It’s taken me FOREVER to get Maggie and Gareth’s wedding blogged, but you’ll forgive me when you see the GORGEOUS photos from Deb Lindsey!

Is that veil AMAZING or what?!?!  And how beautiful is this bride?!

Maggie’s gorgeous bouquet, and all of the flowers, came from Kendra at Greenworks, who did an awesome job!

The ceremony was held at one of my absolute favorite churches, Holy Trinity in Georgetown.  The bride’s room there has beautiful hardwood floors, and is a perfect place to take some last minute photos of the bride getting ready…

While the girls were putting on the last minute touches at Holy Trinity, the boys were having a last minute drink at the hotel!

Hmm…what’s that in the picture…is that a dog??

That won’t be the last time you see Journey, Maggie and Gareth’s adorable pup!

But wait, first we need a few more getting ready shots!

(Does Gareth look like an Old Hollywood star or what?!)

I loved this little guy — at the rehearsal, when I asked him to hand the best man the ring pillow, he just threw it at him.  I had to laugh out loud, it was so cute!

Once everyone arrived at the church, it was time to get things started!  Maggie and her dad waited outside…

And I began sending everyone down the aisle, starting with a bevy of adorable little ones!

I mean, how can you resist these faces?!?!

Then we opened the doors, and everyone stood for Maggie to begin making her way down the aisle with her dad.

I love the look on Gareth’s face here, like he’s not sure if he’s doing it right…

Does anything seem odd here?

If you’re wondering if Holy Trinity allows dogs: no, no they do not.  I’m lucky I haven’t been banned from the church for allowing this little visitor!  But it was really important to Maggie and Gareth that he be there…and look at that face, how can you resist?!?  (Plus, I swear, I didn’t know about it until the last minute!)  And look how happy he is for his mommy and daddy!

And look how well behaved he was for group pictures!

While Reston Limo shuttled guests over to the Ritz Carlton for the reception, the bridal party made their way around the streets of Georgetown for pictures.

This shot was only the beginning of Maggie and Gareth rocking out all night…

After they completed their photo safari, Maggie and Gareth were driven back to the Ritz by Drew at Secure Limo, where they went up to their gorgeous suite to take a few pictures on their balcony.

Do you want to know how amazing the staff is at the Ritz?  The bright green drink in Maggie’s hand was their signature martini — but Becky Jones, the Event Coordinator at the Ritz, was afraid the drink might spill out of a martini glass, so she had the bartenders pour it into a wine glass for her.  It’s little, but those little touches mean SO much to a couple on their wedding day!

One of the many things I love about Deb is how she takes SO much care to take detail shots of the day.  I mean, look at all of these great pictures!

Love the pink toenails

Some more gorgeous flowers from Kendra at Greenworks (I LOVE how those tulips are arranged!)

The delicious cake was provided by the Ritz Carlton as well

Maggie and Gareth did one of the cutest cake cuttings I’ve seen

I love their adorable reaction to one of the toasts as well…

And Journey makes another appearance — he now has a fan club!

Maggie and Gareth then kicked things off on the dance floor to, what else, Journey!

And then, I swear, I think that was the last time I saw them all night, because their AMAZING band, Round Midnight, kept them on the dance floor ALL NIGHT LONG.  These guys are seriously AWESOME!

Old and young rocked the floor all night with these guys, including the gorgeous lady below in gold — the groom’s total sweetheart of a mother!

Speaking of the groom’s parents, Gareth’s dad is the Chairman of Beleek Pottery, which is a famous Irish china and pottery company.  The favors were a beautiful porcelain vase with a shamrock on it to represent the groom’s Irish heritage, and a pair of Irish lead crystal champagne flutes from one of Beleek’s subsidiaries, Galway Crystal.

These were probably the most beautiful favors I’ve had at one of my weddings — I’m honored to have a pair of these flutes in my cabinet at home, but they’re so gorgeous, I’m afraid to use them!!

Maggie was, if you can believe it, my very first bride to do a bouquet toss (it’s even been a few years)!

But then it was Gareth’s turn…

This is probably one of the best wedding action shots I’ve ever seen — this guy got some serious air!

Congratulations, Maggie and Gareth!  It was a pleasure working with you and your wonderful families!

