Pictures are in! Sarah & Jordan's Wedding

How lovely are these pictures! Just puts a big smile on my face. All photos courtesy of Lori Love Photography. Read about Sarah & Jordan's big day.

Tis the Season for Giving

I think it is during this holiday season that I am reminded of how lucky I am and how thankful I am for all the great things that have happened this year.


In memory of my Dad who passed away in August after a 6-year battle with colon cancer, I am donating a portion of this year's profits to The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health. It is a clinical center of the New YorkPresbyterian Hospital and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Its mission focuses "on prevention, screening, treatment, support, research, and education for individuals who have or are at risk for developing gastrointestinal cancers."


As in years passed, we again will donate a portion of our proceeds to the Arlington Center for Dance in support of the performing arts in Arlington County.

More Gift Registry Ideas

More gift registry ideas:
Really into camping or the great outdoors? How about registering at REI?
Who couldn't use something from Home Depot?
Let yours be the gift that keeps on giving. Register for stocks.

*This is strictly editorial. Event Accomplished does not endorse any product or service described in this Blog nor are we paid to write about them.

Lighting & Layering

eaTip: Lighting. Need I say more?? A plain ballroom is transformed with the use of uplighting around the perimeter of the room, pinspotting on the tables, and a color wash over the dance floor. We talked about layering in terms of linens before (Katie & Chris's wedding). I consider lighting a layering design trick too. It adds depth to a room, just like you would use different types of lighting in your home (general lighting, task lighting and accent lighting). It certainly gives the event a wow factor.

Photos taken by Vicky Choy at an event by breathe. event planning. Lighting by Atmosphere Lighting. Floral Design by Growing Wild Floral Company. Venue Lansdowne Resort.

Closing the 2007 Season ...

As we draw to a close the 2007 wedding season, it's good to have some down time so that I can work on those little projects that I've been putting off all year. For example, I'm testing a new layout for the blog that should allow for bigger pictures.

Looking Back ... this was a really interesting year. As my 3rd year in operation, I had a different mix of clients this year. Whereas last year was predominantly day-of coordination, this year saw a 50/50 mix of day-of and partial/full planning clients, which also meant that I had to reduce the number of events for the year. I think I really like this mix. The partial/full planning clients really allowed my creative side to take part in the planning process. This year, I also did my first 2 private home weddings - both completely different from each other. I also did my first Friday wedding. The majority of the venues this year were new to me except for Meadowlark and the Clarendon Ballroom.


Looking Forward ... For 2008, I'm working on new offerings so stayed tuned! Keep the referrals coming! :)

Thank you to all my clients and event professionals that I have had the pleasure of working with throughout the year. Without you, I would not have had this successful year!

Photo: Saturday, September 22, 2007 Leesburg, VA - the moonlit evening of Heather & Moses' wedding. shot with my sony point-and-shoot. what a night!

Congratulations Katie & Chris

My last wedding of 2007!

It turned out to be a beautiful day for Katie and Chris's wedding. It had been raining the week before.

Katie and Chris now live in Brooklyn, NY, close to where my brother lives. Katie is a chef and so when they told me that the Clarendon Ballroom was doing their catering, it made total sense as their food is just top notch. Yes. Clarendon Ballroom does off -site catering. Bet you didn't know that!

Katie's Mom Janice was the design force behind this whole wedding. Being an interior designer herself, Janice had a beautiful vision for her daughter's wedding.

Funniest moment ... there is nothing like a little 80s rock to get the crowd crazy. So some Bon Jovi song came on and the next thing I see is a bunch of people dancing on the stage, including the bride and groom. And wouldn't you know it, Katie dove off the stage and luckily was caught by her guests. Unluckily for her, all the excitement busted wide open the zipper of her dress! Nothing some safety pins couldn't handle!

