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!

I am SO BEHIND on blogging weddings, this one was in JUNE!!!  I know, I know, I’m a slacker.  But today I have a gorgeous wedding for you to make up for it!

Michelle Lindsay took some BEAUTIFUL pictures of Diane and Allen’s wedding way back in June, and I’m so excited to finally share them with you!

The bright, sunny (HOT) day started with Diane and her girls getting their hair and makeup done at the couple’s condo in Arlington.  Pia and Sonia with Bridal Artistry did a stunning job with these ladies — I mean, just take a look!

You know I love navy and pink for bridesmaids, and these ladies just proved my love!  Look how amazing they look!

And HOW INSANE are those bouquets?!?!?!  That is the gorgeous work of John Duffy at Yellow Door, who is like a ninja — I’ve still never met him because he slips in and out of places completely undetected.  These flowers were already at the chapel waiting for me when I got there, and when I got to the reception, he had already come and gone!

Speaking of the chapel, Diane and Allen’s wedding took place at the beautiful (and SO easy to work with!) Old Post Chapel at Fort Myer.

See what I mean about the bright and sunny day?!  Michelle took advantage of it, and took a bunch of pictures of the girls outside on the grounds before the boys arrived.

Once the men arrived, the ladies scampered downstairs to the basement to wait, where Diane was keeping order…

And then it was time for the processional to begin!

This little one, along with her brothers, almost stole the show!

Yes!  They’re triplets!  I love triplets!!!!  And they have an older brother, who was maybe the most adorable reader ever!

His hair gets me every time!

Once the couple was married (by a priest who, strangely, looks exactly like my Uncle Al, which is neither here nor there, just interesting…) the bridal party was off to the Kennedy Center for group pictures.

What’s that you say?  That doesn’t look like the Kennedy Center?  No, that’s the bus.  Sadly, the Kennedy Center doesn’t allow you to blog pictures taken there, but trust me, they’re gorgeous — definitely a great “secret” find (thanks, Michelle!) for bridal party photos to have for your album.

While the bridal party was taking pictures, I ran over to the Clarendon Ballroom to get ready for the reception.  When I got there, though, almost everything was done!

Between John Duffy being a ninja and the AMAZING team at Clarendon Ballroom, I didn’t have much to do but set up some candles and wait for the guests to arrive!

All of the stationery items that day, from the programs to the table numbers and escort cards were designed by the groom — who did an AWESOME job!!!

The gorgeous plants were done by Plants Alive, a plant rental company here in the DC area.  These guys are awesome, and made the huge ballroom look really warm and intimate.  Plants really add a gorgeous touch to a wedding — definitely give them a call if your venue needs a little sprucing.

The uplighting was done by one of our favorites, John Farr Lighting.  These guys absolutely never disappoint and, like plants, lighting adds a HUGE dimension to weddings!

After Michelle snuck in for a few shots before the guests came into the curtained off area, DJ Aaron from Chris Laich Music Services introduced the bridal party.  Yet again, these little ones almost stole the show!  How cute are the little guys’ shoes?!?!?!

After dinner, guests were treated to this gorgeous little number:

That chocolate smelled SO amazing, and the taste was unbelievable.  The Clarendon Ballroom has a baker who does their cakes, but I don’t know who it is!  If you like this cake design, though, definitely call Sandra at the Ballroom and ask her — it was SO GOOD.  I think every guest with a camera took a picture of it!

Not only was there cake, but look what the Clarendon Ballroom provided after dinner!  Warm chocolate chip cookies!!!!  YUMMY!!!!!!

Still, everyone’s favorite part of the night was probably the photo booth, provided by Posh Booth:

I say this all the time, but it’s totally true — no matter how many times you’ve seen something on wedding blogs, whether it’s a photo booth, a candy buffet, or cupcakes, the majority of your guests don’t go to tons of weddings and certainly don’t read wedding blogs.  Things become a trend for a reason in the wedding world — because people love them!  So even if you think something’s been “overdone” because you’ve seen it on a million blogs, but you love it anyway, just DO IT!  I promise many of the guests will never have seen it before at a wedding and will think you’re the most clever person to ever walk the face of the earth!

