Jackie and Aaron // The Farm at Broad Run wedding, Broad Run, VA // VA wedding planner

Jackie and Aaron came to me initially for venue help, but eventually we also worked together on nailing down their major vendors and month-of coordination. They were awesome. They wanted a very unique wedding and had very specific ideas about what they wanted. Helping that vision come to fruition was really fulfilling and especially seeing in-person how perfectly “them” their wedding was, and how much their friends and family embraced their day.

Jackie and Aaron got married at the Farm at Broad Run on a beautiful, unseasonably warm day in September. Their unique wedding timeline included a pre-ceremony sing-a-long “hang” which they staged in a nearby field. We rented a platform so that they’d be a bit more visable, and the caterer, A La Carte, had a welcome station with prosecco and beverages as well as some snacks. Their rabbi led the session and though I had my doubts, it was a huge hit with their guests.

Guests then proceeded to another field closer to the pavilion and tent where they held their outdoor ceremony. One of their friends serenaded them down the aisle. It was beautiful and magic. Cocktail hour followed in the pavilion - though the nearby field had also been set up with some lawn games, including a full mini-golf course (the only thing Aaron said he HAD to have) and a game of touch football also popped up. I loved that Aaron let himself enjoy the day fully and didn't give a damn about getting his suit dirty (though he did have a change of shirt, for the record).

A lovely buffet meal and some toasts under the beautiful tent followed. They then proceeded to dance their butts off under the pavilion. The dancing included a freaking adorable choreographed first dance, and an epic hora that extended out beyond the pavilion!

Later in the day they had their cake cutting (and some smashing!!), as well as s’mores by the fire.

Big, big shout out has to go out to Mike Bell from MyDeejay who provided sound and music for all aspects of this sprawling wedding. A very tough task due to all the different locations and the fact that it was an outdoor venue.

Wishing Jackie and Aaron a huge congrats - they were such an awesome couple to work with from beginning to end!

Jackie and Aaron's Vendors:

Wedding Planner: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: The Farm at Broad Run

Caterer: A La Carte

Photographer: Ralph Alswang

Videographer: Craig Schattner

DJ: Mike Bell, MyDeejay

Florist: Oviedo Florist

Mini Golf: Wow Entertainment

Photobooth: Photo In a Box

Sarah and Robert // The Bolger Center Wedding, Potomac, MD // MD Wedding Coordinator

Sarah and Rob got married in early October at The Bolger Center in Potomac, MD. It was a slightly chilly day (with some real wind as you’ll see in the fab photos from Jenn Link), but in my opinion was still a gorgeous fall wedding!

First, we need to discuss Sarah’s dress. I haven’t had a non-white wedding dress since May 2013, people. And this gold dress was such a stunner on her and SO much fun. I adored it and I hope you do, too. There were also lots of hot guys in uniform, as both Sarah’s side of the family, and Rob himself, serve (I love that the groom wore white but the bride wore gold!).

Sarah’s family DIY’d her florals (so lush and gorgeous) and her centerpieces (autumnal, pumpkin based beauties). They had a full Episcopalian service, officiated by a dear friend of theirs. They also created a DIY photo booth of sorts for their reception - with an Instamax camera and lots of fun props! Their reception was filled with some great toasts (including a ukulele playing best man), great food, and great dancing, fueled by DJ Micah Vellian from DJ DMac and Associates.

Congrats again to Sarah and Rob!

Sarah and Rob's Vendors:

Wedding Coordinator: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: The Bolger Center

Photographer: Jenn Link

Hair/Make-up: Makeovers On Call

DJ: DJ DMac and Associates

Hanna and Jamison // Woodend Sanctuary Wedding, Chevy Chase, MD // DC Wedding Coordinator

I had a lot of great weather luck this year (so far...fingers crossed for the rest of the fall!). But no day can compare to Hanna and Jamison's wedding in early June. It's doubtful any DC'ers will remember, but it was a ridiculously gorgeous day - not a cloud in the sky and zero humidity - a rarity in these parts (in fact my wedding last year on this same date was 98 degrees and humid as all get-out).