Venue: Middleburg Community Center & Middleburg UMC -- Very familiar with the MCC as I was here earlier this year for Cathy & Mike's wedding. Joanne is super easy to work with and they are very flexible. This is not your average community center. As you can see in the photos below, it's not a bad looking venue.

Florist: Laura Francis of Floral Presentations -- Laura really outdid herself. I've never worked with her before but I really like her style. Her design brought the whole rustic, homey, casual but chic style together. I wish I had a picture of the bouquets because I've seen lots of fall bouquets but these were really unique.

Catering: Clarendon Ballroom -- you all know I love this place. Sandra and her team were excellent as usual. Creative food choices, elegant presentation, professional staff, excellent service. What more do you want?

Buses: Reston Limo -- You know, I'm always skeptical of transportation companies but we had 2 great drivers who called when they reached the pick up point and promptly delivered the guests to the wedding. No complaints for once.

Pew decorations at the Middleburg United Methodist Church. I like it. Not your regular posies of flowers.

The church door decoration. Simple but punches it up just enough to say something special is happening here.

Escort Card Table: As a chef, Katie made these jar of apple butter herself and we did double duty by using them as escort cards.

The MCC has a stage and Laura did an amazing job decorating it with an abundance of fall related items. My photo doesn't really do it justice.

Janice found these cute alphabet cards from Pottery Barn so we used them as Table Markers. Menu cards were done at Dandelion Patch. The floral centerpieces were placed in white tureens that you might have seen people use to serve soup.

The back patio of the MCC where cocktail hour took place. Here we used white chivari chairs that tied together nicely with the blue and white striped overlays with a denim tablecloth. It all made sense for the look we were going for.








Linens and place settings. This wedding style was all about the linens and place settings. Each round table had a burlap tablecloth with a white hemstitch overlay. The two long center tables had burlap and white hemstitch placemats. As chargers, we used Janice's stash of blue and white plates.

Chairs: we also rented two types of chairs -- windsor for the round tables and ladder backs for the rectangular tables.

eaTip #1: Double Duty. Katie used her favors as escort cards. Visually, having all the apple butter jars in their cute wraps grouped together on one table made a bigger impact than if set on each table. I don't like a cluttered table so this also cut down on the number of items on the table top. Also, I reused her pew decorations from the church and put them on several chair backs during the reception. Some of the centerpieces were used for the brunch the next day.

eaTip #2: Layering. In this case, we are talking about layering linens. The clever use of white hemstitch overlays and burlap (yes, burlap) really set the tone for the style of this wedding. If we just had burlap by itself, it would have been too casual, too country, too farm-ish. If we just had the white hemstitch, it would have been too formal, too plain. Mixing the two gave the room a rustic casual but chic feel, appropriate for a wedding. Again, 15 tables of these interesting linens make a big statement. So don't be afraid to experiment and layer.

Contact us and we can help you with all this!

Thoughts on DIY bouquets and arrangements

Although most of my clients are not DIY-ers in the floral department, I have come across 2 extreme scenarios that I want to share with you. The first scenario, the DIY bride did a good job of planning on floral assemble requirements; the second, not so much.

Bride #1 had very minimal floral needs. She wasn't big into flowers and they were not high on her priority list. She was not doing flowers for the centerpieces so she really only had a few bridesmaids bouquets, some boutonnieres and simple arrangements for the church. She practiced making her flowers a few months before her wedding. Once the yellow roses arrived on the Thursday before the wedding, she got to working on them all day. By Friday morning, only a few bouquets were left to do. She was done in plenty of time for the rehearsal. No rushing around. She really did a great job and there was so little floral setup.

Bride #2 was a designer so she clearly had a good artistic vision for what she wanted. There were a lot of flowers to put together though. There were 15 tables worth of centerpieces, bouquets, bountonnieres, corsages, ceremony arrangements, chair posies, cocktail table arrangements, etc. The red roses arrived on Thursday. Came Saturday morning, the bride had to go to her hair and makeup appointments and left the remaining arrangements to her sister. Her sister was clearly stressed. The centerpieces came out great - half short arrangements and half tall (trumpet vases). However, the tall arrangements took forever to set up because they had to be filled with water which took many trips to the bathroom (kitchen was too crowded). The boutonnieres were huge and lacked the refinement a professional would have been able to do. Also, some of the thorns were not removed so they were a hazard to anyone handling them.

