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Bridal Fashion

Lace Wedding Shoes For Every Bride

Lace bridal shoes are the epitome of timeless elegance.

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Wedding Planning

Wedding Planning Spring Cleaning Checklist

In today’s post, we’ve put together a spring cleaning checklist for your wedding planning.

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Bridal Fashion

Wedding Flats for Every Bride

Wedding flats are perfect for brides looking for comfort for long wedding days. But can wedding flats be chic? Absolutely.

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Wedding Planning

How Much Time Does Bridal Hair and Makeup Take?

How much time does bridal hair and makeup take? Wedding hair and makeup is oftentimes more involved than many couples realize.

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Bridal Fashion

The Chicest Bridal Shoes

Current obsession: the new Champagne Era collection by Bella Belle Shoes. We’re always recommending Bella Belle Shoes to our brides. Bella Belle Shoes are more than beautiful and handcrafted from start to finish.

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Wedding Planning

Shop a Wedding Planner’s Must-Haves

After years of planning weddings, there are some items we never service a wedding without.

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Wedding Planning

Wedding Hair and Makeup Trial Guide

Is a wedding hair and makeup trial necessary? A hair and makeup trial, sometimes called a bridal preview, is a must for a stress-free experience.

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Wedding Planning

Wedding Day Emergency Kit Checklist

Wedding day emergency kits can be a lifesaver with solutions to the problems that often pop up on wedding days.

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Italy Wedding Planner

Wedding Planning Tips

4 Tips for Planning a Destination Wedding

Destination weddings have their own unique challenges. While wedding planning isn’t easy, destination weddings require additional time and attention to detail for a successful result.

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Wedding Planning

Wedding Ceremony Flowers Inspiration and Logistics

Wedding ceremony flowers are one of the most impactful design pieces of your wedding day, and require effective logistic planning to create.

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Bride and Groom at a Château de Champlâtreux Wedding in France

Wedding

Fairytale Château de Champlâtreux Wedding Near Paris, France

This Château de Champlâtreux wedding is nothing short of magical. Candice and Richard hosted an intimate wedding at Château de Champlâtreux, a stunning wedding venue just outside Paris.

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first things to do after getting engaged

Wedding Planning

The First Four Things to Do After Getting Engaged

What are the first things to do after getting engaged? It can feel overwhelming planning an entire wedding, and it’s hard to know where to start. How does one even begin planning a wedding? What are some things you can do now to save time and relieve stress?

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Wedding Stationery

Wedding Planning

The Wedding Stationery Guide

Your wedding stationery involves more than just a wedding invitation, and each piece serves a unique purpose. From save the dates to place cards, every element of wedding paper goods guides and informs guests for the most seamless experience possible.

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Bridal Fashion

Black Friday Sale: Bella Belle Shoes

With the Bella Belle Shoes Black Friday Sale starting tomorrow with up to 40% off (!) bridal shoes, we’ve gathered our top favorite bridal shoe styles just in time for the one-day sale. We are always recommending Bella Belle Shoes to our brides for their stunning styles and handcrafted quality.

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Wedding Planning

15 Spring Bridal Bouquets

Spring brides have no shortage of beautiful blooms to choose from for their spring bridal bouquets. From garden roses and peonies to delicate hellebore and fritillaria, spring offers a bounty of varieties perfect for a spring bridal bouquet.

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Wedding Day Timeline

Wedding Planning

3 Tips for Creating a Stress-Free Wedding Day Timeline

Your wedding day timeline is arguably the most important factor to managing the stress of a wedding day. Your wedding day timeline sets the tone for the day, and not allocating enough time affects major wedding day experiences. This causes unnecessary stress, which we always want to avoid. Creating a stress-free wedding day timeline means thinking ahead to set yourself up for success.

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Wedding Château de Champlâtreux France

Wedding Inspo

Château de Champlâtreux Elopement with an Indoor Garden

This Château de Champlâtreux elopement is nothing short of magical with a growing garden-inspired floral installation and a couture gown with cascading tulle.

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Wedding Planning

As Seen In: The Wall Street Journal

We are so excited to share our recent feature in The Wall Street Journal offering some insight on wedding budgets from a wedding planner. Wedding budgets are often confusing, as most couples have never planned a wedding before and have no idea what to expect.

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When to Mail Wedding Invitations

Wedding Planning

When to Mail Wedding Invitations

When should you mail wedding invitations? The best time to send your wedding invitations depends on a few logistic factors for the best possible result. It can be tricky to find the balance. Sending invitations too early can cause forgetfulness, and sending invitations too late can result in stress, rush fees, and unexpected expenses.

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Château Wedding Planner

Château Weddings

A Chic Château Wedding with Two Couture Gowns

This château wedding is nothing short of chic with two couture bridal gowns, a stunning château in the French countryside, and a lush garden rose installation.

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Larz Anderson House Wedding in Washington, D.C.

Wedding

A Parisienne Wedding at Larz Anderson House in Washington, D.C.

As seen in Martha Stewart Weddings, Soyoung and Byung Kyu’s Larz Anderson House wedding in Washington, D.C.

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Wedding Planner Paris

Wedding Inspo

A Paris Elopement with Two Couture Gowns

For this chic elopement in Paris, the bride and groom wandered the Louvre for its architectural grandeur. The palatial presence of the Louvre is perfect for wow-worthy images, with five centuries of building campaigns necessary to create the architectural masterpiece.

