Braving the February weather for a photo outside! Photo by Kate Hauschka.

Colors: We worked primarily with teal, fuchsia, and navy blue, with a pop of white.

Design Concept: Kristin loved paper pom-poms so we had them everywhere. She was also a huge Beatles fan and you will see that reflect in some of the design details. We used vinyl 45 records with Beatles albums as table numbers and some of Kristin’s collectibles as decor. We found a bunch of old records and used them for decor (Freecycle was a treasure trove of giveaway records). The ones we chose were all love songs. Kristin had given Brian a slinky as a gift a long time ago and Brian loves playing with it so that inspired us to give mini Slinkys as favors/escort cards and as a holder for the table numbers. Check out the photos by Kate Hauschka.

The album guestbook. Photo by Kate Hauschka

The Beatles album Table Names. Photo by Kate Hauschka

The Slinky escort cards/favors. Photo by Kate Hauschka

The escort card table welcomed guests after the ceremony, featuring those paper pom-poms. Photo: Vicky Choy

How Do I Submit My Announcement?
You may submit your announcement by email or fax to the addresses above.
Please include your name, mailing address, home and daytime phone numbers when you submit your announcement. You may write your own announcement. See the checklist at the end of the guide for helpful hints.

How Do I Submit A Photograph?
The easiest way is to email your photograph to weddings@washpost.com. The photograph must be a JPEG, TIF, BMP, EPS or PDF file with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. The original photograph can range in size from wallet up to 8’ x 10”. No negatives or slides are accepted. The Post does not guarantee return of photographs. If you are sending a photograph taken by a professional, photographer, please include their name so we can include a credit line in your announcement.

When Do I Have To Submit My Announcement?
In order to be published in the Sunday Style and Arts section, we need to receive your announcement and photograph no later than 1:00 pm on Mondays. We will then send you a proof of your announcement for your approval. We need to receive your approval and payment no later than 1:00 pm on Tuesdays.

How Do I Pay For My Announcement?
All announcements must be paid prior to deadline. We accept MasterCard, Visa and American Express.

What Sizes Are Available?
There are no set sizes for these announcements. The size depends upon the amount of text you’d like to include in your announcement and the size of the photograph. The two main formats for celebration announcements are single and double column. See the guide for more information.

How Much Does It Cost To Run An Announcement?
The exact cost depends upon the size of your announcement. There are approximately eight lines of text in a column inch, and the rate is $50.00 per inch per column. Announcements with photographs range in cost from $300 for a short single column announcement. A small double column announcement costs approximately $600.

Venue: Virtue Feed & Grain

Food & Drink: Contemporary American. The team behind Restaurant Eve, Eamonns/PX and The Majestic brings a fun modern American tavern. Mixologist Todd Thrasher from Restaurant Eve also oversees the libations here.

Private Dining Options: Virtue has 1 private (Game Parlor) and 1 semi-private space available for private parties.  Their plated or family style menus for Fridays and Saturdays are $75++ and include 3 hours, welcome Hoptail & Canapes, and 3 Course Dinner. The Game Parlor can also host a cocktail style reception at $50++ for 2 hours and includes Welcome Hoptail, Select Beer, Select Wine, and 8 passed or displayed hors d’oeuvres or mini desserts. Please contact for Jeana Connaughton, Private Events Manager for your updated, customized menu.

The Game Parlor has a pool table, vintage arcade games and TVs as well as fantastic views of the Potomac River. I saw them put a hard tabletop over the pool table to make it a dining room table, seating up to 22 guests. The Game Parlor can host up to 50 people standing.

Game Parlor. The windows in the back open up to a beautiful view of the Potomac River. Photo: Virtue Feed & Grain

At the top of the stairs is the “Stage,” which has a long banquet table seating up to 16 guests. There is curtain that can drawn for privacy.

The 2nd Floor Stage Table. Photo: Virtue Feed & Grain

You can also reserve the upstairs Bar and/or lounge area, a great space for a welcome party. A menu of hors d’oeuvres can be ordered in advance.