Hayden and Mike were married on a gorgeous day in August in a very DC wedding.

The adorable Kelsey Thompson photographed the day, and was AMAZING to work with.  Of course, it doesn’t hurt that her pictures are gorgeous too!

(Okay, the subjects aren’t too bad either

The day started at the Mayflower Hotel, right in Downtown DC, with Hayden and her many bridesmaids getting hair and makeup done.  Krystal Morant (contact me for info) and Jet Miller did an awesome job — the girls looked GORGEOUS!

My assistant Jamie and I offered a little help getting the flower girls’ crowns on — I am SO not good with hair!

The girls were all excited when Diana from DaVinci’s, one of our absolute favorite florists, came in with the flowers!  (They did the crowns above, too.)

I got the boys into their bouts…

And then it was off to the church, the STUNNING St. Peters on Capitol Hill.

I stayed just long enough to get everyone down the aisle…

(LOVE the shots of the groom first seeing the bride…)

And then it was off to the National Museum of Women in the Arts to set up for the reception.

While the assistants and I were setting things up, along with the AMAZING staff at R&R Catering (thanks, Heidi!!), the bridal party headed over to the Capitol with Kelsey for some pictures

(Yes, Hayden’s sister was VERY pregnant!!!)

The bride and groom managed to get a little alone time in the limo on the way back to NMWA

I love how they’re checking out the bling   Here’s a close up…

LOVE the rings   (Hmm…someone want to pass that info along to my boyfriend?

Kelsey and her assistant arrived with the bridal party and were able to get some great detail shots before things kicked off

The bride did the embossing on the programs and the escort cards herself!

Tables were named after DC area monuments and were marked by pictures taken by the groom

More gorgeous flowers from DaVinci’s

Lighting by Exclusively Entertainment

Fancy Cakes by Leslie provided the GORGEOUS cake:

And the bride and groom danced to the sounds of DJ Philipz (a little note about the DJ — this kid is GOOD.  Like REALLY REALLY good.  He is just starting to get into doing weddings, and has mostly done club work.  But not only will he SERIOUSLY rock your party, but he’s crazy affordable too!  Definitely shoot him an email, you won’t regret it, the guests danced like CRAZY!!!!!!)

This museum is PERFECT for a bouquet toss — the balcony!  The chandelier!  I love it!

Guests were treated at the end of the night to a cookies and candy buffet, with the majority of the cookies and treats made by Hayden and her bridesmaids!

(I’m loving that linen!)

Congratulations, Hayden and Mike!!  Thanks for making me part of your day!

Nicole and Carl probably the most unique wedding I’ve ever done.  From the order of things, to the herbs used in place of flowers to the non-traditional ceremony, everything about this wedding screamed “Nicole and Carl,” especially the location, the AMAZING Patapsco Female Institute.

(All photos, unless otherwise noted, by photographer Nat Wongsaroj)

The Patapsco Female Institute is a former girls’ finishing school in Ellicott City, MD which was later a hospital for wounded World War I soldiers.  What remains of the school are the gorgeous stone ruins and blue steel beams that made up the beautiful building.  The lower level has “rooms” with gravel floors, which were perfect for Nicole and Carl’s cocktail hour, which started off the evening

Yep, that’s right, the cocktail hour STARTED the event, not the ceremony!  I actually loved this, as Nicole and Carl got to mingle with their guests and have a relaxed day.

The “flowers” (which were mainly herbs) were provided by Willow Oak Flower and Herb Farm.  They smelled AMAZING!!  And I’m dying to visit their farm, which is supposed to have these amazing gardens, and a drying barn with tons of dried herb decorations.

This photo of the bride’s pomander (which she carried in place of a bouquet) is by the sister-in-law of the groom, Emily Smith.  Emily is AMAZING with detail shots — I was so grateful to have her there for her help and for all of her amazing detail shots!  If anyone needs a “2nd shooter” to do some detail stuff, let me know and I’ll pass along her info!

After the cocktail hour, we invited guests upstairs to the “dining room” for dinner.  They found their seats on these “luggage tag” cards, which were hand stamped and typewritten by Nicole and Carl.

