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!

We work with a lot of talented entertainment vendors but one of our favorites is the guys from wedding DJ service MyDeejay.com.  Evan, the owner, is always professional and committed to his clients.  It’s always a pleasure working with anyone from his team since we’ll know the guests will have a great time.

Recently, I was interviewed and featured on their new blog!  Find out what inspires me, some cool things I’ve seen at weddings, and a few things I simply can’t stand.  Take a minute and check it out!

Wasn’t Laurie such a pretty bride?  She didn’t let the rain bother her at all:

Okay, Rod looked pretty sharp too:

Laurie & I finalizing a few last-minute details:

A gorgeous indoor Meadowlark ceremony:

All set up for the reception after the room flip:

Maryam did such a great job.  Here’s a centerpiece up close:

Meadowlark after the sun has gone down:

The cherry blossom wedding cake with amazing detailed sugar flowers:

If that weren’t enough sugar for you, check out the rockin’ candy buffet:

And a whole lot of personalized M&Ms:

Laurie is one of my husband’s former coworkers.  Here’s the four of us during the reception.  I love how both the boys have the same odd expression on their faces:

As part of her services, Lara is now offering a photobooth!  It prints on-site in just a few seconds and is really a lot of fun.  Even though there was a seasonal martini bar (pumpkin pie martinis!), an extensive candy buffet, an awesome DJ, and a wonderful bride and groom, I think this photobooth was the life of the party:

I think the best part about the photobooth is that you get all the images included with your regular wedding photos.  Here’s a couple of fun shots it captured:

Like I mentioned above, these newlyweds and their bridal party decided to take a limousine to Taco Bell after the reception.  I’m a fan whenever couples stop in their favorite places (my husband and I did this at Ben & Jerry’s).  I love the vibrant images from their adventure:

Can you see what that hot sauce packet says?

For more information on the vendors at this wedding, check out the original blog post.  Thanks again Lara, for being so quick!

The ceremony and reception were held at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.  The ceremony was performed by Rev. Julie Price, catering by Marco Polo, floral decor by Maryam Flowers, cake by Fluffy Thoughts, photo booth by Lara Swanson, and entertainment by Evan at MyDeejay.com.

Here’s one of my favorite shots from the day.  The newlyweds and their bridal party decided to go for Taco Bell the end of the night:

Click here to check out their amazing slideshow

Ray at Party Perfect hooked us up with this beautiful tent and even a tent attendant for the day:

Inside the tent:

Capitol Catering really did a phenomenal job with the food and service.  Notice the tables have alternating linens of orange and yellow!  Here’s what the whole setting looks like:

Lindsay designed all the paper products herself, including these menus.  Isn’t their monogram to die for?

John at Spot Floral Design really went above and beyond with these beautiful and unique centerpieces.  Each one had three small vases of flowers and three pillars of floating gold candles.  They were gorgeous!

Mike at Blondell’s Accents on Events hung all those Chinese lanterns and also provided uplighting on the tent and trees:

Kendall did a phenomenal job on their wedding cake:

David from MyDeejay.com kept people on the dance floor all night long!  He really did a great job at balancing American and Indian music to keep everyone happy:

And they partied all night long!  I love this image of the tent and the beautiful Chesapeake Bay:

reception-tent-chesapeake-bay

A special shout-out goes to my associate Rebecca, who has served as a rockstar assistant at a few of our most recent weddings.  If you’re planning a wedding in Annapolis or the Eastern Shore (okay, or DC or Leesburg for that matter!), Rebecca really knows her stuff.

Kinley & Drew chose to see each other before the ceremony and get some of their bridal party photos out of the way.  Here’s the groomsmen hanging out by the shuttle bus from Chariots for Hire:

A bridesmaid shows of her bouquet, provided by DaVinci’s Florist:

Here’s the bride’s bouquet!  All white tulips, this gorgeous arrangement stayed surprisingly perky all day:

Getting a chance at some outdoor photos in front of the church with Amy Raab:

Historic Christ Church in downtown Stevensville, Maryland provided the perfect venue for their intimate ceremony.  This gorgeous building was built in 1880 and holds a large significance to the town and their local parish.  Here are the church doors sporting some hydrangea wreaths:

Inside, the church’s altar:

The pews sported these adorable galvanized pails brimming with white hydrangea and accented with a nautical-inspired navy ribbon:

The altar flowers were simple calla lilies set atop a cylindrical vase.  Gorgeous!

A quick look at the program cover, complete with nautical motif:

My BlackBerry took this one of the ceremony in action:

Over at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Rebecca was setting up the reception.  Unfortunately due to the weather we weren’t able to use the rooftop deck.  The view from the deck looks out over this gorgeous marina on one side:

And this amazing view of the Chesapeake Bay on the other side:

Since the pouring rain was imminent, we opted to have the bar open in the covered cocktail area.  The rooftop area was open but most guests enjoyed the climate-controlled space.  The Garden Room has this great fireplace that we decorated with hydrangea flower boxes and galvanized lanterns:

Here’s a better view of the Garden Room.  Check out that nautical detail with the rope around the cocktail table:

The beautiful wedding cake was provided by Annapolis’ own Main Ingredient.  Check out the nautical rope accent coiled on the table:

Check out the detail on the top!  Can you believe the pastry chef did this freestyle on-site?