Before you commit yourself to doing your own personal flowers and arrangements, ask yourself these questions:

• Why do you want to do your own flowers? If you are not a flowers person, why have any flowers at all? There are plenty of other decor options. Is it because of budgetary reasons? There are plenty of options at any budget level.
  
• When will you be putting the arrangements together? Will you have enough time? Will you have time to practice? Will you have any help? Do your helpers have any experience in flower arranging?
  
• Do you have a place that can be kept very cold when the flowers arrive from the wholesaler? (like the freezer at the flower shop)
• Do you know how long it will take to put the arrangements together?
• How will you transport the arrangements to your venue? Flowers kept in buckets of water? not in water?Who will transport the arrangements?
• Once at the venue, do they require assembly? Who will assemble them? Is this person reliable? Most venues will not do this for you. How long will it take to assemble them? Does the person you have designated know how to assemble them?
• What if a vase is broken during transport? What if you forgot a vase? Forgot an arrangement? Realized you miscounted? Short a boutonniere.
  
• At the end of the night, what will become of all the flowers and vases? Are you taking them all home? Who will break them down so that they can be transported?

If after looking through this list of questions you are able to come up with a plan that makes sense and will not cause more stress, here are some pointers to consider:

• Aim to have everything else you need to do for the wedding DONE by the weekend before the wedding. I mean EVERYTHING - programs, table assignments, escort cards, packing. Couples underestimate how hectic the week before the wedding can get. Once your relatives and friends are in town, they ALL want to see you. They ALL want to have drinks, dinner, lunch, breakfast with you every day. Maybe you have to make some runs to the airport. Think hard about how you want to spend your time the week of the wedding.
  
• It always takes longer to do the arrangements than you realize. Allot AT LEAST one and a half days for this. Allow time for making mistakes, or trying a different method.
  
• ALWAYS do practice bouquets, boutonnieres, and arrangements ahead of time. Buy flowers from your local grocery story and practice. Have someone with some experience of arranging flowers and doing bouquets look at your work. Maybe take a class. Don't forget to account for the cost of the trial runs.
  
• Choose flowers that easy to work with, forgiving, and hardy. Roses are the most DIY friendly.
• Keep your floral requirements to a minimum. And I mean the fewer the better.
  

Activities for Your Guests

A Washington Post Sunday Source article from a few weeks ago talks about scavenger hunts, sports games, welcome parties and midnight snacks.

Daily Candy Fall 2007 Wedding Guide

Click here to read.

What do you do with all my stuff? What do you do all day long?

What do I do when I'm not on the phone, at a meeting or pounding away at my laptop? Here is a peek. Enter at your own risk!

My desk during wedding season :) Looks messy but I know exactly where everything is. And yes, that is my cat Mick to the right of the desk. He is the best paper weight!

You give me a box of menu cards and a heap of candles. What do I do? I put the exact number of menus and candles I need per table and put them in individual bags. This helps me to do setup as quickly as possible on the day of the wedding.

More pre-event packing.

My foyer. In a constant state of packing and unpacking.

Wine Registry

Tired of the traditional gift registry? Me too. Especially today, many couples might already live together or getting married later in life, it seems silly to register for china or linens. For your oenophile friends, Best Cellars in Clarendon offers a wedding registry. Here is the flyer I picked up.

Green Scene Series: Reuse and buy local

Another in the Green Scene Series
Sometimes it feels like wedding decor are full of one-use items. Try thinking eco-friendly and it can not only help the environment but also help your wallet! Here are some ideas we've tried/seen:

• Use potted plants or a cluster of smaller potted plants as centerpieces. These can be given to guests and can be planted in the ground or kept as potted plants for years to come.
  
