Visit: The Lorien Hotel, Alexandria, Virginia

Presidential Suite Private Veranda

Recently Vicky and I had the privilege of meeting the Director of Catering, Jeanna Connaughton, and touring the year old Lorien Hotel in Old Town, Alexandria.

Located on the north end of King Street, conveniently near the King Street Metro Station, the Lorien’s entrance is located through a courtyard off of King Street and sits between Chef Robert Wiedmaier’s, Brabo Restaurant and the Brabo Tasting Room.  The spa-like and soothing entrance is echoed throughout the entire the hotel.  The European “clean lines” and the “less is more” style of decorating, is actually quite warming.

Quick details: 91 Guest rooms, 16 lavish suites, two “meeting” rooms, a spa and gym.

Why I love it: The Presidential Suite (mainly the private veranda)

Event Spaces

The Independence Meeting Room, located on the first floor of the hotel, holds up to 50 people for a seated dinner and has a private terrace accessible through the meeting space.  The terrace has a fire pit and plenty of room for intimate wedding ceremony or outdoor cocktails. Upside: Great secluded spot for Rehearsal dinner or intimate wedding ceremony and cocktail reception.   Downside– It doesn’t hold more than 50 people.

Independence Room Private Terrace w/ Fire Pit

The Liberty Meeting Room, also located on the first floor of the hotel, holds up to 100 people for a seated dinner and 125 for a cocktail reception.  Upside: The ability to hold 100+ people  Downside: No outdoor access .

Catering–  All food is catered by Chef Robert Wiedmaier’s Brabo restaurant and there are many food and beverage packages to choose from.  If the food is anything like the restaurant, you are in for a real treat,

Suites: These could easily be, and have been, used to host a small ceremony and reception.  The Presidential Suite has a 550 square foot private terrace overlooking King Street which can hold up to 40 people for a ceremony and/or reception.  It is amazing quiet on the 12^th floor and you don’t get a lot of traffic noise.   These rooms are also great for the “night before” the big day to host groomsmen/bridesmaids and have plenty of room for getting ready the “day of”.

If you would like more information, please contact me!  megan@eventaccomplished.com

Cheers!

Megan

Event Accomplished to Offer Paper Products Service

Ever expanding the services available to our clients, Event Accomplished is excited to announce that we have added in-house graphic design services and are now a retailer of Papeterie invitations! (See Special Offer at the end of this blog post)

We can now create custom paper products that are part of an integrated design for your wedding, from save-the-dates to menu cards, using a mix of custom and semi-custom resources.

For example, we recently used this combination approach (see photo below). First, our in-house graphic designer created a unique Save-the-Date postcard (bottom of photo), ceremony program and table numbers (top right of photo). Later on, we worked with the designers at Papeterie to create the invitations (we also used a design from Wedding Paper Divas for the rehearsal dinner invites as seen in the upper left of the photo). What I like most about the Papeterie invitations is that they are semi-custom. While the general design of each invitation is set, you get to choose the font color, the backing colors, and a few other elements to make it fit with your event’s design scheme!

A mix of custom and semi-custom wedding invitations and stationery set

Our new event consultant, Megan Farris will be the point of contact for the Papeterie line.

Special Offer: To launch our new service, we are offering 15% discount on Papeterie paper products for couples who book another wedding planning service with us.** Make an appointment today with Megan {megan @ eventaccomplished.com} to see for yourself the beautiful choices you have for your wedding related stationery!

**Offer valid through June 30, 2010. A minimum of “day-of ” coordination service  is required to receive the discount.

Real Wedding: Vibrant and Chic in Arlington (Part 2)

Go back to Part 1 for event summary!

Brides and grooms often ask me what the secret is to beautiful wedding photographs. Just look at Robyn and Scott’s pictures! Yes, Deb Lindsey is an amazing photographer but look at how into each other they! Look at how into the moment they were in every shot. So there are no tricks – just really enjoy yourselves and take it all in!To see more pro photos, go to Deb Lindsey’s blog (November 6 entry).

Sorry for my blurry photos below!

Setting up for the ceremony

My favorite escort card table this year! The green apples and other items inside the lucite boxes really set off the black and white tablecloth.The different height boxes keep the eye moving.

The ballroom space is transformed after the ceremony for dinner service. Love the raspberry colored tablecloths

While we used the same tablecloth as the rest of the dinner tables, we added a sheer overlay to make it stand out. The linen had an iridescent purple sheen, so the purple napkins worked really well together.

The escort card table turned into the cookies buffet, supplied by the bride's mom, after dinner.

The best chocolate chip cookies and milk!

Color makes me happy! Vicky

Real Wedding: Vibrant and Chic in Arlington (Part 1)

We have just been having no luck with Mother Nature.  Although this was another rain-filled wedding, it did not dampen the bride and groom’s spirits at all! Megan and I loved working with Robyn and Scott on this wedding, their style and personalities were right up our alley.

Venue: Clarendon Ballroom (Amanda Smith)

Photography: Deb Lindsey. I meet Deb for the first time a few months ago at an industry party. Deb is a photo editor for the Washington Post. The thing that I like about Deb is that she took the time to scout out different outdoor locations that would be perfect for their formal photos. The resulting photographs just speak for themselves.

Ceremony Music: Gracenotes Chamber Music (Jeremy). They happened to be friend of the bride and groom.

DJ: Mike Valenti (booked through Bialeks Music). Still my personal favorite after 5 years in business.

Floral Designer & Chuppah: Growing Wild Floral Company (Barbara von Elm) Loved the vibrant colors and interesting textures in all the arrangements.

Hair & Makeup: Perry Warren. Perry does hair and makeup so it’s wonderful to have one stylist that can do both. He’s just fun to be around, a plus for first thing in the morning on the big day! Contact us for his contact info.

Linen Rentals: DC Rental.

Guest Hotel: Westin Arlington Gateway. I happen to love Westin properties and this one is extremely convenient to any venue along the Wilson/Clarendon Blvds corridor.

Come back for Part 2 for all the photos! — Vicky

Real Wedding: End of Summer at Meridian House (Part 2)

Go back to Part 1. For more professional photos from Mark Bettinger of Rodney Bailey Photography, click here. These are the ones I took.

Love the gerbera daisies popping out of a bed of wheatgrass by Petals Edge! A nice change of pace for the escort card table.

The Linden Grove all set for cocktail hour.

Ceremony in the garden

All set for dinner. Really loved the navy blue tablecloths in the library, accented with more orange gerbera daisy centerpieces.

Enjoy! Vicky