We got some fantastic images of Anna & Mike’s wedding from photographer Elaine Studley.  I thought Elaine’s images turned out great!

It wouldn’t be a Hokie’s wedding without a Virginia Tech garter, now would it?

They exchanged vows at the Church of the Holy Rosary on 3rd Street in Washington, DC:

Isn’t this church amazing!?  I thought the grand aisle made for a fantastic entrance:

Look how sweet these guys are!

After the ceremony, Anna & Mike took their bridal party around the mall for some quintessential DC monument shots:

Elise Alexander provided this beautiful bouquet and all the flowers for the wedding:

I think the Jefferson Memorial is one of my favorite spots for wedding portraits:

The US Capitol is just about as “DC” as it gets!  This is also a good photo to point out Anna’s gorgeous wedding-day look from Elegant Hair by Giselle and BeautyMark:

The reception took place at the Carnegie Institute in Washington, DC.  There are two large rooms in this venue, connected by a large sliding door.  Here’s the bigger space of the two:

Martin’s Caterers did a beautiful job on the yummy cake:

Complete with orange & maroon icing flowers!  How fitting!

The big entrance:

I really love this shot…aren’t Anna & Mike cute together?  I also loved the whimsical polka dot lighting:

Musica Entertainment kept the party going all night:

Mmmm….this cake display was the perfect end to the evening.  Look how many different types there were!

….and they danced and danced and danced.

Congratulations, Anna & Mike!  I’m glad I could be a part of your day and hope you enjoyed every second of it.

Our last wedding of 2009 was Jen & Brent’s bash at The Barns at Wolf Trap.  Although we’ve been planning weddings for over four years and even employ a former Wolf Trap employee, we’ve never had the opportunity to coordinate an event in this beautiful space.  Jen & Brent certainly had a fabulous wedding to wrap up the end of the year!

I’ll share professional images from Amir at Photo Fanatic when I get them.  For now, here’s my take on the day!

Jen & Brent wanted a candlelit ceremony so that’s what they got!  Aside from some twinkle lights on the trees rented from DaVinci’s Florist, the only other light was from dozens of floating candles down the aisle:

Unfortunately my camera’s not that great in the dark but you get the idea.  It was gorgeous!

The ceremony and reception happened in the same room so once the ceremony concluded we sent all the guests to a cocktail /bar area down the hall.  I didn’t get a photo of the built-in bar at Wolf Trap but here’s the big foyer area:

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Jen & Brent had a kelly green & gray color scheme.  Isn’t that fabulous!?  I was so excited to see how the colors came together.  Here’s her escort card table.  I loved the whole limes in the vase underneath that big hydrangea arrangement:

Meanwhile inside, we were busy setting up the reception!  Keep in mind that we had NOTHING set up for the reception during the ceremony, not even staged tables waiting in the back.  We re-used the chairs to save on the cost and flipped the room entirely:

We had three different centerpieces on the tables to break up the room and show some creativity!  DaVinci’s Florist was really flexible and rolled with all the ideas.  Here’s the tall arrangements:

See how we re-used the ceremony floating candles on the tables?  This arrangement was on the table where the bride & groom sat:

The final table arrangements, featuring submerged orchids and floating candles:

Hold on, did you see that?  The adorable table number?  Jen made these all herself!

Another cute detail was the favors, Hershey’s Kisses in tiny customized glass jars:

For such a late fall wedding, Jen and Brent wanted the room to be DARK!  I thought it was a gorgeous candlelit reception, perfectly romantic for the occasion:

I wish I had a better photo of Jen’s dress but believe me, it was stunning!  She offset the asymmetrical gown with a birdcage veil that was so perfectly vintage-inspired.  Her flowing hair was kept down and had finger waves.  How many brides do we see anymore who keep their hair down?  This girl’s got style!  Here she is dancing with her dad:

Guests enjoying their meal, catered by R&R Catering:

I have to mention the cupcake tree, which was made by Jen herself!  The cupcakes came from Hello Cupcake and fit perfectly on the kelly green stand.  Check out the way they stack up:

OK, I just wanted to rub in how delicious these things were.  Are you jealous yet?

Another lame attempt at getting a photo of Jen’s gown!  Here you can actually see Brent too (sorry for the lack of representation, Brent — we love you!):

…and they danced the night away, thanks to David from MyDeejay:

That’s all for now, folks!  Jen & Brent, I hope you had a fabulous honeymoon and are enjoying the new year together as newlyweds!

If making the “Best Wedding Vendor” list wasn’t enough, we also had one of our weddings published in the most recent issue of Washingtonian Bride & Groom!

Arienne & Rahman had a gorgeous wedding at the Galleria at Lafayette Center last year.  I was so thrilled when I turned the page of the magazine and saw THIS:

To learn more about this wedding, visit our first blog post and the second one with professional images.  Special thanks goes to photographer Greg Gibson who submitted his images to the magazine.

Congrats, Arienne & Rahman!

We’re so excited to announce that Hallie & Matt have been published!  Their July wedding at Glen Echo made it into the sparkling new Eco-Beautiful Weddings magazine which was just released this week.  The e-zine focuses on environmentally friendly wedding ideas without compromising style, design, or quality.  There are some gorgeous things in this baby!