The crew at Posh Booth comes with the booth, some awesome props (although Allen provided the mustaches and lips!), and even a guest book for your guests to put their pictures in and sign. People of all ages flocked to the photo booth:

\

Congratulations, Diane and Allen!  Let’s go to Cafe Asia again soon!!!

Did you miss Part One of Beth and Rob’s wedding?  Go see it here!

It is no secret that Glen Echo is probably my favorite wedding venue.  I love everything about it, from the AMAZING Emily Mah Rogers, the venue coordinator, to the GORGEOUS carousel to the wooded areas all around the park, to the fun neon lighting and little touches everywhere, I just love love love it.  However, probably my favorite thing about Glen Echo is that it inspires the most adorable weddings!  I guess it’s because the types of couples that get married there are already awesome?  (See Hallie and Matt and our very own Cristin, who better be blogging her wedding pictures soon, because they are INSANE!!!)  Whatever it is, I see the cutest ideas come out of weddings at Glen Echo.

When Beth and Robert walked down the aisle as husband and wife, I had them get straight into their Zipcar (yes, that was their wedding day transportation — Zipcar!) and head over to Glen Echo, immediately followed by Cassidy and the bridal party.  I always like to make sure that, even if it’s just for a few minutes, my couple has some alone time immediately following the ceremony, plus Beth and Robert wanted to do all of the bridal party photos at Glen Echo — this killed two birds with one stone!

See why I had to break it up into two blog posts?  Cassidy did TOO good a job on the pictures — I couldn’t choose!

There are just so many amazing locations at Glen Echo for pictures — this is in front of the old trolley at the front of the park

Beth took this opportunity to be…Beth

And show off her gorgeous dress…

I’m loving the amazing light Cassidy caught here!

There are also gorgeous wooded areas at Glen Echo to take pictures:

I LOVE this shot of Beth and Rob on the bridge into the park — I’m trying to figure out where Cassidy was standing to take this picture, though?!

The group then headed over to the carousel to take a few more pictures

I don’t know why it seems funny to me that they had to wait in line to ride the carousel, but it does

I love that Beth and Rob shared a horse lion

Then it was off to the reception…with a brief stop at the Cuddle Up

Guests were treated to a DELICIOUS BBQ dinner from Matters of Taste.  Having gone to college in North Carolina, I’m very picky about two things — pulled pork BBQ and sweet tea.  Matters of Taste delivered PERFECTLY on both fronts!  I think I probably had 10 glasses of sweet tea that night!

(Do those lanterns look familiar?  We brought them over from the ceremony!  Good reason to have a wedding planner — to bring things from the ceremony to the reception!)

After Beth and Robert quickly ate their food (something I make sure EVERY bride and groom do at their wedding!) they held a modified tea ceremony.

I like that they did this as guests were eating.  I’m sure it’s not the traditional way — but it allowed them to have private moments with everyone, while others were eating, so there wasn’t too much down time either!

After dinner and the tea ceremony, though, it was on to the dancing!!!

DJ Steve with Jan Davis Entertainment ROCKED the house that night!  This was the first time I had worked with Steve and I hope it won’t be the last.  He was AWESOME!  As an added bonus, he comes from a family of DJ’s, including his gorgeous sister, who came to assist him that night!

I mean, you know it’s a good party when this is your bride on the dance floor!

During a break in dancing, Beth and Rob cut their cake from one of my favorite bakeries (which is DANGEROUSLY within walking distance to my house!), Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe.

I’m not a big cake topper person, but I thought theirs was really cute!

After they cut the cake, it was served along with a “North vs. South” dessert buffet — Whoopie Pies vs. Moon Pies!  (I’m a Whoopie Pie girl, which in Pittsburgh we call Gobs!)

