleine Barnes, Jessica Strother, Eric Allen, Sarah Gingrich, Margarita Kallas, Ashlyn Pearce

Spring is here! With all the colors popping up in nature, fashion and everything else, we are inspired to put together this issue to reflect all these beautiful vibrancy.

In this issue, you will find romantic destinations for Springtime honeymooners, a not-so-typical modern bridal shower of blooms and beauty, an intimate Palm Springs wedding that’s a labor of love, and more. Our Utterly Engaged girls also got to sit in the hot seat for a makeover from makeup artist Amy Clarke who shared tips and tricks to bring out the inner beauty in each one of us. Hopefully, this will help you see past your outward flaws and focus on your inner beauty as well! Also, don’t miss the full recap of our 2012 Leap Year Remix Party, complete with the winner of the Design Challenge! Find out who it is!

Hope you enjoy the colors of Spring in this issue and are inspired to use them in your celebrations!

with love,
Lucia & Henny

Today’s couple Haley and John had a sweet, laidback wedding in San Clemente, California. They wanted to show their many out-of-town guests the beauty of California beaches and they wanted their wedding day to be easy and fun. They kept the wedding intimate and simple with DIY decor, a small guest list, and recruited the help of friends and family to make the day extra special. Their wedding was presided by the father of John’s childhood best friend who had passed away. He had never officiated a wedding before, but it was one of the most heartfelt, genuine, and beautiful ceremonies. Their favorite band, The Black Keys, was very heavily played throughout the reception and was used for both their first and last dance song. The bride handmade the programs and found the boutonnieres on etsy. We also love to see some of our favorite vendors as part of their wedding, including Krista Jon Floral | Botanical | Stylist (who did the amazing floral for our booth at Soolip) and Found Vintage Rentals who’ve graced many many pages of our magazine!

CREDITS:

Happy Monday! Last week has been such a busy week for us, with our Leap Year Remix Party on Wednesday and A Soolip Wedding yesterday. But nonetheless, we can’t help but feel truly blessed with all these opportunities and for all the friendship we’re building. We had such a wonderful experience at A Soolip Wedding yesterday being their media sponsor and also very proud of Lucia for sharing her expertise on the Engaging with the Experts panel. Thank you to those of you who came out and say hi to us. You made our day!

Our booth came out beautifully with the help of Jill Velez Calligraphy for our signage, Krista Jon Couture Designs for the beautiful florals and Archive Vintage Rentals for the lovely props. And the designer of the Lazaro gowns, Lazaro Perez himself were at our booth, putting on one of his gorgeous gowns on the bodyform!!! He was so gracious and kind to lend this beautiful gown. We’re soooo very grateful. We kept getting compliments throughout the day for our space and it wouldn’t be possible with these amazing individuals! So thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Designer Lazaro Perez at our booth

With Calligrapher Jill Velez

We wanted our booth to be interactive, so we invited brides to reflect on who they are and write a vow to themselves before they become a wife on a piece of paper, which we’ll send back to them in three months. A couple of them really love the idea and took part in it.

We also met a few familiar faces, like Robin of Gather Events and Sandee of Candee by Sandee.

Other amazing talents at the event…

Beautiful cakes by Butter End Cakery

The ridiculously talented Eddie Zaratsian

Grow a couple’s garden by GreenTree Landscaping

The vendors that were part of this event are exceptionally talented and truly great at what they do. We feel so honored to be part of this event and can’t speak highly enough of Wanda Wen and her crew for putting this together.

So what’s next in store, you ask? Issue No. 20!! Work is under way for this colorful issue…