Fall is Beautiful in DC

Congratulations to Suzann and Michael!

(this is going to be a long one so i'm going to post this in pieces ... check back for the complete version)

Over the past several months, Suzann worked really hard to make her wedding day a beautiful celebration of her and Michael's union. And over this time, I have had the privilege of getting to know Suzann and her family. It is such an honor to be included on one of the most important life events. I am a total stranger afterall. The amount of trust they place in me is nervewrecking at best but the results are totally worth the stress :)

So much of Team Suzann was similar to Team Karen, one of my April brides. The team of Kathy and Melanie of MeKa did a wonderful job with makeup and hair. All the girls looked beautiful and their dos stayed in place all night long. Suzann's hair do is probably my favorite one to-date of all of Melanie's creations! Simple, elegant, sophisticated but yet original.

Anne Lord was our photographer along with her assistant Brian. Leo Zhang and his assistant Julia videotaped the whole event. Both teams are so easy to work and didn't seem to get in each other's way.

We had a harpist and a flutist from Music Unlimited providing the prelude music and part of the processional music along with the church's organist. And my Favorite DJ, Mike Valenti from Bialeks, kept the dance floor packed all night long!! I just love this guy!

The ceremony was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Old Town Alexandria and the reception at the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington. Now, I am a bit biased here since I had my own reception at the Clarendon Ballroom 2 years ago so it's hard for me not to love it.

Some photos from the beautiful day ...

There is no place like it ... the Clarendon Ballroom in all its glory. The glow is magical. It has the WOW factor! Suzann did a great job choosing stylish chocolate brown pintuck linens for the dining room tables and a brocade red for the station tables. We used cream pintucks in the cocktail area. The effect was a sophisticated transformation with a nod to the colors of the fall.

Another beautiful floral arrangement from Barbara von Elm of Growing Wild for their escort card table. I added the different height candles and petals to give it a more dramatic effect. (Sorry for the fuzzy picture ... my hands are shaky :)

Suzann put so much effort into personalizing this wedding and the results showed her hard work! A great idea in lieu of a traditional guestbook, Suzann used a wish bowl that was a gift from her parents. She provided notecards (in the African basket, a nod to the place of her birth) for the guests to leave the newlyweds well wishes. Suzann also included bottles of Hokie wine, a nod to the groom's alma mater. Guests were able to sign the bottles, a great way to commemorate this wonderful day!

To me, a great way to personalize your wedding is to use items that are special to you. Suzann used an Ethiopian wedding basket to hold her loose cards. Suzann was born in Ethiopia.

In closing, I'm a bit sentimental at this point because I only have 2 more weddings to go this season. And as this wedding season winds down, I have definitely learned so much about myself and how to run an effective business. I get attached to some weddings more than others and I have to say that I am really going to miss not getting 7 emails from Suzann every day :) I only keep in touch with a few of my former brides and I hope that I will keep in touch with Suzann and Michael in the future. And I hope to run into her mom and dad, Jeanette and Fred one day at the farmers market!