A few weeks ago, Tori (who you’ll meet soon…she’s our newest planner!) and I went to the Fairmont Hotel’s annual “Sip and Sample,” which highlights their GORGEOUS Colonnade room, a light filled room next to the courtyard, surrounded by windows on all sides (photo from the Fairmont’s web site):

And look at this stunning courtyard (photo by Greg Gibson):

Needless to say, Tori and I were quite excited to see what they had done for the event, and we weren’t disappointed! (The rest of these pictures are by me):

As we walked in, the first thing we were greeted by were these GORGEOUS cakes, from the Fairmont’s in house pastry chefs. I mean, look at the detail on these!

Aren’t those little sugar strawberries so cute?!

And how about the bees and the little beehive on this one?

The cakes were sitting on these really cool tables that had mini chandeliers hanging underneath them — these would be great for cakes, or a cocktail hour.

All of the tables had AMAZING looking linens on them, provided by Party Rental, Ltd.

Tori was in love with this table, from the linen to the hot pink chivaris! I’ve never seen hot pink chivaris before!!!

My favorite was this amazing centerpiece — look at the wood vase! I’m so sad I don’t know who the florist was that did this, but it’s SO gorgeous:

We both thought this table looked cool, but wondered how comfortable those stools were. We were afraid to sit in them — look how high they are! For a shorty like me, I would probably have fallen:

Loved this centerpiece too, with the orange roses mixed with the orange tulips. The flat design is really interesting and creative, I think.

You know what else was on that table? Food!

Doesn’t that look yummy? Let’s look closer at some of the nibbles they had!

Desserts too!

This Peanut Butter “Snickers Bar” was my favorite thing all night…SO yummy!

(Love that plate too!)

They had a little lounge area set up with a cute centerpiece on the coffee table — perfect for an area to get comfy and chat!

But what I REALLY fell in love with in the lounge area were these pillows! OMG, I want them in my house RIGHT NOW!

They had some fun little stations set up throughout the room — here there was a tea station with all different types of teas, but they also had coffee and, my favorite, hot chocolate!

I also LOVED this beer pairing station — they had different beers paired with small bites, a really cute idea for a “man” station

Several vendors I’ve worked with before were there — Pablo from Freed Photography was taking pictures (you may remember him from Rob and Maya’s gorgeous sunflower wedding, seen here):

DJ Aaron from Chris Laich Music Services was there — he was the DJ at Diane and Allen’s reception at the Clarendon Ballroom (photo from their wedding here by Michelle Lindsay):

And I actually got to take a picture of Nour of Made Up Art at her booth!

She did the GORGEOUS makeup of Maddy and her bridesmaids last year (seen here), but this was my first time meeting her.  I hope to work with her again, their makeup was flawless!

My favorite part of the day, though, was when I fell in love. Not with a man, not with a woman…with a dress. Actually, two dresses. Oh, Hitched, why must you have such adorable employees wearing your gorgeous dresses?!?!?!

Both dresses were from Amsale, who is officially my new favorite designer. I mean, look how cute! Pockets! Cute neckline! LOVE!!

And this one? Look at that skirt! MUST HAVE!!!!!!! I don’t care that I’m not even engaged, I want one NOW! (I feel like Veruca Salt right now…)

Thank you, Fairmont, for a lovely evening! We had a great time, and hope to see you again soon!

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!

GORGEOUS!  That is the best way for me to describe this wedding.  Gorgeous bride, gorgeous ceremony and reception locations, gorgeous bridesmaids dresses…just GORGEOUS!!!

The day started out with the ladies getting ready at the Metropolitan Club, where the reception was to be held later.  Maddy and Dana are young members of the Met Club, which offers great events like wine and beer dinners, which the couple regularly attends!

After the ladies finished primping, Alexander Morozov, the amazing and HILARIOUS photographer, arrived to take photos of the girls before they left for the ceremony.

LOVE this picture of Maddy coming down the main staircase at the Met Club.

The ladies then hopped into the limo provided by ING Limo company.  These guys were GREAT.  One of the shuttle buses was in a very minor fender bender, and the company immediately sent out another bus.  Luckily, the first bus was relatively unharmed, and showed up a few minutes later — meaning we had two buses for the price of one!  Not only that, but the drivers were WONDERFUL, and one of them ran to the store and picked up a bottle of champagne for Maddy and Dana to enjoy on the ride back to the club after the ceremony!  Talk about customer service!!!