Photo by Emily:

The symbols on each card were the “table names” — Wood, Sheep, Bricks and Grain — anyone know what that’s from?  It’s from this great board game called Settlers of Catan! I LOVE this game — it was so funny when I realized what they were doing — I knew we were a good fit

See the centerpieces behind the table pictures?  More fragrant herbs, in lots of cute jelly and mason jars!

Dinner was catered by the delicious Beefalo Bob’s!  YUM!  I love a BBQ wedding, and I’ve had quite a few this year!

OMG, that’s making me so hungry!  It was SO YUMMY!!!  This place is the real deal — they brought this awesome smoker right out to PFI and smoked the pit beef right there on the grounds!  I even watched as they shucked the corn right there — LOVE fresh food catering!  It’s amazing what these guys did with no electricity or water!

Check out the adorable bib!  Nicole and Carl provided these AWESOME bags as favors — I’ve used mine a few times already for groceries! They screenprinted them themselves — without a screen printing machine!  They had a roller, a laser cut stencil (made by a Baltimore Etsy seller!) and a group of friends to help — I need to get some friends like that!  Inside the bags were a timeline/program for the evening (which was so sweet, as it thanked all the vendors!) and a dinner “emergency kit” with a bib, handi-wipes, and a mint.  Too cute   (Photo by Emily)

I LOVED how we did the tables!  We had plain white linens on them, but then they were covered with Duck Cloth (cut by Nicole and Carl), then topped with a cute runner, which was hand sewn by Carl’s mom, and then adorable rustic cloth napkins, which they found at Ikea!  Carl’s mom tied EACH NAPKIN with raffia — how sweet!  They were all delivered to us in a huge suitcase!

Also on each table was bug repellant — THAT NICOLE MADE HERSELF!!!  Talk about DIY!  What a crafty bride, I love it!  (And it smelled WAY better than any commercial bug spray out there!) (Photo by Emily)

Nicole and Carl snuck away with Nat during dinner for a few photos of just the two of them:

After dinner, guests made their way to the ceremony site, which had a chuppah that was made by Carl and set up by the couple’s brothers and sisters in law.

Friends of the couple played the guitar and banjo for the processional and recessional (my favorite part was their recessional — Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” — I told you I loved these guys!!)

And the ceremony was officiated by two family friends

After the ceremony, we made our way to the AMAZING front of the house for champagne toasts.

Then it was back to the cocktail area to cut the DELICIOUS cake by one of my favorites, Heidelberg Bakery!

Oh, that’s right — they had photo cakes instead of a traditional wedding cake!  They also had cookies by Pastries by Randolph (also dangerously close to my house) and macarons from Patissierie Poupon, which has locations in Georgetown and Baltimore (but, strangely, no web site)

Guests mingled for a little while longer as the sun set, lit by rope lighting strung by Grand Rental Events (photos by Emily)

Then it was back to DC, where guests continued to party at the Omni Shoreham and Open City across the street, which also hosted brunch the next day.

Congratulations, Nicole and Carl!  We definitely need to hang out in Baltimore soon!

I am SO BEHIND on blogging weddings, this one was in JUNE!!!  I know, I know, I’m a slacker.  But today I have a gorgeous wedding for you to make up for it!

Michelle Lindsay took some BEAUTIFUL pictures of Diane and Allen’s wedding way back in June, and I’m so excited to finally share them with you!

The bright, sunny (HOT) day started with Diane and her girls getting their hair and makeup done at the couple’s condo in Arlington.  Pia and Sonia with Bridal Artistry did a stunning job with these ladies — I mean, just take a look!

You know I love navy and pink for bridesmaids, and these ladies just proved my love!  Look how amazing they look!

And HOW INSANE are those bouquets?!?!?!  That is the gorgeous work of John Duffy at Yellow Door, who is like a ninja — I’ve still never met him because he slips in and out of places completely undetected.  These flowers were already at the chapel waiting for me when I got there, and when I got to the reception, he had already come and gone!

Speaking of the chapel, Diane and Allen’s wedding took place at the beautiful (and SO easy to work with!) Old Post Chapel at Fort Myer.

See what I mean about the bright and sunny day?!  Michelle took advantage of it, and took a bunch of pictures of the girls outside on the grounds before the boys arrived.

