Real Wedding: A Fall Wedding at the Meridian House (Part 1)

I first met Aubrey and Dave only two months before they planned to wed on October 23rd at one of our most loved venues, The Meridian House. While there was only two months until they said “I do” they had a vision and feeling of exactly how the wanted their special day to be shared.

Photo: Stacey Vaeth Photography

They could not have asked for better weather for an outdoor garden wedding in later October.  The ceremony was comprised of a traditional Persian ceremony, performed in Farsi, and a non-denominational ceremony.  The entire ceremony was beautiful and combined all elements that were important to Aubrey and Dave.

The cocktail hour immediately followed and Aubrey and Dave decided on the bright fall colors of green and shades of orange.  Dinner was served by Main Event, and as always, they did not disappoint.  DJ, Bryan George, did a fantastic job at keeping everyone on the dance floor too!

Stayed tuned for part 2 where  I go into the details of the ceremony and reception!

-Megan

Photo: Stacey Vaeth Photography

Eat: Maggie Austin Cake

Me, Sara Bauleke (Bella Notte), Lisa Shulz (Posh Planner), Alex Pare (Cherry Blossom Weddings), Lee Van Buiten (Savoir Faire)

I first heard about Maggie Austin Cake one morning while watching the Today Show’s Wedding. Maggie’s cake was one of the choices for viewers to pick! Lucky for me, Lee Van Buiten of Savoir Faire Wedding Planning Services organized a tasting with Maggie a while back. As some of you may now, I’ve been dancing ballet since I was 4 years old so I was very excited to hear that Maggie used to be a ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet until an injury ended her career. After dancing, she attended pastry school and the rest is history.

Yummy cakes samples

[From top to bottom]

White Velvet Cake with Earl Grey Ganache & Lemon Flecked Vanilla Buttercream

Lemon & Spanish Olive Oil Pound Cake with Apricot Preserves & Fiori di Sicilia Buttercream

Vietnamese Cinnamon Cake with Hazelnut Praline & Cappuccion Buttercream

Mocha Spice Cake with Crushed Pecan & Maple Whiskey Buttercream

Double Chocolate Espresso Cake with Seville Orange & La Belle Orange Buttercream

Maggie’s combination of ingredients are so interesting and different from standard wedding cakes. While her cakes start at $10 per slice, they really are a work of art and her attention to detail is extreme. The one below is my favorite. — Vicky

Photo: Maggie Austin Cake. This is the Dogwood+Ruffles cake featured on the Today Show. The dogwood and ruffles detailing is incredible. A great example of Maggie's work.

 

Welcome Parties: Mad Fox Brewing Company, Falls Church

The Saloon section of the Mad Fox Brewing Company

Venue: Mad Fox Brewing Company, Falls Church, VA

Food & Drink: Mad Fox features fresh seasonal and local ingredients with a chef-driven menu that features pizza, panini, salads, meats and vegetarian friendly foods. The beer is brewed in-house (you’ll see the tanks as you walk into the bar/restaurant)

Welcome Party Option: The Saloon area is located along West Broad Street, physically separated from the rest of the restaurant.  It has a fireplace, banquette, bar stool seating, and table seating. Groups can reserve the Saloon for private events, with a total seated capacity of 50.

Advantages:

• Free garage parking
• Semi-private space. Pretty spacious for a larger group
• Great food and drinks options (especially for beer lovers)

Challenges:

• No Metro rail access
• Not within 1 mile of any major hotels (3 miles east of Tysons Corner)
• Not near any major reception sites

Real Wedding: Coppery Fall Jewish Wedding at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Photo: Elaine Studley, Hay McKenna Photography

At the beginning of October, we had a pleasure of coordinating Jennifer and Alan’s wedding at the beautiful Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. Their lunch-time wedding was featured in All The Right Ingredients, Windows Catering Company’s blog. Windows did a great job with the food and Nicole Gutierrez was a pleasure to work with. More to come! — Vicky

Sneak Peek: Bejeweled Modern Wedding in DC

Photo: Garrett Hubbard

“Hi Vicky! I’ll write you more after we get back from Thailand, but I wanted to send a quick note for helping so much with our wedding. We truly appreciate the work you and your staff did … Our wedding … was flawless! Thanks again! Love, Lauren”

Stay tuned. We’ve given you quite a few sneak peaks lately while we await the full set of professional photos to become available. We promise it’ll be worth the wait — Vicky