Best of all?  The magazine is ONLINE which means you don’t need to drive to a store to pick up a copy.  Just click here to flip through the pages in your browser!  What could be easier?

While you’re there, be sure to check out Hallie & Matt’s wedding on pages 102-104.  Here’s a sneak preview:

Our congratulations goes to Rebecca Dick, a WishPlanner who coordinated this event.  This is Rebecca’s first published wedding and we’re so proud of her!

Another huge round of applause goes to our friend Katie Martin who poured out her heart and soul for this magazine.  A ‘green’ wedding planner since before it was trendy, Katie really knows her stuff and is passionate about sharing her eco-friendly advice with the wedding industry.  We glad we could be a part of it, Katie!

PS – for more eco-beautiful ideas, check out the blog!

Remember Lindsay & Josh from their wedding back in September?  I just HAD to share some of the professional images I got back from Freed Photography.  Here’s our stunning bride:

These two make such a lovely couple:

Lindsay & Josh had a HUGE bridal party!  TWELVE bridesmaids.  Count ‘em!

Somehow Lindsay found twelve absolutely gorgeous friends:

Here are some beautiful images of the reception at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, DC:

….and of course our beautiful lace-covered cake!  You could smell the sugar from three feet away:

Menus by The Dandelion Patch:

Congratulations again, Lindsay & Josh!

For more information on this wedding and the vendors who pulled it together, check out our original blog post on Lindsay & Josh’s wedding.

M.J. and Corey were married in October in a gorgeous ceremony at one of the nicest hotels in DC, The Mandarin Oriental.  Lara Swanson, their AMAZING photographer, was kind enough to share some of the beautiful shots she captured that day:

LOVED M.J.’s gorgeous bouquet, compliments of one of our favorite florists, Petal’s Edge:

A family friend of M.J.’s, who just happens to be the White House Calligrapher, helped design all of the printed materials:

My favorite string quartet, Cherry Blossom Strings, performed for the ceremony and the cocktail hour.  You’ll see their violist’s wedding in a few months, as we’re coordinating hers in January!

The adorable flower girls making their way down the aisle:

M.J. and her dad in the gorgeous light of the day.

LOVE this shot taken from the balcony of the bridal suite at the Mandarin:

It’s lovely when brides pick a color for their bridesmaids but then let them choose a dress that fits their personality and body type.  M.J.’s ladies all looked wonderful.  Here are more beautiful bouquets from Petal’s Edge:

How cute is the flower girl, trying to get a peek of the first kiss?

I really loved the straps on her gown:

Cute shoe shot:

Beautiful calligraphy by Bonnie Jean Eastep (email me if you need contact info!)

Beautiful cake from Kendall’s cakes:

More great touches:

This band was AMAZING.  The John Winntet is based out of Richmond, and I HIGHLY recommend them.  These guys rocked the house with everything from smooth standards to Jimmy Buffett:

Corey is an incredibly talented pianist (in fact, he was playing on stage the first time he and M.J. saw each other).  The John Winntet set up a piano so that Corey could jam on a few songs with them!

Adorable cookie favors sent the guests home at the end of the night, provided by Bundles of Cookies in Bethesda (the bride says to tell you she highly recommends them!).

Congratulations, Corey and M.J.  Have fun in Brazil for your New Year’s honeymoon!

We recently blogged about Nicole & Matt’s wedding but didn’t have the professional photos to share.  Well, their photographer, Jimmy Ryan, came through and sent me some images from the event!  I thought he did a great job capturing the day and wanted to share.  Without further ado, here’s Nicole & Matt’s big day:

I loved Nicole’s gold flats.  The flowers on top matched the garden theme perfectly!

Didn’t Nicole make a beautiful bride??  I loved how she had her hair only half up instead of a super-hairsprayed ‘do.  She was beaming but still looked like herself:

I loved this shot of the processional:

The adorable flower girl basket.  Can you believe they got the flowers from Wegman’s grocery store??

Our happy couple:

Meadowlark makes the perfect backdrop for portraits:

Nicole & her sister Amy, one of our 2007 brides:

The flower girl, looking over the edge of the balcony at Meadowlark:

Meanwhile inside, the reception gets under way!

To fit with the garden theme, Nicole named her dinner tables after flowers.  She framed seed packets to help guests find their tables.  Here’s the head table with a mini wedding cake as the centerpiece:

More Wegman’s bouquets:

I really loved the mini cake centerpieces.  Check out how adorable these little guys are!

The wedding guests really loved cutting their own mini cakes.  What a perfect conversation piece!

Congratulations again, Nicole & Matt!!

A few months ago, Nicole & Matt tied the knot!  Sorry I didn’t post photos sooner — while I don’t have a lot of pictures from the day I just came across these and thought I’d share them.  I believe their pictures are online somewhere so I’ll try to get the pro ones to share too!

Nicole is the younger sister of Amy, one of our 2007 brides.  It’s always so lovely when families know we’ll do a great job on the wedding day and call us again for younger siblings.  It was really a pleasure to work with these ladies again.

