Do you like sunflowers?  Then you’re going to LOVE Rob and Maya’s wedding — it was sunflowerriffic!

You may remember Rob and Maya from their super fun crab feast, but that was nothing compared to what they had planned for the following night!

The day started with Maya getting ready in one of the fluffy animal print robes that the Hotel Monaco is famous for.  Rob and Maya’s suite was UNBELIEVABLE — remember the scene in Pretty Woman where Julia Roberts says “Mind if I take a swim in your tub?”  Yeah, that’s the tub in the suite in the Hotel Monaco.  lf I had sat in it, it was probably taller than I am.  Anyway, Maya was pampered in the suite by Hanna from Salon Cielo and Jan Scott, Makeup Artist.  Both ladies did an AMAZING job, and Maya was GLOWING!

As I waited downstairs to pin boutonnieres and hand out bouquets, Rob and Maya had their “First Look” upstairs in the AMAZING hallway outside their suite.  You may think it’s just a hallway, but these hallways are pretty much bigger than my entire house!  Not to mention the gorgeous artwork and chandeliers that are displayed there.  Beautiful!

I know…is that staircase insane or what?!  One of the best things about their suite is that you just had to go up the stairs right next to the suite, which led right to their reception room.  Unlike most hotels, whose ballrooms are in the basement, Hotel Monaco’s are on the top floor so you can get a pretty cool view:

Before the wedding kicked off, though, Pablo from Freed Photography scouted out some cool locations for the wedding party to take pictures.  Rob and Maya’s wedding party was a little different than most.  Because they each have a ton of friends, both men and women, they decided that, rather than have bridesmaids and groomsmen, all of their bridal party would be called ushers.  The girls wore black dresses, the boys wore black suits or tuxes, and they all looked great!  To fit in with the color scheme, the guys were given gold ties, while the ladies were given beautiful gold shawls.

While the bride and groom got to ride over in a limo, courtesy of Fleet Transportation, the ushers walked the few short blocks to the AMAZING 6th and I Synagogue.  If you haven’t been to this gem of a building, do not pass Go, proceed immediately.  This building is GORGEOUS.  I’m not Jewish, and even I wanted to get married here!  The architecture is so completely breathtaking, you almost don’t need any decoration.  In fact, Rob and Maya had a very simple chuppah, highlighted only by, you guessed it, a few sunflowers:

There are so many great photos of 6th and I on their website, as well as interesting information about their history and restoration, but I just wanted to share one photo with you of my absolute favorite part of the synagogue, the ceiling:

Isn’t it AWESOME?!  I don’t know of a more gorgeous ceiling in the DC area.

After the ceremony, all of the guests walked back to the Hotel Monaco, guided by the ushers.  Although it’s a simple walk, if you’re not from the area, it’s easy to make a wrong turn.  Maya, who was prepared for EVERYTHING, had beautiful sunflower umbrellas for her ushers to hold to guide guests along the way.  Turns out they served a two-fold purpose, as they also kept them dry from the slight rain that began to fall!

When guests arrived at the hotel, they were led to the cocktail hour, while Rob and Maya ran off with Pablo to take pictures in Senate Park.  Once the bride and groom returned, the guests were led around the concourse to my favorite part of the entire planning — the escort cards.  Maya had a very specific vision of what she wanted for the escort cards, and the girl gets what she wants!  A co-worker found the mini vases on Lillian Vernon, of all places!  It just goes to show you, you never can tell where wedding inspiration might strike, or where you can find a great deal on decor!

HOW AMAZING is that centerpiece?!  Barbara Von Elm from Growing Wild, one of my absolute favorite florists, did an outstanding job with every single element of the day.  You should have seen the little ring bearer’s boutonniere.  Sunflowers were too big, so she found these tiny black eyed susans for them — adorable!

Here’s a close up of the escort cards:

Barbara, along with one of our assistants, Casie (thanks, Casie!) got the flowers EXACTLY how Maya wanted them — you can’t even see the mini vase, and the flower is peeking up over the escort card, with beautiful calligraphy by Calligraphy by Jennifer.

Once the guests had their escort cards, the doors were opened to reveal the beautiful ballroom:

Barbara did a beautiful job mixing the short and tall centerpieces.  Here’s a shot of the Sweetheart Table:

The cake was provided by Lara at Fluffy Thoughts, and it was topped with the cake topper from Rob’s parents’ wedding!  There was even a picture of them cutting their cake next to it:

After dinner, DJ Dan Goldman of Bialek’s kept the dance floor hopping all night, including a VERY rousing version of the Hora!

As guests departed, they were treated to a favor of, what else, sunflower seeds!

Maya and Rob left the next day on what I’m sure was an AMAZING honeymoon to Africa!  I hope you guys had a great time and said hi to the zebras for me.  Congratulations again!

Tags: 6th and I Synagogue, Bialek's, black, dc, Fleet Transportation, fluffy thoughts, Freed Photography, gold, growing wild, Hotel Monaco, rebecca, Sunflowers, yellow

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 9:30 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.