Hightop Tables

Transit & Parking: Street Parking is available and there are several parking garages along S. Union Street.  The nearest metro station is the King Street Metro.

Advantages:

• Great gastro-pub style food & fun beverage options
• In the heart of Old Town Alexandria
• Can host both the rehearsal dinner and have other guests join later for a welcome party
• Near other bars for other “Welcome Party” options
• Within walking distance from some hotels
• Ideal spot for weddings being held at venues like River Farm, Torpedo Factory, George Washington Masonic Memorial or Mount Vernon, or hotels (Hotel Monaco, Lorien Hotel)

Challenges:

• No dedicated parking
• For seated dinners, the spaces are ideal only for small groups.
• Old Town Alexandria can be very congested during high tourist seasons

What do you win? The winner will get a free 1-2 hour Love session with me (Whether it’s an engagement session, a post wedding session, a portrait session) and have their story and session posted on the blog for all eyes to see and share in the fun!

To Enter:

1. Like the Kate Haus Photography Facebook Page

2. Write your story in 1000 words or less and send it off to k@katehaus.com with the Subject line: Love my story!!

The contest ends on the 28th of February and the winner will be announced March 5th. **In order to win you must be located within 100miles of the Washington DC area. And schedule the photo session before February 2013.

Here is the Bialek’s lineup. You must RSVP to attend so call 301.340.6206 or email today to reserve your space for any of these upcoming performances! View all these great bands at their website

PHOENIX Friday, February 3, 2012 from 7:30-9pm at Perfect Sound, 5524 Tuxedo Road, Hyattsville, MD 20785 301.322.9400:

DOCTORS ORDERS Wednesday, February 8, 2012 from 8-9PM at Jerry’s Music, 5040 Boiling Brook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20852 301.907.6900 *Saw them at a showcase a while back and would describe them as a classy variety band.

KALEIDOSCOPE Friday, February 17, 2012 from 7-9PM, Troutman Residence, 13813 Hidden Glen Lane, North Potomac, MD 20878 301.977.0141 *Loved Kaleidoscope at a wedding from a few years ago. Great female lead vocals. Variety band and great for motown with their outstanding horn section.

BROADSOUND Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 8-9pm at Jerry’s Music, 5040 Boiling Brook Parkway,Rockville, MD 20852 301.907.6900

Here is Washington Talent’s lineup. Be sure to visit their website for more information. All performances are held at their Rockville, MD studio.

Encore Tues, Feb 7th

Spectrum Mon, Feb 13th

ONYX Thurs, Feb 16th *Super high energy band from a wedding a few years ago. You can’t really go wrong with this band.

Prime Time  Tues, Feb 21st

Millennium Wed, Feb 22nd *One of my favorites, featuring American Idol finalist Travis Tucker. Not only are they are great variety band, but the thing I love the most was their strip down acoustic set during dinner. It really shows off the talent of the performers.

Black Tie Mon, Feb 27th

While not the best photo by yours truly, you can see a mix of high and low cocktail tables, squares and rounds. The room has a casual flow for this cocktail style reception seating.

• If you are not having assigned seating at all, no matter the food service format (heavy hors d’oeuvres, stations or buffets), consider doing your speeches during cocktail hour, before the guests are requested to find a seat for dinner. During one of the speeches, someone should explain to your guests the format of the evening. This should help alleviate confusion.
• If you do a cocktail style reception serving heavy hors d’oeuvres that preferably do not require a knife, do not use any large tables. If you must, have as few as possible. Perhaps just 2 for both sides of the immediate families. Instead, use a mix of tall and short cocktail tables or sofas with coffee tables. It’s a casual style of seating meant to keep people moving and not plant themselves down too long anywhere. Typically, this also means that there is not a chair for every guest.
• Use your event timeline to your advantage. For example, we had a cocktail style wedding reception this past weekend for a Jewish couple. There was not a chair for every guests. At the start of the reception, we started with a rigorous dance set starting with the hora, the longest version. About 20 minutes into the dance set, we opened the 3 food stations without any announcement. Those guests who were not already on the dance floor were invited to go up to the stations and start eating. The dance set continued for another 20-30 minutes and many guests continued to dance. By the time the set finished, the first group of guests that hit the stations had finished eat, freeing up seats for the next group.

