Our last wedding of 2009 was Jen & Brent’s bash at The Barns at Wolf Trap.  Although we’ve been planning weddings for over four years and even employ a former Wolf Trap employee, we’ve never had the opportunity to coordinate an event in this beautiful space.  Jen & Brent certainly had a fabulous wedding to wrap up the end of the year!

I’ll share professional images from Amir at Photo Fanatic when I get them.  For now, here’s my take on the day!

Jen & Brent wanted a candlelit ceremony so that’s what they got!  Aside from some twinkle lights on the trees rented from DaVinci’s Florist, the only other light was from dozens of floating candles down the aisle:

Unfortunately my camera’s not that great in the dark but you get the idea.  It was gorgeous!

The ceremony and reception happened in the same room so once the ceremony concluded we sent all the guests to a cocktail /bar area down the hall.  I didn’t get a photo of the built-in bar at Wolf Trap but here’s the big foyer area:

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Jen & Brent had a kelly green & gray color scheme.  Isn’t that fabulous!?  I was so excited to see how the colors came together.  Here’s her escort card table.  I loved the whole limes in the vase underneath that big hydrangea arrangement:

Meanwhile inside, we were busy setting up the reception!  Keep in mind that we had NOTHING set up for the reception during the ceremony, not even staged tables waiting in the back.  We re-used the chairs to save on the cost and flipped the room entirely:

We had three different centerpieces on the tables to break up the room and show some creativity!  DaVinci’s Florist was really flexible and rolled with all the ideas.  Here’s the tall arrangements:

See how we re-used the ceremony floating candles on the tables?  This arrangement was on the table where the bride & groom sat:

The final table arrangements, featuring submerged orchids and floating candles:

Hold on, did you see that?  The adorable table number?  Jen made these all herself!

Another cute detail was the favors, Hershey’s Kisses in tiny customized glass jars:

For such a late fall wedding, Jen and Brent wanted the room to be DARK!  I thought it was a gorgeous candlelit reception, perfectly romantic for the occasion:

I wish I had a better photo of Jen’s dress but believe me, it was stunning!  She offset the asymmetrical gown with a birdcage veil that was so perfectly vintage-inspired.  Her flowing hair was kept down and had finger waves.  How many brides do we see anymore who keep their hair down?  This girl’s got style!  Here she is dancing with her dad:

Guests enjoying their meal, catered by R&R Catering:

I have to mention the cupcake tree, which was made by Jen herself!  The cupcakes came from Hello Cupcake and fit perfectly on the kelly green stand.  Check out the way they stack up:

OK, I just wanted to rub in how delicious these things were.  Are you jealous yet?

Another lame attempt at getting a photo of Jen’s gown!  Here you can actually see Brent too (sorry for the lack of representation, Brent — we love you!):

…and they danced the night away, thanks to David from MyDeejay:

That’s all for now, folks!  Jen & Brent, I hope you had a fabulous honeymoon and are enjoying the new year together as newlyweds!

Early last month, I had the opportunity to attend the open house event celebrating the new studio space of one of my favorite photographers, Joylyn Hannahs!!

Joylyn has a great new space right in Leesburg, located at 214 South King Street.  The event was a great opportunity to not only make some new friends and see the space (which is super cute), but Joylyn had a makeup artist on hand to make all the ladies feel super glamorous for their head shots.  Check out the shot she took of me:

There were also some very yummy treats on hand as well!  The space was complete with some cool features showcasing Joylyn’s work and a great spot to meet with potential couples:

I even managed to snag a photo of Joylyn on the other side of the camera:

Check out Joylyn’s website and blog for more amazing samples of her work.  Congratulations Joylyn on the new studio!

*~~*~~*Felicia*~~*~~*

We recently blogged about Nicole & Matt’s wedding but didn’t have the professional photos to share.  Well, their photographer, Jimmy Ryan, came through and sent me some images from the event!  I thought he did a great job capturing the day and wanted to share.  Without further ado, here’s Nicole & Matt’s big day:

I loved Nicole’s gold flats.  The flowers on top matched the garden theme perfectly!

Didn’t Nicole make a beautiful bride??  I loved how she had her hair only half up instead of a super-hairsprayed ‘do.  She was beaming but still looked like herself:

I loved this shot of the processional:

The adorable flower girl basket.  Can you believe they got the flowers from Wegman’s grocery store??

Our happy couple:

Meadowlark makes the perfect backdrop for portraits:

Nicole & her sister Amy, one of our 2007 brides:

The flower girl, looking over the edge of the balcony at Meadowlark:

Meanwhile inside, the reception gets under way!