So. It was perfect that Hanna and Jamison had a morning ceremony followed by an afternoon luncheon reception at Woodend Sanctuary. I've also decided the weather knew Porter Watkins was going to be photographing this wedding. Cause her photography style meshed so well with the venue and the light. Every. single. picture. is stunning. The ceremony under the trees, with gorgeous altar decor by H Bloom was serene and lovely. Guests then moved up to the portico area for cocktails where they also found some DIY flags with their table information, as well as one of Woodend's trees wrapped with personal family photos (big thanks to my assistant that day, the incomparable Crystal who I'm devastated has moved to Boston. BOO. Bostonians: hire Miss Fete now).

In addition to the ceremony decor, the florist also hit it out of the park on the reception decor. Beautiful, natural arrangments and a really stunning runner for the head table. Main Event once again did an amazing job with the luncheon buffet and impeccable service. Because it was a luncheon reception, there wasn't any dancing (mostly - some of their friends may or may not have created their own impromptu dance party). Instead they rented their own sound equipment and played a Spotify playlist throughout the reception while people mingled after dinner out on the lawn, some of them playing bocce or croquet!

Couple of other details I need to mention is the bad ass cake by Room 11, and the great ceremony and cocktail music by Randy Barrett Trio.

On to the ridonkadonk photos - Enjoy! And hop to it, any upcoming DC brides and hire Porter Watkins ASAP! She not only produced these excellent pics but was a total pleasure to work with.

Congrats again Hanna and Jamison!!

Hanna and Jamison's Vendors:

Venue: Woodend Sanctuary

Coordinator: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Photographer: Porter Watkins Photography

Ceremony and Cocktail Musicians: Randy Barrett Trio

Caterer: A Main Event

Cake: Room 11

Florist: H Bloom

Wes and Brian // Hotel Monaco Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Planner

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

Susannah and Zach // Hendry House Wedding, Arlington, VA // VA Wedding Coordinator

Susannah and Zach got married this past May on a gorgeous Sunday. They originally had hired me to do Month-of Coordination only, but Susannah's family suffered an unfortunate tragedy prior to her wedding, so they hired me to jump in and take on some of the extra tasks to lighten their load. It was my absolute pleasure and it was wonderful to get to see such joy on their wedding day after tough times.

Susannah and Zach had their ceremony outdoors under a DIY chuppah (which they made themselves - and nailed). After the beautiful ceremony, guests had cocktails outdoors on the Hendry House patio and then moved to the tented reception for dinner and dancing! Some details of their reception I loved included their guest book - they had guests write on blank library cards and file them away in card catalog drawers. They also got a non-traditional wedding cake from Alexandria Pastry Shop which was just gorgeous and perfect for the season. And I have to mention Susannah's dress which was a stunning modern number. I was obsessed with it - had I found it when I'd been dress shopping for my own wedding I probably would have worn it myself! She was so beautiful.

Susannah is a twin, and Zach has two twin brothers! So don't worry if you're seeing double in some of these excellent photos from Olivia Jacob. Enjoy - and congrats again, Susannah and Zach!

Susannah and Zach's vendors:

Wedding Coordination: Katie, The Plannery

Venue: Hendry House

Caterer: Main Event

Photographer: Olivia Jacob

DJ: Anthony, MyDeejay

Cakes: Alexandria Pastry Shop

Flowers: Little Shop of Flowers

Ceremony musicians: Cherry Blossom String Quartet

Ilona and Evan // Decatur House Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Planner

Ilona and Evan hired me for partial planning - so I've been working with them for quite a while. I started with them last year to help them find their venue and nail down all their major vendors. Then I finally reemerged in March to do Month-of Coordination for them. I love this couple. They had some super fun elements to their wedding that made it so personal and unique and they and their whole family were a joy to work with. Big thanks to Chris Zarconi for the lovely photos!

They really wanted to embrace the DC in their DC wedding - so after some separate getting ready shots, they took some great couples portraits and bridal party shots around the monuments in DC.

