New additions at The Plannery

So in addition to my new addition at home, I also had some other big changes up my sleeve for 2015. I'm so excited to announce that I've brought on a new Associate Coordinator, Tarra Morgan, to The Plannery family to help assist me on some of my 2015 weddings, as well as take on some Month-Of Coordination clients of her own! Tarra helped me out this Fall and was absolutely fantastic - she was so proactive, rad, and most importantly - damned great at the job. I'm really thrilled for Tarra to join our Plannery team and continue to grow with us. In the next few weeks we'll be introducing her a bit more - with a blog post of her own about her background, as well as a post on her own stunning wedding to her beautiful wife.

Tarra Morgan

In the meantime, a bit more about Tarra:

Like many others in the industry, Tarra fell in love with weddings after planning her own in Baltimore.  At that time, she was actually pursuing her PhD in Criminal Justice and then it hit her…she was totally in the wrong field.  She knew from then, with every caring, creative, organized, and detail-oriented bone in her body she would dedicate herself to helping others make their wedding day dreams come true!

Tarra's wedding coordinating journey began in the breath-taking Charlottesville, VA region.  Her MO is pretty simple:  Listen, Imagine, and Execute.  Her style is completely opposite of the pushy, know-it-all, you are just another client approach to wedding coordinating (hence, she's a perfect fit for The Plannery).

With a BS in Psychology and a MA in Criminal Justice under her belt, Tarra is continuing her education in the Event Management Certification Program at George Washington University School of Business.  Tarra is a laid-back, quirky, and eclectic New Englander.   She is a planner through and through, though she is open to a little spontaneity here and there.  She is fond of all things creative including art, poetry, photography, and music…especially music.  She resides in Fairfax, VA with her best friend/partner Jessy and their extremely handsome American Bulldog named Mudd.

Please join me in welcoming her!

Guest posts on A Practical Wedding

Quick blog post to update you all on a project I managed to squeeze in before Tallulah arrived. I'm super excited that I was asked to do some guest blog posts for my most favorite of favorite blogs, A Practical Wedding. I've been reading A Practical Wedding almost since it's inception years ago, back when it was on Blogger and was just Meg herself ranting about the wedding industry. It inspired my own wedding, and frankly, it inspired me to start this business. So getting to write some logistics blog posts about finding a venue and doing a venue site visit for them was a huge honor and thrill! The first one ran on February 3rd, Tallulah's birthday. So I was a little distracted and wasn't able to share in a timely manner! This post breaks down how to get started and choose a wedding venue.

The second one ran yesterday, and is all about the essential questions you should ask when doing a venue site visit

Enjoy! And big thanks again to APW for the opportunity! Now back to breastfeeding...

Julia and Ed // Capitol Hill Club Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Coordinator

Julia and Ed got married this past October in a Catholic ceremony (officiated by Ed's brother - which was so cool) at St. Peter's on Capitol Hill, followed by a raucous reception at the Capitol Hill Club right around the corner (even though they're not Republicans...shhhhh). They were such an awesome couple to work with. Case in point: Ed hired a funk band to play on the street while guests mingled post-receiving line.

During the break between the ceremony and reception they took some stunning photos around town (all of these fab photos are thanks to Mathy Shoots People), and then headed over to the Capitol Hill Club. They knew their crowd well and told me they wanted a New York style reception (ie dancing between courses) which I was totally down with. DJ Evan Reitmeyer kept the dance floor PACKED from beginning to end (as you'll see), and the Capitol Hill Club staff were really excellent to work with. Studio DBI did beautiful bouquets and florals, and Julia's mother embraced her inner DIY goddess and it was a pleasure to help execute her vision - which included lots of white pumpkins and other fun details. Julia and Ed had a friend paint a canvas with the DC flag (in their wedding colors) and had guests sign it as their guest book. Super freaking cool. The evening ended with limbo and some perfectly DC favors - District Doughnuts and coffee beans from Swings.

Julia and Ed's Vendors:

Coordinator: Katie, The Plannery

Venue: Capitol Hill Club and St. Peter's Church

Photographer: Mathy Shoots People

DJ: DJ Evan Reitmeyer

Florist: Studio DBI

Street Band: Crush Funk

Videographer: Brian Rose

Cutting Cake: Firehook Bakery

Favors: District Doughnut and Swings Coffee Roasters

Our co-ed baby shower

Preggo brain has apparently hit - I meant to run this post weeks ago and forgot all about it. So… since we're still waiting for this baby to make its appearance, lets do this! As I mentioned in my Thanksgiving blog post, our family threw us a great co-ed baby shower the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Since my family was in town we thought it was the best time to get everyone together and celebrate.

