Want something different for your Valentine’s Day?  Just let us know what you want to send or receive!!  We take care of everything from plants and roses to fun jars with candy or gum for your sweetheart!  Make your order by this Friday and get $10 off!!!  Call or email us today:

inquiries@eleganceandsimplicity.com

301.656.5560

Photo credits:

1st Row – Documentary Associates and The Observatory 

2nd Row – Documentary Associates

3rd Row – Us!

Green glam up your aisle with Eco Armani!  Both Colin and Livia Firth had their tux and dress made with recycled bottles at the Golden Globe awards!

Check out Livia’s dress – amazing!  Perfect mother of the bride dress and Colin’s tux is perfect for any groom!  Take a cue from the Golden Globes on how to glam up your wedding and still stay green!

One of the biggest trends in flowers for 2012 weddings is all about the color green!  There are tons of ways to use green in your bouquet.  The above bouquet has folded green leaves, green hypericum berries, Belles of Ireland and Emerald roses along with eucalyptus.  One of our favorite bouquets from last year!

Other beautiful green flowers and accents are hellebores, hydrangea, seeded eucalyptus, green beading, zinnias, succulents, mums, coxcomb, calla lilies, orchids, bupleurum, lotus pods and so much more!!

(photo by Kimberly Williams)

We are thrilled to be named once again among the top 5% of wedding vendors by Wedding Wire with their Bride’s Choice Award for 2012!

…something new…something blue…

Yep – it is finally here!  Wedcoupon is launching in February and it is the first ever coupon site for weddings both nationally and locally!  Think of it as your Groupon site sprinkled with Gilt City for engaged couples!  Want to be the first in line to see when it goes live in February?  Be sure to click on the logo above and sign up!

We are thrilled to announced that we were chosen as a Bayside Bride Handpicked vendor for floral designers!  We have done a lot of weddings on the Eastern Shore and Bay area and we love all the details of doing fun weddings in Annapolis and the Chesapeake Bay!  Here is a fun smattering of photos from weddings we did on the bay and Annapolis this past year!

Top two photos taken by Matt Mendelsohn 

For those of you who have been wondering – Katie had her baby girl on December 14th!  And yesterday was Katie’s bday!

Happy Birthday to Katie and we welcome Elena Marina Vasquez to the Elegance & Simplicity team!

(photo by Documentary Associates)

We are so excited about the war ending in Iraq and we are hoping that a lot of service men and women are finally coming home and ready to tie the knot in our nation’s capital!  We have been offering a military discount since day one!  So – if you or your fiance is in the military – do not hesitate to let us know so we can extend our discounts to you so we can do our part in giving thanks for your service!

(photo by Documentary Associates)

We are thrilled to be named one of the best wedding planners and floral designers for the DC area by Washingtonian Bride & Groom for 2012!  We have been on their list since 2005 and we are honored!!

We are looking forward to another year filled with beautiful, romantic, quirky, whimsical, vintage, sassy, incredible and amazing weddings with you!!

(photo by Documentary Associates)

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/washingtonian-bride-groom/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/lo-boheme-2/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/lo-boheme-2/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:30:12 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=6285

Get a jump start on your planning and get to Lo Boheme to check out their new selection of headpieces for your spring nuptials!!!

Happy New Year to all of you from our families here at Elegance & Simplicity!  We look forward to serving you in the coming year!

(Edible toppers from Etsy)

If you are about to start that new training or exercise program to get buff for your wedding day…getting those new shoes are in order.  Don’t just throw away or donate the old ones…recycle them with Nike’s shoe recycling program - click here for more details!  Old sneakers get made into new shoes, basketball courts, football fields and more!

So your honey got you that new smart phone for the holidays – don’t just throw the old phone in the trash or in the drawer – recycle it!  Recelullar will actually buy your old to resell it – so go beyond just recycling there!  Or you can straight donate it to them and they will send your old phone to soldiers overseas!!  Believe it or not millions of cell phones just get thrown in the trash!!!

