Mukta and James wanted their guests to have a wonderful time at a wedding that reflected the two of them as individuals and as a couple. Menu planning was of the utmost importance to the couple, given James’ Midwest roots and Mukta’s Indian heritage. Their stationed dinner offered steak and potatoes, sushi, Indian “street food” and a vegetarian salad station. The famous Georgetown Cupcake provided the post-dinner sweets – yum!

Mukta and James paid homage to Mukta’s culture with their color palette as well as the use of an elephant motif – ooo I love!

The fabulous vendor team:

Photography: Amie Otto Photography

Wedding Planner: Janice Carnevale of Bellwether Events

Venue: Hotel Monaco

Officiant: Ed Ingebretsen

Cupcakes: Georgetown Cupcake

Florals: Growing Wild Floral Design

Hair and Make Up Styling: Wendy Rae

Videography: Blue Sky Films

Photobooth: Reliable Photobooths

Rentals: DaVinci’s Florist

DJ and Lighting: DJ Angie D

This past November, at Sixth and I Synagogue, they were married by Rabbi Steve Greenberg surrounded by family and friends from the D.C. Minyan where the are members. Ron and Yoni took the better part of a year to create the ceremony, adapting the traditional Orthodox Jewish wedding ceremony to be acceptable for a gay couple. Very special!

The fabulous vendor team:

Photographer: Michael Temchine Photography

Venue: Hotel Monaco

Lighting: Washington Talent 

Videography: Blue Sky Films

Band: Kol Chayim Orchestra

DJ: Marc Wilmer via Washington Talent 

Wedding Coordinator: Susan Massin of Concierge America   

This Orthodox Jewish wedding was filled with fabulous traditions and customs. There was the Tish, where the woman and men gather separately to greet and praise the bride and groom; the mothers breaking a dish at the signing of the Ketubah; and an oh-so energetic 40-minute Hora – now that is one long, fun Hora!

The fabulous vendor team:

Venue: Park Hyatt Hotel

Photography: Deb Lindsey

Florist:  Yellow Door Floral Designs

Band:  Spectrum

Dress: Anne Barge from Hitched

Shoes: Badgely Mischka

Hair and Makeup: Bridal Artistry

The fabulous vendor team:

Ceremony and Reception: The Willard

Planner: SoCo Events

Photography: Deb Lindsey

DJ: Dan Goldman of Bialek’s

Florals and Lighting: DaVinci Florist and Lighting

Favors: June B Sweets

Dress: Hannelore’s

Makeup: Stacy Ferguson

The couple embraced the elegance of the St. Regis ballroom while staying true to their own personal style.  Hiram is a composer, and his close friends provided the ceremony music.  Later in the evening. guests were surprised when District Taco arrived late night for a little street food action just outside of the Astor Terrace at the gorgeous St. Regis.

Happy Monday and enjoy this fun, fun, fun wedding!

From the oh-so lovely bride:

Hiram and I wanted to have a wedding that represented us as a couple by enjoying great food, in an elegant but comfortable outdoor space. This was the first time our families were going to meet so we wanted everything to be just right!

We debated renting a property and using a caterer versus going full-package with a hotel. We shopped around both options until we found the St. Regis. We loved their outdoor Astor Terrace, just off the Astor Ballroom and we were very excited about what their kitchen could do for us.

The wedding was in early May so the weather allowed us to have the ceremony outside on the terrace. After the ceremony we lead our guests to the lobby and the hotel salon for cocktails while the staff transformed the outdoor space into a super-cool lounge complete with strings of lights overhead (a brilliant idea from our planner Kate Harlan). After cocktails we led everyone into the ballroom which was exquisitely decorated with a mix of floral designs in mercury glass and glass and a wash of peach light. The inspiration for the whole color scheme was a previous design that we had seen in floral designer Philippa Tarrant’s portfolio.

We worked closely with the St. Regis on every aspect of our dinner menu. Events planner Haydee Gamez and chef Andrew Roche accommodated our desire to incorporate seasonal flavors that Hiram and I seek out each spring; wild ramps and morels, as well as our favorite Italian wines. I am in the food business myself and I was very pleased with the high quality and value of the dinner that was served.

To honor my husband’s Mexican heritage, we hired District Taco to serve late-night snacks from their cart. Haydee Gamez and the St. Regis had no problem with this service and even let the guys roll up on the lawn to be closer to our guests. I need to note that again, this was one of Kate Harlan’s great ideas and it is something that our guests are still talking about!

While the East Village Exchange was rocking the ballroom, the terrace was a wonderful escape for us to spend some time talking with our families and friends. Everyone was so receptive to the use of the terrace, first as a serene ceremony backdrop and then as a magical lounge area complete with rented sofas from AFR. Seriously though, I hardly left the dance floor that night because that band is incredibly talented!

