Events in the City: Beyond the Skyline

X-O-X-O

X-O-X-O is the new L-O-V-E

 

Picture #1, 3, 5: Better Homes & Gardens Picture #2: We Heart It Picture#4: Write Click Scrapbook

 

Tablescape Tuesday

Colored water makes a comeback!

Picture #1: Martha Stewart

Washingtonian Unveiled Show!

We absolutely loved participating in the Washingtonian Unveiled Bridal Show. We certainly met some amazing potential clients, chatted with our industry colleagues and were blow away by all the talent in our great city. Take a gander at we dreamed up and brought to life. We are so thrilled that everyone loved our color scheme, play on patterns and of course, our Pantone inspired gown  Enjoy the eye candy! 

You can also check out some highlights from the show, and cough cough slide seven, from BizBash's coverage, HERE.

Florals Designed by: Holly Chapple Flowers
Calligraphy Crafted by: Meant To Be Calligraphy
Photos Graciously Taken by  Imijination Photo

 

Wedding Film Giveaway!

In honor of engagement season and to celebrate the new year, Thomas Bowen Films will be giving away a FREE Wedding Film to one lucky couple. From now until the beginning of March, each person who LIKES Thomas Bowen Films on Facebook and enters their Name, Wedding Date and Email is entered in for the chance to win a Trilliant Bliss wedding package valued at $4,000. In addition, anyone who participates and books with us is eligible for a free HD Blu-Ray upgrade ($300 value) just by LIKEing Thomas Bowen Films and mentioning this offer.

To see more about the offer, click here.

The winner will be announced the winner on March 5, 2012.

Tablescape Tuesday

Loving everything about this...reminds me of Spring, looks like a lovely brunch, there are bright and cheery flowers, I'm guessing mimosas and obviously coffee, not to mention croissants!

PS: Love that the milk container is a cow. Note to self, finally need to pull the trigger and get this same guy from Pier 1 ASAP. Love that Martha spotted a bargain.

Not to be missed are the details on this tablescape.....a crossword puzzle for each guest. So cute, simple and brings new life to the morning paper!

Pictures: Martha Stewart

Stole Mate

 We love a winter wedding and we have been lucky enough to have a flurry of them come our way over the last 12 months. Outdoor pictures capturing the brisk evening air and wintery clouds are a must. But a frozen bride doesn't do us any good at the reception. We have gladly recommended the use of a stole or wrap many times and it always conveys the perfect mix of elegence, romance, and lets just say it...keep our bride alive during their portraits!

Marisa & AJ got married at The Sunset Room this past December 4th. Check out their blog post soon.

Sherri & Mike lucked out with perfect snow at River Farm last January 29th. They were on the blog yesterday again as a flashback...check it out!

Meredith & Matt had a perfectly brisk day this past November 12th at The Fairfax at Embassy Row. 

Picture #1 & 2: Three Lights Photography, Picture #3 Jan Michele Photography, Picture #4 & 5 Studio Juno Photography.

Sherri & Mike: 30% Precipitation,100% Anticipation

Sherri and Mike were married at River Farm in Alexandria, VA in January 2011 adn we still reference this winter stunner often. We had the absolute honor of working with them over the three months in designing and booking all aspects of their wedding. For the creative types that we are....this was a dream come true. Sherri was working hard at both her job and a growing baby bump (if you've even seen a more beautiful pregnant bride at 6 1/2 months let me know...she was stunning as you can see). And now proud mama of a gorgeous baby girl.

They wanted to keep this very VIP. We had 22 guests in total which were mainly immediate family and a few close friends. This allowed not only a lot of wiggle room for creative touches but a lot of personalization.

We brainstormed together during our first meeting back in November and kept up the momentum over the holidays in gathering ideas, items big and small and hiring the perfect vendors to make such a beautiful historical venue POP in a new way!

Check out this great wedding that kicked off a record year for Events In The City....

Hotel Monaco in Old Town Alexandria is one of my favorite hotels to send clients to. Its location can't be beat and I have always had such a great experience with their staff.