So you decided to finally get those new swanky eyeglasses!  Donate your used ones at One Sight – help give others the gift of sight!!!  They make sure that various retailers redistribute your used glasses to the needy!

Got the latest new laptop for the holidays?  Donate your old one to your local school program through the EPA’s community program.  Find out where you can donate here!

Tell us how you are donating this holiday season to inspire others!

The Winter 2012 Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine is live!  Click on the cover to see!!!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/eco-beautiful-weddings-winter-2012-issue-is-live-2/feed/ 1 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/casandras-wedding/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/casandras-wedding/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:30:12 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=6157

I gave you a sneak peek last week from a wedding we did at a new venue called Love Point.  What I did not tell you is that it was Casandra Tressler’s wedding!  She was 2010′s Miss USA International and came from being Miss Maryland!!! Above is the bridesmaid bouquet to accompany the beautiful bridal bouquet that we did for her (click here to see).  Filled with garden roses, pink freesia, white delphinium and white mini calla lilies.

The venue has a view right on the bay looking straight at the Bay Bridge!  We did the centerpieces as well.  Windows took care of the catering and rentals.

The bride opted for three different centerpieces.  Starting with this rustic style with wheat grass and river rocks in our reclaimed wood boxes.

Then the second arrangement was our milk glass filled with pink garden roses, calla lilies and hydrangea.

Last, but not least, are the tall trumpet glass vases with dendrobium orchids and curly willow accents!

Congrats to Casandra + Estebe!

The Fall Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings is Finally Live!  Fall has never looked so good!  Our team did an amazing job!  Click on the cover to check it out!

Having amazing style for your wedding day is one of the top priorities on your list – that is what we are here for!  Whether it is having an amazing ice blue dress like the one above or having the perfect shoes like the ones below…

You need to start with the right planning advice and the right venue.

Every holiday season, we get you ready for your planning by a series of blog posts about the best and brightest venues to start your planning with.  We will tell you about some great new spaces and talk about the mainstays here in the DC (and why they are so wonderful).

So stay tuned as we bring you all the information you need for style and venues and planning advice – especially for the newly engaged who just need to know where to start!

Happy Planning!

(Photography credits – Top to bottom, left to right: Heather Z Photography, K. Thompson Photography, Documentary Associates, Roman Grinev Photography)

It is literally the 1st wedding blog I ever started to read and one of the 1st to feature us.  They now have an updated Vendor Guide and we love how we look in it!

Check it out by clicking on the photos above!

Today is the last day to win this gorgeous red cake pedestal from Burlap and Blue!  It was featured in our Etsy Love Challenge in the summer issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine!  Click on the photo above to learn how to win it!!!

(Photo by Allison Britton)

We are so proud of our new issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine!  It is chock full of summery goodness!  Plus we have two featured weddings it from local photographers and vendors!  A must see issue!  Click on the cover above to check it out!

We so love 100 Layer Cake and we are happy to see that they are having a pop-up shop tomorrow featuring ban.do accessories!  Be there or be square!  Click on the photo above to get more details!

We are beyond thrilled to announce today that we are giving one lucky couple an Eco-friendly Wedding Planning Package!

We have joined together with the folks at SmartBride Boutique for their Princess for a Day Contest!

Learn how to win by clicking here!

For our 3rd installment of Earth Day Week – I am focusing on eco-friendly photographers in the DC area.  It goes without saying that I highly recommend my brother and his wife from Documentary Associates.  Their weddings have been featured in the Washingtonian‘s Bride and Groom Magazine, The Knot, Essence.com for their work on the Green Wedding Consortium’s Earth Day Wedding Last Year at Decatur House, Eco-Beautiful Weddings, in the Eco Issue of Bride and Bloom Magazine,  Flower Magazine and more!  Their commitment to the environment includes being carbon neutral with Carbonfund, doing various non-profit organization photography, driving a hybrid, donating to various eco causes and more.  We work with them often and they are located right in the office with us in Bethesda!  (Yes that is a photo of me on my wedding day in the Dominican Republic!)