Once the men arrived, the ladies scampered downstairs to the basement to wait, where Diane was keeping order…

And then it was time for the processional to begin!

This little one, along with her brothers, almost stole the show!

Yes!  They’re triplets!  I love triplets!!!!  And they have an older brother, who was maybe the most adorable reader ever!

His hair gets me every time!

Once the couple was married (by a priest who, strangely, looks exactly like my Uncle Al, which is neither here nor there, just interesting…) the bridal party was off to the Kennedy Center for group pictures.

What’s that you say?  That doesn’t look like the Kennedy Center?  No, that’s the bus.  Sadly, the Kennedy Center doesn’t allow you to blog pictures taken there, but trust me, they’re gorgeous — definitely a great “secret” find (thanks, Michelle!) for bridal party photos to have for your album.

While the bridal party was taking pictures, I ran over to the Clarendon Ballroom to get ready for the reception.  When I got there, though, almost everything was done!

Between John Duffy being a ninja and the AMAZING team at Clarendon Ballroom, I didn’t have much to do but set up some candles and wait for the guests to arrive!

All of the stationery items that day, from the programs to the table numbers and escort cards were designed by the groom — who did an AWESOME job!!!

The gorgeous plants were done by Plants Alive, a plant rental company here in the DC area.  These guys are awesome, and made the huge ballroom look really warm and intimate.  Plants really add a gorgeous touch to a wedding — definitely give them a call if your venue needs a little sprucing.

The uplighting was done by one of our favorites, John Farr Lighting.  These guys absolutely never disappoint and, like plants, lighting adds a HUGE dimension to weddings!

After Michelle snuck in for a few shots before the guests came into the curtained off area, DJ Aaron from Chris Laich Music Services introduced the bridal party.  Yet again, these little ones almost stole the show!  How cute are the little guys’ shoes?!?!?!

After dinner, guests were treated to this gorgeous little number:

That chocolate smelled SO amazing, and the taste was unbelievable.  The Clarendon Ballroom has a baker who does their cakes, but I don’t know who it is!  If you like this cake design, though, definitely call Sandra at the Ballroom and ask her — it was SO GOOD.  I think every guest with a camera took a picture of it!

Not only was there cake, but look what the Clarendon Ballroom provided after dinner!  Warm chocolate chip cookies!!!!  YUMMY!!!!!!

Still, everyone’s favorite part of the night was probably the photo booth, provided by Posh Booth:

I say this all the time, but it’s totally true — no matter how many times you’ve seen something on wedding blogs, whether it’s a photo booth, a candy buffet, or cupcakes, the majority of your guests don’t go to tons of weddings and certainly don’t read wedding blogs.  Things become a trend for a reason in the wedding world — because people love them!  So even if you think something’s been “overdone” because you’ve seen it on a million blogs, but you love it anyway, just DO IT!  I promise many of the guests will never have seen it before at a wedding and will think you’re the most clever person to ever walk the face of the earth!

The crew at Posh Booth comes with the booth, some awesome props (although Allen provided the mustaches and lips!), and even a guest book for your guests to put their pictures in and sign. People of all ages flocked to the photo booth:

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Congratulations, Diane and Allen!  Let’s go to Cafe Asia again soon!!!

A big congratulations to Leila & Fritz who tied the knot in October and celebrated at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC.  I just couldn’t resist this series of four photos — the emotion is fantastic!  Here’s a sneak peek from photographer Muriel Silva:

Stay tuned for the full post on this wedding soon!

xoxo,

Andrea

Did you miss Part One of Beth and Rob’s wedding?  Go see it here!

It is no secret that Glen Echo is probably my favorite wedding venue.  I love everything about it, from the AMAZING Emily Mah Rogers, the venue coordinator, to the GORGEOUS carousel to the wooded areas all around the park, to the fun neon lighting and little touches everywhere, I just love love love it.  However, probably my favorite thing about Glen Echo is that it inspires the most adorable weddings!  I guess it’s because the types of couples that get married there are already awesome?  (See Hallie and Matt and our very own Cristin, who better be blogging her wedding pictures soon, because they are INSANE!!!)  Whatever it is, I see the cutest ideas come out of weddings at Glen Echo.

