Happy Anniversary, Erika and Jamie!
Monday, November 1st, 2010You all may remember Erika and Jamie from their star turn in The Knot, but in creating the VERY long list of weddings I need to blog, I realized I never blogged the pictures from their wedding! And since their 1 year anniversary is November 7th, well, I think it’s about time, don’t you?
Kate Headley was Erika and Jamie’s AMAZING wedding photographer. I mean, this girl takes STUNNING pictures — plus she’s a super sweetheart, and my former neighbor!! I mean, look at this gorgeous photograph!
Okay, okay, so it doesn’t hurt that not only is Erika beautiful, but she has an AMAZING sense of style! From her dress to her veil to all of the small touches throughout the wedding, Erika made everything look amazing — and she handcrafted nearly all of the elements!!!
That’s right, she Goccoed (is Goccoed a word? Let’s say yes) the invitations (and the programs) herself! I might need to recruit her to do my invitations someday!
The wedding was held at the perfect fall venue, Woodend Sanctuary. Between the leaves falling, the deer walking up to the ceremony just to check out what was going on, and the cool, crisp smell in the air, you never would have guessed you were less than 10 minutes from DC!
As the wedding was in November, there was a chill in the air, but it was gorgeous outside, so we moved ahead with having the ceremony outdoors, like they had dreamed. To keep her guests comfortable, Erika provided some beautiful wraps in their wedding colors of green, purple and cream for people to snuggle under!
Both before and after the ceremony, Kate took some lovely couples portraits — look at these two — so in love!
After the ceremony (officiated by my absolute favorite officiant, Amanda Tate – I recommended her to Erika and Jamie, as well as Hallie and Matt, one of my good friends from my Container Store days, and one of my couples next summer is using her as well! Seriously — she’s the BEST!) the guests were treated to delicious food from Marco Polo. Seriously — the wedding was a year ago and I still remember the food! They also got to see more of the couples adorable touches throughout the house.
These moss letters were hanging on the wall in Erika and Jamie’s house. When I went to meet with them a few weeks before the wedding, I asked Erika “these are coming to the wedding, right?” She hadn’t decided yet at that point, but they just seemed to fit in SO perfectly, we had to have them! Also, the mason jar there? It has a chain attached to it — we used a bunch of them outside during cocktail hour as it started getting dark hung on shepherd’s hooks — I LOVED that look, so simple, but so romantic! (The lanterns, along with many of their items, came from…where else? Etsy, of course!)
Guests then began making their way into dinner, after a stop at the beautiful escort card trees that Erika made. She not only made the trees, but made the leaves and handpainted the guests names on them as well!
The girl is talented, right?!?!
After dinner, guests moved to the Great Hall for dancing. Erika and Jamie had a beautiful first dance, choreographed by Erika’s “man of honor,” her sweet cousin!
Then the party REALLY got started, with one of my favorite DJ’s, Mike Bell, of My Deejay. These guys are consumate professionals every time — I’ve worked with several of their DJ’s now, and they really are great!
While dinner and dancing were taking place, Kate had also set up a photo booth, complete with a chalkboard we stole borrowed from one of the offices there!
During a break in dancing, Erika and Jamie cut their cake. I said it then, and I’ll still say it now, a year later. It was, 100%, hands down, the best wedding cake I’ve ever had. My assistant that day worked with me again at a wedding a few weeks ago, and she said “is the cake red velvet? Remember that red velvet cake from that Woodend Wedding? Oh my God, that was the best cake ever.” And I totally agree. I’ve had some delicious cakes in my day, but dear Lord. Fluffy Thoughts really, pun intended, took the cake on this one.
I love the simplicity of it, as well as how Lara used twigs to tie in the theme of the wedding. See that amazing tree trunk cake stand? Another Etsy find! (And OH MY GOD, was it heavy — that thing must have weighed 100 lbs.! Okay, probably not, but it was heavy, you guys!!!)
As things were winding down, guests were encouraged to choose one of two favors that Erika and Jamie had thoughtfully picked out. For those who had yards in which they could plant trees, they were given a tree to plant!
And for those who didn’t, they were given a smaller tree bulb, which could be grown in a pot. How sweet and thoughtful is that!?
And, of course, everything was hand tied and tagged by the crafty couple 
The gorgeous flowers were provided by Sidra Forman (I’m totally going out of order here, I know…) Sidra was SUCH a sweetheart, and her little girl even came along for the delivery — what a cutie!
I just want to point out that I didn’t pin this boutonniere. How do I know? Because I would never leave a pin sticking out like that! (Still…gorgeous bout!!)
Seriously…who did that??? See, this is why you need a planner — proper bout pinning 
To continue their tree theme, Erika and Jamie named their tables after types of trees
Congratulations on one year together, and on a beautiful wedding!