Sherri wished for snow and SHE GOT IT! She's wearing boots under her dress here. Mike and Sherri were troopers as they pranced around the grounds at River Farm. What amazing shots with the icy Potomac River in the background!

Janet Flowers created gorgeous bouquets for the bride and Matron of Honor. Plus this gave us an opportunity to use anemones...the white and black flower you see here...one of our current obsessions.
Glad the one odd shaped birch placecard holder I had came in handy for this perfect picture! Sherri's engagement diamond looks stunning, like a piece of ice, fit for a queen. Mike's bevelled wedding band also goes well with this natural theme.
This wreath hung on the front door at River Farm and greeted guests as they arrived. Sherri loved it so much, we packed it up for her to take home and enjoy the rest of the week on their front door, at home they now share together in Old Town Alexandria.
The parlor inside of River Farm served as our ceremony location. We moved the furniture out of this room and into the small foyer for seating during cocktail hour. Frost Lighting lit the room with a candlelit glow. The picture window served as the perfect backdrop.

And now for the reception.....we want to Thank Sherri and Mike for trusting our vision and crazy ideas. We are so pleased that is turned out the way that it did and something we've never attempted at River Farm by transforming their ballroom into a winter wonderland....

So your probably thinking....whats with the panels on the walls? River Farm has local artists feature paintings inspired by their gardens, as River Farm is the headquarters for the American Horticultural Society. Though they consist of beautiful water colored flowers, it just didn't go with this theme. Since we can't remove them and pipe & drape was just out of budget, we did the next best thing....GO TO IKEA! We bought fabric panels and had one of our handy interns (thanks Madeline!) construct 16 panels to hang over the paintings. In each corner we had birch tree panels (yes, what a perfect coincidence this pattern was available) to accent Janet Flowers huge birch and crystal trees.


Another great find...the Birch Tree forest picture. It served as a great way to cover up a photo hanging above the mantel and create a "window" into the path ahead that Mike and Sherri will travel together. The happy couple kept this canvas to have in their house. What can we say...we love a double duty item you can use again!

I also have to mention the blue lighting was a leap of faith but it really did work well. I personally never noticed that amazing tooth-like crown molding inside the ballroom. So pretty.Vases were wrapped with bark, we used tablerunners from Crate and Barrel to outline the satellite pieces that ran down the table. And even though I had to convince Sherri just a bit to go with these unique Murano glasses from DC Rental, it really amped up the regal factor for this winter wedding.




Having only 22 guests made this long table an easy choice to fill this room in a special way. We had the bride and groom sit in the middle facing all of their guests. What a stunning scene to walk into and see this! Guests all gasped as they walked in...I think everyone felt very special and honored to there.

GORGEOUSNESS!


WOWIE ZOWIE!!! Like I mentioned before we were fortunate enough to be able to personalize so many aspects of this wedding because of the VIP guest count. We picked up coffee mugs from Anthropologie and stuffed a single serving of hot chocolate and a peppermint swizzle stick in each mug. Barbara Fleagle from Details, Details in Leesburg calligraphied these recycled luggage looking tags with each guests name. They picked these up on their way out....and trust us, no one left theirs behind like at other weddings!(and yes we couldn't help but squeeze in some fake snow for the mugs to sit on!)

Another amazing birch bark vase from Janet Flowers. It was actually accordian folded which worked really well for arranging these flowers onsite.

One of their family traditions is for these disco baby blue tuxedo jackets to be brought out during every wedding and be passed around to all the male guests. Sherri arranged for disco music to accompany their entrance back into the reception!

(I was secretly hoping for a coordinating orange sherbert jacket, top hats and canes to bust out for a Dumb and Dumber act but Mike set me straight in the coat closet on that what the back story was...hehe)

We wish Sherri and Mike all the luck in the world and were just so honored to be apart of this special day. We had so much fun....as you can see!