While I think assigned tables are best when you have a fully plated dinner service, no assigned seating is certainly appropriate for some styles of receptions. Just make sure you try one of our tips above to help out your guests. I hope this help! — Vicky

What is the difference between escort cards and place cards? I see this topic discussed everywhere but it bears repeating because I continue to see the two terms used interchangeably even though they have totally different definitions. Drives me bonkers! Escort cards, in any form, are usually located on a table situated in an area preceding the dinner tables. The cards usually look like the Photo #1 below. The card directs, hence escorts,  the guests to their assigned table. Once at their designated table, guests can sit in any seat they like, unless they see a place card. A place card (See Photo #2) would indicate a specifically assigned seat for each guest at each table.

Photo #1: Escort Cards laid out alphabetically

Photo #2: A menu card acting as a place card since it has my name on it at the very top.

When do you need an escort card? You need to use escort cards, in any form, whenever you are pre-assigning guests to specific tables.

Tips for Designing Escort Cards

• ALPHABETIZE.  ALPHABETIZE. ALPHABETIZE. Arrange your guests names alphabetically by last name. I cannot emphasize it enough. Do not organize by table numbers. Imagine trying to quickly locate your own name amongst a guest list of 200 if it is not listed alphabetically. The only exception I can see is if you have fewer than 50 guests, then you can sort by table numbers (See Photo #3).
• Locate your escort card table or chart display in a central location in your cocktail hour space where everyone will see it. They can take their time finding themselves.
• You do not have to use actual cards. Sometimes your escort card can do double duty as favors. (See Photo #4) You can use a seating chart or provide the guest list to a few ushers and the ushers can then physically escort the guests to their designated tables. No matter the method, the basic information of names and tables numbers should be provided in a legible font
  

  Photo #3: A seating chart for a smaller reception

Photo #4 by Kristi Odom. My client is a pharmacist and she used pill bottles filled with M&Ms as her escort 'cards' and favors.

If you are using escort cards only and are offering entree choices:

• It is best to have one escort card per guest instead of one per couple or family. For example, you would have one escort card for Mr. John Smith and one for Mrs. Susan Smith, instead of one escort card for both Mr. & Mrs. John Smith. This way, you can use the escort card to indicate to the server the guest’s selected entree.
• Please make sure that the method you use to distinguish between entree choices can be easily differentiated by the server. This means it needs to be legible in dim light and from a distance. (See Photo #5)
• If you are using escort cards to designate entree selections, please have your DJ or band leader make an announcement as guests are seated to have them place their respective escort cards on the table in front of them for the servers to see.

Photo #5: The escort cards were stamped with an icon of the selected entree. In this case, these guests were having steak! Photo by Garrett Hubbard

This was a lot of information. Have questions? Contact us and we will try to help. — Vicky

• Obtain blank floor plans from your venue. You can use the blank ones to sketch out your ideas on layout. Also, get sample floor plans from previous events held at your venue to see what works well and what doesn’t in your space like my Sample Floor Plan #1 above.
• Work with your wedding planner, catering manager and facility manager. Pick their brains on how your event should be laid out based on your guest count and needs. You need to have sufficient space for guests to eat comfortably, and for servers to walk between tables to serve food and clear dinnerware without having your guests move their chairs.
• Get this information early on. The floor plan affects many aspects of your event like your tables, tablecloths, centerpieces, lighting, and escort cards.
• Find out the size of the dinner tables and how many guests each table can hold. This will determine the number of tables you need.
• If you are using table numbers, assign the tables numerically in order. If you are using words for your table markers, do this only if you have 10 tables or less. Any more tables and it might be difficult for a guest to find the “London” table amongst 20 tables.
• Many times, couples start their table assignments by making groupings of friends and family without thinking about how the tables will be numbered on their floor plans. Often, the head table ends up being Table #1. The problem with this is that the head table usually ends up in a central location and could throw off the rest of the numbering like in my Sample Floor Plan #2 below. While this example is not the worst case scenario, imagine you walk into the ballroom near Table 3 and you are seated at Table 4, it is not obvious that you should go to the left side of the ballroom.

