Emily and Zach // Woodend Sanctuary Wedding, Chevy Chase, MD // MD Wedding Planner

First of all, I dare anyone to view that picture, above, and not pray for rain on their wedding day. Take in that gorgeous, stunning photo (by the truly talented Amber Wilkie) for a moment and then we can move on.

Ok.

I did partial planning with Emily and Zach - they were most stressed about finding a venue, so I helped them find and secure their venue, gave them some resources for the rest of their planning process along with some vendor recommendations and then reemerged this past February to do month-of coordination. This was the first wedding of my 2014 season and it was amazing. It helped me realize that while I adore and love month-of coordination, I get way more emotional when I'm working with clients I feel like I know because I have watched them go through the whole planning journey. Plus, it didn't hurt that Emily and Zach are basically the best and nicest people you'll meet. So. I got quite teary at this wedding, I'm not gonna lie.

After some prep at their own homes/hotels, both of them finished getting ready separately at Woodend with boutonierre pinning and dress putting-on. Then, they did their first look  (unfortunately inside because of the rain - but with these two? who cares). Also, Emily's dress was to die and she was the hottest.

We moved the ceremony to the tented area due to the rain (which we flipped to reception during the cocktails - big props to Main Event and their staff for getting that done so smoothly and flawlessly). And what a way to start my season. Not only did the ceremony open with the fabulous officiant Maureen Burke saying "Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us togethaah today" (PRINCESS BRIDE REFERENCE WHATTT), but it moved on to a very personal, wonderful service. Teary grooms and dads get me every time.

The chuppah and all flowers were done by Shelly at B Floral Event Design and I loved her arrangements, especially with the bird table numbers Emily and Zach put together. People then ate, drank, gave speeches (which I missed because I may or may not have been out buying more wine. Reason #204,568 that you should have a wedding coordinator. Just saying), and then danced their booties off.

I was so happy for this beautiful couple and wish them all of the best in what will undoubtedly be their wonderful mawwage.

Emily and Zach's Vendors:

Event Planning and Coordination: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: Woodend Sanctuary

Photographer: Amber Wilkie

Caterer: Main Event

DJ: Evan Reitmeyer

Officiant: Maureen Burke

Hair/Make-up: Carolyn Berry, Modern Bridal Studio

60th Birthday Party

My Mom turned 60 last week. She requested a party so I of course stepped up to help plan it along with my step-dad and sisters. She specifically wanted to dance - she's an amazing dancer (has been her whole life) and so I knew this would be an important part of the night for her. Because of the dancing, we opted to go for a slightly more casual venue, but one where we'd have complete control and no noise complaints! We rented a local Lions Club - something everyone should always keep in mind when looking for affordable venues. They aren't always the prettiest, but they're very low-budget and they generally don't have a ton of rules! Using a private room in a restaurant won't allow dancing, and doing the same in a hotel means higher cost.

The Lions Club we rented had a lot of wood paneling - it's actually an old train station. We decided to work with the venue and not go super-high end with the decor - keep it simple and lighten it up with some flowers, christmas lights, ivory linens and silver votives. We were definitely on a budget - so we opted to spend our money on the food and drinks. We hired a local caterer to do one stationary appetizer (cheese and fruit display) and some tasty passed hors d'oeuvres. We also had them create a signature cocktail, "The Kendra" (my Mom), which was a ginger Tom Collins and was really delicious.

In all other aspects, this was very DIY - and I'll be doing some follow up posts to go into more detail about our DIY projects in the hopes that they help other people with their own endeavors! We strung christmas lights ourselves and created a christmas light clothes line where we hung photos of my Mom from throughout her 60 years. We also created a DIY photo booth - and it was such a hit. I know it's not as high res or high quality as what we might have gotten had we hired a professional - but everyone had a blast!

My sister and step-dad did a Michaels run and bought all the other decor items - votive candles, vases for our DIY bouquets, and other goodies. We ordered cupcakes from my Mom's favorite bakery and I created a fun DIY cupcake topper (more on that to come).

My husband and I labored over the playlist and I think we did a pretty great job. We got some requests from my Mom, and built a cocktail playlist for the first hour, then created a separate dance playlist for the next 2 hours. The crowd was a mix of young and old. We had my 87 year old grandfather there and my cousin's newborn! So we created a good mix of new and old dance songs - focusing on a lot of great 80's tunes mixed with some motown/oldies and current hits (for the record, Pharell's "Happy" is what officially got everyone on their feet. That song rules).

