Elegance & Simplicity - Engaged & Green Blog » Catering

Caitlin & Dan’s Meridian House Reception

Katie Martin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:30:21 +0000

Continuing on from Wednesday and last week, I wanted to show you the details from Caitlin and Dan’s reception. The above is simply one of my favorite designs from 2011. We used plums inside the vase with orchids as well. The orchids and hanging votives created such a stunning effect at night.

We placed little keepsakes of rosemary and wheat for each place setting. The wheat symbolizes fertility and the rosemary symbolizes fidelity!

The gorgeous cake designed by Design Cuisine!

In addition to the cake, Design Cuisine also made a gorgeous dessert bar!

The day of the wedding we were all so worried about the snow, but I think Caitlin and Dan would agree – it made for remarkable and beautiful portraits for them!

Congrats to Caitlin & Dan!

Have a great weekend!

Photography by Greg Gibson

Wedding Drink Style

Katie Martin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:30:05 +0000

A few of our favorite drinks from over the years…

Ginger lime mojitos from Design Cuisine with our straw escort card tags in Stewarts Soda Bottles – Photos by Kathy Blanchard

Wonderful Cocktail concoctions from Farmers & Fishers from our article in Eco-Beautiful Weddings – Photos by The Obsvervatory

Cucumber water station from Main Event Caterers (photo by K. Thompson Photography) with sodas from our Green Wedding Giveaway (Photo by Documentary Associates + The Observatory)

Casandra’s Wedding

Katie Martin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 13:30:12 +0000

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!

Brookside Gardens Vintage Style

Katie Martin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:30:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago we had a gorgeous wedding at Brookside Gardens. I showed you the bridal bouquet last Friday. She had a little bit of an Alice in Wonderland Style going on at the wedding with lovely banquet tables, rabbit accents and fun table numbers with characters from the Alice in Wonderland cartoon movie (not Johnny Depp style).

Main Event provided this gorgeous farm table for the head table while we provided all of the vintage vases with purple and white flowers – every single vase had a different floral design in it.

We love the beautiful look under the tent with these pretty dark purple and aqua colors (we also provided the pretty purple votives)

Congrats to Lili and Andrew!

Amanda + Matt’s Reception

Katie Martin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:30:52 +0000

For Amanda and Matt’s floral decor for their cocktail hour and reception we were able to use our vintage milk glass, milk bottles, tea cups, vintage glassware and frames. The vases were filled with all sorts of flowers from garden roses, astilbe, dahlias, tulips, queen Anne’s lace, berries and more!

Since the guests were all having different dishes – we needed to find a creative way to let the caterers know who was eating what! So we used the vintage bird theme for the stamps that we used on our place cards that our in-house calligrapher did. The three different stamps were used for vegetarian, meat and seafood dishes!

Once we get the professional images back – we will showcase more (including the fun cigar rolling table which was a hit for the reception)!

Congrats to Amanda and Matt!!!

Harvest Wedding Style

Katie Martin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:30:43 +0000

Credits – Top to bottom, Left to Right

Margaret & Patrick’s Wedding with fun pumpkin “love you” by Kathy Blanchard and one of our signature candy bars at Woodend

Mini Pumpkin Soup via Elizabeth Anne Designs with one of our favorite bouquets we made for Ashlee & Tom’s Wedding (my brother and sister-in-law) at Decatur House – photo by Documentary Associates

Cotton Bur Wreath via Etsy with an escort card display we did at GW River Farm

Mari + Josh’s Decatur House Reception

Katie Martin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:10:34 +0000

There is nothing better than the best band ever for a wedding! Golem, from New York, kept everyone on the dance floor at Decatur House for Mari and Josh’s wedding reception! Can’t you tell by this photo above? Take a look:

Don’t you want to get up and dance right now?

If you saw the post yesterday – you also saw this gorgeous quilt made by Mari’s mom. We were able to bring it over to the reception in between the ceremony and reception to hang behind the escort card table. Just beautiful!

Mari and Josh chose beautiful fabrics from Africa to place on each table. Every table had a different fabric accent that our seamstress customized for them from the bolts of fabric Mari brought back from Africa. We then had several fun ceramic square white vases filled with herbs for the guests to take home. As always, Design Cuisine did an amazing job. You can’t tell from these photos, but Mari’s family owns cattle and Design Cuisine was able to use cuts of meat from her own family’s farm for the dinner! Just an over the top amount of work and wonderful customer service!

