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!