Real Wedding | Event Accomplished

April 22, 2009January 7, 2021Real WeddingLeave a comment

Real Wedding: Gwen & Adam Part 2

If you missed the vendor recap, go to Part 1. Can you believe I forgot my camera?! I never leave home without it! So here are a few teasers from Jan Graves and more are available on her blog here and here.

buffet — You can see one of the altar arrangements do double duty at one of the food stations.

Apple pie at Clarendon Ballroom — Instead of a groom’s cake, Adam chose apple pie, his favorite. Why not?

April 20, 2009January 7, 2021Real WeddingLeave a comment

Real Wedding: Gwen & Adam (Part 1)

The thing I remember most about this wedding is that Gwen and Adam looked happy and excited the entire day!

Church: Church of the Ascension resident at the Christ Church of Arlington.

Reception & Catering: Clarendon Ballroom. Excellent as usual. Because Gwen and Adam were going for more of a cocktail party vibe, the Ballroom did a mixture of cocktail tables, hightops, larger tables and lounge furniture! It was a fun alternative. The chef also made the cake which was moist, airy, and delicious!

Photographer: Jan Michele Photography. What I like about Jan is how proactive she is. She scouts out your ceremony and reception venues if they are locations she has not been to. She will also scout out some good locations for photos. Unlike most photographers, she also attends the ceremony rehearsal to work out any restrictions with the officiant and to meet the wedding party members. She had the photos edited and a slideshow up on her blog within 3 days! Talk about fast!

DJ: Mike Bell from MyDeejay.com. Mike did a great job.

Florist: James Cox

Makeup: Makeup by Brooke.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and the photos!

April 17, 2009March 24, 2021Real Wedding, TipsLeave a comment

Park Hyatt DC Spring Wedding (Part 2)

For the vendor recap, go to Part 1.

Beautiful white wreath by Philippa Tarrant at the Holy Trinity front doors

Escort card table at the Park Hyatt Hotel with floral arrangement by Philippa Tarrant — Escort Card Table

Park Hyatt ballroom with billowy fabric walls, washed with a soft amber up lights around the room and the pinspots highlighting the centerpieces — What a little pipe and drape can do to hide the otherwise boring ballroom walls. See the uplighting around the room and the pinspotting on the tall centerpieces?

Party Rentals gold grid organza overlay and gold bead clear charger — My new favorite: the gold grid organza overlay paired with the gold bead clear charger from Party Rentals. Note also the menu card and boxed favors. They were the most yummy chocolate covered pretzels.

eaTip #1 : Using a mix of hotel and rented linens help to keep the budget reasonable. You can select a few tables to highlight with specialty rental linens like we did here with the organza overlay for the sweetheart table. The cake table also got special treatment with a double layer of gold shimmer tablecloth.

eaTip #2 : It’s good to mix up the colors as you move from one part of the evening into another. For Abigail, her ceremony decor was mostly white/ivory. At the cocktail hour, we used the brown linens provided by the hotel. Once inside the ballroom for dinner and dancing, there were more touches of gold and deep red. While all the colors were present at each part of the event, the emphasis was on a different color at different parts of the evening. This will give you a coherent overall look but still allows you to vary things up a bit.

Sunday brunch at the Westin Grand Promenade. The floral centerpieces made a 2nd appearance too!

Category: Real Wedding