To fit with the garden theme, Nicole named her dinner tables after flowers.  She framed seed packets to help guests find their tables.  Here’s the head table with a mini wedding cake as the centerpiece:

More Wegman’s bouquets:

I really loved the mini cake centerpieces.  Check out how adorable these little guys are!

The wedding guests really loved cutting their own mini cakes.  What a perfect conversation piece!

Congratulations again, Nicole & Matt!!

Sarah and Adam were married at one of our favorite venues, Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna.   Sadly, their wedding ended my streak of good weather karma, but they were still able to have a beautiful, candlelit ceremony followed by a rockin reception!

Hope Reynolds took some great shots outside before the rain came!

Sarah has SUCH a great smile, and I absolutely love her dress from David’s Bridal. I love how the straps are all twisty (I know…I’m really good with the fashion terms, huh?)

The flowers were provided by the sweetest ladies from Village Flowers in Warrenton.  In fact, Sarah’s dad works there part time, helping to deliver flowers.  He was a little busy this day, though!

The fans were supposed to be for the hot ceremony outside.  Instead, I handed them out for guests to fan themselves during the reception!  Next to the fans are recipe cards, which were placed at each place setting as a gift from the bride and groom.

Sarah and Adam had not one, but two amazing cakes!  The delicious bride’s cake was provided by Cakes by Marida, who also did the cake for Rama and Neel’s wedding last year.

The Groom’s cake was made by the bride’s brother in law!  I wish I had a brother in law that was this talented!

Hmm, let’s see…Orange and Burgundy ribbons on the fans? VT cake?  Do you think Sarah and Adam might be Hokies? Sarah even incorporated her Hokie pride into her outfit for the day.

LOVE the orange shoes!!!

A few more details of the day…

Congratulations, Sarah and Adam!  I hope we can meet at the VI soon for some chili dogs!

Gerry at Petal’s Edge Floral Design sent over some information on classes they offer.  What a great way to learn about flowers!  We’ve worked with Petal’s Edge many many times and they always do a wonderful job.  If you haven’t checked out their cute shop in Old Town Alexandria, this is your opportunity:

Bridal Bootcamp.  Want to save money but feel insecure about your ability to provide a professional look to your wedding flowers?  Join this intense one-day, weekend workshop and learn how to arrange flowers with industry experts.  Course covers flower selection and care, design tips, and common mistakes.  $150 per person, which includes the cost of flowers and box lunch.  
Saturday, December 5 or December 12.  10 am – 2 pm.

Flower School.  Love flowers and want more experience?  This series of classes takes place over three evenings and is appropriate to the person who wants to learn about how to buy, care for, and arrange flowers.  Several methods of flower arranging will be covered.  Classes are hands-on with flowers that students take home after class.  $250 per person.

Wednesday – Friday, December 2 – 4 or December 9 – 11.  6 – 9 pm.

 

Winter Workshop.  Join us for holiday-inspired flower arranging projects.  Take one class or both.  Course includes the cost of flowers, all supplies, and a holiday masterpiece to take home.  $100 per session or $150 for two.

• Floral Topiary: November 30, 6 pm. Use an uninterrupted mass of carnations to create a festive tabletop tree.

Dining table centerpiece: December 7, 6 pm. Winter fruits and vegetables add a conversation piece to this unusual pairing of flowers and holiday greens.

Looking at caterers?  Windows Catering is hosting an open house!

Email Brianna or call 703-752-9452 to RSVP.  See you there!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of coordinating Sarah & Abs’ wedding at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center.  What a gorgeous day!  We’ve worked at the Torpedo Factory several times over the years and it’s one of our favorite spots.  Sarah & Abs were really one of the most fun couples we’ve had this year.  I broke into a smile countless times just being around them and their friends.  What a great crew!

Let’s kick off with some pictures!  The professional images you see are from the very talented Kristen Leigh Photography.  Kristen is such a doll to work with.  Check her out if you’re looking for a photographer!  Images without her cute “K” watermark are ones I took with my iPhone.

Barbara at Growing Wild did a phenomenal job with Sarah’s bouquet:

Sarah’s green shoes pretty much sum up her personality.  Fun, vibrant, energetic, elegant, and unique!