While I don’t have photos of the ceremony, Nicole & Matt exchanged vows at St. John Neumann’s in Reston.  St. John’s is a very big, modern, and airy church that lets in plenty of sunlight.  It was really a beautiful and touching ceremony.

Once at Meadowlark, Nicole & Matt wanted to use the beautiful natural scenery for their bridal party photos.  Here’s photographer Jimmy Ryan doing his thing:

I really thought these bridesmaids dresses were fabulous!  When’s the last time you’ve seen a patterned gown like these?  They were perfectly summery and looked great on the girls.  Nicole’s sister, Amy, is the second one from the right:

Inside, the reception’s in full swing!  The Reston Hyatt’s Regency Caterers did a wonderful job with the food & service.  I really liked the gold linens in the room — it looked really elegant and understated:

One of my favorite details of this wedding were the mini cakes!  Each table had a glass cake plate with a small cake instead of a centerpiece.  They went perfectly with the wedding’s garden theme.  Pastries by Randolph did a great job on these:

After Nicole & Matt cut their own little wedding cake, they invited guests to slice & serve each cake at their table.  Everyone had a blast with that!

The first dance:

Congratulations again, Nicole & Matt!  Talk to you soon!

This weekend I had the pleasure of working at Cara & Dave’s wedding!  These two exchanged vows and celebrated at the Galleria at Lafayette Centre in downtown Washington, DC.  We had an all-star team of vendors who pulled of a beautiful event.  Check it out for yourself!

Guests arrive for the wedding ceremony, set in the main space at the Galleria.  I thought DaVinci’s Florist did a great job decorating the perimeter of the room with drape and uplighting it.  They also provided the chuppah and altar pillars:

This is a view of the aisle from the ground floor on the opposite side of the room.  Cara & Dave are getting married!

I really love the tall ceilings and glass atrium feel at the Galleria.  It’s so airy and spacious there!  In this photo you can see photographer Genevieve Leiper, doing her thing.  I can’t wait to see her images!

Since the ceremony and reception took place in the same spot, R&R Catering got creative and staged the tables behind the draped area.  Here’s the dinner tables off in the wings, waiting for their moment to shine:

I couldn’t believe how quickly the room was flipped!  Within 20 minutes, R&R Catering had brought out 18 tables, the DJ moved to a new spot, and DaVinci’s set all the centerpieces and adjusted the drape:

There was a mix of tall and short centerpieces to create some interest in the room and also fit the spacious feel of the room.  Here’s one of the tall ones:

Here’s the other tall arrangement.  It’s decidedly different and very modern, but still fits in with the decor of the party.  Granny Smith apples are stacked and submerged then one sprig of deep purple orchids crown the top:

I especially loved the low centerpieces.  Look at the vibrant colors!  There was a lush mix of hot pink, tangerine, lime green, and deep plum all in one arrangement:

The cocktail table arrangements complimented the dinner table pieces:

The Galleria is such a pretty place for a wedding!  Here’s the whole space as seen from the second floor balcony (where we hosted cocktails):

Did you see that?  The cupcake tree?  YES!  Cara & Dave ordered an acrylic stand which imitated a wedding cake design and displayed the cupcakes perfectly.  I really loved the big momma cupcake on the top.  Tim at Baked & Wired hooked us up with the yummy cupcakes:

Cara & Dave used the topper for the cake cutting ceremony then guests took their cupcakes directly from the stand:

One little detail I liked was that the tables were named after important places in the couple’s history together.  DC locals will appreciate this one:

Check out their adorable wedding flavors!  One of their friends handmade candy apples for all the guests.  She even used green candy coloring to match the wedding colors:

Another cute detail was the guest book.  The pages were illustrated!  Each illustration told a part of Cara & Dave’s story.  Guests then signed in the blank spaces around the illustrations.  Check it out:

I also really liked how she tied the guest book pens with colorful ribbon:

Another view of the party from above.  Cara & Dave are the first couple I’ve met who danced to a Chicago song for their first dance!  DJ Derek Romanoff from Bialek’s Music kept guests on the dance floor the whole night long (literally!):

A big special thank you goes to my assistants Kenlinishia and Megan, who were wedding day rock stars.  All those candy apples weren’t going to put themselves out.  Thanks guys!

Congratulations Cara & Dave!  I really had a wonderful time at your wedding and was glad to be a part of it.  I hope you have a FABULOUS time in Thailand later this week!

“Meghan and Eric’s wedding ceremony and reception were Saturday at Oatlands Plantation.

The event was absolutely perfect! – and in no small measure due to the attention to detail and determination of Rebecca. She was everywhere – but most importantly she was exactly where the action was before something could go wrong – and made sure nothing was allowed to go wrong.

Her recommendations covered the gamut from decorations to organization – and the kudos I received from family and friends from all over the U.S. and several foreign countries really belong to her.

I’ll recommend Rebecca to anyone as a wedding coordinator!  That recommendation also extends to your whole staff.

My sincere thanks for a job done extremely well – with courtesy and a professional attitude.

Jerry Kelly

FOTB”