Another eco-friendly favorite photography firm of ours is The Observatory.  Owner Andrea Jacobson uses public transportation and Zipcar when she needs a car!  Growing up on the west coast, she grew up with reusing and recycling since she was a baby!  She took an enormous amount of photography for our first few issues of Eco-Beautiful Weddings – including our 1st issue’s cover shoot!  Their weddings have been featured in the Washingtonian Bride and Groom, Brides Magazine, The Knot and countless blogs.   You can see more about the above wedding photo at the Meridian House by clicking through to this link on United With Love.

One of the most talented photographers in the DC area is Nicole Wolf of Sota Dzine.  She is also really (what I call) a part-time missionary + full time photographer!  She has taken several trips (and will be going back) to Haiti to help build homes for those affected by the terrible earthquake last year.  Her heart is so big that she has raised over $15,000 to build homes on facebook alone (CLICK HERE TO DONATE)! I am helping her with a fundraiser for her Up From Under Project in November of this year (stay tuned).  I don’t know if I could even list where Sota Dzine has been featured here – it would make this post too long.  The photo from above is from a shoot we did together for Photo District News.  Her weddings and photography have been featured literally all over the world and locally in magazines like the Washingtonian, DC Magazine, The Knot along with international ad campaigns and commercial photography (they even photographed Lisa Loeb’s wedding)!  Their whole team is talented and they have big hearts!

Friend and fantastic photographerJennifer Hughes is sweet as she can be and talented beyond compare.  Heralded in both the greater Washington, DC and Baltimore areas – Jennifer is simply one of the best photographers around.  She has earned her reputation through fantastic wedding and commercial photography.  The above wedding photo (and wedding) was featured in the most recent issue of Baltimore Bride.  Click here to see more!  Jennifer also took the photos from our cover editorial from the Winter 2011 Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings as well!

a little bit of whimsy photography is another fave of ours that photographed the cover editorial from our Spring 2010 issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings here locally.  She captures emotions so well at weddings and just has such an eye for detail.  She gives back to the community in so many ways and has recently become a vegetarian.

Balance Photography – One of the founders of the local green wedding showcase + Green America Member and so much more!  This husband and wife team also does some amazing boudoir work!

I have recently fallen in love with photographer Marta Locklear!  She recently did the amazing new cover editorial shoot for the Spring 2011 Issue of Eco-Beautfiul Weddings and she is a genius at using natural light.  She is an eco-gal!  She has her own vegetable garden and wants to start raising her own chickens too!!

Holland Photo Arts loves the environment and gives 5% of their total revenue to various organizations that help make the world a better place!  This husband and wife team is based on Charlottesville – so they are perfect for weddings in the Northern and Southern VA regions.

K Thompson Photography is another one of our favorite local green photographers.  She is a member of the Green Wedding Consortium and supports many eco-related organizations.

Kristi Odom won my heart as a bride that got married in Africa with very few guests and even took her own wedding photography!  She encourages people to see the world and experience new cultures.  She is also a member of the green wedding consortium and donates a portion of her proceeds to various organizations.  Her weddings have been featured in Eco-Beautiful Weddings, United With Love, Wedding Vow, Newnan Coweta, Wedding Event Style and more.

There are more photographers out there doing amazing things – just be sure to ask them when you meet with them.

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Green Idea of the Day and Contests for today – Already been married and need to sell your dress? – List your Gown on BravoBride.com this week and they will plant a tree with the Nature Conservancy!

Still Looking for your Dress?  Find one, pre-owned and become a Princess for a Day at the same time!  Smartbride has gotten together with an amazing bunch of wedding gurus and companies to give a bunch of wedding stuff away now until the royal wedding day next week!  All from eco-friendly vendors.  Great to shop for your gown too!

Today – we start the week of where you normally start your wedding planning process – THE VENUE!