We loved Mari’s beautiful bridal bouquet and bridesmaids bouquet – a fun and whimsical bouquet with peonies, delphinium and belles of Ireland.

Her bridesmaids bouquet complimented so wonderfully with the peonies, delphinium and dianthus!

Stay tuned tomorrow for our final installment from Mari and Josh’s wedding…incredibly fun photos!!!

Photography by Documentary Associates

Pretty Pink Wedding at Decatur House

Katie Martin — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:30:59 +0000

Continuing from last week’s post…here are more details from the pretty in pink wedding we did earlier this month at the Decatur House! We showcased the beautiful and fun bridesmaid bouquet last week with the limes…Above is the bridal bouquet with pink peonies, white freesia and green hypericum berries.

Main Event Caterers brought these great ottomans in to have a fun lounge feel inside the carriage house!

We used rich colors in the altar arrangements with these pink and green hydrangea and pink peony mixture.

We loved this fresh look with pink hydrangea and pink peonies with pears inside the vase!

This pretty and simple cake was brought in by Main Event Caterers from Fancy Cakes by Leslie!

Congrats to Jane and Michael for the beautiful wedding day at the Decatur House!

Eco-Friendly Flowers and Details

Katie Martin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:30:31 +0000

Dreaming about your wedding day but worried how to keep it stylish, fresh and eco-friendly at the same time? This 4th Installment for Earth Day Week is about how to keep the flowers and the details green! That is what we specialize in. Eco-friendly flowers and details is what makes your wedding yours. If you are like most couples, hundreds (if not thousands) of them have gotten married at your venue before – so the only way to make it special is with floral designs and personal touches.

Working with a logistical team and local farmers, distributors and nature itself, we design an overall design scheme for you to help fit your style! From flowers that are grown in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Holland (the last two have some of the toughest fair trade and wage laws in the world and Holland practically invented the cut flower trade). Using a combination of carbon offsetting, commercial flights (as opposed to Fedex or UPS) and sheer information and research – we are able to provide you with the best possible options. Our inventory boasts thousands of pieces of glassware from small to large. We don’t charge a “rental” fee for them like most florists do – we just simply pick up our stuff at the end of the night. With most weddings – we will take any leftover flowers to a nursing home (complimentary). If not – we also compost! Our in-house paper and glass lantern inventory is extensive and in every color imaginable. And…if we don’t have it in stock – we will get it for you! We have even used leftover beading from Christmas tree decor for a bridesmaid’s bouquet! We love to upcycle and reinvent weddings.

In conjunction with our flower department and lighting, we have all sorts of decor and favor options available for you. We have LED lights for our paper lanterns, in-house glassware (like mason jars for serving lemonade on a sunny wedding afternoon). We also have over 500 pieces of vintage and modern glassware just for candy and food bars. If your venue or caterer only has trays – we have trays, footed candy bowls, 3-tiered petit four/cupcake plates and more. We have our own carpentry team in house to custom design mandaps, chuppahs, arches, trellis’, chalkboards, directional signs and more.

We help take your dreams and ideas and make them a reality with the extensive collection of items we have in our inventory to the extensive reach of vendors that we work with in the DC area. We have an extensive information database gathered from around the world with our magazine team of writers, photographers, interns, researchers and photo editors (Eco-Beautiful Weddings). There is simply no other event design firm in the DC/Baltimore area that has as much experience, inventory and knowledge about going green as our team here at Elegance & Simplicity, Inc.! Go green for your wedding today – email us inquiries @ eleganceandsimplicity.com!

(Photo Credits from Top to Bottom – 1st Bouquet – The Observatory, 2nd bouquet – Marta Locklear, Beaded Bouquet – Documentary Associates, Praying Mantis – Amy Deputy, Triple Centerpiece – Documentary Associates, Hanging votives – Marta Locklear, Blue/Green Lanterns, Candy Bar, Lemonade Stand and Cake photos – Documentary Associates (cake by Cakes by Design), Paris Photo – K Thompson, Blue/green votives + Trellis with paper lanterns – Jennifer Hughes, Escort “card” Chalkboard (with calligraphy from Meant to Be Calligraphy – K Thompson)

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We are gearing up for the Eco-Beautiful Spring Mini Mag! Stay tuned tomorrow as it is filled with green contents that you will need to jump on!