Beth made the cutest signs to put all over the place!  She had them for the dessert buffet, the bathrooms, the bride and groom chairs — SO cute!

Cassidy, yet again, did an amazing job getting detail shots!  The parasols my assistants and I hung before I went off to the reception…

The cards Beth and Rob created explaining the tea ceremony, along with the favors, which they bought in Malaysia

The family photos we strung up with clothes pins and, when I realized Rob had left the clothesline at home, fishing wire from my emergency kit:

The carousel tickets…

And of course the centerpieces.  I LOVED these centerpieces — I’m always looking for non-floral centerpieces for couples who are looking to save money — Beth and Robert are reselling these lanterns to recoup some of the costs, but they could easily be reused in your house or yard

Finally, we had the bubble send off …

And I love this last shot of the newlyweds walking off…to their Zipcar

Congratulations, Beth and Rob!  Thank you SO MUCH for choosing me to be your planner — I had a blast!!!

I started blogging Beth and Robert’s September wedding, but I quickly realized that there were just WAY too many amazing shots by the talented and delightful Cassidy DuHon to put into one post!  So I’m breaking it up — today you’ll get the ceremony and some of the details, and tomorrow we’ll move on to the party!

The day began with the ceremony at the adorable Langley Hill Meeting House.  I had never heard of this place before, but I will definitely be recommending it to other couples.  The members there are amazingly kind and accommodating, the atmosphere is welcoming and friendly, and the meeting room is arranged in the “round” (okay, sort of a square, really, but you know what I mean) so that the couple stands in the middle.  I love the idea of having all of your friends and family surrounding you.

The flowers were done by the adorable Tonya Evans at Occasional Flowers.  I had never heard of this florist before, and I’m not sure where Beth found her, but she is WONDERFUL!  The bouquets were gorgeous, the chapel arrangements looked beautiful, and, when a vendor made a mistake on some lanterns the couple had chosen, Tonya bent over backwards to get them what they wanted!  LOVE this lady.

The bride and groom have some hilarious friends:

I mean, really — how can you resist a photographer that takes that shot?!   Plus Cassidy did something that we wedding planners WORSHIP — he took TONS AND TONS of detail shots!  That’s what we need, guys!  LOTS OF DETAILS!!!

(Why does my hand look so weird in that picture?  Yep…hand model…my next career…)

Beth and Rob, like many of our couples these days, chose to do a first look before the ceremony.  I LOVE when couples do this (and I know photographers do too!)  For those who are maybe a little shy, it allows you to see each other for the first time when it’s just the two of you (well, and the photographer…), plus it allows for picture time to be more relaxed, as there’s not such a huge rush!

It also allows for you to take family pictures before the ceremony, so you aren’t stuck rounding people up afterward!  I won’t bore you with the family shots, but how cute is this flower girl?!

Everyone then went inside the meeting house to get ready for the ceremony.  Cassidy took some lovely ceremony shots — I just wanted to show you a few…

Beth’s dad performed a song on the guitar during the ceremony

You may now kiss your bride…

And then it was off to the reception, which you’ll see tomorrow, with more amazing shots!

You 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!

We kicked off wedding season this year with a gorgeous multicultural wedding in Arlington.  Chris and Marie were married on what started off as a cloudy day, but brightened up in time for group pictures outside, taken by the super fun Daniel McGarrity.

Marie had her hair and makeup done in the house she grew up in.  Cori Campbell came up HUGE in the hair department, by doing Marie’s trial the weekend before, and traveling all the way from West Virginia to be in Potomac by 8:00 in the morning!  Makeup was done for the girls by the AMAZING Lori Nansi, who then came to the hotel later for the reception to refresh Marie’s makeup and give her a “nighttime” look — what service!

After a traditional Indian ceremony at the bride’s parents’ house, the bridal party and family made their way to Arlington to the beautiful Cathedral of St. Thomas More

Marie’s bridal party had beautiful teal lenghas:

All of the flowers were provided by Jen and Nate’s florist, Maryam Flowers.  We LOVE Maryam, she is SO amazing!