• Reuse whatever decor items you can from the wedding for the day-after get-togethers. Floral arrangements can definitely be kept in good shape overnight.
• Reuse ceremony decorations at the reception. I've used chair posies from the ceremony and rearranged them to decorate the bars, escort card tables, bathrooms, etc.
• Especially in the fall, I love to do a farmers market food station where the chef would serve whatever vegetables were in season from local farms. We've done this a few times and we acknowledge such either on a menu card or on little signs by the stations. Local farms = less transportation.
  
• How about supporting the local economies by serving Maryland or Virginia wines?
  

Green Scene Series: Biodegradable Confetti

We are starting a new series of blog entries on "green" wedding ideas called the Green Scene.
I found out late in the game that we were not allowed to use sparklers to send the bride and groom off to their wedding night. So we decided to use white confetti (something that would show up on film at night). Along came Ecofetti from Ecoparti. It is biodegradable and water soluble! There are lots of colors and each bag comes with a spoon. Liz at Ecoparti really helped me out since I only had 3 days to get the product before the wedding!

Congratulations Sarah & Jordan

Sarah, Jordan and their families are the kindest people, which makes my job so much more enjoyable. They were so thankful and appreciative of all the hard work I put into making their wedding something to be proud of.

Sarah & Jordan met in high school playing basketball. They are both really tall as were the members of their bridal party, which is great because I can always spot them from across a ballroom! During the past 7 months, there were lots of changes. Sarah changed careers and became a teacher in Fairfax High School teaching marketing. I have such admiration for her courage to switch careers and for becoming a teacher. Jordan is a USCG reservist.

Sarah wanted a "modern classic" style for her wedding. Her flowers were all white, very classic bridal. The calla lilies had very clean and modern lines. Her colors were navy, gold and white - a very subtle hint at the water view location and Jordan's coast guard ties. Sarah ended up working with a graphic designer friend for her invitations, save-the-dates and programs, but assembled using Paper Source products. We carried the color theme through to the escort cards, the gold beaded garland on the tables, and the bridesmaids dresses (a beautiful navy dress from J. Crew that could definitely be worn again.)

eaTip: Remember the old saying "Keep it Simple Stupid?" I think it can apply to weddings also. Nobody says that in order to have a beautiful wedding, it needs to look like one of those celebrity weddings you see on TV or in the magazines - overflowing with "stuff." I really liked that Sarah chose to keep things simple and uncluttered. Spend your money on 1-2 items that can make the biggest impact visually. For Sarah, it was on floral centerpieces and on renting gold chivari chairs. Something as simple as replacing average looking conference chairs with chivari chairs made a big statement, especially when you have 200 of them. Contact us and we can help you decide what will make the biggest impact at your event!

Venue & catering: Catering & Conference Center at the Washington Navy Yard - The CCC is situated just on the water.
Photographer: Lori Love Photography - first time working with her and her assistant Andrea. Both really laid back and easy to work with.
Ceremony music: Nore Harp & Violin trio - I first met Emily & Ben Jung when they played at one of my first client's weddings in November 2004. They then hired me to be their coordinator in July 2005. Here we are again! They are just the nicest people and very talented musicians. Emily plays the harp and Ben plays the violin. They brought a 2nd violin since we were outside.
DJ: Bob Artman of Artman DJs - Bob played at Kristin & Tuong's wedding last August. He did a great job with the music as usual. He also has a great MC voice :) Sarah & Jordan did a new twist on introductions. Since they are all so tall and played basketball, the fashioned the intros after the starting line intros just like in a basketball game. It was hilarious.
Cake: Creative Cakes (part of the package)
Floral designer: Philippa Tarrant Floral Designs - I just love Philippa's style. So modern and interesting. I knew she would be a great fit for Sarah. Sarah met Philippa and that was the end of the story! Philippa and Dawn came for a site visit and steered us into a better visual direction. (See more photos below).
Limo: Always a Pleasure Limo - We only needed a transfer from Sarah's hotel to the Navy Yard. It was tough to find a company that would do it. Lisa Douglas came through! I met Lisa back at the November 2004 wedding where I met the harpist/violinist. She was so great that I kept her card for 3 years! On time, courteous. Never a problem.
Hair & Makeup: Perry Warren of Frizzles Salon, Springfield. Perry did Sarah's hair and makeup and hair for 3 bridesmaids. He came to the hotel and was a whole lot of fun (and funny)! All the girls looked great.