By the end of the night we were all a sweaty, happy, slightly drunk mess - in other words, very satisfied party-goers. Happy 60th MA!!

Personal: April in photos

josh and ross // dc engagement shoot

Josh and Ross are clients of mine who are getting married this coming October at Rocklands Farm. They are awesome. Case in point, their wedding may or may not feature a totally rad 90's cover band (whattt), and they have an excellent engagement story which I won't go into here, but needless to say it involved surprise international travel. They recently had their engagement session with the wonderful Leo Druker and I had to share because a) these pics are great b) they have an adorable dog and c) they're hot (it has to be said) Enjoy - and congrats again to Josh and Ross on their engagement!

(in super-sad news, I won't be coordinating their day because of a last-minute date switch - but they will be in good hands and I will have to live vicariously through the undoubtedly awesome photos Leo Druker will take).

Retro flower girl dresses by Darling Betty

As some of you may know, I'm a member of the Del Ray Business Association. I love my little neighborhood of Del Ray in Alexandria, and I've met some really remarkable small business owners through the DRBA. One of those fabulous small business owners turned out to be a neighbor who lives right down the street (and a kick-ass lady, at that)! Kelly is a native Australian living in America with her Naval officer husband. She describes herself as "an old soul stuck in a young body" and adores all things vintage - a love that drew her to launch her own business, Darling Betty. Darling Betty makes custom dresses for young girls - and they are adorable. Using custom, retro-inspired patterns (and she has a professional pattern maker creating her patterns - these are no store-bought patterns!), Kelly creates really beautiful dresses - and ones that I think would be perfect for the little flower girls in your wedding. Not only can you have a say in the fabric and style, but these are also stylish pieces that the girls can wear post-wedding as they're not super "bridal."

Right now Kelly has four main styles - the Sprinkles, Emmaline, Maple, and Alice dress (the Alice is my favorite. Like Anne of Green Gables, I love me some puffed sleeves). There's also a very cute skirt called Skip To My Lou. Kelly has also just started making women's sized dresses as well - so if you want some bridesmaids options that would match your flower girls, check out her "Vertie" dress!

It's also important to note that Darling Betty garments are locally, 100% American made with domestically sourced fabrics that are of superior quality. Ordering is really simple. You can either order straight off the website or email or message her through Facebook (she often uploads photos to FB of limited-run fabrics) and she'll send you a Paypal invoice. Shipping is $6 domestic and she offers free personal delivery in Alexandria. Sizing is 2T-6 for girls (there is sizing specification on her website with more info). If you choose a custom dress, turn around time is approximately 2 weeks. If it's an inventory dress, it will be posted or delivered in 1 business day.

So check Darling Betty out if you're looking for some fun, local and unique alternatives to the usual flower girl options. And be on the lookout next month when Kelly launches a new Darling Betty signature dress!

Personal: March in photos

Topaz + Arrow // DC DIY workshop

Last week I attended one of Topaz + Arrow's DIY workshops in DC. Topaz + Arrow is a monthly, DIY workshop series that "infuses the handmade into a curated and creative lifestyle." It was awesome. The workshops are held at the Ulysses Room, a modern yet warm space. We were treated to some delicious snacks and drinks from Honest Tea, Boulevard Brewing Company, Creme Yvette, Teeny Pies and KIND Snacks.

This workshop was called "Leather, Branches and Hooks: Handmade Jewelry Organizers with Topaz + Arrow"

It was a great afternoon. The workshops aren't heavily structured so the hosts, Virginia Arrisueno and Morgan Hungerford West, really want you to explore your creativity and make each project your own. They quickly talked through the basics and then let us at it (though they did walk around the room offering suggestions and also did a lot of the heavy labor, like copper pipe cutting and branch sawing).

I loved the branch I ended up with, and deliberately picked one with some character (some knots and holes, etc). I kept it simple, deciding to pick a nice blueish gray leather and subtlety painting the branch with copper accents (which matched the copper pipe accent on the leather).

The cost included all of the materials and the lovely refreshments. I felt like it was totally worth it and was a great afternoon for anyone to either spend on their own, or with a group of friends.

Definitely check out some of their upcoming workshops, which include Paper Lanterns & Cherry Blossoms: DIY Lighting and Decor, as well as Hoops, Yarn and Feathers: Handmade Dreamcatchers.