Looking for an eco-friendly wedding venue can be difficult in the DC area or very easy – depending on what you are looking for. Since the majority of the beautiful mansions in the DC area are historic – you are typically paying to rent a facility that is also used for outreach programs to the local community or for the upkeep of the museum it may hold.  For example – Dumbarton House and Decatur House both are historical landmarks in Washington, DC and both have museums that they run.  Both are beautiful locations with different aspects. (Above is a photo at Dumbarton House taken by Documentary Associates).

We love doing weddings at the Ronald Reagan Building as the chef is dedicated to sourcing environmentally friendly and locally sourced food.  In fact, he took Blue Fin Tuna off the menu as he signed a petition to conserve this dwindling family of fish.

Another wonderful location for an eco-friendly wedding is the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis.  You can have your ceremony on their beach with the reception inside their LEED certified building.  Even comes with a tent for the outdoor patio for dancing!  Lots of wonderful locations to take photos and part of your proceeds go to help keep the bay clean!

The Arts Club of Washington is another one of our favorites!  (I got married there!)  A non-profit that also does catering in-house.  It supports the local arts community – an acutely dwindling breed of organizations that has stayed strong in James Monroe’s old residence!  This building is also a National Historic Property. (photo by Deb Lindsey)

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a beautiful venue for your wedding.  A portion of the rental fee is tax-deductible.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art is another location that is on the National Registry of Historic Properties and houses one of the best art colleges in the DC area.

Constitution Hall’s Library and O’Byrne Gallery and Portico is a perfect Washington, DC setting. Run by the Daughters of American Revolution – their non-profit is service oriented and educational.  A non-profit along with being on the National Registry of Historic Properties.

The Warne Lounge at the Cosmos Club is one of the most unique and ornate rooms in all of Washington, DC.  It is about to undergo renovations, but if you are planning your wedding for 2012 and know a member at the club – call them immediately!  Totally one of the most unique and interesting venues and so few brides know about it.  Know anyone in the sciences?  They might know a member there!  We have a wedding there in May – stay tuned for those photos! (Also on the National Registry of Historic Properties).

Not into a fancy old building?  Why not something super new and LEED certified?  The Nationals Park offers a variety of fantastic and modern rooms to choose from to host your wedding.  Even if you are not a baseball fan – would you not love to have this fantastic bar at your wedding?  Their caterers use local resources and the view of the baseball field is not too shabby! (Photo by Amie Otto Photography)

Halycon House is another favorite among brides also found on the National Registry of Historical Properties.  Fair warning here that the property has been on the market for a while and none of us really know what will happen once the the building gets sold.

You’ve seen all the engagement shoots (like this one from Documentary Associates) around the Tidal Basin.  Why not have your actual ceremony there?  On the West Lawn of The Thomas Jefferson Memorial – you can have your wedding!  All you need is a permit.  You get a limited time frame to have it – so it can’t be anything super elaborate.  But where else would you ever have this opportunity to get married next to Thomas Jefferson??? It’s “free” as you pay taxes for it!

The Mayflower Hotel is one of the oldest and most ornate hotels in Washington DC. Also on the National Registry for Historic Properties, the venue is great for all of your out of town guests.  Even better still, you can do both your ceremony and reception in one building and your guests just have to go upstairs afterwards – no buses or shuttles needed!

The absolutely stunningly gorgeous Meridian House is run by the non-profit Washington International Center dedicated to strengthening international understanding through exchange of people, ideas and culture. (Photo by The Observatory)

The National Cathedral is one of the most ornate and glorious churches in Washington, DC  (also on the Registry)!  It’s incredible architecture mixed with its rich history really gives a great sense of grandeur.  (NOTE - The cathedral will perform weddings only when one of the following criteria is met: 1. The bride, groom, or immediate family has made, over a period of time, a noteworthy contribution as a donor or volunteer to the life and ministry of the cathedral; 2. The bride or groom is an alumnus of one of the cathedral schools (Beauvoir, National Cathedral School for Girls, or Saint Albans School for Boys) or is the child under 30 years of age of an alumnus; 3. The bride, groom, or immediate family member is a member of the staff of the cathedral for at least two years at the time of application.)

