The first time I met Kate and Brian in the fall of 2009 I knew working with them would be a real treat – they certainly did not disappoint! Married June 12th, working with Kate and Brian was such an absolute pleasure. Cassidy DuHon did an amazing job capturing the day.

Aren’t the bridesmaids bouquets gorgeous? Kudos to Linda from Heaven on Earth who was such a joy to work with!

Here is a shot inside the limo heading to St. Thomas Apostle Catholic Church for the ceremony:

Brian and his best man – his dad Tom! Don’t they look dapper:

Kate and Brian’s attendants were so much fun! Here they are getting ready for the processional:

The ceremony, officiated by Father John Kartje was beautiful and included many special personal touches. Father John flew in from Chicago to be a part of Brian and Kate’s special day!

Husband and Wife! I love this shot:

In the limo heading downtown to take some formal photographs at the monuments:

Kate and her bridesmaids:

A shot of the groom and his groomsmen:

Cassidy DuHon really captures great moments and this is one of my favorites:

The Omni Shoreham was such a  beautiful backdrop for some of the portraits. I love with one of all the girls!

The hammocks on the property made for some great, playful shots:

The patio behind the ballroom served as the site for the cocktail hour and luckily for us, the rain held off just long enough for the guests to enjoy some time outside before heading in to eat.

Atmosphere Lighting did a great job setting the mood with the lighting and the centerpieces Linda put together made the room look absolutely stunning!

I love the green and black color scheme!

Fluffy Thoughts provided this gorgeous (and delicious) three tiered cake complete with a custom damask middle tier.

The couple used Washington landmarks as their table names along with some of their engagements shots. I love the touch of personality it added to each table:

Kate and Brian had one of the best choreographed first dances I have ever seen!

The couples sweetheart table gave them a great vantage point of the room. I loved the green linens and black chiavari chairs!

Brennan Sullivan with Bialek’s Music kept everyone dancing long into the night:

I’ve never seen a dance floor so packed!

Kate and Brian had a great group of friends surrounding them on their special day.

Here is Kate, her matron of honor and the rest of the girls getting down on the dance floor:

The guys did their fair share of dancing as well!

Here are the bride and groom, once again demonstrating their awesome dance moves!

It was such a pleasure to work with Kate and Brian over the last few months. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of such a special day!

Alison & Jeremy chose Rose Hill Manor in scenic Leesburg, VA for their wedding — I wanted to share some photos of their big day!  Special thanks goes to Julia MacInnis, wedding photographer extraordinaire. First, Rose Hill:

While R&R Catering & Wish were setting up downstairs, the girls were getting ready upstairs.  Check out the vibrant bouquets that Linda from Heaven on Earth Wedding Flowers brought:

Doesn’t Alison look like a princess?  Her big dreamy dress fit the wedding perfectly:

::le sigh::  Julia really creates some stunning photos:

This is the “OK, let’s get married!” look:

Rose Hill has a magnificent brick terrace that’s perfect for an outdoor ceremony.  This is also a great site for a tent if you have a really large wedding:

Aren’t these two adorable?

Big bridal parties are always a logistical challenge but they sure are a lot of fun:

Rose Hill keeps their grounds pretty manicured.  See what I mean about how pretty Leesburg is for a wedding?

Back inside, R&R Catering’s chivari chairs, gold chargers, and white pintuck linens await the reception:

If you’re going to have a favor, it might as well be chocolate.  Edible favors are definitely the way to go, especially cute personalized ones like these:

Here’s another view of Rose Hill Manor, looking down from their second-floor balcony:

Look who caught the bouquet!

Congratulations, Alison & Jeremy!  For some more photos of this wedding, be sure to visit Julia MacInnis’ blog!

Today I have photos from Melissa and TJ’s Memorial Day weekend wedding!  Wish had FIVE weddings that Saturday so several of our coordinators were busy bees.  We have lots of “Real Weddings” lined up for you in the next couple weeks.

Melissa and I first met at the Washington Bridal Showcase.  Right away I could immediately tell that this energetic bride would have a great wedding!  She proved me right and I enjoyed every second of their big day.