As guests arrived at the ceremony, they were greeted by bagpipes, played by one of Dana’s fraternity brothers.  (How handy is it to have a fraternity brother who plays the bagpipes?!  Also, do you think they would get drunk in college and make him play the bagpipes at parties?  I need to know this information)

The ceremony was held at the absolutely adorable Little Sanctuary at St. Albans.  (Photo from the St. Albans School web site)

HOW CUTE IS THAT??!?!  Dana went to school here at St. Albans, so he and his family have known the minister and the organist for years!

After the ceremony, we walked over to the AMAZING Bishop’s Garden behind the National Cathedral for photos.  St. Albans, in case you didn’t know, is on the grounds of the National Cathedral…very handy for awesome wedding photos, but you don’t have to get married on the grounds to use this stunning space!

This is maybe my favorite mother/daughter picture ever.  I teased Maddy all day, saying she had been practicing her Tyra…little did I know, she had been learning those poses for a LONG time…like mother, like daughter

After the photos, Maddy and Dana rode in the limo to enjoy their champagne and head back to the Met Club to start the party!

The flowers were provided with one of my FAVORITE florists, Growing Wild.  I think I recommended Barbara to Maddy and Dana at our very first meeting, before they had even booked me!

The peonies are from her farm!  She told Maddy she had used pretty much every last peony she had available on the farm, and the result was AMAZING!

After being treated to a wonderful dinner, the bride danced with her dad while the groom danced with his mom — I love this cute image Alexander took.

This was the least crowded the dance floor was the rest of the night, though!  Hang the DJ ROCKED the dance floor!

Do they look familiar?  You might also know them as Juniper Lane, a popular DC/MD/VA (and Dewey Beach!) band.  LOVE these guys, and the guests did too!

Dana and Maddy had a LOT of college friends at the wedding, so we had to be sure to take a big group photo of the Hamilton crew!

(I told you there were a lot of them!)

Alexander also got some great photos of Dana with his fraternity brothers:

Even with all of these group photos, Dana and Maddy were able to sneak away to the beautiful library of the Met Club for some bride and groom photos:

This next one was my idea…I call it the naughty librarian

I LOVE it when photographers get a picture of me with my couples!

Of course, Alexander had to get in on the action too!

And he also got a cute picture of me with Linsey, the Event Coordinator at the Met Club:

Not only did the Met Club provide a beautiful and delicious cake:

But they provided these amazing truffles, along with this gorgeous sugar sculpture for the bride and groom.  Look at the look on Maddy’s face — this might be my favorite photo of the night!

Congratulations, Maddy and Dana!  We need to hang out in Arlington sometime!!!

We’ve been planning weddings for five years and have helped over 250 couples tie the knot!  Luckily for you, that means we know the ‘ins and outs’ of nearly every wedding venue in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland (beltway & eastern shore).

For an inside look at some weddings at our favorite venues, take a peek at the links below:

Historic/Garden:
The Carnegie Institute – and here – (Washington, DC)
The Atrium at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (Vienna, VA)
The Wilson-Farr House (Fairfax, VA)
The Lee-Fendall House (Old Town Alexandria, VA)
Woodend Sanctuary (Chevy Chase, MD)
The Newton White Mansion (Mitchellville, MD)

Hotels/Clubs/Ballrooms:
The Willard Intercontinental (Washington, DC)
The National Press Club (Washington, DC)
The Hay-Adams Hotel (Washington, DC)
Tyson’s Corner Marriott (Tyson’s Corner, VA)
The Sheraton Reston (Reston, VA)

Restaurants:
Sequoia Restaurant (Georgetown, DC)
2941 Restaurant (Falls Church, VA)
Famoso Restaurant & M Cafe (Bethesda, MD)
Old Ebbitt Grill (Washington, DC)

Museums:
The International Spy Museum / Zola (Washington, DC)
The Newseum (Washington, DC)

Eastern Shore/Bay:
The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club (Stevensville, MD)
Queenstown Harbor River House (Queenstown, MD)

Non-traditional:
Glen Echo Park (Glen Echo, MD)
Signature Theater (Shirlington, VA)

Here’s a list of the venues we’ve featured as part of our Real Weddings:

