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From the Bride…Morgan and I met in college and have lived in Washington, D.C. since 2006.  After getting engaged, we knew that we wanted to have our wedding in D.C. so that our family and friends could experience D.C.’s history, culture, and food scenes – all the things we love about this city.  We started our wedding planning by searching for a unique venue that had an outdoor space for the ceremony.  After looking at a handful of options in and around D.C., we found our ideal location in Halcyon House, an 18th-century Georgetown mansion that is complete with tiered gardens that overlook the Potomac River and a very cool reception space – the owner’s first floor sculpture studio!

After setting the date with Halcyon House, we knew wanted to work with a local planner to help us refine our vision for our wedding day.  We immediately clicked with Aimee of A. Dominick Events.  Aimee and her colleague, Danielle, helped us immensely in every part of the wedding planning process.  We are especially grateful to them for helping us with finding fabulous vendors and for flawlessly executing our wedding day plans.   A big part of our planning included flowers and décor.  Our floral vision included soft, flowing arrangements in an array of blush colors that would work well with the historic features of Halcyon House, and complement its modern reception space.   Another important element to us was lighting, so we incorporated plenty of soft candlelight glow from wrought-iron chandeliers, hanging lanterns, and scattered candles.  Beehive Events understood our concept and gorgeously combined all the floral, lighting, and design elements.  On our wedding day, I loved seeing my bouquet and the “something blue” surprise designed by my mom and sisters – two petite blue flowers tucked into the bouquet!  And it was fun to get a sneak peek of all the décor before the reception began.

When our wedding weekend finally arrived, we kicked off the festivities with a welcome party for our out-of-town guests at our favorite local wine bar, Cork, which was a great way to introduce our family and friends to our neighborhood, and to each other!   Although the weather forecast threatened our outdoor ceremony, we were so glad that the rain stayed away.  Every moment of our wedding day, from putting on my wedding dress for real to laughing (and maybe shedding a tear) during the toasts, was surreal and very happy.  At the end of the day, the best part was having all of our family and friends there to celebrate with us!

Wedding Location: Halcyon House / Wedding Photography: Abby Jiu Photography / Event Planner: A. Dominick Events / Floral Design: Beehive Events / Rental Company: Party Rentals + Perfect Settings / Lighting: Frost Lighting / Caterer: Occasions Catering / Wedding Cake: Kendall’s Cake / Band: The Winn Brothers Band / Ceremony Music: Celebrated String Quartet

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: A. Dominick Events, Abby Jiu Photography, Beehive Events, Celebrated String Quartet, Frost Lighting, Garden Wedding, Halcyon House, Kendall's Cake, Occasions Catering, Party Rentals, Perfect Settings, The Winn Brothers Band, Washington DC
Post categories: Real Weddings, The Blog, Traditional Elegance

Kendall Brown owner and principal creative designer of Eclatante sent us the photos from her February Color Story shoot… and we just had to share! Each month on her blog,  A Designer’s Diary, she features a Color Story that will truly inspire you and leave you asking for more!

We hope to bring you many more of Eclatante’s COLOR STORIES … but for now, let us know what you think about this one~~~

FEBRUARY COLOR STORY from Eclatante

When we think of February, our next thought is, naturally, Valentine’s Day. And our favorite February parties are bridal showers and girls’ soirees we get to throw for our brides with upcoming weddings. So, this month, for our fantasy party, we decided that our color story would be hot and cold running PINK!

The team totally outdid themselves this time! And, once again, our praise and thanks go out to Marie Labbancz, our wonderful friend and photographer. It is truly rewarding to see one’s work so perfectly captured.

We shot this gorgeous color story at the enchanting Please Touch Museum in Fairmount Park.

(The Septa bus Oksana is exiting from is actually part of the “Roadside Attractions” exhibit!)

Now, let me tell you how our February story begins – paper flowers. I’ve wanted to have a party with paper flowers forever. So, Beautiful Blooms indulged me and created these really pretty flowers out of white iridescent and soft pink paper that we strung from strands of peach and white pearls over the table. Vic and the boys from VU-Events masterfully hung all the paper flowers and lit our pretty pink table perfectly!

For the centerpiece, Beautiful Blooms filled apothecary jars with layers of rose petals, hydrangea petals, light pink cut glass, white sand, dried ivory roses and pearls. They also filled glass vases with swirled pearls and floating candles. Light pink tapers in footed candleholders completed the centerpieces perfectly.

The gorgeous linens came from our friends at The Total Table. The darling favor boxes were created by our favorite geniuses at Two Paper Dolls. We filled them with a mix of Good & Plenty, Hershey’s Kisses and a variety of pink and ivory candies from The Lil’ Candy Shoppe in Northern Liberties. And the stunning place settings (notice the great glassware), table and chairs came from Party Rentals, Ltd.

Max and Me Catering did a fantastic job of of coming up with food and drink that was coordinated perfectly with the décor. Just look at those irresistible cosmos and glasses of pink champagne and wonderful white wine. They also created a beautiful entrée of Diver Scallops with a Celery Root Puree and Citrus Beurre Blanc. Our kudos to David Robison, Max and Me’s Executive Chef and Theresa Linskey, the Sous Chef. The Girls Only Party was not only gorgeous, it was also incredibly yummy!

Mary Helen Raneiri, the owner of Suky Occasions came by and styled Oksana in a scrumptious pink party dress. Claudia Seyler of Claudia Seyler Beauty did a fantastic job on Osaka’s hair and makeup. Beautiful Blooms created the perfect nosegay of peach spray roses with pearl accents for our guest of honor.

A huge thank-you to Kendall ~ Eclatante … Donna ~ Beautiful Blooms (we LOVE the paper flowers!) … and Marie ~Marie Labbancz Photography for this fabulous February eye-candy. We can’t wait to see “March”!

So, what do you think … more Color Stories? We hope so!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2009. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Beautiful Blooms, Claudia Seyler Beauty, Color Palette Pink, Eclatante, Lil' Candy Shoppe, Ltd., Marie Labbancz Photography, Max and Me Catering, Paper Flowers, Party Rentals, Philadelphia, Suky Occasions, The Total Table, Two Paper Dolls, VU Events
Post categories: Color Palettes, Little Black Book Blog, Wedding Planners & Designers, Wedding Resources