I’ll admit it…I’m sad that it’s over. Esther and Michael were the very first clients I ever booked (actually, I was booked by her beautiful Matron of Honor and cousin Joanna and her adorable husband Patrick as a gift to the couple) and, as such, they hold a special place in my heart. Of course, that special place is helped by the fact that, as the groom’s brother said in his toast, Esther may well be the nicest person I have ever met. (And Michael’s not too bad himself!) Esther and I spent a lot of time together the week before the wedding going over the last minute details (and eating pizza…) and I got to know her better, and I now consider us good friends…but sadly the couple lives in Seattle! Oh, well…now I have a good reason to visit one of my favorite cities!

The day started with a Catholic ceremony at St. Thomas a’Becket in Reston. I need to offer special thanks to Jessica, another Soiree coordinator who stepped in LITERALLY at the last minute to help out after one of our assistants was unable to make it. Thanks, Jessica!!

Esther and Michael had a large bridal party — 24 people! All were wonderful (including two HILARIOUS best men, who I conspired with, along with the band, to create an “unusual” Tom Jones inspired toast), and I spent as much time as possible holding one of the adorable 6 month old ring bearers!

The theme for the couple’s wedding was “Seattle in DC” and boy did they pull it off! Esther and Michael are a very outdoorsy couple, which was reflected in their decor. They collected amazing river rocks from a beach in front of their Seattle home, and somehow transferred over 200 of them back to DC (thanks, in part, to groomsman Jeff!)

The rocks were then placed on each napkin and were used among the decor throughout their reception venue, the beautiful River Creek Club in Leesburg, Virginia. River Creek is at the intersection of the Potomac River and Goose Creek, providing amazing views such as this one from the balcony of the club.

That’s a great little pond and just beyond is the Potomac River.

Esther and Michael did an amazing job finding some great natural elements and some adorable creations at Michaels. (Michaels…the mecca of many a bride and wedding planner…) The centerpieces were provided by River Creek, but Esther added her own touch by filling the hurricanes with recycled glass from one of her favorite shops in Seattle.

Instead of table numbers, each table was named after one of their favorite places in Seattle, and postcards were placed in each holder to indicate the name of the table. The one above is Mount Rainier. Oh! And the beautiful latte colored linen above the centerpiece in the above picture? It’s a pillow sham! Esther found them on DEEP discount in Seattle and carried them back to her house on her bike!

There were pictures of Esther and Michael and their families all over the venue. My favorite photo tables, though, were outside on the deck – Esther gave us a huge box of Manzanita branches (like those found here), some vases, even more rocks and pebbles and recycled glass, some moss, various large potpourri and said “Go at it!” Well, one of our wonderful Soiree assistants, Julie, did just that and came up with the displays you see in these pictures (also taken by Julie…thanks for your help!!!) It’s amazing what you can come up with when you’re given fun objects, a creative assistant and a relaxed bride who basically says “make it look cool.”

In addition to the awesome staff at River Creek, we also got to work with some great vendors. The cake (which I heard was delicious, although I never seemed to find a piece) was provided by Chantel’s Cakes & Pastries in Sterling. In addition to the cake, AMAZING pastries were provided by the mothers of the bride and groom.

The bridal party flowers and two beautiful arrangements that did double duty at both the church and the reception (and are on either side of the table in the picture below, with the orange flowers) were provided by, get this, Giant! (Yes…the grocery store, can you believe it?! I didn’t even know they could do stuff like this!)

Entertainment was provided by the amazing Mustangs. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a wedding that had SO many people on the dance floor for SO long. No one ever had to look for the bride or groom, because you knew they would be on the dance floor ALL NIGHT!

As they were leaving, guests were treated to either a beer or a root beer that was home brewed by Michael in their Seattle home. I never did find a beer, but the root beer was delicious!

Tags: craig volpe, leesburg, mustangs, rebecca, reston, river creek club, st thomas abecket

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 10:13 am and is filed under Real Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.