Historic/Garden:
The Decatur House (Washington, DC)
The Carnegie Institute (Washington, DC)
Newton White Mansion – and here – and here – and here – (Mitchellville, MD)
Mount Airy Mansion (Upper Marlboro, MD)
Oxon Hill Manor (Oxon Hill, MD)
Woodend Sanctuary – and here – (Chevy Chase, MD)
The Mansion at Strathmore – and here – (Bethesda, MD)
Brookside Gardens (Wheaton, MD)
Stronghold Mansion (Sugarloaf Mountain, MD)
Collingwood Library – and here – and here -  (Alexandria, VA)
River Farm (Alexandria, VA)
Hollin Hall (Alexandria, VA)
Old Town Hall (Fairfax, VA)
The Atrium at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens – and here – and here – and here – (Vienna, VA)
Oatlands Historic House & Gardens (Leesburg, VA)
The Thomas Birkby House – and here – (Leesburg, VA)
Raspberry Plain – and here – (Leesburg, VA)
Rose Hill Manor (Leesburg, VA)
Long Branch Historic House (Millwood, VA)
Whitehall Manor – and here – (Bluemont, VA)

Hotels/Clubs/Ballrooms:
The Fairmont Hotel – and the Colonnade here – (Washington, DC)
The Mandarin Oriental (Washington, DC)
The Omni Shoreham – and here – (Washington, DC)
The St. Regis Hotel (Washington, DC)
The Ronald Reagan Building – and here – (Washington, DC)
The Westin Grand – and here – (Washington, DC)
Hotel Monaco – and here – (Washington, DC)
The Washington Club (Washington, DC)
The National Press Club (Washington, DC)
Fort Myer Officer’s Club (Arlington, VA)
The Army Navy Country Club (Arlington, VA)
The Westin Arlington Gateway (Arlington, VA)
Top of the Town (Arlington, VA)
The Sheraton National (Arlington, VA)
The Hyatt Regency Bethesda (Bethesda, MD)
The Hyatt Fair Lakes (Fair Lakes, VA)
Fairfax Marriott (Fairfax, VA)
Old Hickory Golf Club (Woodbridge, VA)
Hidden Creek Country Club – and here – (Reston, VA)
River Creek Club (Leesburg, VA)
The Hilton Washington Dulles (Dulles, VA)
Foxchase Manor – and here – (Manassas, VA)

Eastern Shore/Bay:
Queenstown Harbor River House (Queenstown, MD)
The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club (Stevensville, MD)
Kent Manor Inn (Stevensville, MD)

Non-traditional:
Glen Echo Park – (Glen Echo, MD)
The Barns at Wolf Trap (Vienna, VA)
The Torpedo Factory (Old Town Alexandria, VA)

Have you already picked your venue?  Where will you be tying the knot?  Which venues did we miss?

I had the pleasure of sharing my Memorial Day weekend with April and Lindsay as they got married in the beautiful Meridian Hill Park, which is just across the street from Josephine Butler Parks Center, where the reception was held.

April was glowing when she arrived at Josephine Butler to finish getting ready for the ceremony.  She insisted on taking this picture with me and my little assistant (who is due to arrive any day now!).  All of the awesome photographs were taken by Laurel Jensen of Laurel Jensen Photography.

And there is Lindsay getting on his boutonniere just downstairs.  The feathers in all the personal flowers were a great touch.  Bethany and Jeanne from Park Florist in Takoma Park, MD really did an amazing job with all the flowers.

April’s bouquet was absolutely gorgeous.  Bethany and her team secured a hankie that was April’s Grandmother’s to the bouquet using an antique brooch that April had found.  I loved the color scheme for all the arrangements.  The colors were romantic, but very appropriate for the laid back feel that April wanted to achieve for her Memorial Day weekend nuptials.

The couple’s family and friends gathered in the park to witness the ceremony performed by A.C. Warden of Capital Ceremonies.  A.C. did a great job customizing the ceremony to incorporate all the elements that were important to April and Lindsay.

As we all know, it was quite warm that Saturday, so the couple provided these really pretty parasols for their guests.  This blue one really made for some cool pics!  Aren’t these two cute!

The park really was a great backdrop for photos.  These two are a perfect match and Laurel did a fabulous job capturing the special moments.

The front view of Josephine Butler Parks Center in DC.

