Real Wedding: Hollywood Inspired Wedding in Alexandria (Part 1)

28 02 2011

Check out how cute this couple is from the Sneak Peek post a while back.

You can get a great look without busting the budget by strategically choosing elements with the most impact. This couple wanted to evoke a Hollywood glam style to their wedding, with the primary colors being red, gold and white with lots of sparkle. Check out the linens we chose.

red and gold color scheme

Clockwise from top left: Dark Red Satin Napkins, hotel's Ivory Damask (dinner tables), Burgundy Pintuck (sweetheart table), Champagne Romance (all other tables), Ruby Ribbon Swirl Taffeta (candy buffet)

Tip: To save on budget without straying from the design concept, we used the Ivory Damask tablecloth the hotel provided but accented it with rented Dark Red Satin napkins. To highlight the sweetheart table, we did the reverse and rented Burgundy Pintuck tablecloth and the hotel’s ivory napkin.

Davinci’s Florist did a great job coming up with a centerpiece design using crystal stands with a ball of red roses on top and a few white feathers with strings of crystals dripping from the flowers. All the crystals reflected the surrounding candlelight beautifully. We had also used half of the centerpieces to line the aisle at the church. Got to love double duty!

Hollywood glam wedding Holiday Inn Alexandria BallroomThe table numbers and menu cards had a design that mimicked a theatre marquee. Their favors were a jar of honey named “Love Potion No. 9.}

Hollywood glam wedding Holiday Inn Alexandria centerpiece Davincis FloristHollywood glam wedding Holiday Inn Alexandria menu cardI loved the lighting around the room and on the dance floor. This was a pretty bland hotel ballroom and the lighting really helped to give the room some depth. Davinci’s designed this amazing canopy around the elevated sweet heart table. It was draped in white fabric with roses and feathers at the corners, and a curtain of crystals were hung from the top on all sides.

Hollywood glam wedding Holiday Inn Alexandria lighting Davincis FloristAll photos (except linens collage) by Rachel Naft. More to come — Vicky





Bialek’s Music Bridal Shows this Sunday 2/27

25 02 2011

You are cordially invited to attend one of the following Holiday/Bridal Shows below to meet Bialek’s Music, as well as some other great vendors! This is a fabulous opportunity to check out these great spaces, and meet their staff.

After you decide which show you’d like to attend, please email them at info@bialeksmusic.com to RSVP.  All events are FREE.

Sunday February 27th

Loews L’Enfant Plaza, 1:00pm-5:00pm
Featuring DJ Richard Barreto

Westfields Marriott, 11:00am-3:00pm
Featuring DJ Brennan Sullivan

Tysons Corner Marriott, 12:00pm-4:00pm
Featuring DJ Bryan Hoover

Marriot Metro Center, 11:00am-3:00pm

Featuring Bialek’s Music





Real Wedding: Coppery Fall Jewish Wedding at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (Part 3)

23 02 2011

Missed anything? Go back and check out Part 1 (sneak peek) and Part 2 (concept).

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Jewish Wedding in the fall under chuppah

Love the early afternoon light in the fall. So pretty. Photo: Elaine Studley, Hay McKenna Photography.

Venue: Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Music: Michael Kolmstetter classical guitarist. A classical guitarist is a great music choice for a lunch reception where you don’t expect much dancing. It provides a nice background mood. Michael had a small set up that allowed him to play recorded music for the first dance, John Denver’s Annie’s Song (I hummed that song all week).

Photographer: Elaine Studley, Hay McKenna Photography

Floral Designer: Growing Wild Floral Company

Catering + Cake: Windows Catering Company (Nicole Gutierrez)

— Hope you enjoyed this one, Vicky





Real Wedding: Coppery Fall Jewish Wedding at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens (Part 2)

21 02 2011

We shared a sneak peek of one of our October couples a while back. Here is the rest of the story. I love Sunday weddings. I especially love lunch weddings. When you combine the two, I’m a happy camper.

Colors. It is completely coincidental that we are featuring this wedding after the Newseum wedding shared the last 2 weeks.  While both weddings were held in the fall, they could not be more different. This couple wanted to embrace the warmth of the fall. They chose copper, brown, gold, cream and terra cotta.

Lakeview Copper Topaz Chestnut Baroness Silk Gold

Lakeview Copper tablecloth. Gold napkins. Gold Chivari chairs with Topaz Chestnut chair pads. Topaz Chestnut tablecloths

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens fall Virginia DC wedding Windows Catering

Flowers. Barbara von Elm did a masterful job of combining all these colors into the floral centerpieces. Those design, as well as the design for the chuppah, complemented the garden setting.

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens Jewish fall wedding chuppah

We used the groom's tallit on the chuppah

Food. Windows put together a lunch menu that also embraced the season.

Hors d’oeuvres: lollipop lamb chops, Applewood smoked Salmon Flower, Mini Rueben, Wild Mushroom Diamonds and Crispy Spring Rolls.

Lunch: 1st course was a squash and apple bisque with toasted pumpkin seeds, followed by a choice of a Farm-Raised Chicken Paupiette or Salmon En Croute.

Dessert:  Grand Marnier wedding cake with citrus buttercream covered with delicate blooms  and vines, and Window’s signature chocolate-dipped strawberries.

Windows Catering Grand Marnier wedding cake at Meadowlark fall

Topped with an heirloom cake topper

Windows Catering Company squash and apple bisque at Meadowlark

squash and apple bisque

All photos by Elaine Studley, Hay McKenna Photography. Part 3 to come — Vicky





Real Wedding: Bejeweled Modern Wedding at the Newseum (Part 4 The Team)

16 02 2011

If you missed it, go back to Part 1 (sneak peek), Part 2 (design) and Part 3 (food). This was a great way to close out 2010 — Vicky

Newseum Washington DC wedding Garrett Hubbard

One of my favorite photos of the year - so like them. Garrett took them around the Newseum building for photos and this is what happened. Photo: Garrett Hubbard.

Ceremony Location: Dahlgren Chapel, Georgetown University. One warning is that Dahlgren’s music director can be challenging to work with and a hired string quartet would not have been his choice of music. They also do book weddings back to back so be cautious of your set up and photo needs.

Reception Location + Catering: Newseum with Wolfgang Puck Catering. Stephanie Retelle. Stephanie was great – very helpful and accommodating. The food is outstanding.

Ceremony Musicians: Ensemble Elan.  The bride used to play the cello so hiring a string quartet was important for her. One of her favorite pieces of music was Mascagni’s Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana. I have to admit I love it too although I never knew the name of the piece. .

Floral Design: Petals Edge Floral Design. Another great job as described in Part 2.

Photography: Garrett Hubbard. Garrett is a photojournalist for USAToday and you can see his experience reflected in his wedding photographs. Great use of light (even in a dark reception room) and creative compositions while always on the move, like a true photojournalist should be. The best part is that he is just the happiest guy you’ll ever meet.

Transportation: Reston Limo. The couple was gracious enough to offer transportation between the church, Newseum and back to hotels. We needed all 3 buses and everything went pretty smoothly.

Rental: AFR Furniture Rental (lounge furniture) and Party Rental (linens)

DJ: Elan-DJ (Cheryl) Not to be confused with Elan Artists.

Guest Hotels: Hotel Monaco DC and Courtyard Marriott

Rehearsal Dinner: Vinoteca. One of the couple’s favorite restaurants.

Welcome Party: A friend’s home.