We used orchids as the cake topper. It had a simple but elegant gold dots along the bottom of each layer.

Escort Card table. We used different color cards to indicate entree choices. In lieu of favors, Sarah & Jordan donated to breast cancer research and pink ribbon pins were given to each guest.

Sorry for the blurry picture. Shaky hands. Mix of short and tall arrangements with white calla lilies and dendrobium orchids.

Ceremony on the patio with Nore Harp & Violin trio on the left. We had a sword arch at the end. Very cool!

Another great candy bar for goody bags to-go.

Congratulations Peter & Barbara!

Peter & Barbara are friends of Greg & Anita who got married last year in DC. Thanks for the recommendation guys!

These two are crazy because they are also in the middle of a full-blown house renovation. When I went to pick up their decorations, there were contractors everywhere! Crazy! Barbara designed her own gown. It was gorgeous and she could take off the whole bottom piece to reduce the dress to a shorter length (about the knee) for all the crazy partying! I wish I have a photo.

The ceremony took place on the lawn of the GW Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, while the reception was inside the Assembly Hall. This was my first time here and the facility guys were awesome! So incredibly helpful. More notes below.

eaTip: Lighting is an effective design element that people often don't think about. The GW Masonic Memorial Assembly Hall had marble column surrounding the perimeter. To highlight this architectural element, the groom installed uplights himself with amber-colored gels to cast a soft glow on the columns. You could certainly go without the lighting but it really does add dimension to the whole look. If you are not a do-it-yourselfer, you could get an affordable lighting setup with a lighting company.Contact us and we can refer you to excellent lighting companies!

Caterer: Helga's Catering. Not bad. First time working with them. They served paella which was great. And one of the bartenders, Maria, helped me set up, offered to get me a drink and get me food. She was so nice!! Their Tres Leche Cake was delicious (I could have had a 2nd piece)
Photographer: Russell Hirshon. Awesome guy. So nice, low-maintenance, got right into the middle of the action (he was inside the circle during the hora!)
Guitarist: Jarrett Laskey

The escort card table (afterwards). In the center of the table closest are boxes of favors (glass coaster set) which served double duty as the escort cards.

Assembly Hall of the GW Masonic Memorial where the reception took place. It's a neat spot with marble floors and columns. The groom setup his own uplighting with amber-colored gels. The far end is the band. It was a snug fit for 150 people. I would recommend about 130. The room also echoes a lot so beware of the sound.

GW Masonic Memorial at night!

Congratulations Alexis & Brian!

Alexis lives the typical life of a consultant. On travel Monday-Friday in some other part of the country. Although they only hired me for the reception, they were one of the easiest people to work with during the planning process.

Reception Site: International Country Club, Fairfax, VA
Floral Design: Petals Edge
Photographers: Bill & Marie Piacesi. My first time working with this husband & wife team and I can't wait to do it again!
DJ: Kirk Rubley
Cake: Cakes by Carolyn. I think Carolyn is the exclusive baker for several of the local country clubs. She really does do beautiful cakes. She also did this cake last year.

The escort cards looked very classy on the grand piano.

Beautiful and tasty cake by Cakes by Carolyn.