There are so many wonderful elements in this shot of the welcome/gift table.  April had given the florist a bunch of old scarves, hankies, table cloths and pieces of fabric that she loved and Bethany from Park Florist used them throughout the venue.  I love how this particular piece looked under this arrangement, which was contained in an old fashioned mason jar.  But the best part is the picture of Lindsay’s grandparents who were married 66 years earlier on the exact same day!

Guests were asked to write a message to the couple and leave it in an old box.  Special thanks to both of my assistants that day, Jasmine and Jenny, for helping with all of the set up.

Love this photo of the couple as they enter to join their guests and get the party started!

The reception space is perfect for smaller weddings.  If you love a ton of natural light, this is the venue for you!

All of the centerpieces were slightly different and while it is a bit hard to see in this photograph,  all of the tables had one of those unique pieces of fabric under the flowers.

Love the lace under this one!  I also like the use of the silver julep cups for the centerpieces.  The couple served mint juleps as one of their signature cocktails!

Josephine Butler also has this great terrace on the second floor just off the reception space, which is perfect for guests during cocktail hour and throughout the night.

April and Lindsay enjoying a fun moment during their first dance!

Ok, let me just tell you how delicious the food was!  As always, Peggy McGuire and the folks at Main Event Caterers did a superb job with all the details.   They are always a pleasure to work with.

April and Lindsay didn’t have a traditional wedding cake.  Instead, they decided to have some of their friends contribute homemade desserts of their choice.

The Capitol Building….made from white chocolate….yummmm!!!

The couple chose two pies from the selection to cut in front of their guests.

The couple supplemented the homemade desserts with some yummy cupcakes from Hello Cupcake!  Each flavor was topped with a monogram.  Main Event did a fantastic job with the dessert display.

Congratulations, April and Lindsay!  Thanks for letting me be a part of your day!

xoxo,

Felicia

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Melanie & Adam on their gorgeous wedding at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC.  I met Melanie in the spring of 2009 and it was a pleasure every step of the way.  I wish I could take credit for this girl’s fabulous details but all the cute touches are her own!

I was really thrilled to be working with a phenomenal team of vendors.  A big special thanks goes to Mark Medrick at the Fairmont, who really made sure the service was top-notch.  I wish I could steal him from the Fairmont to work weddings for Wish –he’s a true gem!  Another big thanks goes to Regeti’s Photography.  Amy & Srinu Regeti are, well, amazing.  Take a look for yourself!

Our bride, Melanie, gets finishing touches by the very talented makeup artist Carl Ray:

She’s looking pretty fabulous, eh?  All ready for a wedding!

I love the ‘Regeti’s-style‘ portraits.  They come up with such lovely, natural, and elegant poses:

Melanie & Adam are Jewish so they saw each other before the ceremony.  In Jewish tradition, the signing of the Ketubah (marriage contract) is the real wedding ceremony.  They get married before the bride walks down the aisle!  Luckily this event also means that we can do some cute ‘first look’ and formal portraits before the events begin:

I have a pretty lucky history with weather and this wedding was no exception.  Big gray storm clouds threatened some rain but it held off long enough to get some stunning photos in the Fairmont’s garden courtyard.  These portraits go perfectly with the garden theme of the wedding:

I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to our wonderful florist, Alison de Wit at Distinctive Floral Design.  Check out Melanie’s bouquet!  Just wait until you see the centerpieces.

Don’t Melanie & Adam have a handsome group of friends?

After the portraits were done, the bridal party and family headed up to sign the Ketubah in a private ceremony.  An hour later, it was time for the second (public) ceremony.  Rabbi White did an excellent job in keeping the service lighthearted but also endearing.

Obviously this photo was not taken by the Regeti’s:

A special shout-out goes to the Cherry Blossom String Quartet.  I love working with these guys since they’re always on time, play beautifully, are professional, and are very easy to work with.  Plus, we did Julia’s wedding a few months ago 

I especially loved this photo of Adam reading his vows:

After these two lovebirds tied the knot for a second time, guests celebrated with some cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.  Even though it wasn’t raining, the heat outside prohibited us from using the courtyard like Melanie had hoped.  Luckily the Fairmont’s lobby is quite large and we had a private area with plenty of sofas and mingling space.