Thank you to all our vendors that made this production so easy and beautiful:

Venue: River Farm - Janet Daniels

Florist: Janet Flowers Wedding and Event- Janet Flowers

Catering & Cake: Ridgewells - Deirdre Feely

Rentals: DC Rental - Liz Waylan

Lighting: Frost Lighting - Fred Elting

Transportation: A La Carte Transportation - Rick Ghannam

Photography: Jan Michele Photography - Jan Graves

Officiant: Father Tom Lenhard

Harpist & Music: Grabielismo Productions - Pablo Grabiel, Jan Holland

Hair: Sommer Seneca

Makeup: Faces By SAM - Suzanne A. Minskey

Hotel: Hotel Monaco - Mauricio Quiroga

In Love and War

 In August of 2011 Jenn and Bill were married at Good Shepherd in Alexandria and held their theme specific reception "In Love and War" at the Army/ Navy Club in Arlington. When I first met Jenn, I was immediately drawn to her attention for detail, clear vision for their wedding, and a warm and bubbly smile! With Bill out of the country for much of the planning it was up to us girls to knock her soldier's socks off! 

The cocktail hour room was a tribute to the honorable list of family members that have served our country. From the moment the guests walked through the door their eyes bounced from detail to detail. As guests approached our  "war room" table they found their escort cards disguised as Western Union telegrams. 

As the reception bell chimed we saluted our soldiers and pulled out the chair for the ladies! Words can barely describe the feeling that was created by the talented vendors who worked on this room. Each wall dripped in soft pink hues provided by Premier Dj Services. The aroma from incredibly lush florals were unmistakable. Jenn wanted an Old Hollywood feel with deep patterned linens, abundant arrangements, and the perfect amount of glam. It was a room that Grace Kelly herself would have enjoyed dining in!  Holly Chapple Flowers created groupings of crystal candle holders and perfectly placed cabbage roses. When Jenn saw the room for the first time she immediately burst into tears of joy.

To fit the detailing of each placesetting, Jenn worked with Fluffy Thoughts Bakery to create a flawless piece of art. All hand piped, the black scrolling begged to be looked at and studied. I can't tell you how many guests saw the sugar anemones and asked if they were real! With so many fabulous ingredients, we were fortunate to have the talented and hard working Jan Graves capturing their day. With barely any time to stop, she snapped away and froze some incredible moments in time.

It was such an honor to work with Jenn and Bill. So here's to our soldier and his bride!

 

Photos by Jan Michele Photography

The Couple that Play's Together.. Stays Together!

When you first meet a couple you are looking for signs of love, signs of companionship, signs of compromise.When I first saw Beth Goldberg and her fiance Adam Sears, it was clear I could put my detective gear away because they weren't hiding a thing! With robust laughter and silly smart remarks these two "played". I just loved watching the two of them swoon with possibilities for their wedding. In September 2011 they were married and partied down at International Country Club in Fairfax. With an infectious laugh, and truly charming love for each other; Beth and Adam set forth to create a reception that was unique and full of their personality, Sassy, Sexy, and Totally Unique! With the help of some incredible vendors; Brookhill Florsit, Ampa Events,DC Rentals and DJ D Mac; this event rocked the house! 

Pictures by Blink Photography

Feather Weather

On a frigid 40 degree day Stephanie Motal and Ho Nguyen melted the hearts of everyone in attendance of their vows at the stunning Sunset Crest Manor. This couple stole my heart from the very beginning. With such excitement we began to plan a Creative Black Tie affair. So what does that mean.. Well according to Martha it means gents are to dress up their suits with jazzy ties, funky socks, and interesting flair. For the ladies... anything goes! With this idea in mind we wove together eclectic pieces,artistic creations, and plenty of silly touches that reminded all of their guests that they were to have an incredible time!

This bouquet was made for Stephanie by one of her bridesmaids!

These escort cards caused quite the stir :)

See... I told you!

So Stephanie and Ho memorized the iconic dance from Napoleon Dynamite, it was incredible! In fact maybe I should send them some moon boots as an anniversary present.

Special Thanks to all of the vendors that made this day so special for our clients.

AFR Events, DC Rentals, Better Events Catering, Affordable Arrangements, The Icing, Davis Dj's, Creative Ceremonies, & the lovely photos from Connor Studios