Eco-Friendly Caterers in Washington, DC

Katie Martin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 12:30:23 +0000

Continuing our Earth Day week on how to keep your wedding eco-friendly – we move on to the next part of your planning process – THE CATERER! Why is this so important? You will spend approximately 50-60% of your wedding budget on food + rentals – so you want to make sure you are putting your dollars in the right place. Our favorite and one of the best caterers in the United States is Design Cuisine. Above are glassware from their sister company DC Rental. Design Cuisine is now Green Restaurant Certified and prides itself on sustainable practices and using local resources as often as possible. (Photo by Kathy Blanchard)

Another nationally known caterer that claims DC as their own is Main Event Caterers. In 2010, they were named Caterer of the Year by Catering Magazine! They have their own in-house water filtration system with reusable glass bottles. Their incredible chef prides himself on using locally sourced food as well. They are 100% Wind-Powered and Carbon Neutral through Terrapass. They have a comprehensive Recycling, Reusing and Composting Program and strive to educate their clients about how to stay green for their weddings. (photo by K. Thompson Photography)

Occasions Catering was the first caterer in the country to become Green Restaurant Certified! One of the first to compost and have been a supporter of local farmers years before it was thought to be “green”. They even make their own jams and preserves in-house! Truly one of the greenest caterers in town!

Gail’s Vegetarian Catering has been around for years as the DC area’s greenest vegetarian caterer. Obviously going vegetarian for your wedding is the greenest option. They are approved by Green America and create amazing menus with flair. A note – their business is up for sale – the hope is that whoever purchases Gail’s will have the same philosophy and will continue with the same style. Since it is has been on sale for a while – we are more than sure that Gail is looking for the best person to take it over!

Our final favorite pick for Green Catering is Catering by Windows, another local favorite that is Green Restaurant Certified. Certainly one of the largest event caterers in the area – they even recycle kitchen oils and food by-products.

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Earth Day Week Green Giveaway for today are free movie tickets to see the pre-screening of Something Borrowed from Stephanie Ward over at Punk Rock Bride - local eco-friendly wedding gown designer! LEAVE A NOTE BELOW ON HOW YOU PLAN TO GREEN YOUR WEDDING TO WIN THE TICKETS!

The Knot Market Party

Katie Martin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 15:30:57 +0000

We finally have the chance to blog about The Knot’s Market Party earlier this month at Nationals Park! Above is the cupcake wall we made for Kendall’s Cakes cupcakes! It was a hit with our Vintage baseball feel!

Levy Restaurants caters at the park and produced a wonderful dessert buffet as well!

Eli Staples Music performed with an amazing jazz band to open up the evening with!

Stay tuned for all the photos from the party in the upcoming issue of The Knot!

The event was also sponsored by Volanni, Everything Linen, Ampa Events, Planet DJ, Midpark Services, Poshbooth

Photography by Amie Otto Photography

The Spring Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Is Live!

Katie Martin — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:07:00 +0000

It’s Live and we are in Love! Click on the Cover Above to Check out all the Eco-Friendly Yumminess from the Spring 2011 Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings!

Margaret + Patrick’s Lebanese + Irish Reception

Katie Martin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Following up on our post from this past Tuesday, we are excited to bring you more details from the reception at Margaret and Patrick’s beautiful wedding at Rust Manor in Leesburg. Transitioning into the reception, Margaret and Patrick went from a purple and green theme to adding blue to the mix at the reception.

We used a mixture of different centerpieces: 2 low and 1 tall (tall not shown here). We had some great navy fabric leftover from another event that complimented the color scheme well and wrapped some of the low vases with it! Our graphic artist designed the table numbers, programs and more!

The bride’s mom came up with a great quilt idea to have each of the guests write a note to the bride and the groom on quilt squares to incorporate into a finalized quilt! I had so much fun with the mom gathering ideas and our carpenter on staff made that cute sewing station stand from reclaimed wood!

I just love how bright and cheery the spools of thread are! This was all a surprise to the bride the night of the wedding. Her grandmother was a quilter and it was a wonderful and bittersweet reminder of how family lives on in traditions.

Yes – you have probably seen a similar cake in The Knot! She loved it and Design Cuisine did a great job of replicating it for her with their wedding colors!

Combining both of their family’s heritage – we brought in Lebanese Debke Dancers and Irish Celtic Dancers towards the end of the evening!

Then, if that was not enough – we made sure they were sent off with Irish Lucky Clover Cookies, Baklava and Mulled Cider to Go!

Many Congrats to Margaret + Patrick!

Vendors

Photography – Kathy Blanchard

Veneu – Rust Manor

Wedding Planning, Design, Florals, Lanterns, Programs, Signage – Elegance & Simplicity, Inc.

