Author Archives: Cathleya

January

Lover.ly + Real Simple

The Lover.ly team has long been fans of Real Simple - our go-to guide online and in print for making life simpler, and more beautiful. That’s why we’re beyond thrilled to introduce Real Simple as our newest editorial partner! Not only will you be able to find Real Simple’s beautiful wedding content in the Lover.ly search engine, but you’ll also be able to find Lover.ly’s content over on Real Simple’s newly relaunched wedding channel.

We’re celebrating with some of our favorite quotes on love and partnership! Share your faves with the people YOU love most.



XO,

The Lover.ly Team

January

Join Lover.ly at The Lab Event Sonoma (Almost Sold Out!)

Join Lover.ly and a slew of our favorite Northern California friends, vendors, and brands at The Lab Event THIS SATURDAY at Cline Cellars in Sonoma, CA!

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What can you expect? Chat with the best wedding vendors in the area, get amazing ideas from beautiful vignettes put together by the most creative wedding talents in the area, check out a runway show from designer Sarah Seven, and taste some of the tastiest food and wine Sonoma has to offer. And of course, come on by and chat up the gals from Lover.ly – we’re excited to tell you about what’s to come in 2013!

Check out video from last year’s event—The Lab 2013 promises to be even more amazing this Saturday…so join us!

The Lab Event 2012 {Cline Cellars} Sonoma from Lovespun ~ Handmade Films on Vimeo.

There are only a few tickets left before The Lab 2013 is at max capacity, so grab one of the last tickets NOW. See you there!

January

Top 10 Wedding Ideas of 2012

Loverlies have spoken: 2012 was the year of PINK! To kick off the new year, we’ve rounded up the top 10 images and ideas that you’ve “loved” on Lover.ly last year.

Count down with us to the #1 most popular image on Lover.ly below…

#10 – 211 loves

Photo by: Joielala on Inspired by This via Lover.ly

#9 – 214 loves

Photo via Sparkle and Hay

#8 – 222 loves

#7 – 231 loves

blue and orange flowers

#6 – 233 loves

santa-barbara-wedding-reception-eclectic-design

Photo by: Nancy Neil on Kelly Oshiro via Lover.ly

#5 – 243 loves

Pink and navy vintage chic wedding 41

#4 – 255 loves

30

#3 – 306 loves

peonies

#2 – 333 loves

Wedding Whims on Bridal Musings via Lover.ly

And the MOST LOVED image of 2012 was this perfect pink peony bouquet with dusty miller…coming in at #1, with 336 loves!

Pink Peony Wedding Bouquet

Photo by: KT Merry Photography on Wedding Chicks via Lover.ly

We can’t wait to see what wedding ideas hit our top 10 lists in 2013! Each month, we’ll round up the most popular images that month, so you can see what wedding trends and ideas are topping brides’ lists.

Are you surprised to see lush peonies and rustic, outdoorsy wedding ideas filling out the top 10?

XO,

The Lover.ly Team

November

Three Decades of Inspiration for Brides at Any Age!

We’re kicking off today with the LOVER.LY + SKINNYSCOOP CHICK FLICK CHALLENGE! With a few simple clicks, tell us what chick flicks you love, and you could win a $50 gift card to Amazon.com!

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Whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, or 40s, we’ve got the perfect bridal inspiration just for you! This week we’ve teamed up with the lovely ladies at SkinnyScoop as they’ve shared with us gorgeous wedding inspiration for brides through three decades.

 

SkinnyScoop is a social curation and discovery platform where women unleash their ‘inner Oprah’ by sharing their recommendations. Going beyond the inspirational, SkinnyScoop connects hundreds of thousands of women and their shared interests, fueling meaningful recommendations while identifying what is trending, popular and most useful. They take the offline conversations you have with your girlfriends every day and moves them online…making both getting AND sharing useful advice, product recommendations, and tips to make EVERYTHING in your life easier and more fun!

FOR THE BRIDE IN HER 20s:

Krista Gray, SkinnyScoop’s Community Manager dazzles us daily with her social media savvy on both @theskinnyscoop on Twitter, and on Facebook, and…well…all over the web! While she’s not married yet, she’s shared with us her perfect picks for a bride in her 20s. Punches of coral and lots of splashes of golden glitz and glitter define her 20s bridal style!

 

 

 

Gold Leaf Clutch

Gold Leaf Clutch From BHLDN Shop

Red and Khaki St. Simons Island Wedding
ghost chairs at a wedding

FOR THE BRIDE IN HER 30s:

Larissa Dinh, SkinnyScoop’s Co-Founder and VP of Product got married in La Jolla, CA in November 2009 at the Darlington House. On her wedding, she tells us, “[The Darlington House is] a beautiful villa that embodies everything we love about San Diego – beach views, gorgeous Spanish architecture and charming outdoor courtyards and gardens . Our venue, which I fell in love with at first sight, set the tone and style of our wedding. Everything from our food choices, colors to the live musicians we hired was very vintage and Mediterranean-themed. We wanted our guests to have a classy and elegant relaxed evening full of good food and wine, great live music – hopefully it was an evening they’ll never forget!”

