Last weekend I had the pleasure of coordinating Sarah & Abs’ wedding at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center.  What a gorgeous day!  We’ve worked at the Torpedo Factory several times over the years and it’s one of our favorite spots.  Sarah & Abs were really one of the most fun couples we’ve had this year.  I broke into a smile countless times just being around them and their friends.  What a great crew!

Let’s kick off with some pictures!  The professional images you see are from the very talented Kristen Leigh Photography.  Kristen is such a doll to work with.  Check her out if you’re looking for a photographer!  Images without her cute “K” watermark are ones I took with my iPhone.

Barbara at Growing Wild did a phenomenal job with Sarah’s bouquet:

Sarah’s green shoes pretty much sum up her personality.  Fun, vibrant, energetic, elegant, and unique!

Sarah and her ladies took some time before the ceremony to take portraits.  I loved this one:

Inside, the ceremony’s all set to go.  If you’re been in the Torpedo Factory during the daytime it looks totally different!  John Farr Lighting Design does an incredible job in making this building transform for events:

Sarah and her dad make it down the aisle:

A gorgeous wedding ceremony at the Torpedo Factory.  Sarah & Abs had a friend, Pastor Dave Saville, perform the service.  He was really wonderful!  It was light, touching, and heartfelt.  I really enjoyed working with Pastor Dave and happily recommend him to anyone who’s looking for a young and modern officiant.  It was a nice departure from the typical wedding officiants I see:

During cocktails, Kristen took photographs of the bridal party in Alexandria.  This cute spot is just around the corner from the Torpedo Factory:

Here’s what Kristen saw:

Kristen got some great shots of our newlyweds along the Old Town Alexandria waterfront.  This is near and dear to me since my husband and I took similar photos over three years ago!  I thought this particular one was so elegant….just a beautiful moment frozen in time while the rest of the world buzzes around them:

Couldn’t this easily be the front cover of a magazine?

Back inside, the party was in full swing!  To start, guests found their escort cards in these cute wheat grass boxes (provided by Growing Wild):

The other half of the Torpedo Factory (opposite from the ceremony) was set up for dinner even before guests arrived.  All we needed were chairs!  Once the ceremony ended and guests moved upstairs for cocktails, Windows Catering set the chairs in place around the tables.  I love this image because it shows a little bit of the wonderful lighting and centerpiece pinspots:

A few more shots of the reception area.  Nicole at Windows Catering is a doll to work with and her staff was phenomenal:

Look familiar?  Once the chairs were out of the way we used the ceremony spot as the dance floor!  Ray from Chris Laich Music Services did a great job keeping folks on the dance floor the entire night.  Doesn’t the space look totally transformed with funky lighting?

Windows’ accomplished pastry chef made the gorgeous and tasty cake.  Sarah & Abs chose to forgo the traditional cake cutting ceremony so this baby was just dislayed then sliced up by the caterer:

On a final note, I wanted to share a video of their incredible first dance!  Sarah and Abs must have practiced this for MONTHS.  Their guests were totally shocked at the last move…watch it and see what I mean!

Thanks, Melissa & TJ, for referring this wedding to me!  I’m honored you thought of me for your friends and am glad I got to see you at the wedding.

For more photos from this wedding, check out Kristen Leigh’s Blog.

Congratulations again, Sarah & Abs!

We’re so excited for Stacey & Todd’s fall wedding at the Washington Club!  I’ve been working with them for the past couple months and these two are going to have a fabulous wedding with a lot of personality.  Recently they went on a photo safari with photographer Armin DeFiesta to get some engagement shots!  Here’s my favorite:

Armin shared the rest on his blog if you want to check them out.  I really liked how they went to Del Ray in Alexandria instead of the traditional Old Town/Georgetown/Monuments scene.  I wish more couples would use their daily surroundings to tell their story.  It just makes it seem all the more personal.  What do you think?

Kara & Art were our international couple of the year!  These two have lived all over the world, from Austria to Argentina to South Africa.  They chose Collingwood Library for their wedding this past weekend and their international guests enjoyed the gorgeous setting there.