Picking the East Village Exchange (from Elan Artists) was something that my husband was insistent on because he’s a composer and many of our friends are musicians. We knew that the East Village Exchange would deliver a high-quality performance in a variety of styles. When we asked them to learn a Mexican song for us they had no problem getting it completely right.

Our documentarian for the event was the fabulous Kate Headley, who clicked the night away using film cameras exclusively. Her prints are so evocative and beautiful, they are as real to me as my own memories of our wedding. We received our album exactly when it was promised to us so we were able to re-live the night shortly afterwards. Hiram and I had the time of our lives at our wedding and we owe it all to our superb vendors.

The fabulous vendor team:

Photography: Kate Headley Photography

Ceremony: St. Regis, Washington DC

Reception: Astor Ballroom and Astor Terrace at St. Regis, Washington DC

Florist: Philippa Tarrant

Wedding Planner: Kate Harlan, Simply Chic Events

Lighting: FROST Lighting

Furniture: AFR Furniture Rental

Hair: Petra Gephardt

Makeup: The Andre Chreky Salon

Late Night Bites: District Taco

The fabulous vendor team:

Venue: The Andrew W.Mellon Auditorium

Photography: Freed

Planner: Plan-It Parties

The fabulous vendor team:

Ceremony & Reception & Caterer: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Photographer: Connor Studios

Planner:  Vicky Choy of Event Accomplished

Lighting: EventEq

Cake: IndAroma Bakery

Rentals & Decor: Nivanjoli

Videographer: Blue Sky Films

With a stunning bride, a romantic ball gown, a horse and carriage, a perfect Persian ceremony, and elaborate decor, this wedding was a total show stopper!

The Persian Sofreh (the spread or table) for the ceremony is breathtaking. Each piece on the table represents something meaningful — The honey and sugar are for sweetness and to enrich the sweetness of your life, the esfand (similar to incense) is to burn away the evil spirit, the mirror is to brighten your future, the bread is for prosperity for feasts for the couple’s life, while the jeweled eggs are for fertility.

First, there was a Hindu ceremony complete with a barat, the elaborate procession with the groom on a horse accompanied by his entire family, set to music.  The festivities were outside of the Ritz-Carlton on 22nd street, and drew quite a crowd. Aimee tells us that they “were nervous when a DC police car showed up — but luckily, the officer was Indian and loved it!!”

How amazing is the Indian Mandap by Sachi Sood? And, the decor by Volanni was so vibrant and absolutely AHH-MAZ-ING! The oh-so-talented Ralph Alswang of Alswang Photography captured the emotion, beauty and excitement of the day – fabulous pics!

The first ceremony was followed by a lunch at the West End Cafe in the Ritz with a Christian ceremony in the afternoon. The team changed the entire set up from oranges and magenta to cool ivory and blue for the Christian ceremony.  It was then that the bride changed into a white “western” style gown. For the Christian ceremony, the bridesmaids wore dresses of a lovely muted teal, with shimmering slate gray sashes and all carried individual bouquets with different types of flowers. Heidi’s bouquet featured flowers from all five bridesmaids’ as a special touch.

The reception had the most amazing entertainment – Two Indian dance troops, an “American” style big band called Fabulous Fantoms, and Indian DJ and a singer flown in from India. Talk about a party!

The guests were treated to a buffet dinner with American and Indian fare and danced until the wee hours.

Even the cake by Kendall’s Cakes had intricate designs, making it appear to be adorned with sapphire beads and jewels! It stood proudly in the room while guests dined at magenta and green tables with urns full of gorgeous flowers.

At each place setting, there was a box of cookies from One Girl Cookies in Brooklyn with baby photos of the bride and groom. Adorable!!

The lighting was done by Frost Lighting and absolutely completed the look and design!

The fabulous vendor team:

Planner: Aimee Dominick of A. Dominick Events

Photographer: Ralph Alswang

Floral and Decor: Volanni

Cake: Kendall’s Cakes

Venue and Catering: The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC

Lighting: Frost Lighting

Horse: Harmon Carriages

Band: Fabulous Fantoms

Favors: One Girl Cookies

In addition to running Elegance & Simplicity, Katie also manages the US Green Wedding Consortium (remember this wedding?), the US Couture Wedding Consortium, and Green Love Events (her green events firm).  Whew!  She’s a busy lady!

You can imagine how excited I was to hear from her.  Not only did she feature District Weddings on her blog (I was so flattered!), she also sent me these gorgeous photos of a recent wedding she planned.  Oh, and what do you know, the photos were captured by one of our District Faves — Love Life Images, Inc!

Susanna and Ariel were married at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.  They probably worked with my friend William!  Katie used hints of red and gold, as they are auspicious in the Chinese culture….

Did you notice those beautiful carnation pomander balls?  What a fabulous way to line an aisle, or even mark your “reserved seating” rows!

Such a fun wedding!  I love the Chinese dragon dancers.  Thanks for sharing, Katie!!

Next up today, I’ll be giving my own Bride Blogger update.  I’ve been anxious to tell you about my hair and make-up trials…