Catering + Rentals – Design Cuisine + DC Rental

DJ Music Services - Disc Jockeys On Call

Videography – Blue Sky Films

Margaret + Patrick – Rust Manor Wedding

Katie Martin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 05:01:32 +0000

I am so excited to finally show you one of my favorite weddings from last year! Margaret and Patrick were married this past October at Rust Manor (which is one of the Audubon Society’s properties). This wedding meant so much to me as Margaret is the sister of a previous client Ameena (click here to see her wedding)! I really got to know Margaret, Ameena and their mother during Ameena’s wedding and I was so excited to be planning Margaret’s wedding!

Her pretty bridal bouquet was comprised of purple vanda orchids, green cymbidium orchids and white ranunculus. Margaret wanted purples and greens for the ceremony and blues and greens for the reception.

We were able to hang some pretty purple and white paper lanterns along with our green glass votives above the couple for a lantern chandelier effect from the sprawling tree! We customized our reclaimed wood stage for them with a darkened natural stain.

After seeing our cute article on eco-friendly wedding children’s ideas in Eco-Beautiful Weddings (by Couture Parties), Margaret fell in love with the idea of a little sign for the ring bearer instead of a pillow. Margaret’s mom also got a radio flyer painted blue to fit the color scheme for the little flower girl to ride in! Just adorable!

During the cocktail hour the guests were treated to eye candy and so much more! Since Patrick is Irish – they opted for a fun Shamrock Ginger Lime Mojito! We kept the purple going with the flowers, but started to bring in the greens and the blues with this fantastic escort card table display:

(Be sure to click on the photo here above to get a bigger and better view!)

Stay tuned for later in the week for details from their reception!

Photography by Kathy Blanchard & Catering by Design Cuisine

Design Cuisine

Katie Martin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:30:18 +0000

We are thrilled that our friends over at Design Cuisine have gotten their Green Restaurant Certification. This is another incredible accomplishment that Design Cuisine can add to the list. This certification is not to be taken lightly and we wanted to take the beginning of this week to applaud Design Cuisine for their dedication to sustainability!

We have a fantastic wedding from the fall that we will be posting shortly featuring some green elements that Design Cuisine created with our team!

Stay Tuned!

Eco-Beautiful Weddings Winter 2011 Issue

Katie Martin — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:43:56 +0000

Our Anniversary Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings is live! Click above to see the new issue!

Kati & Jason’s Wedding at The Decatur House – Part III!

Katie L Martin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:23:19 +0000

We posted a few of the photos from Kati & Jason’s wedding from May this year…however Rodney sent over this great video montage of the images from their wedding at the Decatur House!

Take a look by clicking on the image above!

Cheers to Kati & Jason!

Kendall & Mo – Part III – Wedding Decor

Chris Easter — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:30:02 +0000

This is a continuation (part 3 of 4) of Kendall & Mo’s wedding – all about the decor we did for them! Grab a cool drink as this will be a long one!

This is our signature trellis that we have been using for about 2 years now. We have now taken it out of commission and have reused the wood to create a smaller version. No worries – we can still make another one like it – we just felt a smaller version would make some of our upcoming weddings more intimate! We purchased the aqua glass hanging votives to add to our ever-growing collection of amazing hanging glassware! Of course we also have every color of the rainbow in paper lanterns. It was just especially whimsical to have them inside this beautiful atrium at the Engineer’s Club in Baltimore.

After choosing her save the dates -Kendall brought one to me and we designed the day around the adorable colors from her paper items (which were showcased in yesterday’s post)! We created simple but beautiful bouquets comprised of green hydrangea with white ranunculus for the bridesmaids to go with their beautiful turquoise/aqua shade dresses from Jenny Yoo. Each bridesmaid had an individual beautiful brooch that Kendall bought for them as gifts! She even gave one to me that I adore!

Here is her lovely bouquet! She chose white peonies (available in May and June) with white ranunculus, green cymbidium orchids with blue delphinium accents. (Look at that cute chair decor her mom made!)

We love our oval vases! We used them for the atrium as decor on the railings with submerged green cymbidium orchids and fun aqua stones.

We custom designed this piece for Kendall! It was gorgeous and huge! We took manzanita branches and fastened them to a box Miguel made out of some old wood from our workshop and filled it with wheat grass. Then we added green dendrobium orchids with her cute paper flowers (and escort cards) from her Etsy Paper designer Magnolia! Check out the post from yesterday to get a closer view of the flowers – by clicking here! (You can also click on the image to make it larger to see more detail).

