Washington, D.C. Wedding Blog – Real Weddings, Inspiring Ideas, Planning Tools, & Top Vendors in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia
Hotel Monaco Alexandria Cultural Wedding
Sareh Nouri 
Dance Band Showcase - Monday, February 6th
Mandarin Oriental Wedding
Edge Floral Event Designers
Bride Blogger Update: Shoes
More Upcoming January Events!
Strong Mansion Wedding
Fluffy Thoughts Cakes
Mount Vernon Inn
Bride Blogger Update: Cake!
District Favorites and Chic Longview Gallery Wedding
Beautiful Local Invitations
Upcoming January Events!
Mansion on O Street
Bride Blogger Update: Flowers
Modern Orthodox Jewish Gay Wedding
Tangerine Tango
Bride & Groom Unveiled
Much Ado About Nothing Tickets Giveaway
Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I was able to indulge in some lazy couch time browsing some of my favorite blogs…I cam across this place setting guide and just think it is perfect as we open up the holiday season! Happy December!
Credit: Mrs. Lilien
Planning a dream honeymoon on top of planning the perfect wedding can be extremely stressful. Luckily, full service travel agencies such as TravelWise of Virginia help you leave the stress behind as you jaunt off to paradise. The lovely Jenn Garbak offers up some expert advice for honeymooners below…
What services does TravelWise of Virginia offer to brides who are planning their honeymoon?
We are a full service Travel Agency with 20+ years combined experience. We are widely regarded within the travel industry as one of the foremost experts for honeymoon planning and travel, with benefits for even the most travel-savvy.
We work with the bride and groom to determine what their dream vacation is and then use our globetrotting expertise to create their dream honeymoon (within their budget, of course)! We handle all of the booking for accommodations, transportation and anything else you’ll need in advance and can obtain better deals for you than even the most discounted travel websites.
Most importantly, we offer personalized service from the beginning stages of planning your honeymoon to your arrival home. The agent you work with to create your dream honeymoon, is the same agent communicating with the concierge of your destination before and during your stay making sure everything is PERFECT!
Inspiration boards can be key to getting all of your vendors on the same page. They can even remind you of patterns that you have found along the way displaying your likes and loves. Today, Marybeth tells us about the latest craze in picture collection — and watch out, it is so fabulous!
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When James and I first got engaged, I immediately bought multiple wedding and bridal magazines. Each time I came across a dress or caked I liked, I ripped the page from the magazine. I planned to save the pages and when the time came to pick a cake or invitations, I would have examples of what I liked to show our planner. I quickly amassed a huge pile of ripped magazine pages, and two weeks later I already had trouble finding specific pictures. There was no way I would make it a year plus with this lack of organization, but a few weeks ago I discovered the best solution, Pinterest.com.
ACME Party Box just introduced a brand new product – “photo booth” backdrops!
Available in a wide range of chic colors and designs, ACME Party Box’s custom “photo booth” backdrop comes with two chalkboard “bubbles” that wedding guests can write their own messages on to the bride and groom. These are retailing for $135.00, perfect for those who have not necessarily budgeted for a full traditional photo booth.
The 3.5′ x 7′ backdrop can be repurposed in a many different ways post-wedding, keeping in line with ACME’s philosophy of sustainability and reuse. Seriously, they have so many cute things, I can’t stand it!!
The Dandelion Patch is pretty much my heaven. The local stationery stores are filled to the brim with beautiful paper and fabulous gifts. I actually am quite certain that I could go on a shopping spree there daily.
Next week is the grand opening of it’s fourth retail location in Leesburg, VA - June 29, 2011 in The Village at Leesburg Shopping Center from 7pm – 9pm.
Just in time to celebrate, I was able to catch up with Heidi Kallett, owner and business guru, to hear more about The Dandelion Patch.
What is your background and how did you get into the industry?
I was the President of the Junior League of Northern Virginia and in the middle of my term, my husband asked what I was going to do after my term expired. He encouraged me to do the same thing that I’d done successfully with the JLNV in a business of my own: motivate, inspire, lead and grow.
So after a dinner with my girlfriends, it was determined that I was “that mom” … you know… the kind that for my kids’ birthday parties had all the matching paper goods, the paper invitations (of course!), the party game that matched the theme, and the perfect favors.
Soon afterwards, I learned that The Dandelion Patch was for sale in Vienna. Now, the store wasn’t what you see now– it had about 75 loyal customers and a reasonable reputation in the local marketplace. But no website, no logo, located in a small, warehouse district in Vienna and no real brand. However, I know enough about myself to realize that I am much better “editing a piece of paper, than starting from scratch”… so buying an existing company was the best option for me.
The best thing I did when I started was to write a master business plan. That research made me quickly realize that there was a need in the DC area for a brick and mortar retailer that focused on the high end, custom invitations of all life milestones.
Now, 7 years later we are part of the fabric in thousands of family households through our experiences in working with their birth announcements, Bar/Bat Mitzvah invitations, and of course– our custom wedding suites.
District Weddings Editor