When Beth and Robert walked down the aisle as husband and wife, I had them get straight into their Zipcar (yes, that was their wedding day transportation — Zipcar!) and head over to Glen Echo, immediately followed by Cassidy and the bridal party.  I always like to make sure that, even if it’s just for a few minutes, my couple has some alone time immediately following the ceremony, plus Beth and Robert wanted to do all of the bridal party photos at Glen Echo — this killed two birds with one stone!

See why I had to break it up into two blog posts?  Cassidy did TOO good a job on the pictures — I couldn’t choose!

There are just so many amazing locations at Glen Echo for pictures — this is in front of the old trolley at the front of the park

Beth took this opportunity to be…Beth

And show off her gorgeous dress…

I’m loving the amazing light Cassidy caught here!

There are also gorgeous wooded areas at Glen Echo to take pictures:

I LOVE this shot of Beth and Rob on the bridge into the park — I’m trying to figure out where Cassidy was standing to take this picture, though?!

The group then headed over to the carousel to take a few more pictures

I don’t know why it seems funny to me that they had to wait in line to ride the carousel, but it does

I love that Beth and Rob shared a horse lion

Then it was off to the reception…with a brief stop at the Cuddle Up

Guests were treated to a DELICIOUS BBQ dinner from Matters of Taste.  Having gone to college in North Carolina, I’m very picky about two things — pulled pork BBQ and sweet tea.  Matters of Taste delivered PERFECTLY on both fronts!  I think I probably had 10 glasses of sweet tea that night!

(Do those lanterns look familiar?  We brought them over from the ceremony!  Good reason to have a wedding planner — to bring things from the ceremony to the reception!)

After Beth and Robert quickly ate their food (something I make sure EVERY bride and groom do at their wedding!) they held a modified tea ceremony.

I like that they did this as guests were eating.  I’m sure it’s not the traditional way — but it allowed them to have private moments with everyone, while others were eating, so there wasn’t too much down time either!

After dinner and the tea ceremony, though, it was on to the dancing!!!

DJ Steve with Jan Davis Entertainment ROCKED the house that night!  This was the first time I had worked with Steve and I hope it won’t be the last.  He was AWESOME!  As an added bonus, he comes from a family of DJ’s, including his gorgeous sister, who came to assist him that night!

I mean, you know it’s a good party when this is your bride on the dance floor!

During a break in dancing, Beth and Rob cut their cake from one of my favorite bakeries (which is DANGEROUSLY within walking distance to my house!), Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe.

I’m not a big cake topper person, but I thought theirs was really cute!

After they cut the cake, it was served along with a “North vs. South” dessert buffet — Whoopie Pies vs. Moon Pies!  (I’m a Whoopie Pie girl, which in Pittsburgh we call Gobs!)

Beth made the cutest signs to put all over the place!  She had them for the dessert buffet, the bathrooms, the bride and groom chairs — SO cute!

Cassidy, yet again, did an amazing job getting detail shots!  The parasols my assistants and I hung before I went off to the reception…

The cards Beth and Rob created explaining the tea ceremony, along with the favors, which they bought in Malaysia

The family photos we strung up with clothes pins and, when I realized Rob had left the clothesline at home, fishing wire from my emergency kit:

The carousel tickets…

And of course the centerpieces.  I LOVED these centerpieces — I’m always looking for non-floral centerpieces for couples who are looking to save money — Beth and Robert are reselling these lanterns to recoup some of the costs, but they could easily be reused in your house or yard

Finally, we had the bubble send off …

And I love this last shot of the newlyweds walking off…to their Zipcar

Congratulations, Beth and Rob!  Thank you SO MUCH for choosing me to be your planner — I had a blast!!!

I started blogging Beth and Robert’s September wedding, but I quickly realized that there were just WAY too many amazing shots by the talented and delightful Cassidy DuHon to put into one post!  So I’m breaking it up — today you’ll get the ceremony and some of the details, and tomorrow we’ll move on to the party!

The day began with the ceremony at the adorable Langley Hill Meeting House.  I had never heard of this place before, but I will definitely be recommending it to other couples.  The members there are amazingly kind and accommodating, the atmosphere is welcoming and friendly, and the meeting room is arranged in the “round” (okay, sort of a square, really, but you know what I mean) so that the couple stands in the middle.  I love the idea of having all of your friends and family surrounding you.