Sarah and her ladies took some time before the ceremony to take portraits.  I loved this one:

Inside, the ceremony’s all set to go.  If you’re been in the Torpedo Factory during the daytime it looks totally different!  John Farr Lighting Design does an incredible job in making this building transform for events:

Sarah and her dad make it down the aisle:

A gorgeous wedding ceremony at the Torpedo Factory.  Sarah & Abs had a friend, Pastor Dave Saville, perform the service.  He was really wonderful!  It was light, touching, and heartfelt.  I really enjoyed working with Pastor Dave and happily recommend him to anyone who’s looking for a young and modern officiant.  It was a nice departure from the typical wedding officiants I see:

During cocktails, Kristen took photographs of the bridal party in Alexandria.  This cute spot is just around the corner from the Torpedo Factory:

Here’s what Kristen saw:

Kristen got some great shots of our newlyweds along the Old Town Alexandria waterfront.  This is near and dear to me since my husband and I took similar photos over three years ago!  I thought this particular one was so elegant….just a beautiful moment frozen in time while the rest of the world buzzes around them:

Couldn’t this easily be the front cover of a magazine?

Back inside, the party was in full swing!  To start, guests found their escort cards in these cute wheat grass boxes (provided by Growing Wild):

The other half of the Torpedo Factory (opposite from the ceremony) was set up for dinner even before guests arrived.  All we needed were chairs!  Once the ceremony ended and guests moved upstairs for cocktails, Windows Catering set the chairs in place around the tables.  I love this image because it shows a little bit of the wonderful lighting and centerpiece pinspots:

A few more shots of the reception area.  Nicole at Windows Catering is a doll to work with and her staff was phenomenal:

Look familiar?  Once the chairs were out of the way we used the ceremony spot as the dance floor!  Ray from Chris Laich Music Services did a great job keeping folks on the dance floor the entire night.  Doesn’t the space look totally transformed with funky lighting?

Windows’ accomplished pastry chef made the gorgeous and tasty cake.  Sarah & Abs chose to forgo the traditional cake cutting ceremony so this baby was just dislayed then sliced up by the caterer:

On a final note, I wanted to share a video of their incredible first dance!  Sarah and Abs must have practiced this for MONTHS.  Their guests were totally shocked at the last move…watch it and see what I mean!

Thanks, Melissa & TJ, for referring this wedding to me!  I’m honored you thought of me for your friends and am glad I got to see you at the wedding.

For more photos from this wedding, check out Kristen Leigh’s Blog.

Congratulations again, Sarah & Abs!

Last week we had the pleasure of coordinating Maggie & Tim’s big day!  Maggie and Tim are a special pair because they’re both pilots in the Navy.  Now that they’re hitched they’ll finally be stationed together!

Since our bride lives on an aircraft carrier most of the time, I worked with her mom Janet to pull the last details together.  Luckily we had an all-star cast of vendors so my job wasn’t too hard.  Meadowlark was the venue of choice.  Here’s Main Event setting up the beautiful ivory and gold linens we selected:

Alison, their sales manager, is there on the right.  I love that Main Event’s ‘corporate’ people get hands-on with the setup.  Working with Alison was a breeze and I will definitely be recommending her to more clients!

Here’s the gorgeous ceremony, held outside.  Eugene and his Signature String Quartet provided great live music for the ceremony and cocktail hour:

Photographer Anne Lord doing her thing during cocktail hour.  I’ll share more professional photographs later if she sends me some!  Can you believe Maggie flies helicopters and lives on an aircraft carrier?  She looks so dainty and girly in person but this girl must be a force to be reckoned with when you get her in a pilot’s seat.  Awesome!

The combination of the natural wood chivari chairs, the white and gold linen, and the hot pink flowers all came together really nicely.  Cute!

I really like the way Main Event sets up their buffets.  It’s a non-traditional twist on the standard ‘row of chafing dishes’ you see at most hotels and banquet facilities.  We reused the ceremony flowers from Karin’s Florist as a HUGE centerpiece on the buffet:

Wedding cake by the Alexandria Pastry Shoppe:

Eddie Grant from Davis Deejays kept the dance floor full all night long.  If you decide to book with Davis, please recommend Eddie!

Cutting the wedding cake:

Congratulations again, Maggie & Tim!  I hope you’re having a fabulous time on your honeymoon and that you stationed somewhere wonderful together.  Thank you for serving our country!

Kara & Art were our international couple of the year!  These two have lived all over the world, from Austria to Argentina to South Africa.  They chose Collingwood Library for their wedding this past weekend and their international guests enjoyed the gorgeous setting there.