I’m seeing more and more cascade bouquets these days.  Have you noticed that?

After the ceremony and family photos at the church, the bridal party, transported by the wonderful drivers at Limos, Inc. (Call Elissa there…she’s AWESOME!), headed off to the Library of Congress with Daniel and Neil from Blue Sky Films, one of our favorite videographers. (Here he is in action with his assistant later in the evening…)

I LOVED the pictures from the Library — what a great idea for a photo location, Daniel!  (Caution…slight photo overload ahead

After the visit to the Library of Congress, the bridal party headed to the Sheraton National for the reception.   Their rooftop ballroom has a great view of the city, especially of the Pentagon and the Air Force Memorial.

(This picture is from the hotel’s web site, just so you can see the view!)

When she arrived at the hotel, Marie made her first costume change of the evening, from her white wedding dress to her traditional sari, which was a gift to her from Chris.

She wore this during the first dance and toasts, but, seeing as how she had trouble moving in it, she soon switched to her lengha.

Marie’s cousin, who is a priest at the Vatican, was supposed to perform the ceremony, but due to the volcanoes earlier that month in Iceland, he wasn’t able to get a flight…or so Chris and Marie thought!  Her cousin was able to get there in time for the reception — and he brought with him a blessing from the Pope!  WOW!

Chris and Marie had a DELICIOUS cake from one of my absolute favorite bakeries (which is dangerously close to my house) Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

And, of course at the reception, we had more gorgeous flowers from Maryam!  (These pictures are from me, not Daniel)

Thanks to all of  the wonderful vendors who made this day great!

One of Rebecca’s couples made it in to The Knot Magazine!  Check out this great feature on Erika & Jamie’s wedding:

A big special thanks to photographer Kate Headley who submitted these photos to The Knot.  You rock!

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!

Memorial Day weekend arrived VERY early for me this year, as I woke up at 6 am to trek to the Old Town Alexandria Farmer’s Market to buy flowers for Jen and Nate’s casual BBQ wedding.

See, Jen knew she needed help with the bouquets and personal flowers but thought she could handle the centerpieces on her own, and boy was she right!

The peonies and lilacs I bought that morning were SO gorgeous and fragrant, it made me start to consider actually getting married in the summer!  (Until I remembered that I hate being hot…and it’s hot in the summer.)

All photos from fellow Demon Deacon, Christine Meulemans.  Go Deacs!

Jen and Nate met learning to sail on the Potomac, so it was only natural for them to have their wedding on the river at the beautiful Collingwood Library:

The ceremony was held where Christine is standing while taking this picture, down on the waterfront, with the cocktail hour on the patio at the side of the house (which you can see guests enjoying here), and the reception inside the Conference Center.  (I’ll be honest…I miss the days when you could have your reception outside on the patio at Collingwood.  You still can, but you can’t have amplified music, so if anyone knows a good jazz trio or Dixieland Jazz Band, this is your place!!)

Jen and Nate wanted to make lots of use of the water, so Nate arrived via a groomsman’s sailboat!

He then took a little zodiac-dinghy thing to the property, where he ran up to get changed into his custom-made suit!

Meanwhile, Jen and the girls were getting ready in the beautiful bride’s room inside the house:

I am SO in love with her Grecian-inspired dress, which she got OFF THE RACK at Bloomingdale’s!  And she didn’t even need to have it altered — it fit her PERFECTLY!  So jealous!

The fun, summery bouquets were provided by one of our favorite florists, Maryam’s Flowers.  I had just worked with Maryam on another wedding a few weeks earlier, which you’ll get to see shortly!

Soon, it was time for the ceremony to start — guests had made their way down the hill and just as the ceremony was about to start, the clouds parted and created the beautiful sunny setting for Jen and Nate’s vows.

Jen had her girls choose whatever dresses they wanted, as long as they were seersucker.  They did SUCH a great job, including her sister, who had hers custom-made.  I LOVE the lace peeking out from underneath!