What was so freaking lovely about it was that I didn't plan it! I can't tell you how refreshing it was to attend a party and not have any idea what to expect, how it all got done, and just sit back and enjoy. And enjoy I did!

It was held in Evening Star's private room - a space I highly recommend if you're looking for a local place to have a party. It was the perfect size, with a built-in bar and lots of furniture for people to sit but still space to mingle. Plus, the food was fantastic. We had deviled eggs, mini-tacos, and my favorite of favorites, their fried chicken sliders on sweet potato biscuits with gravy. HEAVEN. Oh, and cupcakes from Buzz Bakery. YESSSSS. It was perfect. I insisted on no games (are you surprised?) but the room had a pool table and table shuffleboard, not to mention the football game on the tv, so I think everyone was happy!

Though we're not going overboard with our "colors" for the baby, our general theme is gray and yellow and my family jumped on that, with some yellow and silver balloons throughout the room, adorable hand-made bunting (which I'm totally going to reuse in the baby's room), yellow and white flowers, and a hand-made "Baby" sign (which, again, so reusing in the nursery).

It was an awesome, easy afternoon, seeing family and friends and enjoying everyone's company.

I'm a big supporter of co-ed showers. My husband is just as involved in this baby as I am (except for that whole she's in my uterus thing), not to mention the other men in our lives (fathers, uncles, cousins, etc). I thought it was great to have everyone there to celebrate, rather than just focus on the ladies. It takes a village - not just to raise a baby, but to celebrate a baby, too! Thanks again to our whole family and all our friends. It was such an awesome afternoon!

Guest post on marriage

I got pretty personal over on Capitol Romance today - talking about what Fiji taught me about marriage. Please head on over there and check out my guest post - I hope you like it! Please enjoy my snorkel hair selfie as well. Keepin' it real. And in case it gets you in the marriage mood, a reminder of some past posts from my own blog about marriage and relationships:

Freedom in Commitment

And for you Bachelor fans, a post about The Bachelor (but really about staying firm and confident in your own relationship): When You Don't  Conform

Julia and Phil // The Inn at West Settlement Wedding, Roxbury, NY // New York Wedding Planner

This wedding was incredibly special to me. I know Julia and Phil from my college days in NYC. Julia and I performed together, both dance and musical theatre, and Phil was our tech guru, making us look and sound our best. They got in touch with me all these years later asking if I’d help them find their venue and solidify their budget, as well as do month-of coordination. Julia and Phil wanted a full-on wedding weekend in the country, so we scoured the NYC region looking for great barns that could offer multiple venues for various events throughout the weekend.

They settled on the Inn at West Settlement in Roxbury, NY. I helped coordinate their rehearsal dinner and firepit hang the night before their wedding, their entire wedding day, and their morning-after brunch. It was an exhausting but exhilarating and wonderful weekend. I have to mention that despite all my hard work, none of it would have happened without their awesome family and friends who really pitched in to make this a community event. Plus, Julia and Phil are both my ex-theatre type-A dream clients and were organized beyond belief!

The weather cooperated and the whole weekend was fantastic. Julia and Phil started with a beautiful outdoor ceremony that included live music, some relatives as their officiants, readings from friends, and a handfasting. Their cocktail hour then extended into some wonderful Irish dancing out on the lawn with fabulous live music from a fiddle and pipe player. Family style dinner in the barn followed, along with toasts and a potluck pie station. And then there was the dancing. They hired a stellar band out of Brooklyn, The Blue Vipers, who KILLED it. Julia is a dancer. A legit, working artist - so she and Phil had a lovely choreographed first dance, followed by a crowd that couldn’t keep off the dance floor. The caterer and staff were based out of the downstairs level of the barn and I’m telling you, the stomping and hooting coming from the ceiling above made me think the barn might collapse!

Big, big congrats to Jules and Phil and a huge thank you for letting me be a part of your wonderful wedding weekend!

Julia and Phil's Wedding Vendors:

Partial Planning and Coordination: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: The Inn at West Settlement

Caterer: Grounded Catering

Rentals: Events Unlimited

Photographer: De Nueva Photography

Florals: Lily Bruder

Ceremony and Cocktail Musicians: Cleek Schrey and Stuart Jackson

Reception Band: The Blue Vipers

Hair and Make-up: Karen Neblung Hair Studio

Brittany and Daniel // Carnegie Institute of Science Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Coordinator

How hot are Brittany and Dan, you guys? I admit, I'm a bit biased because Brittany may be one of the best curly-girl brides I've ever seen. But dang, yo. It also helps that they're two of the most pleasant, sweetest and fun people - even while planning their wedding from Indianapolis!