Larissa has bundled up Mediterranean wedding inspiration for the bride in her 30s reminiscent of her 2009 wedding for us on Lover.ly! Check out some of her fave pics:

gold bridesmaid dresses

Photo by: Pat Moyer on Wedding Chicks via Lover.ly

kate spade new york

kate spade new york ‘skinny mini’ bow bangle From Nordstrom Shop

Bride and groom chairs, Wainright House wedding venue, Rye New York, Lyndsey Hamilton Events, Christ

FOR THE BRIDE IN HER 40s:

Eden Godsoe, SkinnyScoop’s Co-Founder and CEO was married nearly 12 years ago on her family farm outside of Toronto, Canada. She says, “Although I was never one of those girls who dreamed about my wedding, I always knew it would be at the farm, a place that symbolizes family, friends and fun times. My husband and I now live in San Francisco and many of our friends are from the United States, so having the wedding in Canada also paid tribute to my roots and introduced the beautiful city of Toronto to many guests for the first time. Our ceremony was short and sweet, the food was delicious and the décor was beautiful but what was most important to my husband and I was that our guests had a super fun, unforgettable time. The highlight of our wedding was a secret after party that went until 3am. While everyone was dining in one tent, workers were busy turning the ceremony tent into a 70s themed disco. Guests thought the wedding was over when we suddenly opened up the tent and our band Super Freak began playing “Play That Funky Music”. Our friends and family still talk about our wedding and it was certainly a night I will never forget!”

 Eden gave us a taste of her Toronto, crisp white wedding style in her bundle for the bride in her 40s:

Scottish Wedding Ed Osborn Photography (20)
Peyton

SkinnyScoop has bundled up tons more wedding inspiration on Lover.ly! See all their bundles here.

 

October

Lover.ly Loves Birchbox…and You Will, Too!

It’s a great week for beauty, Loverlies! Find Lover.ly guest blogging over at the Birchbox Blog all week this week as we share our favorite beauty tips and products to get pampered and pretty for your wedding, honeymoon, and beyond. As a bride-to-be, being engaged is the perfect time to pamper yourself and discover new beauty tips and tricks. Birchbox is the perfect way to discover hand-picked beauty and lifestyle products; it’s like heading to your favorite department store every month without ever having to leave the house!

Via a $10 a monthly subscription, Birchbox will send you deluxe beauty samples from our favorite brands like Kerastase, Jouer, Smashbox, Stila, and more, giving you an awesome way to try out all the new products that editors have buzzed about, without the commitment of dropping major $$$ on full sized products. If you discover something you love, you can purchase any products (and lots more) right in the Birchbox shop. Genius!

If you’re looking for a great gift to pamper yourself or a bride-to-be in your life, a subscription to Birchbox is IT!

Check into the Birchbox blog every day this week for tips on what to pack for your honeymoon, taking care of your hair as a bride, the great wedding-scent debate, and more, from the Lover.ly Team! And we’ve got a great giveaway coming your way tomorrow…stay tuned!

September

Bundle of the Day: Tina + Joe

Each week we’ll feature inspiring Lover.ly bundles by creative members like you!

To kick off the series, we’re featuring a plum-licious bundle by maresheri – “Tina + Joe”. We’re in love with all the vibrant purple ideas – perfect for a fall/winter wedding.

Lindsey Gomes-Rustic Purple Wedding-04

Photo by: Lindsey Gomes on Glamour And Grace via Lover.ly

Purple green & gray Plantation wedding_034

Photo by: Kay Meyer Photography on Every Last Detail via Lover.ly

Photo by: Elizabeth Scott Photography on Every Last Detail via Lover.ly

185KS

185KS From Aria Shop

Collages3

Photo by: Jackie Wonders on Inspired By This via Lover.ly

 

Lacy Elegance Signature White Wedding Invitations Purple

Lacy Elegance Signature White Wedding Invitations Purple From WeddingPaperDivas Shop

Photo by: Elizabeth Scott Photography on Every Last Detail via Lover.ly

purple wedding programs

Photo by: Amelia Lyon on Wedding Chicks via Lover.ly

Photo by: Amy Hutchinson on The Brides Cafe via Lover.ly

Tuscany Wedding in California

Photo by: Christine Farah on Grey Likes Weddings via Lover.ly

See the whole “Tina + Joe” bundle for more great deep purple wedding inspiration!

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Create Lover.ly bundles of wedding ideas to help bring your wedding day to life, and to see them featured here on the Lover.ly blog! Whether it’s a color scheme, particular detail, or theme, bundles help you share the vision for your wedding day. Just search for images that inspire you on Lover.ly and click the (+) button to start a bundle!