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Cal-a-Vie Health Spa Wedding in California

Wedding Venue Feature

An Anniversary at Cal-a-Vie Health Spa with a Chapel Imported from France

The bride and groom celebrated ten years of marriage at Cal-a-Vie Health Spa, a Provençal dream with a 400 year old chapel imported from France.

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Wedding Planner in Paris, France

Paris Wedding Venues

A Dior-Inspired Elopement in Paris

Come away with us for this vintage Dior-inspired elopement in Paris, complete with a couture black gown and a romantic French breakfast in a Parisian apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

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Italy Wedding Planner

Italy Wedding Venues

A Belmond Hotel Caruso Wedding on the Amalfi Coast

Join us at an 11th century palace overlooking the Amalfi Coast with this Belmond Hotel Caruso wedding. Caruso is one of the most exclusive luxury hotels in Italy, considered a haven beyond sky and sea.

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Bridal Fashion

40 Showstopping Bridal Afterparty Looks

Dancing the night away has never been so chic. Brides are wearing multiple looks on their wedding days, and are opting for the ultimate party dresses for their receptions, and we couldn’t be more here for it.

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Ritz Paris Wedding Planner

France Wedding Venues

The Best Hotel Wedding Venues in Paris

While there is no shortage of magnificent hotels in Paris, we have created a shortlist of the grandest hotel wedding venues in Paris for a truly regal wedding experience combining historic significance, refinement, opulent design, and elevated amenities and service for a truly unforgettable wedding experience.

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Sunstone Villa Wedding in Santa Ynez

Wedding Venue Feature

Venue Feature: Sunstone Villa

Sunstone Villa Wedding  Aux États-Unis As part of our Venue Features, we will have editions titled Aux États-Unis, for those seeking European influence wedding venues stateside. If you are seeking European-inspired venues in the United States, a Sunstone Villa wedding is nothing short of magical. Nestled in the hills of Santa Ynez, California, Sunstone Villa […]

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Intimate Destination Weddings

Wedding Planning

Why We Love Intimate Destination Weddings

There is a special place in our hearts for intimate destination weddings for the quality time, elevated guest experience, and customized details they make possible.

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Hôtel Le Marois Wedding

Wedding Inspo

Hôtel Le Marois Wedding in Paris

A Hôtel Le Marois wedding is undeniably chic, and conveniently located right in the heart of Paris.

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Château du Grand-Lucé Wedding Venue in France

France Wedding Venues

Venue Feature: Château du Grand-Lucé

Wedding Venue Feature Château du Grand-Lucé Wedding Château du Grand-Lucé is a stunning Neoclassical wedding venue in the French countryside known for its impeccable design and luxurious experiences. A Château du Grand-Lucé wedding is nothing short of magical, making it one of the most sought-after venues in France. South of Paris in the Loire Valley, […]

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Château de Villette wedding venue near Paris

Wedding Venue Feature

Venue Feature: Château de Villette

One of the most exquisitely designed wedding venues in France is only minutes from the center of Paris. A Château de Villette wedding is the personification of the famous French expression “art de vivre,” with lavish interiors designed thoughtfully in elegance and opulence.

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Press

Press Feature: Designing Your Wedding Color Palette

We are so honored to have three of our past wedding design color palettes featured today on Wedding Sparrow! In the article, Wedding Sparrow asks wedding designers to discuss some of their past wedding color palettes and offer tips to brides on creating the perfect color palette for their weddings.

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Ranch Weddings in Colorado

Wedding Inspo

C Lazy U Ranch Wedding in Colorado

The C Lazy U Ranch is such a magical place. Surrounded by the mountains and beauty of the Colorado terrain, this C Lazy U Ranch wedding encompasses the romance of the West. Inspired by a Charles Marion Russell painting, A Mix Up, hues of lilac, dusty blue, buttery yellow, wheat, and walnut come together for […]

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Wedding Place Setting

Wedding Inspo

A Wedding Color Palette Inspired by Summer Romance

Inspired by the romance of summer, stealing kisses beneath the trees with your love, the warmth of the sun, lying in a field of wildflowers. The color palette features bright, summery hues in lemon, peach, bright pinks, and hints of orange peel. Neutral tones in the table linen, napkins, and china have warm undertones in […]

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Wedding Inspo

Natural Iridescence at The Monastery in New Orleans

So excited to share this dreamy editorial from my trip to New Orleans. This editorial was during my first visit to New Orleans.  I had always heard that New Orleans was rich in culture, but it truly was an amazing experience.  We stayed in the French Quarter, and there was so much to take in.  […]

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Nashville Wedding Planners

Wedding Inspo

Swan House Wedding in Spring

THE SWAN HOUSE IN ATLANTA The inspiration for this Swan House wedding design was the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings. The vision to emulate the butterfly was lively, with fluttery blooms swaying in the wind, breezy textiles, the bride’s windswept hair, and petite butterflies at each place setting. In this spring color palette, saturated pops […]

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behind rsvp events

ABOUT RAELA

American wedding planner based in Paris, France curating unforgettable experiences with art de vivre in Europe and the United States.

As seen in leading publications such as Martha Stewart Weddings, Raela has serviced weddings and brands both stateside and abroad, from the sun-drenched hillsides of Southern California to the resplendent châteaux of France to the lemon trees of Positano. With unparalleled attention to detail, Raela’s specialty lies in creating unforgettable, exquisite, sensory experiences.

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                  Budget mistakes to avoid

In this free guide, we're sharing some of the most common expensive wedding planning mistakes couples make and how to avoid them. Get your free guide below!