Alexis and Brian got all many of their family members to contribute wedding pictures. There were so precious black & whites. The floral centerpiece here is by Petals Edge.

I set up some luminaries along the driveway for Alexis and Brian's exit. Very cool. They come with a plastic insert, which you fill with water to weigh down the bag. Also in the plastic insert is a niche carved out for a tealight candle.

The ballroom at the International Country Club

The ladies at Petals Edge did two different types of centerpieces.

eaTip #1: As you saw above, we put the escort cards on the piano in the lounge area. If your venue has existing furniture (a credenza, dressers, tables) that you can use for your escort card, gift and/or cake table, why not make use of it! It will save you money from having to rent additional tables and linens.

eaTip #2: If you are doing luminaries like the ones Alexis used, be sure to weigh the bags down so as not to cause any fire hazards. You can use sand. The ones Alexis used come with a plastic container that can be filled wither water.

Contact us and we can help you find ways to cut cost and to have a safe event!

Congratulations Rachel & Ariel!

Where to begin with this story? So many interesting tidbits about this wedding. Rachel & Ariel are both lawyers. Ariel's whole family is musically gifted (more on this later). The only word I can think of for how I would describe the planning of this wedding was: adventurous!

Site: Decatur House, DC
Caterer: Basikneads & chocolate fountain by The Chocolate Chick
Photographer: David Lee & Dana Romanoff (friend of the bride & groom)
DJ: Brad Hill
Floral Designer: Greenworks Cynthia Kim was our designer and was awesome! First, Rachel didn't decide that she wanted some flowers until just 2 weeks before the wedding. Cynthia squeezed us in with very little direction and came up with some gorgeous arrangements. See photo below.

This was one of the most memorial and special ceremonies I've ever witnessed. First, 2 of Ariel's friends from high school and his stepfather taught the guests how to sing the Kol Ha Neshamah in rounds. Once the guests got the hang of it, we started the processional as the song continued. Then, Ariel's father played an excerpt from Klezmers' Wedding Music on his violin. Followed by traditional Jewish ceremonial parts. As Rachel & Ariel did the Hakaphah (circling), 8 of Ariel's friends sang Dodi Li in a capella. All incredibly moving. [At the rehearsal, I had heard the acapella and it literally gave me goosebumps.]

Rabbi Biber had this chuppah structure created (it came along with tech support .. ha ha!) but it's a bit plain. So Rachel & Ariel literally handed me the pieces and a bolt of fabric and asked me to do my magic. OK! I experimented with covering the poles in shear fabric while using their personal tallits (prayer shawls) as the top covering. It wasn't bad except the tallits didn't exactly cover the whole top, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a canopy. Take #2. Wouldn't you know it! I just happen to have some sticks that I got from Laura at Soiree Special Events just a week or 2 ago. I was able to reuse them as covering for the poles, lending a more natural look which worked really well in the setting of the Decatur courtyard.

Attempt #1Attempt #2 - Better.

After dinner, waiters passed out chocolate truffles made with love from one of Rachel & Ariel's friend Justine Pringle of Nunu Chocolates.

Guests LOVED the candy bar! Everybody scooped some on their way out! One of Rachel's bridesmaids provided the candy.

The amber-lit tent over the courtyard at Decatur House. Rachel & Ariel are seated in the center of the photo while listening to the toasts.

The ever-popular polaroid guestbook. I usually have someone designated as the picture-taker. This was a DIY version where everybody took their own pictures and it worked out great also!

The buffet arrangement by Greenworks.

The Carriage House of the Decatur House, all set up for the cocktail hour. We used a mix of brown and orange crush type tablecloth on all the tables. Very iridescent and festive.

eaTips: If you are having food stations or a heavy hors d'oeuvre reception (i.e. stir fry station, grilling station), spread the stations around so that the guests don't create a traffic jam at one station. You may also want to consider two smaller bars. Guests love to congregate around the bar. Also for heavy hors d'oeuvres, think about seating. This style of reception typically does not have seating for everyone. Is that going to be an issue for your guests? Contact us and we can help you design your event to make sure all your guests are comfortable!