It could give some couples great ideas for wedding or event decor, and would also be a great shower or bachelor/bachelorette hang!

p.s. Virginia is a fantastic artist - founder of DeNada, an accessories line, and Morgan writes a fab lifestyle blog, Panda Head. Check them out.

Studio DBI

March seemed to be the month of vendor events! In addition to the Dock 5 party, I was also invited to Studio DBI's open house last week - and had an absolute blast.

Studio DBI is an amazing, very creative company that provides floral and design services (as well as month-of coordination) for all types of events. They recently opened their own studio space in Old Town, Alexandria. Since it's right down the street I had to drop by! Liza and her staff had decked out the studio with beautiful floral decor (obviously). I unfortunately didn't grab a picture but they also hung tulips around the windows in a really modern and fun way which may or may not have involved staples (and as it turns out, was a list minute fix when something she'd ordered didn't come in! Brilliant).

They'd brought on some great partners to make the party a success, including DJ Maskell (who rocked not only the DJing but the uplighting as well), Little Bird Creative, Simple Flare Productions, Paired Images, and In Style Caterers who served some really delicious food! I had a lovely evening hanging with other wedding vendors and celebrating Studio DBI's success!

Big thanks to Liza and her whole team, as well as the awesome sponsors, for a great evening.

DC Ballroom Dancing

Last May, my husband gave me my most favorite present ever. Three private ballroom dance lessons.

You see, I used to dance. A lot. I started taking classes in third grade and basically never stopped. I started with jazz, moved on to modern, tackled tap in high school (after seeing Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk), and hip hop in college. But I never did ballroom. My husband on the other hand, took ballroom classes as a kid (which, by the way, is why my mother-in-law is awesome and raised two great men).

Anyway, fast forward a million years and he gave me a gift certificate on my birthday and I cried from happiness (seriously). Then life intervened and we never got off our butts to schedule the classes. Fast forward another ten months, and we finally did. I dug my old character shoes out of the closet and we had our first class three weeks ago, and the second a week after. I really didn't know what to expect - but it was fantastic!

My husband got the classes from a small studio called All2Dance - located right on MacArthur Blvd (really convenient location, by the way). This studio offers private lessons as well as group lessons and a ton of other options.

It's a husband and wife team (we've been working with the husband only, so I can't speak directly about Ann but she seems great), and Victor is fantastic. As someone who has worked with a variety of teachers, he's really awesome. He teaches very important technique in an easy, light atmosphere. He's fun but also is actually teaching you (something I really appreciated - I'm all for having fun, but at the end of the day, I want to walk away having actually picked up some real skills). I'd highly recommend him to any couples looking to put together a special first dance for their wedding, or just get some basics so they feel comfortable on the dance floor. We started with a fairly easy style, the Sway. And we love it.

Now we just need to know where to go practice in the DC area! Any recommendations?

Dock 5 // DC event space

Last week I attended the launch of Dock 5, a great new event space in DC. Dock 5 is a very raw, warehouse-type space, and features over 12,000 square feet, 22’ high ceilings and glass garage doors. The venue is directly above the artisanal marketplace, Union Market, which houses over 30 of the top food producers in the region. By the way, the excellent photos, below, are taken by Mary Kate McKenna - the bad ones are by me (I was having too much fun to focus - isn't that the sign of a good party?)

It was a really fun event. Buffalo Bergen provided wonderful cocktails and sodas. Dolcezzo Gelato had a Gelato truck with a choice of salted caramel gelato and blood orange sorbet.  Spilled Milk catering provided tasty passed hors d'oeuvres - but my favorite item was the bacon garden in which candied, spicy bacon was available on a stick. It was awesome. I've decided all events should now have bacon on a stick.

Rappahonnock Oysters also had a raw oyster bar (delicious and decadent) and we may or may not have taken some of Spilled Milk's bacon and used it as a topper on an oyster. Just saying. Maybe. And maybe it was delicious.

The space has a ton of possibilities. It is quite raw, so one definitely needs to consider lighting, decor, and furniture to create various spaces and help create a flow for your evening. The huge bonus is that it's very large for DC - it's hard to find venues this size in the area, so anyone with a large guest list and a modern sensibility should definitely check it out.

Big thanks to Dock 5 and the whole team for a really fun evening!

p.s. Sarah of Val & Sarah also most definitely created the next bridal trend. Two words: bacon bouquet