The ‘English garden’ theme was really played up with her adorable vintage-esque birdcages and fresh English roses:

I especially liked the little pewter chairs that held the escort cards:

Back in the Colonnade, the ceremony room was being ‘flipped’ for the reception!  If you’re having your wedding ceremony and reception at the same venue, this is a wonderful way to make the best use of the most beautiful space.  The Fairmont’s ballroom is particularly beautiful since there is so much natural light from the pretty garden courtyard.  I bet you couldn’t even tell that these tables were waiting ‘in the wings’  the whole time:

Vintage postcards marked tables instead of numbers:

Check out these lush centerpieces!  Doesn’t this just scream ‘romantic English garden tea party‘?

As cute details and wonderful conversation pieces, Melanie & Adam displayed vintage wedding cake toppers from several family weddings:

Another detail that can’t be overlooked is the stationery set.  These wedding invitations and programs were HAND-PAINTED by Kristy Rice’s fabulous team at Momental Designs.  The floral motif is based on Melanie & Adam’s china pattern!  I think this is a wonderful piece of art that really sets the tone for a fabulous event:

The wedding cake by Cherry Blossom Cakes was truly yummy:

Yet another photo not taken by the Regeti’s:

I couldn’t get over this photo of our newlyweds cracking up during one of their toasts.  I wish I could remember what the joke was!

Instead of a traditional guest book, Melanie & Adam chose a photo booth and photo guest book by Posh Booth:

Of course it wouldn’t be a Jewish wedding without the Hora!  DJ Chris Laich kept everyone on the dance floor all night:

Cutting the cake:

Here’s our lovely couple with Mark Medrick, the wonderful host at the Fairmont.  He was excellent every step of the way.  If you’re interested in having your wedding at the Fairmont, definitely get in touch with him!

Melanie & Adam wanted an extra surprise for her guests before they left for the evening.  She chose a macaron display with several flavors of macarons.  Boy were the guests surprised when they walked out of the ballroom and spotted this spread of treats!  These scrumptious macarons were provided by Michel Patisserie:

Of course the Regeti’s did a much better job with the photos than I did:

It will be a few more weeks until we have some video of this event, but it was filmed with a regular HD camera and also Super 8 film (!) by Blue Sky Films.  I can’t wait to see what Colin shot & how it’s edited together.  Those guys always come up with some wonderful films.

…and they lived happily ever after:

Congratulations again, Melanie & Adam!  It was really a joy to work with you both and I wish you many successes and much happiness over the years.

PS – want more photos of this wedding?  Check out the Regeti’s Photography blog!

Oh. My. God.  I must have said that 20 times Sunday night when Felicia and I overdosed on DELICIOUS cupcakes from Sticky Fingers Bakery in Columbia Heights.  We joined them at their open house and are so glad we did!

If you don’t know about Sticky Fingers, they’re the only all-vegan bakery in the Washington, DC area.  That means no animal products at all…no eggs, no dairy…they’re all “cruelty free” all the time!  So not only is it great for vegans and vegetarians, but with all of the folks with allergies these days, it’s also great for people (like poor Felicia’s niece!) who are allergic to those same products.

So you’re probably thinking “Great, no eggs, no dairy…no taste” right?  Um, no.  These cupcakes were AMAZING.  And you’re not going to believe which one was my absolute favorite:

See that sign?  In addition to being vegan, my absolute favorite cupcake of the bunch was the chocolate GLUTEN FREE cupcake!!!  So it was also without wheat flour — great for those with Celiac disease who are unable to eat wheat products.  In fact, all of Sticky Fingers’ icings and fillings are gluten free (but be sure to ask which cakes and cupcakes are gluten free, since they are all vegan, but not all gluten free).

Actually, my favorite wasn’t the chocolate gluten free with chocolate icing — they also make the most AMAZING peanut butter icing — put that on a gluten free chocolate cupcake and you are in HEAVEN!  I won’t tell you what I said when I ate it…it’s not appropriate for a family friendly blog.  Let’s just say I was very happy in my tummy

Let’s take a look at some of the other goodies we had that night!

The cupcake above, on the left, is the vanilla cupcake with almond buttercream.  It tasted JUST like a wedding!  That sounds silly to say, but the adorable cake decorator, Kamber, put it perfectly — it really does taste like a wedding!

The chocolate ganache was the PERFECT texture…shiny, creamy (accomplished with the highest fat content soy milk they can find) and, by using the perfect dark chocolate, it’s SO SO GOOD!