Could it be? Will I suffer my first case of wedding withdrawal??

Congratulations Heather & Moses! I LOVED working on this wedding. My first big, practically full planning wedding and what a blast! I worked my butt off but it was worth every minute. I haven't tallied up my total hours yet but I'm sure it's a huge number. The last week alone I worked at least 40 hours. Heather & Moses hired me back in February so we were a bit crunched with time. With them living in San Diego, it was going to be a challenge but with today's technology, it was pretty easy. We had some long phone conversations but otherwise, we did most of the planning via email. I also setup a website where we could all post and share pictures and files. They are such a cute couple and you could tell they were totally into each other. Heather is bit hippie and free-spirited. Moses, with his dreads, is a techie by day and musician by night. Where else did they meet but on-line! Let's get into the nitty gritty. I think this wedding is best told through pictures (mine were all taken when I had 1 second to spare; the professional photos will done it much better justice). First off, the wedding was held on Heather's parents 50 acre property, across from the Whites Ferry dock in Leesburg. The grounds were breathtaking on their own and so we just really need to incorporate it and work with it in the design rather than try to fight it in anyway. You could see the Potomac River.

Theme: Chic garden party Colors: all shades of orange accented with green and white

The ceremony was held in a secluded part of the property we discovered while doing the first site inspection. I loved this spot because it was more intimate for the ceremony since it was surrounded by a wall of boxwood hedges.

Design Elements

Flowers: Jennifer Morris created a beautiful arch to anchor the space. Penny outdid herself with all the gardening she had done throughout the spring and summer. We used all of her beautiful flowers to decorate the site, keeping it all very natural and lush. We set ferns on tree stumps to create the aisle as well as anchor the back of the arch. Chairs: We rented dark wood folding chairs to complement nature (instead of harsh white and folding chairs do better on grass than chivari). Decor: We kept the non-plant decor to a minimum because it really didn't need it. We had programs which continued the lily of the valley design from the invitations and folded in such a neat way. We had two of Heather's cousins take polaroid photos for the guestbook. That was it! Hospitality Items: Because of the hot temperatures, we had water, limeade, and fans ready for the guests. At rehearsal the day before, we scheduled it so it was exactly the same time as the ceremony. So we were able to figure out where the sun was and where the shady spots were. We moved the chairs back to get as many seats in the shade as possible. Special Touches: Heather & Moses wanted to include a bunch of children in the ceremony. So we had 3 boys ringing bells yelling, "the bride is coming! the bride is coming!" One of the boys carried a special box Moses had given to Heather. It was so cute! And then we had 4 flower girls. A BIG THANK YOU to all the parents that helped coral the kids! At the end of the ceremony, we popped some champagne and the bride and groom and bridal party toasted all the guests..

The ferns and chairs of the ceremony area. I'll try to find a good photo of the arch.

Tangerine clad bridesmaids - dress is from J. Crew!

Programs, fans & polaroids!

Programs by talent Sarah Meyer at Haute Papier

Bouquets galore!

Groomsmen looking dashing in their tan suits.

For cocktail hour, we moved the guests over towards the front of the house which sits up higher and has a spectacular view of the Potomac River.

Design Elements

Decor: We used a garden trellis to display the escort cards, which flanked the polaroid guestbook. We secured the escort cards with mini clothespins and handwritten by yours truly. We also used some of the family's garden furniture for seating in this area. Flowers: We kept things simple but interesting. We used pieces of logs and Jennifer inserted flowers into them a hole that we drilled through the center. Looked so cute!

Finally for dinner & dancing, we moved into the tent area which was situation on the most open part of the lawn.