Brittany and Dan got married on a Friday this November at Carnegie Institute of Science, a venue I'd been dying to work in (and will hopefully work in again this January if Baby Wannen stays put). They used plum and gold as their primary design inspiration, and wanted a really romantic, candlelit evening. Spilled Milk catered a great family-style meal. Uncloudy Studio, brought in by Brittany at the last minute, KILLED it with the florals (seriously… seriously). And obviously we have to thank and give mad props to Shandi Wallace for these stunning images. I loved this wedding because at first glance it seems fairly traditional - but their super personal ceremony and vows in the round, their small DIY details (those swizzle sticks!), their adorable cutting cake, the glow sticks and sunglasses provided by the mother of the groom, all those details really spoke to Brittany and Dan as a couple.

After getting ready, doing a first look and some portraits, Brittany's Dad officiated a wonderfully personal ceremony in the round. Cocktail hour followed, then the family style dinner, a quick cake cutting, and finally dancing (led by DJ Maskell) and photo booth fun rounded out the evening. Big congrats to this awesome couple!!

Brittany and Dan's Vendors:

Month-of Coordination: Katie, The Plannery

Venue: Carnegie Institution of Science

Photographer: Shandi Wallace

Caterer: Spilled Milk

Florist: Uncloudy Studio

DJ: Mark Maskell

Photo booth: Bash Booths

Happy New Year!

2014 was an amazing year for The Plannery - we more than doubled the number of clients we worked with from 2013 and had a blast doing so. As most of you know, 2015 will be a slower year for me, what with the bebe and all - but I'm looking forward to continuing the tradition of working with kick-ass couples, and revving up for 2016! In the meantime, a look back at some of my favorite pics from all the great weddings I did in 2014 (I'm still missing a couple photos from some weddings this fall - blog posts on those to come later!). Big thanks to all the wonderful couples and vendors who made 2014 so freaking rad!

xoxo

Happy Holidays!

I wanted to take a quick moment and wish everyone a very happy holiday season! My hubby and I are taking a couple days to do a babymoon at a B&B in VA prior to Christmas - really looking forward to getting away and enjoying some of our last moments as just the two of us. As my due date looms, I will continue to be working and blogging as much as possible - but I am looking forward to the down time the holidays tend to naturally create and I hope you all take some time to relax, rejuvenate, and celebrate! Leaving you with some fantastic photos Sarah of Val & Sarah recently took of our little family (and for those of you who follow me on Instagram know, that beautiful black lab is our new puppy, Birdie). Huge shout out and thanks to Sarah… I love and adore these pics!

From our family to yours, happy holidays and happy new year!!

Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

I had a great Thanksgiving this year as I not only got to see my whole family, but they also threw me and my hubby a baby shower! More on the shower tomorrow, but first - a brief Thanksgiving recap cause I think all you lovers of things non-traditional might enjoy it. My husband rocked out a non-traditional Thanksgiving feast. As he has for the past several years, he and his brother and father went hunting and came back with goose and duck. He made an amazing goose and duck ramen as our Thanksgiving meal and it was so delicious. I decided to embrace the non-traditional aspects with the decor and do something more modern and minimalistic to match the seemingly simple ramen dish.

As always, I like to go into the detail on decor to show everyone that even party and event planners can be simple and make things easy on themselves! I used a white tablecloth I already had, and reused some black and white striped runners my mother made for our wedding! I decided to drape them in a somewhat non-traditional manner and instead of doing a runner lengthwise down the table, we did them across. I grabbed some cheap chopsticks and spoons, as well as some simple black fabric napkins from World Market. I then used some leftover tags I had from a previous wedding to do simple place cards that we tied to the napkin with string I had around the house. We knew we wanted to serve sparkling wine with the ramen, so to match our new (and cheap - Crate and Barrel Outlet what what) champagne glasses I picked up some mercury glass votives and a silver tray at Michael's to add a touch of shine and some simple centerpieces.

I was really happy with the result. I like keeping centerpieces minimal so that people can focus on the food and the people across from them. And it was fun to veer away from the traditional Thanksgiving decor of pumpkins and gourds and orange and earthy stuff and do something a bit more modern.

And for those who are really put off by non-traditional stuff, fear not - we had pie.