The fabulous vendor team:

Photography: Red Shoes Photography
Venue: Strong Mansion
Flowers: Fiore Florists
Band: The Real Geniuses
Catering: R&R Catering

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   

The hotel’s garden, which was in full bloom this past April, provided the perfect, elegant backdrop for this outdoor spring wedding.  The couple’s fun and laid-back attitude set the mood for the whole day – thanks to Eli Turner Studios for sharing the pretty pics!

The fabulous vendor team:

Photographer:  Eli Turner Studios

Venue: Omni Shoreham Hotel

Bride’s Dress: Judd Waddell

Shoes: Matt Bernson

Band: Doctor’s Orders

Planner:  Sara Franklin

Flowers: John Duffy – Yellow Door

Cupcakes:  Just Cakes

Today, I am back to share Casey and Cory’s drop-dead lovely wedding from this past summer at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.  It has that understated elegant D.C. feel that is traditional and timeless.  The warm red color palette against the neutrals is just so pretty!  Thanks to Rothwell Photography for sharing their work!

The fabulous vendor team:

Venue: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

Photography: Rothwell Photography

Ceremony Music: Cherry Blossom String Quartet

DJ: Derek Tobler

Cake: Hollin Hall Pastry Shop

Florist: Karin’s Florist

Dress: Claudine for Alyce Designs at Moni’s Bridal Boutique

Stationery: Yourhappilyeverafter on Etsy; Wedding Paper Divas

Today’s wedding is darling and local with an old world education theme.  Evan and Erin gave a nod to their studies at Yale and the fact that Evan is about to head off to England to continue his studies as you see the old books as center pieces and English Garden floral design.  Here is a dose of pretty to get your Monday started!

The fabulous vendor team:

And, aren’t they just dashing?! What a classic and timeless bride and groom!

From the bride, Emily…

We originally wanted to have a small, casual, outdoor wedding.  But, a number of factors, including time of year and the guest count, quickly took over and we realized that our plan wasn’t very practical.  So throughout the planning process we looked for ways that we could bring our original vision into our more formal  event.  We selected Holy Rosary Church in part because of my Italian heritage and but also because it is such an intimate space.  It was so wonderful to look out from the altar and be able to see every one of our guests.

Union Station, our reception site, wasn’t originally on my radar.  But when we saw the space we were totally taken with the East Hall’s history and personality.  I was worried that the space was going to be too traditional.  But, working with vendors I laid out my ideas for a modern, organic, Mediterranean feel dominated by green, ivory and brown.  Once we landed on the idea of “bringing the outdoors in,” the whole thing took shape.  We brought trees into the reception space and hung lanterns from the branches. My cousin, who runs Butera the Florist and is a total floral visionary, came up with the idea to construct a life size tree in the Columbus Club.  He then carried the tree theme through to the East Hall, where he built amazing floral structures that dripped with unique choices like succulents, herbs and artichokes.  Design Cuisine made a fun crepe cake with Nutella and rasberry jam, and the florist topped it with lavender (which was also at guests’ place settings, along with rosemary).  With the lighting design it really felt like we were outdoors.

We also felt strongly about bringing in as many personal touches as we could. I do a lot of work on Latin American issues, so we hired Grupo Corozo to play for cocktail hour.  We are both bourbon lovers and the wedding happened to be on Derby Day, so we served mint juleps during cocktail hour.  Chris and I have traveled a lot and have strong connections to our Italian and Norwegian heritages, so we named the tables after cities where we, and our relatives, have lived.  Melissa Weller at Persnickety Invitation Studio and my artist mother did a great job figuring out how to create a cohesive design with a sense of humor (instead of place cards we had a big board titled “Where in the World Am I Sitting?”)  Probably my favorite element was the donations table.  Instead of handing out favors we selected charities that are meaningful to us and made donations in guests’ honor.  The florist used glass jars and Spanish moss to integrate the table with the feel of the event and we asked guests to toss stones into the jars labeled to select the charity of their choice.

Regarding the escort cards…My grandfather was a shoe repairman and he would tie small, manila tags onto his customer’s shoes to identify their owner. We spun this idea off for the place cards. Each tag had the person’s name on it, and we used ribbon to hang them on the back of chairs.  My aunt had some original tags from his shop, so we used those for the head table.  Persnickety created “knock off” tags (in different colors, to help the caterers) for the rest of the guests’ tables.  During cocktail hour, we displayed a photo of my grandfather and an explanation of the meaning behind the tags that served as a tribute to all of our grandparents.

When we started the planning I was overwhelmed by choices and unsure how we could reflect our personality and tastes, especially since neither of us had a strong interest of having a wedding.  But thanks to our amazing vendors we were able to create a a wedding that really felt like “us.”

The fabulous vendor team:

Photography: Kirsten Rose Photography

Ceremony: Holy Rosary Church

Reception: East Hall of Union Station

Florist: Butera the Florist

Wedding Planner: Jamie Sears, Simply Chic Events

Catering: Design Cuisine

Hair and Makeup: KPN Hair & Makeup

Transportation: Linder & Associates

Catie & Scott, a D.C. Wedding from humanstory on Vimeo.

Well, today, I have the pleasure of sharing her beautiful, emotion-filled wedding pictures by the talented Jay Premack…so happy!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the fabulous video from Humanstory Films!

The fabulous vendor team:

Venue and Catering: The Hay-Adams
Dress:  Monique Lhuillier from Carine’s Bridal Atelier
Band: Doctor’s Orders (Bialek’s Music Group)
Ceremony Music: Cherry Blossom String Quartet (Bialek’s Music Group)
Flowers: Sidra Forman
Cake: Wegman’s
Photography: Jay Premack; assisted by Andrew Harnik
Videography: Humanstory Films
Hair: Ismail Tekin at George Salon
Make-Up: Carl Ray

Multiflor wowed us with the incredible florals and decor, the Vera Wang fashion show was to die for, Andy Kushner’s Sound Connection rocked out and got us all dancing, and the event was flawlessly produced by Aimee Dominick of A. Dominick Events! What a fun day!

Next up, I have a beautiful wedding to get you going on this Monday! Thanks to The Observatory for sharing Jennifer and Tom’s special celebration!

I love the organic decor by Philippa Tarrant Floral Design against the modern Newseum.  The tables – all quotes from Seinfeld – are too funny! I definitely haven’t seen that before – what a cute personal detail!

The fabulous vendor team:

Bridal Salon: Hitched Salon

Cake: K. Rose Cakes

Florist: Philippa Tarrant Floral Design

Ceremony Venue: Cathedral of St. Matthew

Reception Venue: The Newseum

Jazz Trio: Sterling Artists

DJ: Chris Laich

Videography: Blue Sky Films

Photography: The Observatory

As you count down the days until the long weekend, here is a little something to brighten up your Tuesday! Hold on to your seats!

The power duo of Beverly Leuterio and Carl Ray dolled up the bride, Alie, with professional hair and make up. She is STUNNING!

The holiday inspired decor by Sidra Forman is perfectly festive, perfectly understated. Of course, you know I love, love, love the Meridian House – one of the most elegant venues in the District!

Thank you again to Jay Premack for sharing his beautiful photos!

The fabulous vendor team:

Wedding Coordination:  Sara Bauleke at Bella Notte

Hair: Beverly Leuterio

Makeup: Carl Ray

Decor: Sidra Forman

Photographer: Jay Premack

Catering: Well Dunn

Reception: Meridian House

Church: Christ Church

Croquembouche: Praline Bakery

Rentals: Party Rentals