Speaking of Kamber, this girl is AMAZING!  Not only did she decorate all of the cupcakes, but the table was decorated with all of these gorgeous flowers.  It took an eagle eyed Felicia to realize they were all SUGAR FLOWERS!

Is that not amazing?! There were all kinds of flowers — tulips, calla lilies, magnolias…you name it, she can do it!

Not only can she do cupcakes, she does GORGEOUS cakes!  From their web site, here are some great photos of weddings cakes she’s done:

LOVE the flowers on this next one:

What a perfect time of year for these cherry blossom cakes!

And does this cake look familiar?

It’s from Stephanie and Chris’ wedding in 2008 with Allison!

Not only can Sticky Fingers do wedding cakes, they can do great groom’s cakes too!

Lost fans (like me!) will love this one (hmm…maybe I can get a remake for the finale?!):

How cute is this cake, for a couple who met on a plane?

These berry cakes could be great for any occasion!

And, from a personal experience at Crafty Bastards a couple of years ago, your dessert table is not complete unless you have the following two desserts:

Cowvin Cookies, the greatest Oatmeal Cream Pie EVER –

And Little Devils –

Like an iced Devil Dog.  But SO MUCH BETTER.  Seriously — go to the store.  Eat them.  Email me and thank me.  You’re welcome

I feel the need to point out that this is NOT a sponsored post.  Believe me, if the cupcakes weren’t good, we would tell you (or, more likely, just not do a blog post about it, but would certainly tell you the truth if you asked about it).  But I was FLOORED at how good everything was at Sticky Fingers.  The staff there was SUPER nice, the cafe is adorable, filled with 50’s hot pink diner chairs and walls painted like dripping chocolate, and a case full of delicious treats!

Sticky Fingers also does catering with things like vegan “egg” salad and “chicken” salad sandwiches, breakfast pastries, and savory side dishes.  We were so full from cupcakes we didn’t try anything, but if you’re a vegan couple, it’s a great option for lunch while the girls are getting their hair done before the wedding or a casual rehearsal picnic.

Sticky Fingers delivers weddings cakes throughout the DC area.  You can email Kamber to talk about their wedding options.  Let us know if you’re a fan too!

Do you remember Victoria & Michael’s wedding at the Westin Grand in Georgetown?  I just got some of the professional photos from Joseph Allen and wanted to share them with you.

First, how stunning is this portrait of Vic, taken in their awesome honeymoon suite at the Westin Grand DC?  Mike’s a lucky guy!

We lucked out on the weather and were able to hold the wedding ceremony outside in the hotel’s courtyard.  I really loved the patterned parasols that Vic found:

Gettin’ hitched:

They’re married!  After the ceremony, our newlyweds took a stroll around Georgetown:

How cute are these two?

I really thought that Vic’s long veil suited her and her gown just perfectly.  Plus it made for some fun portraits:

Woo woo!  They even got a little sexy!  Didn’t Joseph do an amazing job on these photos?

Another cute Georgetown street shot:

Meanwhile back at the Westin, guests were enjoying cocktails in the courtyard and we were putting the finishing touches on the reception room.  If you want the convenience of a hotel wedding but not a typical hotel ballroom, check out the Westin Grand!  It has big beautiful wooden columns, a wooden floor, two steps down to create an elevated dance floor area (or head table area or cocktail area or ceremony area or whatever you want it to be), and a funky little nook that’s perfect for the bar and a seating lounge area.

I would be amiss if I didn’t point out the GORGEOUS centerpieces provided by DaVinci’s Florist.  The black vases were topped with rose and calla lily domes and also featured dripping crystals.  The candles on the tables made the crystals sparkle and the whole piece made the room look very dramatic:

Another stunning feature was the black and white damask wedding cake made by Lara Stuckey at Fluffy Thoughts.  Isn’t this thing beautiful?  I liked how the tiers alternated square and round.  You can also see Vic’s bouquet which we displayed next to the cake:

Well, that’s the party, folks!  Vic & Mike also had a traditional Chinese tea ceremony which was an intimate moment for both families.  She also changed into a traditional Qi Pao for the second half of the reception:

For some more detail shots and my perspective on the day, be sure to check out the original post about Vic & Mike’s wedding at the Westin Grand DC.  I really loved this wedding and hope you do too!