• If you want to start grouping your guests into tables early, which I encourage you to do, start by giving your tables a letter like Tables A-Z. The idea is to not to use your actual table number or name yet. So Head Table might be Table A. Once you know how the numbers will be laid out, you can transpose your list to match the floor plan, i.e. Table A = Table 8 (see the example in Sample Floor Plan #3 below).
  

  Sample Floor Plan #3: Tables are in numerical order. In this case, the married couple sat at Table #8.

•  Be mindful of where the speakers for the DJ or band are located. You may not want to put your grandma or elderly guests too close to the speakers.
• You must leave sufficient room around where the bar is located to allow for people to stand in front of the bar with crowding those who are seating near it. The same goes for the cake. You don’t want someone to back up his/her chair into your lovely cake.

Finally, don’t over think it. Guests sit for dinner for about 1-1.5 hours. If they don’t like where they are sitting, they can get up and go elsewhere after dinner. I hope this help! — Vicky

For the month of January 2012, all Punk Rock Bride dresses will be 10% off. This applies to the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 Collections. Dresses must be purchased within the month of January. 2011 Emma Collection is excluded.

The 2012 Collection features the following 5 new designs. Happy Shopping! Vicky

The Rachel: a full gown all composed of a structured silk faille.

The Jessica: a layered A-line gown with an embroidered waistband and skirt trim.

The Meagan: a silk cotton bell-shaped gown with a rouched and pleated silk organza overlay. This is my personal favorite from this collection. Love the silk and wool waistline belt

The Michelle: a multi-layered strapless full gown with five different fabrics.

The Molly: a silk charmeuse A-line gown. Love the textured nobby silk overlay.

]]> http://eventaccomplished.com/2012/01/punk-rock-bride-2012-wedding-gown-collection-winter-sale/feed/ 0 http://eventaccomplished.com/2012/01/rehearsal-dinner-carmines-dc/ http://eventaccomplished.com/2012/01/rehearsal-dinner-carmines-dc/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:30:50 +0000 Vicky Choy http://eventaccomplished.com/?p=2514 From recent conversations with my clients, they are having more and more guests at rehearsal dinners. Are you looking for a space that can hold upwards of 100 guests, check out Carmine’s in the Chinatown/Verizon Center area. This restaurant could also work for an intimate wedding. — Vicky

Carmine's Back Dining Room can seat up to 120 guests with its own bar. Photo: Carmine's

Venue: Carmine’s

Food & Drink: Family style southern Italian restaurant which started in New York. It boasts the largest dining spaces in Washington, DC.

Private Dining Options: Carmine’s has 9 options for private or semi-private dining, ranging from 2 boardrooms that seat 18 to the back dining room that seats 120 people with its own private bar.  Their sample menus ranged from $38-$55++ but please contact for Kyle Carnegie, Director of Special Events and Catering for your updated, customized menu.

Transit & Parking: The restaurant provides valet parking for $11. The closest Metro rail stop is Gallery Place/Chinatown.

Advantages:

• Large number of Private and semi-private options and ability to host larger groups
• The menu rarely changes so it would be easy to plan the menu for your event far in advance.
• Guests staying at the Hotel Monaco in Chinatown can walk to Carmine’s.
• Centrally located, a good option if your reception is at Hotel Monaco, Ronald Reagan Building, Andrew Mellon Auditorium, Harman Center for the Arts, and many other hotels and venues in the downtown area .
• Your guests can wander around Chinatown area before or after dinner.
• Close to a variety of bars and other restaurants for a Welcome Party

Challenges:

• Evening rush hour can be a nightmare in that area.
• Traffic and crowds can also be an issue if there is a sporting or special event going on at the Verizon Center.

Carmine's DaVinci Room can seat up to 72 guests and also has its own private bar. The sliding doors can open to join with the adjacent Toscanini Room for larger events.

Featuring a fireplace, the Toscanini Room can seat 52 people.

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