September

Sweet Love, Beyond the Sea…Get to Know Bayside Bride

We love our publishers! We work tirelessly to comb the web for the best and brightest wedding blogs and editors to partner with. The result is magical—Lover.ly is full of hand-picked images from our 30+ wedding blog and publishing partners. We’d love to introduce you to them, and hope you’ll discover each and every one of them and their distinct wedding styles that make Lover.ly the most beautiful wedding destination on the web.

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Say hello to Bayside Bride – the sweetest place to find real weddings, ideas, and DIY projects all catering to brides with a passion for seaside sunsets and nautical bliss!

We’ve asked the ladies behind Bayside Bride—Natalie, Krista, and Sarah—to tell us a little bit more about themselves.

We love all things nautical. We swoon over raised sails and a Chesapeake sunset. We believe the anchor is a symbol of hope and a compass should always point in the direction of the one you love. 

We’re the Editors of Bayside Bride! 

sarahsnoddy-1091 copy

Photo by: Laura Gordon Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

Bayside Bride is the comprehensive wedding resource & inspiration website for couples getting married in the Annapolis and Chesapeake area! With a top-notch vendor guide, DIY ideas and inspiration from real weddings and engagements there is a little something for everyone. Our mission is to provide local brides with the resources to plan their dream wedding, while also promoting the best wedding vendors and small businesses in the Chesapeake area!

Photo by: Natalie Franke Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

We love anything nautical, have a soft spot for bowties & believe Annapolis is the perfect place for a wedding!

Photo by: Marta Locklear Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

Since we launched in May of 2011, we’ve expanded our features outside of the Chesapeake Region to include weddings that fit our style around the country and to scope out inspiration that can help the nautical bride to design the wedding of her dreams!

Baltimore-Waterfront-Wedding-27

Photo by: Hartcorn Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

Krista fell in love with all things wedding-related after an internship with a Philadelphia invitation studio. Along with her graphic and web design work, Krista also enjoys photographing weddings and has been happily married to her husband, Davey, since January of 2010.

Nautical-Wedding

Photo by: Katelyn James Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

Natalie’s love for visual storytelling and creative expression lead her directly to a career in wedding & portrait photography. This May, she will be marrying her sweetheart of seven years at his parents’ home on the river and loves being a bridal blogger!

AGP_Blake_wedding-7

Photo by: Abby Grace Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

And Sara, our Event Designer, knew weddings were her passion after marrying her husband Steve and decided to share her talents with other brides-to-be through crafting and styling inspirational shoots!

Brandon-Werth-Photography-1

Photo by: Brandon Werth Photography on Bayside Bride via Lover.ly

Bayside Bride has curated a few Lover.ly Bundles that all showcase their distinct, coastal style. From Sweet Confections to Decadent & Dashing, see them all here! And to find the latest, search “Bayside Bride” on Lover.ly.

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If you’re a wedding blogger producing beautiful, original content, we’d love to hear more about you! We partner with the best and brightest wedding bloggers on the web—partnering with Lover.ly gives you a wonderful new discovery platform that our hyper-stylish community of brides and vendors swoon over daily. If you’re interested in becoming a publishing partner, contact us to learn more.

September

Portfolio of the Day: Heirlooms for the Couple from Paloma’s Nest

We’re kicking off our “Portfolio of the Day” series with one of our favorite, long-time Lover.ly vendors: Paloma’s Nest! Most widely known in the wedding world for the conception of the Ring Bearer Bowl™, The Paloma’s Nest collection offers keepsake gifts for weddings, babies, holidays, and all of life’s special occasions, as well as home furnishings and decor.

We’re particularly in love with Paloma’s Nest’s one-of-a-kind heirlooms made for couples, perhaps one of the most perfect, off-the-registry gifts we’ve seen! Here’s a few of our favorite images from the Lover.ly Portfolio Heirlooms for the Couple by Paloma’s Nest on Lover.ly

Photo by: Paloma’s Nest via Lover.ly

Photo by: Paloma’s Nest via Lover.ly

Photo by: Paloma’s Nest  via Lover.ly

Photo by: Paloma’s Nest via Lover.ly

Photo by: Paloma’s Nest  via Lover.ly

See the entire portfolio here.

Check out all of Paloma’s Nest’s Lover.ly portfolios for more beautiful wedding gifts and keepsakes. And for even more inspiration and ideas from real weddings that have incorporated Paloma’s Nest, search “Palomas Nest” on lover.ly now.

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Wedding vendors: craving the spotlight? Head to Lover.ly’s Vendor Page and create your own Portfolio to showcase your best work. And check back here on the blog for more weekly spotlights…we’ll feature our most popular Portfolios right here on the blog. Our next spotlight could be on YOU!