The flowers were done by the adorable Tonya Evans at Occasional Flowers.  I had never heard of this florist before, and I’m not sure where Beth found her, but she is WONDERFUL!  The bouquets were gorgeous, the chapel arrangements looked beautiful, and, when a vendor made a mistake on some lanterns the couple had chosen, Tonya bent over backwards to get them what they wanted!  LOVE this lady.

The bride and groom have some hilarious friends:

I mean, really — how can you resist a photographer that takes that shot?!   Plus Cassidy did something that we wedding planners WORSHIP — he took TONS AND TONS of detail shots!  That’s what we need, guys!  LOTS OF DETAILS!!!

(Why does my hand look so weird in that picture?  Yep…hand model…my next career…)

Beth and Rob, like many of our couples these days, chose to do a first look before the ceremony.  I LOVE when couples do this (and I know photographers do too!)  For those who are maybe a little shy, it allows you to see each other for the first time when it’s just the two of you (well, and the photographer…), plus it allows for picture time to be more relaxed, as there’s not such a huge rush!

It also allows for you to take family pictures before the ceremony, so you aren’t stuck rounding people up afterward!  I won’t bore you with the family shots, but how cute is this flower girl?!

Everyone then went inside the meeting house to get ready for the ceremony.  Cassidy took some lovely ceremony shots — I just wanted to show you a few…

Beth’s dad performed a song on the guitar during the ceremony

You may now kiss your bride…

And then it was off to the reception, which you’ll see tomorrow, with more amazing shots!

We kicked off wedding season this year with a gorgeous multicultural wedding in Arlington.  Chris and Marie were married on what started off as a cloudy day, but brightened up in time for group pictures outside, taken by the super fun Daniel McGarrity.

Marie had her hair and makeup done in the house she grew up in.  Cori Campbell came up HUGE in the hair department, by doing Marie’s trial the weekend before, and traveling all the way from West Virginia to be in Potomac by 8:00 in the morning!  Makeup was done for the girls by the AMAZING Lori Nansi, who then came to the hotel later for the reception to refresh Marie’s makeup and give her a “nighttime” look — what service!

After a traditional Indian ceremony at the bride’s parents’ house, the bridal party and family made their way to Arlington to the beautiful Cathedral of St. Thomas More

Marie’s bridal party had beautiful teal lenghas:

All of the flowers were provided by Jen and Nate’s florist, Maryam Flowers.  We LOVE Maryam, she is SO amazing!

I’m seeing more and more cascade bouquets these days.  Have you noticed that?

After the ceremony and family photos at the church, the bridal party, transported by the wonderful drivers at Limos, Inc. (Call Elissa there…she’s AWESOME!), headed off to the Library of Congress with Daniel and Neil from Blue Sky Films, one of our favorite videographers. (Here he is in action with his assistant later in the evening…)

I LOVED the pictures from the Library — what a great idea for a photo location, Daniel!  (Caution…slight photo overload ahead

After the visit to the Library of Congress, the bridal party headed to the Sheraton National for the reception.   Their rooftop ballroom has a great view of the city, especially of the Pentagon and the Air Force Memorial.

(This picture is from the hotel’s web site, just so you can see the view!)

When she arrived at the hotel, Marie made her first costume change of the evening, from her white wedding dress to her traditional sari, which was a gift to her from Chris.

She wore this during the first dance and toasts, but, seeing as how she had trouble moving in it, she soon switched to her lengha.

Marie’s cousin, who is a priest at the Vatican, was supposed to perform the ceremony, but due to the volcanoes earlier that month in Iceland, he wasn’t able to get a flight…or so Chris and Marie thought!  Her cousin was able to get there in time for the reception — and he brought with him a blessing from the Pope!  WOW!

Chris and Marie had a DELICIOUS cake from one of my absolute favorite bakeries (which is dangerously close to my house) Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

And, of course at the reception, we had more gorgeous flowers from Maryam!  (These pictures are from me, not Daniel)

Thanks to all of  the wonderful vendors who made this day great!