Design Elements

Decor: My favorite part! We decorated the tent with various shades of orange paper lanterns. The tables had a celery colored triple pintuck tablecloth, with a simple table number and tangerine colored candles. At each place setting, we placed a sprig of rosemary in each napkin. I also designed several menu boards, just like at a restaurant, to describe the forth coming feast! Also, the groom's father is an incredible craftsman and artist and made us these great wooden signs. Flowers: For the centerpiece, we did a cluster of 3 arrangements of flowers in the wedding colors, including snapdragons which were Heather's favorites. For the Kids: To keep the little ones entertained, we did a special kids table filled with crayons, coloring books, drawing pads and they got their own buffet! We also put some toys out on the lawn for them to play with during the night. The Lounge: My absolute favorite part of the whole thing! The grounds keeper put up 4 posts for me and then I strung some shear panels to create a lounge feel. Thanks to the family's garden furniture, all the guests loved the lounge area for relaxing and chitchatting.

The only 2 vendors I had worked with before were the DJ and caterer so I was crossing my fingers that everything would work out. Team H&M included:

• DJ: Mike Valenti - I love Mikey V. He just knows how to keep the dancing started and going. He knows how to read the crowd. How to get ALL your guests dancing, including grandma.
• Florist: J. Morris Flowers - First time using Jennifer. With Heather & Moses living in San Diego and only coming in for one weekend to interview all the vendors, I really needed to find a bunch of vendors in the vicinity of Leesburg, which I didn't know very well. Jennifer was an apprentice under Barbara von Elm at Growing Wild. She was great at the wedding - helping with getting the flowers to all the bridal party. She did a great job designing all the flowers to match our style for a very reasonable price.
• Tent: L&A Tents - a recommendation from Fusions Cuisine. John Driver runs the technical side and Debra Driver the business side. His staff worked late into the night to get the tent up. My only complaint was this: we ordered the frame tent specifically because the client did not want poles in the middle of the tent. For some reason, the day they came to do the install, a pole tent went up. Why do people not read their own contracts? So they had to come back, take down the old tent, and put up a new tent. No big deal except we had to delay the rentals by one day, which pushed some of my setup plans back one day.
• Bathrooms: Alpine Sanitation - first time using them. We rented a 15' mobile/trailer restroom. The restroom was in great condition and comes with plenty of supplies.
• Caterer: Fusions Cuisine- I owe Blaise a big THANK YOU for referring me for this job. This was a foodies dream. We had a 6-course dinner. Small plates. I don't think I will do 6-courses again, maybe 4-courses at most. They are very responsive to the client's needs. The staff was incredible. Jim and Lauren supervisors and our bride stalker Richard.
• Officiant: Rev. Norma Peyton - I have done several weddings with Rev. Peyton's husband Wesley before but he was not available. She is so cute! She can project her voice like all good officiants even in an outdoor setting with no amplification. But you just couldn't believe that volume coming from such a small lady.
• String Quartet: Stereo Strings - booked through Bialeks. I never have time to sit and listen to the strings but they sounded nice from what I could hear.
• Baker: Too Nice to Slice - Lynn Whitley. Lynn is so skilled in making sugar flowers that looked so real. She saved the day by leaving the cake on the "Cake gurney". We had to leave the cake inside the house because of the hot temperature. So to transport the cake from the house to the tent, we had to put it on the back of a pickup truck, drive down a slope, with two people holding the cake on the back of the pickup, and 2 of us walking bside it. Man! I wish I had taken a picture of that!
• Invitations & Paper Products: Haute Papier - Sarah Meyer is such a talent designer and puts such effort into each client's work. She did our rehearsal dinner & wedding invitations, table numbers and programs. They set the perfect tone for the event.

We hope you have a great time in Maui!

eaTip: Nothing spoils a party faster than bad service. It's like going to a 4-star restaurant where the food is out of this world and you get terrible service. It just ruins the meal. Never, ever skim on servers. If you need to cut your catering budget, reduce the number and/or type of tables, linens, etc. Contact us and we can help you plan your event!