The flower girl and ring bearer did a great job…

And then it was time for Jen and her dad to walk down the aisle.  The problem?  Remember that gorgeous dress?  Well, the grass was a little wet, and naturally Jen didn’t want the dress to be ruined.  So she did what any sensible bride wearing Havaianas would do…

She hitched up that dress and walked right down the aisle!  And she looked GORGEOUS doing it, with hair and makeup from one of our favorite day spas, Sugar House.

LOVE this shot of Nate nervously waiting for his bride, while her sister excitedly looks down the aisle

After a beautiful ceremony, Nate and Jen were pronounced husband and wife, and they set off down the aisle…until breaking into the most adorable run I’ve ever seen.

After the ceremony, Christine was able to take some time to get some AMAZING shots of the bride and groom:

This last one is probably my favorite…it just shows Jen’s playfulness perfectly…

Afterward, Jen and Nate got to sample some of the appetizers:

The guests made their way inside to the Conference Center, which our awesome team of Wish assistants helped me decorate.  Christine did a fantastic job of getting pictures of the details — we love it when our photographers do this!

Jen ordered these adorable stickers to go on Hershey’s kisses, which we put a bowl of on each table.

When Nate proposed, he wrote a message on a sail and flew it off the boat for Jen to see.  Jen brought that sail to the wedding for all to appreciate (thanks to Jen’s VERY tall brother for helping me hang this up!)

Jen wasn’t sure if their guests were a big dancing crowd, but she wanted to make sure they were entertained (as well as take advantage of the gorgeous grounds at Collingwood). She brought along a croquet set and a couple of bocce sets, which Jamie, one of our super assistants, made adorable signs for!

As you can see, the guests (especially the kids) definitely took advantage of it!

Before she cut the cake, Jen changed into a traditional Vietnamese outfit, which Nate’s family had brought her.  Unfortunately, no one told her how to put the hat on, so it ended up upside down!  Nate straightened her out, though…

Then it was time for the newlyweds to cut the DELICIOUS cake, provided by Balducci’s in Alexandria.

Don’t you LOVE the sailing rope coiled around the cake as a nod to their shared love?  Too cute

After the cake was cut, one of Nate’s groomsmen (and owner of the boat that delivered him to the ceremony!) offered a toast and dedicated the perfect song to Jen and Nate, the Zac Brown Band’s “Toes in the Water.”

Jen and Nate, thanks for letting me be part of your special day.  Congratulations!

I have known this bride for a LONG time.  I began my career years ago at Wolf Trap and one summer, had a WONDERFUL intern named Julia.  Fast forward over 10 years later, and I see on Facebook Julia’s getting married!  I email her to congratulate her, and she says “oh, and by the way, I need a planner…”  Of course I signed right up!

Julia planned every last detail but Chris, a graphic designer, designed all of the paper pieces, including the menus, invitations, and programs!

I absolutely LOVE this photo of the couple, just after they were married, at the church’s entrance.  How gorgeous is that vintage fur stole, compliments of the bride’s grandmother?

After the ceremony, everyone headed to the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks to start the party.  This Marriott has a GORGEOUS cocktail area, made even more beautiful by the lighting from Swank Audio Visuals:

Throughout the planning, Julia kept talking about the “wow” factor in the ballroom.  Well, she definitely got it!  With a combination of the already beautiful ballroom:

Linens from DC Rental:

More lighting from Swank:

…and my favorite part, the centerpieces!  Chris and Julia had three different centerpieces.  Two of them were provided by a Wish favorite, Barbara Von Elm at Growing Wild:

And the third was designed by Julia and put together by my beautiful assistants and me! (and which you’ve seen before, as they’re for sale!)

(The small bride’s cake was based on Chris’ design from the invitations!)

As if that wasn’t enough sugar, Julia’s mom baked mini breads for guests to take home, sealed with the couple’s custom monogram (again, created by the groom) and gave them the recipe for the bread to bake at home!

A few more gorgeous pictures of the day: