Photo by Justin McCallum
Those of you who follow me on Instagram (and if you don't, please do!) saw this stunner of a sneak peek of Adam and Ryan's engagement shoot by the super rad Justin McCallum. I'm here today to share more of these awesome DC engagement shots with you. I cannot wait to continue working with these amazing men on their upcoming September wedding! Congrats again, Adam and Ryan!
The Plannery's fab coordinator, Tarra, brings you this blog post about Oscar and Blaine's wedding at the Mexican Cultural Institute. I was so bummed I was unavailable for this one, but was very glad Tarra was able to assist these wonderful men. Take it away, Tarra!
Blaine + Oscar = Bloscar! This is the one case where I would say merging the couples’ names together was sheer genius. In many ways, Blaine and Oscar are complete opposites…Oscar love to dance, Blaine does not. Blaine is very (self-admittedly) Type A, Oscar is not…but Bloscar truly had a personality of his own! Evidenced by a wedding full of details representing both Blaine and Oscar’s personalities and backgrounds.
On the one hand, this special day represented your traditional style wedding (tuxedos, bowties, a formal Episcopal service, etc.) On the other hand, this wedding gave off a modern, laid-back yet sophisticated vibe - and of course it was extremely FUN! I think this blend is exactly what Bloscar was going for. The perfect Greek and Mexican amalgamation. Notable examples include the beautiful Greek crowning tradition performed at the ceremony, and the reception held at the Mexican Cultural Institute featuring a kick ass mariachi band! Even the menu created by Spilled Milk was inspired by Greek and Mexican cultures. The best part was the Mario Bros photo booth theme!!! Granted, the Mario Bros are Italian, but still somehow it fit in like a glove!
The final thing I will mention about this fantastic wedding was the crazy déjà vu experience I had. Same-sex marriage + Impeding Hurricane Joaquin = Tarra wondering how the heck she was in this boat again! What are the chances I would experience this two times, in two different roles…first as a bride, then as a wedding coordinator? Never fear, Bloscar was in excellent hands if I do say so myself! And it truly my pleasure working with them - Congrats again, Oscar and Blaine!
Oscar and Blaine's Vendors:
Coordinator: Tarra, The Plannery
Venue: Mexican Cultural Institute
Catering: Spilled Milk
Photography: Khalid Naji-Allah
DJ: Khelan Bhatia
Lighting: Protech
Photobooth: Snapshot Moments
Cake: Touche Touchet Bakery
Food Truck: DC Slices
I’m not really sure where to begin with Wes and Brian. They hired me for full planning - after a hilarious meeting in which one of them forgot what secret word they were going to use to indicate to the other that they liked me and wanted to hire me on the spot. So I left and then immediately got called back to their beautiful apartment with the news that I was hired!
From there, things just got better. We did site visits at which Wes bought a painting from a gallery. I learned they were going to have a Best Man and a Best “Bitch”. We drank lots of wine over photographer meetings. We complained about people who shall not be named. We basically had a blast.
Wes and Brian originally wanted to do a courthouse ceremony but after seeing the sad trellis that adorns (if you can call it that) the DC courthouse, decided to do an intimate ceremony at the War Memorial. After some post-ceremony photos, they had a cocktail hour and blow-out reception at Hotel Monaco in DC. Wes and Brian settled on gray and red as their colors (Brian may or may not be from Ohio, and red is a lucky color in the Chinese culture), and Mike Bell from MyDeejay rocked it along with Emily from Love Blooms and her modern floral arrangements.
So sit back and enjoy these fantastic images from the super talented ladies at Paired Images. Some of my favorite moments include:
Jess from Paired Images stepping up and tying their bow ties cause they’d forgotten to research how to do it. She is the sh*t.
Wes and Brian’s gorgeous cake from Fluffy Thoughts and their adorbs cake topper.
Me wrangling big, red balloons. And being super relieved when one that had escaped due to some rough play by the kiddies popped mid reception rather than float into Hotel Monaco’s beautiful dome (whew).
The insane, raucous dancing.
So thrilled for these two - Congrats again, Wes and Brian!!
Wes and Brian's Vendors:
Wedding Planner: Katie, The Plannery
Venue: Hotel Monaco, DC
Photographers: Paired Images
DJ: Mike Bell, MyDeejay
Florist: Emily, Love Blooms
Cake: Fluffy Thoughts
Uplighting: I Want Ambiance
Photobooth: SillyShotz
Balloons: Balloon Affairs of Frederick
Josh and Ross are clients of mine who are getting married this coming October at Rocklands Farm. They are awesome. Case in point, their wedding may or may not feature a totally rad 90's cover band (whattt), and they have an excellent engagement story which I won't go into here, but needless to say it involved surprise international travel. They recently had their engagement session with the wonderful Leo Druker and I had to share because a) these pics are great b) they have an adorable dog and c) they're hot (it has to be said) Enjoy - and congrats again to Josh and Ross on their engagement!
(in super-sad news, I won't be coordinating their day because of a last-minute date switch - but they will be in good hands and I will have to live vicariously through the undoubtedly awesome photos Leo Druker will take).
I love love. I wouldn't (and couldn't) be in the wedding business if I didn't. And so while I try not to get too political on this blog, the one thing I never shy away from is my support of marriage equality. Though I'd like to believe I'd support it no matter what, it is personal. I have too many family members, too many great friends, too many wonderful colleagues that are directly impacted by marriage equality to ignore this basic civil right.
So I am delighted (and thrilled, and giddy, and basically jumping and leaping around my house) that Maryland's people came out and voted yesterday - a historic day in which, for the first time ever, the people upheld marriage equality by vote.
Politics can get me down sometimes - but the basic awesomeness of love always makes me feel better and gives me the warm fuzzies. I simply do not believe our nation can be hurt by having MORE love in this world. More commitment, more love, more marriages, and more weddings in the Metro area? Yes, please. Just, yes. So thank you, Marylandians - you truly inspire me and give me a sh*t-ton of hope.
From Obama's speech last night:
"What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on earth. The belief that our destiny is shared; that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights. And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That’s what makes America great...
I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try."