Meanwhile, we were setting up the Decatur House for their ceremony and reception. As a couple they loved to travel so they used all of the National Parks they'd been to as a jumping off point for the reception. The tables were all named after specific parks, and Emily from Love Blooms did customized (and stunning) arrangements for each table to reflect each state park (not to mention the rocking bouquets you saw above - I ADORED those bouquets). They picked natural colored linens (blue, greens, and browns). Their escort cards were mini succulents, and their table map then turned into a guest book (they got this map off of Etsy, of course, and I loved it! Great idea).

Their ceremony was also filled with some fun quirks, including a reading from "Oh, The Places You'll Go" with choreographed tricks by the bridal party!

This wedding also featured yet another mascot! My 2nd mascot in May! This time, it was a surprise not only to all the guests, but to the groom as well! Ilona decided to surprise Evan by having the Orioles bird come out during cocktail hour. It was awesome and so much fun! Meanwhile guests drank their signature cocktail (a mint julep) while playing corn hole and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Everyone then moved back into the carriage house for dinner and dancing. Main Event created a delicious meal, including a special grilled pineapple dessert station to honor their love of Hawaii. Ilona’s father gave one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard and I’m not gonna lie, I flat-out cried.

After dinner Mike Bell from MyDeejay KILLED it. The dance floor was packed all night long and I have to say - it was packed with people of ALL ages. Which I loved.

Congrats again Ilona and Evan!!

Ilona and Evan's vendors:

Wedding Planner: Katie, The Plannery

Venue: The Decatur House

Caterer: Main Event

Photographer: Chris Zarconi Photography

Florist: Emily, Love Blooms

DJ: Mike Bell, MyDeejay

Ficus Trees: Plants Alive!

Kate and Jeff // Stroga Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Coordinator

Kate and Jeff kicked off my busy wedding season this year with a DIY wedding at Stroga. I loved their wedding because it was so diverse and is a great reminder that you can easily merge tradition with some other non-traditional choices. Mad props and big thanks to Edward Underwood for the great photos of Kate and Jeff’s big day!

They began with a Catholic ceremony at Holy Trinity in DC, but followed with a fairly non-traditional reception. Rather than have a traditional caterer, their wedding was catered by a restaurant, Kabob Bazaar! They brought delicious Persian cuisine including hummus, dips, falafel, kabobs (of course) and salads. One quick note: because this wasn’t a traditional wedding caterer, we needed to hire extra catering help for the venue set-up as well as keeping tables clean and bussed, and over all service assistance (for example, asking the tables up to the buffet). The staff were all people I’d worked with on a previous DIY catered wedding and they were fabulous. Could not have done it without them! In addition to the food, Kate’s family DIY’d the flowers, as well as the table runners. They also hired a separate bartending service to take care of the bars.

After dinner and some toasts, the infamous and fab DJ DMac kept the dance floor packed.

It didn’t hurt that in addition to some personal fatheads of Kate and Jeff (which were freaking hilarious), they also had a special guest appearance by Teddy himself.

I’d helped coordinate this surprise for the guests and it was AWESOME. When Kate first gave me the news I freaked out because, obviously, Teddy is my most favorite Nats mascot. The Nats mascot folks were so easy and great to work with and people loved dancing with Teddy and taking photos.

Fatheads, Teddy, Bride sunglasses, cake smashing, breakdancing kiddies, Adams Morgan bride and groom photos… this wedding rocked.

Congrats again to Kate and Jeff!!

Kate and Jeff's vendors:

Coordinator: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: Stroga

DJ: DJ DMAC

Photographer: Edward Underwood

Food: Kabob Bazaar

Bar Service: Mixology Bartending Service

Cake: Baked and Wired

Melissa and Tashia // Josephine Butler Parks Center Wedding, Washington, DC // DC Wedding Planner

In case you couldn’t tell, wedding season hit. Hence the silence on this here blog. The good news, however, is that the photos from the rad, beautiful and fun weddings I worked on this spring are rolling in and I have one of my favorites to share with you today - Melissa and Tashia’s Hollywood glam wedding at Josephine Butler Parks Center, with photos by Chris Ferenzi.

I met Melissa and Tashia way back when at last year’s Say I Do Expo (which I was sadly unable to attend this year due to another wedding). They hired me to help them nail down some of their major decisions and vendors, and then work with them on month-of coordination.