Josephine Butler Parks Center is possibly one of the most underrated wedding venues in DC Proper.  The Washington Parks and People runs the facility which is all about protecting parks, greening community projects in DC and community outreach in general.  A beautiful space at a reasonable rate.

Woodend Sanctuary has to be one of my favorite places to do weddings.  Nestled in Chevy Chase just of the beltway – it is the home of the Audubon Society and many educational and children’s camp opportunities for the community.  With an amazing grove and mansion with an attached tent – one of the best deals in the DC area as well. (Photo by Heather Z)

The Sewall-Belmont House is actually one of the 4 items in Congress’ “Save America’s Treasures” Program (along with the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Star Spangled Banner).  Again – underrated but a much loved property right on Capitol Hill has a wonderful yard with a tent out back.  This building was the headquarters for the National Woman’s Party where Alice Paul forged forth the woman’s suffrage movement.

This is by no means a definitive list of venues – but a great place to start for you.  There are tons of venues all over Virginia and in MD that I have not covered here (warranting another blog post in the future).

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EARTH DAY CONTESTS TO BE AWARE OF TODAY:

Going to San Francisco this weekend (or want to plan a last minute getaway for the two of you)?  Then get to the Green Glam Go Facebook Page to learn how to win an Earth Day Weekend Getaway in San Francisco by clicking here and “Liking” Green Glam Go on Facebook!

Also – on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Blog – we have a metal water bottle up for grabs – Click here to learn how to win!

Stay Tuned for more eco DC goodies all week!

Get ready for a whole week of eco-friendly inspiration for your wedding here locally in the Washington, DC area! We will be focusing on eco-friendly venues, floral designs, caterers, hotels and detail ideas all next week!

I will be on staycation with my son all week!  In celebration of Earth Day – my son and I will be out and about doing various projects together for Earth Day!  I would love to know how you are celebrating Earth Day!  Let me know below!  If you need help with ideas – I will be posting various websites links for you and your betrothed to get involved!

Have a great weekend!

(Photo by Documentary Associates of our signature purple artichoke bouquet)

Looking for a job in the wedding industry?  A new site has gone live created by wedding industry expert Liene Stevens.  Whenever we plan to hire – we will be sure to post them on this website.  Well done and easy to search by city.  Plenty of jobs currently in the DC area.  In fact – I just saw one for Bella Bridesmaid in Bethesda (which is just down the street from our office).  A very exciting development!  Check it out!

We are excited to announce that the Spring 2011 Issue of Uptown Weddings & Travel Magazine features Elegance and Simplicity as one of the best wedding planners for teh Washington, DC area in their Gold Pages section!

I had a fabulous time speaking at the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists Convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier this month.  One of the most important things that I learned coming out of the convention is that a lot of brides don’t think about the issue of care of their gowns after the wedding is over.  When you buy your gown, start thinking about what you will do with your dress after the wedding.  Preserving your dress and cleaning it is essential for the next generation to where it or for you to resell your dress on any number of websites.  Our favorites are:

One of the reasons they asked me to come speak is that all of the members of the Associates of Wedding Gown Preservation Specialist use a special ZeroCarbon Gown Preservation process and are the leaders in their cities for providing the best service with the lowest carbon footprint!  Check out how it works here:

Stay green and stylish and get that dress cleaned after the wedding and don’t TRASH the dress afterwards.  Ok – you can take some photos – but don’t set the dress on fire (which I have actually seen on a photographer’s blog), go knee deep in the mudd or submerge your dress in water if the fabric can’t handle it.  There are lots of ways to have a “Trash the Dress” photoshoot after the wedding without actually trashing the dress! Let me know how you plan to have a trash the dress photoshoot and maybe we will feature it here on the blog!