This couple chose Leesburg’s Raspberry Plain as their wedding venue.  If you’re not familiar, Raspberry Plain is a big, gorgeous mansion just north of historic downtown Leesburg.  Unfortunately over the past few years there have been a few subdivisions built nearby which means it’s not as remote and isolated as it once was.  However, it’s still a FANTASTIC spot for a wedding!  Unlike other historic venues, there is a large room built on the side of the mansion which means you can enjoy the beautiful architecture of the house but can still seat all your guests in one large space.

R&R Catering is the exclusive food provider at Raspberry Plain and they’ve really gotten it down to a science.  Working with Megan there was a pleasure as it always is.  Congratulations in advance to her and her husband on their upcoming little one!

Andrea Marie Photography was on hand the whole day to capture the images you see below.  She was on her toes the entire time and came up with some really beautiful and creative shots!  ::My photos are mixed in here and there…I’ll bet you’ll be able to figure out which ones aren’t professional::

Raspberry Plain, all ready to go:

Linda at Heaven on Earth Wedding Flowers made these beautiful bouquets:

I especially loved the big wreath Linda made for the front door:

Melissa got dressed at Raspberry Plain so there was plenty of time for photographs and sentimental time with Mom and Dad.  Her parents were the cutest:

Look how adorable the flower girl was!  Here she is in her pretty Tiffany Blue dress, holding one of the bridesmaid bouquets.  I love that the flowers are bigger than her head!

Raspberry Plain has two perfect spots for outdoor ceremonies.  This is the garden to the side of the house.  Melissa’s colors were obviously hot pink and Tiffany Blue.  I loved the combination…the hot pink rose petals just set off the aisle:

Melissa had so many adorable details:

R&R Catering set up a small lemonade stand so guests could get a refreshing drink before being seated for the ceremony.  Good thing they did — it was HOT outside!

The ceremony, in progress.  In the foreground you can see the Cherry Blossom String Quartet.  They always do such a beautiful job at weddings:

The gardens are a perfect spot for formal photographs too:

Inside, R&R was busy setting up the reception in the Atrium.  Raspberry Plain is large enough to hold about 200 guests, I’d estimate:

Melissa’s table numbers each featured a different photo of the newlyweds through their relationship:

The escort cards were displayed on these big boards.  I suspect they were large poster frames wrapped in black fabric but I couldn’t really tell!  Melissa wrapped blue ribbons around each of them and secured the cards alphabetically:

More and more we’re seeing non-traditional guestbooks at weddings.  Gone are the “sign a line” books that will sit on a bookshelf for the rest of their lives.  Melissa & TJ chose a “Make a Wish, Take a Kiss” station.  Guests filled in cards with their wish for the newlyweds.  In exchange, they could take a Hershey’s Kiss.  I always like seeing what advice gets passed on:

Debbie at Cakes by Design brought this gorgeous four-layer cake with Tiffany Blue ribbon.  Unfortunately the cake got bumped and had a slight frosting problem during transit.  Debbie fixed it right up on-site and it looked flawless before the reception began.  I snagged a small piece and it was DELISH!

When cocktail hour was over, the bridal party was introduced into the reception like at most weddings. However, each couple got to pick ktheir own song!  Jake from Dream Day DJs (who was awesome, by the way), mixed this especially for the wedding and I thought it turned out great:

Now for the highlight of the day!  Melissa and TJ spent HOURS practicing their first dance which was quite impressive.  It started as a fairly traditional ’stand and sway’ to an oldies love song then broke out into a series of hilarious dance numbers.  Even better?  This was a COMPLETE SURPRISE to EVERYONE!  Not even their bridal party or parents knew what to expect.  Here’s some photos from the big moment:

And we even have a video!  This was taken by my assistant, Nicole, who unfortunately had a less-than-perfect vantage point.  You get the idea:

Then later, Melissa and her dad switched it up again!  Their sappy dance turned into the Chicken Dance:

I even got a short video of the newlyweds cutting their wedding cake:

Melissa & TJ, I really had a great time working with you on this wedding.  Your families were wonderful and you have so many folks who truly love you.  I hope you had a wonderful honeymoon and I’m looking forward to catching up when you return!