Hmmm, so where do I begin on this one?  The bride is Mary Kate McKenna (of Mary Kate McKenna Photography) and has been a friend of mine since we worked on a wedding way back in 2007.  She and her husband Joe have one of those fantastic love stories that Nicholas Sparks bases his novels on.  He’s in the Army and she’s a world-traveling creative who deserves every little crumb of joy in her life.

To give you a taste of how cute these guys are, here’s what MK posted on her blog just before the wedding:

“I’m going to marry the guy who told me in high school we’d end up together.

The guy who pursued me for 12+ years,

while I traveled the globe and did my own thing.

He waited. He waited a long, long time.

Well, on Saturday, he finally gets his way.

It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling right now.

Excited I guess is the only word that kind of describes it.

I’ve been to so many beautiful weddings,

and I’ve always loved watching the day unfold.

And now it’s our turn. Surreal.”

Being a wedding photographer, naturally MK has been to nearly every wedding in the DC/MD/VA area.  When it came time to pick a venue for her own shindig, ThorpeWood was an easy choice.  This 155-acre retreat in the Catoctin Mountains has multiple buildings and also serves as a camp for at-risk youth.  They’re eco-friendly and proud of it which gave her more than enough reasons to get married there.

Here’s the main building on the grounds:

While being a photographer made it easy to pick a venue, it made picking a photographer really really really hard.  MK and Joe finally decided to work with Christobal & Kathleen Perez of Azul Photography out of Raleigh, NC.   Check out their eye for stunning detail:

While MK got ready inside the main barn, I was busy setting up the ceremony spot.  With 155 acres, you can imagine that there are plenty of places to pick from for an outdoor ceremony!  They chose this little wooded area with a small stone footbridge that goes over a babbling brook.  It was all quite lovely:

Here comes the bride!

The other advantage about being a wedding photographer is that all your friends are photographers too.  MK’s friend Jaime Windon (aka The Blonde Photographer) snapped a few here and there.  I really liked seeing how two photographers can see the same moment differently!  See Christobal’s version above and Jaime’s below:

The happy couple, getting hitched!  Check out their custom-made wooden canopy structure.  Although this was not a Jewish wedding and that’s not a chuppah, it’s a gorgeous piece that framed the ceremony just beautifully.  A big special thanks to Katie Martin at Elegance and Simplicity (and her master-carpenter-husband) who built it:

Married!

After the ceremony, MK & Joe took a few minutes with Christobal to get some portraits:

Then it was time to PAR-TAY!

Look at the size of those peonies in the bouquet!  That thing weighed like 30lbs.  Katie did a really spectacular job on the bridal bouquet and it ranks right up there as of my favorites of all time.

Can you believe that MK made this sign?  Yeah, she really MADE it!  Cut out the wood and everything!

Inside the barn building, the reception’s ready to go:

My favorite detail were these fun poms from Etsy seller Prost to the Host!

MK spent months and months scouring flea markets, garage sales, and antique stores to find all the Mason jars and antique glass for the floral arrangements:

Here’s the first dance.  MK & Joe are cute and all, but the real focus of this picture is the adorable centerpiece box!!!  MK made a white wooden box for each table and those glass jars went inside.  I wish I had a better picture to show you the detail but these guys were really quite adorable!

MK wrote one of those toasts that made everyone, including Joe, need a tissue.  I’ve heard hundreds of wedding toasts and am definitely jaded enough that I usually don’t even listen to them anymore.  MK’s even got me too!

Cheers!  The day was filled with all kinds of emotions but this was a more lighthearted moment:

(This photo was taken by Jaime)

Some more images by Jaime that give you an idea of how fun this party was:

I can’t get over how cute this one is.  Christobal really has an eye for this stuff.  Again with the touching moments!

ThorpeWood just happens to have a ping pong table outside.  And MK just happened to be sure to bring balls for it.  And she also just happened to win:

It was a lovely evening to enjoy the patio and lawn:

Happily ever after!

(this one is Jaime’s too)

Congratulations again, MK & Joe!  You two make quite the perfect new family.  I wish you both all the very best and look forward to watching your love story continue.

One of Rebecca’s couples made it in to The Knot Magazine!  Check out this great feature on Erika & Jamie’s wedding:

A big special thanks to photographer Kate Headley who submitted these photos to The Knot.  You rock!