It’ll be a while until we get professional images from photographer Rob Holley but I thought I’d share mine in the meantime.  We got very lucky that another couple left this cute sign behind:

Barbara at Growing Wild did a marvelous job on the ceremony decoration.  We had shepherd’s hooks lining the aisle, a huge arch at the front of the aisle, and two more altar pieces to mark each end.  She also decorated the gazebo with a big beautiful garland…I wish I had a photo of it but it was all really pretty!  We always enjoy working with Barbara and you can see why brides like her too:

If you’re not familiar with Collingwood (you should be!  It’s open to the public most of the time!), you must know that the best ceremony spot is ALL the way down the hill and far, far away.  I would estimate it’s at least 150 yards?  Luckily they have a golf cart to help elderly guests and the bride also gets a ride down the hill:

If you’re into long aisles, this is probably the LONGEST aisle in town!  It makes for tricky processionals since we have to time the music for different groups of people.  But, that’s why you hire a wedding day coordinator, right?  Here’s the bride and her uncle, on their way:

It’s all worth it in the end, though, when you have a picture-perfect riverfront ceremony.  Bialek’s Music provided a wonderful guitar/violin duo that was just the right touch.  Rev. John Hoffmann created a customized ceremony that included a fun reading from a Dr. Seuss book.  The big beautiful Potomac River makes this wedding spot simply unbeatable:

While guests gathered back on the porch after the reception, we put the finishing touches on the reception room.  Collingwood built this venue about a year ago and we’re glad to finally have it open.  The room doesn’t have much character on it’s own but with a little lighting and some fun colors, it really comes to life!

Here’s the ‘before:’

And after!  Andrew Cissna Lighting Design did a fabulous job for us, including stringing the bulb lights, providing a ceiling wash with a fun pattern, and also doing a monogram on the dance floor to define the space.  I couldn’t have been more pleased with how things turned out:

A close-up of the custom monogram that Andrew designed:

Susan at Federal City Caterers was a rockstar to work with through the entire process.  She was flexible, accomodating, friendly, welcoming, and all-around a joy to work with.  She even worked with their chef to recreate a Finnish recipe for the bride’s family!  I will be recommending them a lot more in the future.  I thought the way they set the tables was really pretty:

Another cool thing to note was their wedding cake!  Stephanie the Baker provided this fun international-themed cake.  She’s a former White House pastry chef and really knows her stuff.  What’s even cooler?  The fondant ’stickers’ all feature a place the bride or groom have lived:

The room looked even better when guests came in for dinner:

Kara’s mom lives here in Arlington and was our liasion for most of the wedding decisions.  Kara dedicated a special song to her mom and it was really a touching moment.  I’ve become so jaded that I rarely cry at weddings anymore…this one brought a tear to my eye:

Cutting the wedding cake.  It was tasty!

Andrew even lit the outside of the building to give it some pop.  I thought the Tiffany blue color looked really great:

Congratulations again, Art & Kara!  I hope you both enjoyed every minute of your day and are traveling safely to Mexico today.  Best of luck with your future lives in South Africa and wherever else your international travel bug takes you!

Kristan and Steve got hitched last weekend at Meadowlark!  It rained ALL week and then on Saturday the skies broke, the sun came out, and we had a beautifully perfect day for a wedding.  I’ll share photos from Justine Ungaro when I get them but for now here’s the few that I took (thanks Felicia!):

The backside of the Atrium at Meadowlark Gardens.  You can sort of see the porch area where they hold wedding ceremonies and cocktail hours:

Looking through the reception area you can see the ceremony taking place on the other side of the windows.  This was the first time I’d worked with Meadowlark’s in-house caterers, Great Blue Heron Catering.  Scott Boger is the sales manager and did a fantastic job on this wedding:

Maryam Flowers brought these pretty purple arrangements:

We are such STICKLERS about making sure the escort cards are set in straight lines.  This is a simple detail that often goes overlooked but can be very obvious if it looks messy:

Kristan & Steve displayed portraits of their parents and grandparents (check out that vintage wedding photo in the back!):

Room Service set up this beautiful lounge for us.  Heidi is so easy to work with and this combination only came to about $1,000!  I love the rattan pieces in this room….it was just the right style for the Atrium:

Kristan and her bridesmaids used paper parasols as props for photographs.  I especially loved that her ladies wore two different colors and different style dresses:

Justine Ungaro and the guys from Monachetti working hard to get a group photo:

One of the coolest features of this wedding was their wedding cake!  They chose a fun suitcase-themed cake instead of a traditional stacked white cake.  Norman from The Sweet Life came up with this beautiful piece of art:

I’m really excited to see Kristan and Steve’s wedding video since they had a lot of live music performances from their friends!  Steve is the drummer for Gonzo’s Nose, a local favorite cover band, and several of the couple’s friends are very talented.  It made for a wonderful personalized touch to the day!

Kristan and Steve, it was wonderful working with you guys!  I loved every minute of your big day and was glad to be a part of it.  I hope you’re enjoying your romantic Parisian honeymoon!