It’ll be a while until we get professional images from photographer Rob Holley but I thought I’d share mine in the meantime.  We got very lucky that another couple left this cute sign behind:

Barbara at Growing Wild did a marvelous job on the ceremony decoration.  We had shepherd’s hooks lining the aisle, a huge arch at the front of the aisle, and two more altar pieces to mark each end.  She also decorated the gazebo with a big beautiful garland…I wish I had a photo of it but it was all really pretty!  We always enjoy working with Barbara and you can see why brides like her too:

If you’re not familiar with Collingwood (you should be!  It’s open to the public most of the time!), you must know that the best ceremony spot is ALL the way down the hill and far, far away.  I would estimate it’s at least 150 yards?  Luckily they have a golf cart to help elderly guests and the bride also gets a ride down the hill:

If you’re into long aisles, this is probably the LONGEST aisle in town!  It makes for tricky processionals since we have to time the music for different groups of people.  But, that’s why you hire a wedding day coordinator, right?  Here’s the bride and her uncle, on their way:

It’s all worth it in the end, though, when you have a picture-perfect riverfront ceremony.  Bialek’s Music provided a wonderful guitar/violin duo that was just the right touch.  Rev. John Hoffmann created a customized ceremony that included a fun reading from a Dr. Seuss book.  The big beautiful Potomac River makes this wedding spot simply unbeatable:

While guests gathered back on the porch after the reception, we put the finishing touches on the reception room.  Collingwood built this venue about a year ago and we’re glad to finally have it open.  The room doesn’t have much character on it’s own but with a little lighting and some fun colors, it really comes to life!

Here’s the ‘before:’

And after!  Andrew Cissna Lighting Design did a fabulous job for us, including stringing the bulb lights, providing a ceiling wash with a fun pattern, and also doing a monogram on the dance floor to define the space.  I couldn’t have been more pleased with how things turned out:

A close-up of the custom monogram that Andrew designed:

Susan at Federal City Caterers was a rockstar to work with through the entire process.  She was flexible, accomodating, friendly, welcoming, and all-around a joy to work with.  She even worked with their chef to recreate a Finnish recipe for the bride’s family!  I will be recommending them a lot more in the future.  I thought the way they set the tables was really pretty:

Another cool thing to note was their wedding cake!  Stephanie the Baker provided this fun international-themed cake.  She’s a former White House pastry chef and really knows her stuff.  What’s even cooler?  The fondant ’stickers’ all feature a place the bride or groom have lived:

The room looked even better when guests came in for dinner:

Kara’s mom lives here in Arlington and was our liasion for most of the wedding decisions.  Kara dedicated a special song to her mom and it was really a touching moment.  I’ve become so jaded that I rarely cry at weddings anymore…this one brought a tear to my eye:

Cutting the wedding cake.  It was tasty!

Andrew even lit the outside of the building to give it some pop.  I thought the Tiffany blue color looked really great:

Congratulations again, Art & Kara!  I hope you both enjoyed every minute of your day and are traveling safely to Mexico today.  Best of luck with your future lives in South Africa and wherever else your international travel bug takes you!

Jillian and Chris took a non-traditional perspective to the design of their April wedding. Merging both of their careers and passions in life, the whole wedding took on an architectural perspective that highlighted their taste for modern design. For them, red really is the new black

Before we get started, all of the pictures are courtesy of the fantastic Brian Tropiano. It is an incredible pleasure to work with him and, well, the photos truly speak for themselves. Thanks, Brian!!

The ceremony took place at the beautiful St. Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill.

The bouquets, created by Laura Williams of Loda Floral Design, were a composite of various red flowers. Laura even crafted small floral combs for the ladies to wear:

Jillian opted to wear a white orchid in her hair but wanted to complete her ensemble by wearing the perfect red shoes:

With a few hours between the ceremony and reception, Jillian and Chris headed out to parts of Capitol Hill and Old Town Alexandria to take a few photos. The photos are stunning…

From here, everyone headed to the party. Everything was a wash with Jillian and Chris’s colors: red, black, and white. From the table linens by DC Rentalto the uplighting by John Farr, the Torpedo Factory had a hip but classic vibe that resonated with the couples’ feel for design.

The biggest surprise of the night was the main course: pizza!! Alluding to the start of their relationship, Jillian and Chris chose to serve pizza to their guests. The two started dating while studying abroad in Rome (how romantic!) and, well… as they say, the rest is history.

The delicious pizza and gelato was catered by Larry Ponzi and Cafe Pizzaiolo.

The one detail from the entire wedding that took my breath away was Jillian’s dress. From the start of the planning process Jillian told me that her sister would make her dress. This is such a beautiful, personal touch to the wedding that I was excited – but I didn’t know how gorgeous the dress would be! I wish Jillian’s sister had her own company (because I would recommend her!!) but until she fully enters the world of fashion design, we will just have be marvel at this beautiful couture gown.

Best wishes for all the happiness in the world, Jillian and Chris! I enjoyed working with you and appreciate your “out of the box” thinking. Hope to see you in Old Town some time soon.

Cheers,