During cocktail hour, the Polaroid Guestbook was a hit!  If you plan to do this, don’t forget that Polaroid cameras will soon be extinct:

Seriously — people loved this thing:

I love these adorable escort cards!  Each name comes with a flag which guests match to the appropriate table.  The galvanized tray holds a sheet of foam which we covered with white rocks:

Here’s how Kinley displayed the table flags for guests to match up:

The reception room, all ready to go:

Centerpieces with simple hydrangea were provided by DaVinci’s Florist:

An awful photo of a beautiful moment.  Kinley and Drew enjoy their first dance:

Congraulations again, you two!  It was a pleasure working with you through the planning process and also spending time with you on your wedding day.  Our first experience at the Beach Club was a phenomenal one.  I hope you had a great honeymoon in the Outer Banks!

The ceremony site, all ready for some chairs:

Ray L. of Party Perfect hooked us up with this fantastic 60′x90′ tent!  The walls went all the way around since it was rather gusty on the bay.  They even left a Tent Attendant all night in case there were any problems:

Inside the tent.  Mike B. with Blondell’s Accents on Events set up these beautiful Chinese paper lanterns inside the tent.  He also handled the uplighting in the tent and on some trees, which you can see in full effect in the night photos later:

Like a lot of DC caterers, Capitol Catering gets their rentals from DC Rental.  They are reliable, have great equipment, and carry just about anything you need!  Here we have some glassware racks on the left, our table linens in the center, some plates in the black crates, who knows what’s in those gray bins (serving utensils?), and high chairs down in the front:

Can you believe that all these racks are JUST glassware?  Each stack has about 8 racks of 25-36 glasses each!

Bobby’s Pottys provided this wonderful luxury restroom trailer.  I’m not kidding — these were nicer than the facilities inside the house!  If you have an outdoor venue and limited restroom options, Bobby’s Pottys did a great job and provided an attendant to stay with the trailer all night:

Alison from Capitol Catering and me, getting started on some of the guest tables inside the tent:

John from Spot Floral Design came up with this beautiful canopy for the ceremony.  It was made of bamboo, curly willow, and had strands of orchids hanging from three sides:

The centerpieces had three low vases of flowers and three cylindrical vases with gold floating candles.  They were gorgeous!

Chatting with the musician from Entertainment Exchange about our cues for the ceremony:

Unfortunately no matter how much you confirm details, plan, and confirm again, things will inevitably ALWAYS go wrong on the wedding day.  This is where having a wedding planner truly makes a difference!  Twice before the ceremony, the wind caught our beautiful canopy and blew it over.  The fall broke every connection between the poles each time.  Unfortunately our florist was long gone to their next delivery and were were left to our devices to fix it.  A roll of clear duct tape ended up being our savior both times:

After the second fall, Rebecca was assigned to standing with the canopy to avoid further disaster:

Sam & Lindsay tying the knot!  They chose to incorporate Sam’s Indian culture into the service by lighting a traditional fire and walking around it.  Rev. Amanda Tate did a phenomenal job with their custom-made ceremony:

After the ceremony Lindsay & Sam escaped to take some portraits.  They chose to see each other before the ceremony so they took the big family shots earlier:

Remember how great Arienne & Rahman’s photos were?  It was a pleasure to work with Greg Gibson again.  Here he is getting “The Shot” with his assistant Rebecca:

Here’s what I saw through my lens.  I can’t wait to see what they captured!

Meanwhile inside the tent, the finishing touches are almost done.  Here, the chef from Capitol Catering dresses each of the salads individually after they’ve been set on the tables:

The catering team is folding napkins to fit Lindsay’s menu cards.  Here you can see just how windy it was!  Check out that tent wall behind them:

Thanks to our wonderful assistant Tracey, the escort card table looked beautiful!  She laid out strips of ribbon, pinned them to the table linen, then slipped each card’s back underneath to hold them in place.  The idea was to set this table outside and let guests find their card during the outdoor cocktail hour.  Unfortunately with the wind, even those ribbons wouldn’t have done their job very well.  I think they looked nice anyhow:

Can you believe our bride Lindsay made all these gorgeous cards?

Here’s a closeup of one of the salads.  Those are figs there around the edges.  Mmm!

The tent looks gorgeous!  Let’s have a party!

David from MyDeejay.com did a great job mixing the traditional American reception music with some great dance music for the Indian guests.  He was a little camera-shy but this is what his setup looks like:

Once the sun went down, the tent really looked amazing!

I was thrilled when I learned that Kendall’s Cakes would be bringing the cake.  Kendall is very talented and does a phenomenal job.  Lindsay and Sam chose to serve sheet cake as a cost-cutting method.  Can you believe that three layers of this cake are styrofoam?  Can you guess which one is real?

Outside, the lighting on the trees was very dramatic:

Congratulations, Lindsay & Sam!  Your big day was so gorgeous and I heard so many wonderful compliments on the food, the decor, and your personal ceremony.  I’m so glad we were able to be a part of your big day.