Lookin' Good

Last night we multi-tasked while holding a team meeting and having our headshots taken for the website. Today we're thrilled to see what Regeti's Photography captured! Here's my favorite one of the team stolen affectionately from their blog:To see the rest of our pretty little faces, check out the Regeti's Blog. They'll be officially posted on our website when I have the files in hand. What do you think?

DC ISES at Nationals Park

You know how much we love ISES. It's really one of the best industry associations and in our local area we have the largest chapter (600+ members)! The most recent meeting was held at the brand new Nationals Park stadium. Kudos to Amy Guthridge and Sarah Denhardt for taking on the huge challenge of planning such an awesome event! Photos are compliments of Armin DeFiesta.The gate:
Here's the ISES logo on the scoreboard. This baby is 4500 square feet of high definition:
The beautiful field:
There are quite a few large spaces for private events. Here's an indoor/outdoor bar:
And the view of the game you get:
Inside there's a full bar. Check out the baseball bats built into the bottom of the bar:
And a little lounge area:
Another large event space:
Armin DeFiesta took these fantastic photos of the evening. Here he is with Amy G:
Our main man Ryan seems to be enjoying himself (he's a big baseball fan):
Armin & Ryan together. I just love Armin's expression here. :::loook into my eyes:::
ISES events are always wonderful for some great networking:
They even let us on the field for some batting practice! Here's the videographer we all know and love...Martin from Blue Sky Films:Here's our friend Rob Holley taking a swing:I've no idea who this is but when's the last time you saw a girl with heels and a pencil skirt batting on a professional ball field?Nationals Park would be such an awesome venue for a wedding....even if you're not sports lovers! The private event spaces are surprisingly elegant and private. Maybe if you already have your wedding venue this would be a great rehearsal dinner option? I'm also very proud to include the fact that the building is the very first LEED-certified stadiums in the US. That means it was built with minimal impact to the earth and is eco-friendly!

500th Post!

Wow - we hit 500 posts already? Actually, our post on Wednesday about Parisian trends was our 500th. I can't believe I came up with that many things to blog about since we started posting in February 2006! Time has flown since our first post, our 100th post, and our 300th post. Following tradition, I Googled "500" and came up with this sweet gem:In honor of the occasion, I've pulled some highlights from the past two years. Here are some of my favorite posts by category:

Real Weddings:
My Own Wedding Day
A Day in the Life of a Wedding Planner (and here)
Jelena & David
Jodi & Luke
Cleo & Rocco
Anna & Todd
Christina & Vincent
Robin & Brian
Crystal & Edwin
Danielle & Ryan (and here)
Sarah & Ross
Ritu & Rohin
Ryfie & Jason
Tamara & Russ

Company & Personal News:
Brides Washington Magazine Feature
Things I'm Thankful For
An Educational Weekend at ISES REC
Blogging Pink in October 2007
Blog Action Day

Planning Advice:
The Last 24 Hours
How to Cut Cost without Cutting Corners
Where to Hold Your Bouquet
How to Pin a Boutonniere
How to Have a Bubble or Sparkler Sendoff
How to Tip
How to Cut a Wedding Cake
How to Freeze your Cake Top
Green Wedding Ideas
Wedding Colors from Art

Happenings About Town:
Tabletops in DC (and here and here)
Our Booth at the Bridal Showcase
Our Tabletop Competition Entry

Decor Ideas & Resources:
Cox & Cox
Sparkly Things
A Pink Inspiration Board
A Tuscan Inspiration Board
A Rustic Inspiration Board
A Jet Setter Inspiration Board
A Nautical Inspiration Board
A Wine Inspiration Board
A Springtime Inspiration Board

Local Venues
The Hay-Adams (DC)
Newseum (DC)
Sequoia Restaurant (DC)
2941 Restaurant (Falls Church, VA)
Lee-Fendall House (Alexandria, VA)
Marriott Tyson's Corner (Tyson's, VA)
Signature Theater (Arlington, VA)
Farr House (Fairfax, VA)
Manor House at Linden Springs (Reston, VA)
Glen Echo Park (Glen Echo, MD)
Woodend Audubon Sanctuary (Chevy Chase, MD)
Queenstown Harbor River House (Eastern Shore, MD)
Famoso Restaurant (Silver Spring, MD)

Alison & Rob's Professional Photos

Last Friday I shared Alison & Rob's story and a few of my non-pro photos (thanks Kristie!). Now, just two weeks after the wedding, I have some of the beautiful images taken by Julie Walton Shaver.