Here’s the thing about Melissa and Tashia - they are one of the sweetest couples you’ll ever meet. Their love for each other is truly palpable, they’re both insanely smart and ambitious, and they’re just a joy to be around. Not to mention - I finally got myself a bride in pants!!! (in case you weren’t aware of my obsession, see here). And good grief, what a hot bride in pants Tashia was (and that vest, and that lace… I could go on). Melissa rocked it equally hard with a stunning dress that featured a bolero she removed for the reception (hot hot hot) and those smokin’ red lips. She also had ridiculously hot shoes that somehow weren't photographed but trust me when I say they were beautiful. I had to get that out of the way cause I was completely obsessed with their bridal attire.

Ok.

Melissa and Tashia DIY’d a lot of their wedding and you’d never freaking know it. Melissa’s mother did the flowers (can you believe it?), Tashia’s cousin DJ’d, and they created all their own signage and a great record guest book!

After some getting ready pics, a first look, and fun family and bridal party shots, they had their ceremony. Filled with tears, laughter and rainbow tissues, it was simply beautiful. I can’t get over the smiles on their faces.

Cocktails were followed by a delicious meal by Main Event Catering - and then they danced and danced and danced.

I’ll let the rest of the photos speak for themselves, except to mention that M&T hired Tiny Paper Portraits to do hand-cut portraits for their guests. It was a huge hit and they were such a pleasure to work with. Such an awesome, classy alternative to the photo booth. Get on that, people.

Congrats again to Melissa and Tashia! You're such a beautiful couple, inside and out.

Melissa and Tashia's vendors:

Wedding Planner and Coordinator: The Plannery

Photographer: Chris Ferenzi

Venue: Josephine Butler Parks Center

Caterer: A Main Event

Make-up/Hair: Modern Bridal Studio

Cake: Sweet Black Orchid

Silhouette Artist: Tiny Paper Portraits

Emily and Zach // Woodend Sanctuary Wedding, Chevy Chase, MD // MD Wedding Planner

First of all, I dare anyone to view that picture, above, and not pray for rain on their wedding day. Take in that gorgeous, stunning photo (by the truly talented Amber Wilkie) for a moment and then we can move on.

Ok.

I did partial planning with Emily and Zach - they were most stressed about finding a venue, so I helped them find and secure their venue, gave them some resources for the rest of their planning process along with some vendor recommendations and then reemerged this past February to do month-of coordination. This was the first wedding of my 2014 season and it was amazing. It helped me realize that while I adore and love month-of coordination, I get way more emotional when I'm working with clients I feel like I know because I have watched them go through the whole planning journey. Plus, it didn't hurt that Emily and Zach are basically the best and nicest people you'll meet. So. I got quite teary at this wedding, I'm not gonna lie.

After some prep at their own homes/hotels, both of them finished getting ready separately at Woodend with boutonierre pinning and dress putting-on. Then, they did their first look  (unfortunately inside because of the rain - but with these two? who cares). Also, Emily's dress was to die and she was the hottest.

We moved the ceremony to the tented area due to the rain (which we flipped to reception during the cocktails - big props to Main Event and their staff for getting that done so smoothly and flawlessly). And what a way to start my season. Not only did the ceremony open with the fabulous officiant Maureen Burke saying "Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us togethaah today" (PRINCESS BRIDE REFERENCE WHATTT), but it moved on to a very personal, wonderful service. Teary grooms and dads get me every time.

The chuppah and all flowers were done by Shelly at B Floral Event Design and I loved her arrangements, especially with the bird table numbers Emily and Zach put together. People then ate, drank, gave speeches (which I missed because I may or may not have been out buying more wine. Reason #204,568 that you should have a wedding coordinator. Just saying), and then danced their booties off.

I was so happy for this beautiful couple and wish them all of the best in what will undoubtedly be their wonderful mawwage.

Emily and Zach's Vendors:

Event Planning and Coordination: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: Woodend Sanctuary

Photographer: Amber Wilkie

Caterer: Main Event

DJ: Evan Reitmeyer

Officiant: Maureen Burke

Hair/Make-up: Carolyn Berry, Modern Bridal Studio

josh and ross // dc engagement shoot

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).