Here is a nice snapshot of the tablescapes! We used our tall cylindrical glass vases with manzanita branches with hanging green and aqua glass hanging votives (hung with vintage green and blue ribbons). Then we had 3 lower vases with submerged white dendrobium orchids with floating white candles. Then you can see her adorable napkin rings here too – which were featured yesterday on the blog!

(There was also a candy bar – which I don’t have photos of at the moment!)

Mo is Lebanese and we were able to get Debke dancers in for their reception as well from MSE Productions!

MyDeejay was there that night for all of the other music and it was seamless! Anthony is always a pleasure to work with!

I love this photo of the Engineer’s Club as it shows their signature lighting ceiling system that I am in love with! However – this is not to be confused with the fantastic job that Ampa Events did with the uplighting around the facility! Truly an amazing event!

I wanted to make one final note on this blog post. This wedding was planned with eco-friendliness in mind. Kendall and Mo are busy doctors and highly aware of what is going on in our environment. She chose Etsy Designers to give back to the creative artist community, chose us for our eco-friendly designs, chose the Engineer’s Club for its beauty and historical significance, chose MyDeejay as they are a carbon-neutral company, her friends and family took most of the paper decor to be reused again…the list is really endless. We adored Kendall from the moment she stepped into our offices!

Going green can be fab folks – as you can see here!

Stay tuned for the 4th and final installment tomorrow for Kendall & Mo’s wedding! All about cake – not to be missed!

All images were provided by the amazing Jennifer Hughes!

Alison & Rob’s Eco-Wedding

Chris Easter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:30:12 +0000

We were so happy when Alison walked through our doors with a green agenda and a big smile on her face. She had found a majority of her vendors on the DC Green Wedding Consortium. We are finding more and more couples who are searching for a greater good for their weddings and Alison had some of the best eco-friendly wedding professionals at her eco-friendly venue. The Carnegie Institute of Science has wonderful educational programs and it’s space is fluid and beautiful!

Greg Gibson took the photography and he is known for his documentary style and Pulitzer-Prize winning style. He is wonderful to work with and always produces incredible images!

Check out the necklace! Alison got it from a wonderful designer on Etsy! We also loved working with Evan from MyDeejay.com & Main Event Caterers – who both practice sustainability and are all about the utmost in customer service! Easy to work with and green at the same time!

Seeing these photos made me realize again how exciting it is to be a part of a couple’s wedding day. I loved working with Alison during the planning process while going over her floral designs. There is nothing like being part of a wedding day as a wedding professional. I am truly blessed to be doing what I am doing. I love teaching others how to green their businesses and showing brides and grooms how to go green on their wedding day.

Happy Planning!

Katie Martin

Mother-of-the-Bride Wednesdays

Katie Martin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:18:35 +0000

If your step-father is going to pay for the wedding, he gets to choose the soup!

In the movie ”True Love,” a caterer persuades the beleaguered young couple to serve sky-blue mashed potatoes to match the bridesmaids’ dresses. ”You should feel that anything’s possible,” he says.

But, if you (and your husband – the step-father) love to go out to good restaurants, have attended many events and know something about the caterers in your area, or perhaps the bride or groom worked in a professional kitchen, or attended gourmet cooking classes or have seen Julia and Julia 5 times and own all her cookbooks, then the emphasis changes from gussied up food to fabulous tasting food. So no matter how the scenario plays, you choose a caterer and then have THE TASTING.

Wedding Dinner meal tastings can be fraught with peril…so before you start, here is the etiquette that goes along with tastings.

Get quotes from your various caterers, compare and then choose not more than 3. Ask if they are conducting any tastings for groups/ do they have linens/table set ups to look at?
Is your budget limited or is the “sky’s the limit”? A good caterer can give you great suggestions for either type or one smack dab in the middle.
After you’ve made the decision of which caterer, then set up a date to have the tasting.
Ask how many people you are allowed to bring, (do not bring more!).
Tell them any dislikes prior to the tasting…if you really hate couscous ask them to leave it off…also let them know of any food allergies for people attending the tasting. Will you be having vegetarians attending? Let your account rep know prior to the tasting so there can be something included for those people at the wedding itself.
At the tasting- be clear and specific on what you like and don’t like…you won’t hurt their feelings (just do it tactfully). The sauce has anise? And you detest it? They can change sauces, leave off items you or the bride/groom dislike etc. That’s what tastings with a good caterer are for…it gives you an opportunity to modify the menu.
Ask to see photos of their work, ask about staff attire, staff ratios etc

Obviously, a great wedding planner will help guide you and your daughter through all of this! (www.eleganceandsimplicity.com – of course!)