Julie is one of those rare photographers that attends the rehearsal. Here's Alison, her dad, and I practicing at Mrs. K's Tollhouse Restaurant. Since the dinner was there that evening, it made the most sense to have the rehearsal on their beautiful lawn:
On the wedding day, Alison got ready at their hotel headquarters. The Crowne Plaza in Silver Spring served as a nice base camp:Lookin' good! Kim Steele did a phenomenal job on Alison's hair and makeup: Here's Rob at the hotel reading Alison's mushy note:It takes the guys considerably less time to get themselves together:A gorgeous portrait of Alison at the hotel. At this time we were waiting for the elevator to come up to the 12th floor. Julie just snapped it by the window. Do you see what I mean about her gorgeous Suzanne Ermann gown?The Grove at Woodend Sanctuary is set up so perfectly for an outdoor ceremony:I love the images that capture pure emotion:Our newlyweds! Julie whipped through the formal portraits fast enough that she had time for some fun ones. Here's our happy couple goofing around:Instead of introducing their 14-member bridal party, Alison preferred to just announce her and her husband. Here they are making their grand entrance into the ballroom: These little birds were a big hit. Alison meticulously glued them on to each escort card. I like how they're having a party at this table:They were even on the top of the cake! Design Cuisine provided the cake and it was scrumptious. That beautiful bamboo pattern extended all the way down each tier: John W. at Creative Deejays did a great job of keeping everyone on the dance floor:
Julie somehow pulled off this gorgeous ring shot:Congratulations, Alison & Rob! You two looked so in love on your wedding day and it was our pleasure to share it with you:For a few more photos of this wedding, check out Julie Walton Shaver's blog!

Paris Trends & Top Hats

Back in August 2007, Kim at Parisian Events sent us a big lovely fantastic stack of French bridal magazines. We poured through the pages and were so excited to share what we found. In one of those posts we talked about Parisian bridal trends and how the US typically follows a few seasons later. Do you remember when those feathered shoes made it across the Atlantic after only 8 months?Now nearly 12 months later, we're starting to spot some top hats on the runways. Perfect Bound just reported on Reem Acra's 2009 collection which features all kinds of hats. Other designers are following suit too. Perhaps it's a throwback to Jackie O?Reem Acra and one of her models:Reem Acra 2009:
Reem Acra 2009:Carolina Herrera is following suit:If you're looking for a beautiful hat, check out the Ellen Christine Millinery:Have you spotted any bridal fashion trends? What do you think will be the next hottest style?

Images via Trend de la Creme, Bride's, Philly.com

Elizabeth Anne Designs Planning Library

The ladies over at Elizabeth Anne Designs (who have a great blog, by the way) have been working on a super secret project. Luckily for us, it was launched today! The EAD Library is up and running and will be a wonderful resource for brides. Here's what they say about it:

We are incredibly excited to announce our new project, The EAD Library. After months of development and research, we are launching a new resource for brides tomorrow, Tuesday July 22nd. The Library is filled with hundreds of useful links, from photographers to shops to stationers. Our goal is a simple, comprehensive list of vendors. The Library will help every bride, no matter her location, find the vendors and inspiration she needs for a beautiful event.

To check out the library, click here! Right now it's organized by category...hopefully someday they'll organize it by location. Until then, the clean design makes it really easy to navigate and a lot of fun to browse.

Anna & Todd's Wedding

A few weeks ago I posted a quick shot of Anna & Todd with a link to their photo slideshow. I got a few of the proofs and wanted to share them with you!

This happy couple chose the Hotel Monaco in Washington DC to host their wedding ceremony and reception. Ryan was on hand to coordinate the day and had a stellar team of vendors to work with. Most importantly, Justine Ungaro took incredible photographs of the day! Here's what the wedding looked like through her lens.

Helen Olivia provided stunning arrangements for the wedding. Here are the ladies' bouquets before the ceremony:The Hotel Monaco downtown has a beautiful space for a ceremony. I like how they chose to have guests on 3 sides of the chuppah and the aisle on the 4th:
A family friend performed the ceremony:This mariachi group is based in Springfield where I grew up! They are the Mariachi la Estrellas and can be emailed here:Again, gorgeous florals by Helen Olivia:John Farr Lighting Design provided this gorgeous hot pink and fuschia lighting:The Alexandria Pastry Shop brought this cutie:I love this series of emotional shots that Justine captured during a toast:What's a Jewish wedding without the hora?And they danced and danced all night to the sounds of the Fabulous Fantoms:Congratulations, Anna & Todd! We hope you had a wonderful wedding day and enjoyed every second of your honeymoon. Thanks for including us in your celebration!