O.M.G.  Can I tell you guys how much I love Hallie and Matt?  I freaking LOVE HALLIE AND MATT!!!  I think every single person involved with their wedding, from my assistants to the photographers to the caterers to the guests all at one point mentioned how NICE this couple is!  I mean, there are just not enough words to express how genuine and adorable these two are.

The day started as the adorable duo that runs Atelier Floral Design, Jen and Rachel, stopped by my house to pick up the INSANE white lanterns that were to be hung at Glen Echo.  I say insane because these were the biggest lanterns I’ve ever seen.  In fact, I had to search my house for some rope because the boxes were so big, they didn’t fit in Jen’s SUV — we had to tie them to the roof!

(Guest Photo)

Jen and Rachel got there a few hours before me because there were SO many lanterns to set up!  Luckily, Glen Echo has this cool rolling scaffolding thing…I mean, lucky for the people who would climb on it.  At the end of the night I got about three steps up before realizing that I was afraid of heights.  Thank God for assistants!

Soon after I arrived at Glen Echo, Tom and Ashley from Documentary Associates showed up and started scouting locations, and I just knew their pictures were going to be AMAZING…you’ll see they didn’t let me down!

How gorgeous is Hallie’s dress?!  Almost as gorgeous as these Christian Louboutin red shoes! In the words of Rachel Zoe, I Die:

Now, when Hallie and Matt told me they were getting married on July 18th, at Glen Echo, in the Bumper Car Pavilion, my immediate thought was “Um…the bumper car pavilion isn’t air conditioned, right?”  No, no it isn’t.  However, someone up there must have realized how truly amazing this couple is, because it was like 72 degrees and AMAZING.  I mean, look at this sky!

It was literally the most perfect day anyone could ask for — in fact, by the time the sun went down, I would dare to say it was actually cool!!  ON JULY 18TH!!!!

Sorry, where was I?  Oh, so, back to the amazing girls at Atelier. Not only do these chicas hang lanterns, but look at their adorable flower arrangements!!!

Hallie wanted lots of different arrangements, and boy did they deliver!  Different shapes and sizes, different vessels…they even had hydrangea in ice cream cones on the cocktail tables!

(Author Photo)

And look at these adorable tea cups, which, if I’m not mistaken, came from Jen’s kitchen!

I loved Matt’s bout, too.

Hallie and Matt wanted a very short, very meaningful ceremony.  And they wanted a great officiant.  Luckily I knew just the gal, having met her at Lindsay and Sam’s awesome wedding last year — Rev. Amanda Tate. Amanda is seriously the NICEST person — and is now registered in Virginia as well as Maryland!  I have referred her to so many of my brides (as well as several of my friends) because she is just so sweet, and makes the ceremony so personal.  Of course, Hallie and Matt added to this by writing their own vows. One of them MAY have been writing her vows that morning, on the balcony of her hotel room…I won’t say who…

(Oh, Facebook, how I love you…)

Speaking of Facebook, I was able to “borrow” quite a few adorable photos from the shutterbug guests at the wedding:

Now, generally, for the stomping of the glass, which is part of the Jewish tradition, couples will either have a special bag or just borrow a linen from the caterer.  Hallie wanted to make it special, so she grabbed a wine bag from their kitchen…and a lightbulb right from their hall closet!  I even saw her unscrew it!  (Tip…glasses these days are pretty hard to break…most people use a lightbulb!)

Speaking of Jewish traditions, Matt and Hallie wanted to do the Hora (Matt’s family is Jewish).  You know, there are some things as a wedding planner that you just have to learn.  One of them is that you need two NON-FOLDING CHAIRS to do the hora!  And preferably a bride whose dress isn’t 100% silk…it tends to be a little slippery!

(Yes, that is a look of terror on Hallie’s face…and she hasn’t even been lifted up yet)

(See what I meant about those giant lanterns?!  Those things were HUGE!)

Before the Hora, though, guests found their way to their seats by the CUTEST escort cards!  Hallie and Matt have a friend who is a graphic designer.  Although I think some of the post cards that were used may have actually been authentic post cards, I believe many of them were created by their friend.  How great to have a friend like that!

I have to insert here that I had absolutely NOTHING to do with the hanging up of these escort cards.  Luckily, I had three amazing assistants with me that day — Felicia, Rene, and Tara — you girls were LIFE SAVERS!  The project was slightly more complicated than I thought it would be, and I am SO grateful to these girls for using some ingenuity to figure out how to make it work!

(Guest Photo)

It wasn’t enough for each guest to have a vintage post card — Hallie and Matt actually went to the trouble of making sure EVERY post card matched where the guest came from!  What a sweet, thoughtful touch!

Another sweet touch was providing tickets for their guests to ride the GORGEOUS carousel at Glen Echo. Check out the beautiful sign…made from my handy dandy Mac

Did Hallie and Matt have a lot of kids at their wedding?  Nope…these carousel rides were for everyone!

(Guest Photo)

(Guest Photo)

After dinner, although they had a small cake to cut, the main focus for the desserts was out in the Cuddle Up.

My favorite caterer, Main Event, not only did an awesome job with dinner, but they had both a cotton candy machine and a sno cone machine going!

Look at the adorable way they displayed the cotton candy!  And let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS!  I felt like I was at the county fair!

(Guest Photo)

Oh, what else have they got there?  ICE CREAM!??!!  Oh, that’s right — Matt somehow tracked down the NICEST guy to bring his ice cream truck out to Glen Echo, music and all!  A.J. was the SWEETEST, and if you need an ice cream truck at your next wedding, birthday party, or, you know, Tuesday, let me know, and I’ll send you his info — you won’t be disappointed!

And now, just because I have to show you just how amazing Tom and Ashley are, here are a few more GORGEOUS shots they took!

As the night came to a close, the guys at Chariots for Hire not only shuttled guests back to the hotel, but also apparently operated a party bus!

(Why, yes, that is our bride and groom, dancing in the aisle of a bus!)

And, just to show you how sweet these crazy kids are, towards the end of the evening, they came to me and said “Rebecca, we have to get a picture with you and your assistant!” — we were happy to have Tom Van Veen of Documentary Associates hop in there too, while his gorgeous wife Ashley took the pic!

Hallie and Matt, thank you SO MUCH for making us part of your day!