OK- here’s an overview: You and your husband are paying for the wedding location (venue), the cocktail reception and the dinner. You have decided on French service (French service refers to having a waiter serve the food onto each guests plate for each course as opposed to bringing out plates with the food already placed on it.) The caterer will let you bring 7 people to the tasting. So it’s you, your husband – (fella with the buckys), the bride and groom, his parents, and a friend whose judgment both you and your daughter respect.

You will be given a list of the dishes to be served and a pen/pencil to rate which you like the best down to the least favorite. The appetizers are served by a staff waiter; 2 seafood, 2 beef, etc., everyone raves (or not) over each piece, then you all are seated and in comes the soup (3 different tiny cups) – much discussion ensues over the soup. Then the salad…one’s a crisp green, one is a blanched pear that is ‘too die for’ – all the women LOVE it – the men – not so much.

And then two beef, two seafood, chicken and pork entrees with wonderful sides…everyone is in heaven! Stuffed! (They even serve a lovely lemon sorbet to cleanse the palate between courses.) No cake will be served since your cake will come from another source. But being the classy caterer they are, they do bring in some divine chocolates for ‘the final’ taste. They offer reg. coffee and espresso…

Then the discussion and ratings begin of each of the items each person tasted. Whew…got the appetizers decided, MUCH discussion again about the soup. The women INSIST on the pear salad…and your husband is burning under the collar about the soup! He wants what he wants especially if he’s giving in on the darn pear salad! You whisper to your friend (the respected one) and then, you pipe up “If your step-father is going to pay for this wedding, he gets to choose the soup!” WHOA…everyone looks at you like you are an ogre….BUT no one disagrees. The rest of the choices come easily. And thus – you’ve made it through the tasting. And he feels like he won a battle…probably the only one he will win. ;>) Ahhh, but such wonderful food…you can’t wait for the wedding, knowing the choice is perfect for your friends and their friends (bride and groom and his parents). YAY!

~Claudia Van Veen

Sweet & Sassy Inspiration!

Katie Martin — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:01:16 +0000

We love food – especially dessert! Is it so strange to plan a wedding around ice cream cones? We couldn’t resist the idea of a sweet and sassy wedding to bring you back to the days of the Good Humor truck!

Invitation via Papeterie
Ice cream cones via Elegance & Simplicity (by Design Cuisine)
Candy bar via Big Wedding Tiny Budge t
Shoes via Rodney Bailey
Bridesmaids via Our Labor of Love
Gown: “Dandelion” Collen Quen Couture
Cake Weddings Fresh
Bouquet: District Weddings

Sweet Paul

Katie Martin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:01:03 +0000

Met with one of my clients on Skype today as we were planning her wedding long-distance. The details of her wedding are extremely important! We have 300 guests guests coming to town for her wedding and we want to wow them!

So – we were on the subject of desserts and we searched the web for a few things together and fell in love with Sweet Paul’s blog! A lot of these dessert concepts can be made with local farm fresh ingredients – giving them an eco-friendly edge!

One thing that is always important to me as a wedding planner is the style and creativity of my vendors. We have a caterer that could master these dessert concepts – so I am excited. Yum!

We pretty much heart Sweet Paul and his food styling!

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

Summer Orchard Inspiration

Katie Martin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:27:09 +0000

We have done a few inspiration boards in the past – but now it will be a weekly feature on our blog! Yay! Stay tuned every Thursday!

This week is our Summer Orchard Inspiration Board

Invitation: White Thread
Fruit Escort Card: Joy de Vivre
Dress: Atelier Aimee
Cake: Project Wedding
Bouquet: Grant Riley Weddings
Tablescape: Style Me Pretty

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

Catering Tips by local DC Guest Blogger Danielle Shevitz of Occasions

Katie Martin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:54:59 +0000

You can have delicious and stylish food at your wedding that is locally sourced and supports good earth practices. Right now, pumpkins, apples, and tomatoes are perfect for Fall menus – not only are they local, but they make for beautiful and colorful presentations We encourage clients to pick seasonal items because they have a better chance of being sourced locally. Check out our website to see more images!

~Danielle Shevitz, Occasions Caterers