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

We gave you a sneak peek of Caitlin and Dan’s snowy wedding last Friday…here is the second installment!  As the snow and the rain fell down throughout this Saturday in October, we knew we would have to use the backup tent!  So we jazzed it up with our hanging glass lanterns in jewel tones and set up the ceremony chairs along with fun lounge furniture.

We loved designing her beautiful bridal bouquet with purple calla lilies, dianthus, purple delphinium and red cymbidium orchids.

We are still so in love with their purple umbrella!  Stay tuned…on Friday we will show more details from the reception inside the Meridian House!

Photography by Greg Gibson 

Here is our final installment of photos from Lillian and Henry’s wedding at Halcyon House from their very talented photography Ken Luallen!

We loved her beautiful stationery!  We decorated the trellis with simple greenery and white lisianthus.

It was such a gorgeous day with so many beautiful and interesting details!

Congrats again to Lillian and Henry!

Don’t forget to check out our own Katie Martin’s Editor-in-Chief’s picks in the current issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine!!!  We just love this purse (made from all biodegradable materials!)

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)

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/wedding-drink-style/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/purple-green-and-black-wedding/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/purple-green-and-black-wedding/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:30:42 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=6206

Did you see the gorgeous mandap we did for Beejal’s wedding in the last post??? We just love the landscape that we designed for Beejal’s wedding at the Ronald Reagan Building in November!  We designed her bouquets with rich eggplant mini calla lilies and green hypericum berry accents.  Her bridesmaids bouquets had local hydrangea with calla lilies and astrantia.

We provided purple and black linens to go with our tall rectangular vases filled with submerged mini calla lilies with green beads inside.  We had our signature manzanita branches with hanging green glass votives and purple orchid accents.  Floating above our our purple, green and black paper lanterns!

Then – the talk of the night – our elephant decor design!

Congrats to Beejal + Ben!!!

Gorgeous fun wedding cake from The Knot with orange drink stirrers from Bab’s Etsy Shop

Our own gloriosa lily bouquet with our in-house lanterns (photo by Roman Grinev)

Fabyan Orange Gown via Wedding Inspirasi with beautiful earrings from Rachelle’s Jewelry Box

Orange Brocade Kitten Heels from BHLDN with our menus and orchids (photo from Documentary Associates)

I can’t wait until we get the professional photos back as my photography skills simply cannot show how beautiful Caitlin’s bridal bouquet was!  While Caitlin’s wedding was on that snowy rainy day in October – it was still an absolutely gorgeous wedding!  I made her bridal bouquet with dark purple mini calla lilies, dianthus, red cymbidium orchids and purple delphinium.

The bridesmaids bouquets had terra cotta roses with calla lilies.

Since we had to have the ceremony outside in the tent – we went all out hanging clear, gold and jewel toned glass lanterns for a whimsical and romantic feel.

Entrance decor with calla lilies and curly willow.

The taller centerpieces had cylindrical glass vases filled with plums and orchids with manzanita branches artfully places with hanging votives and orchid accents.

Then for the low centerpieces – we custom designed low reclaimed wood boxes filled with moss, calla lilies, lavender and wheat.  We also added these new wooden frames to our inventory!

I can’t wait to get the photos from Greg Gibson!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

A few of our favorite things for Holiday Wedding Style…

Our green cymbidium bridal bouquet (photo by Documentary Associates) with Green Bunting Pennant from BHLDN

Green and Red cake via Perfect Wedding Day with Green Wedding Dress via Flickr

One of our favorite holiday bouquets we have done with holly berries, roses and rosemary (photo by Amy Deputy) with our green cymbidium cake topper (photo by Roman Grinev)

Our green hypericum berry lapel with green shoes via The Knot

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!

Red is making a comeback…Get Ready!!

Our sexy red backdrop with candles – photo by Documentary Associates

Red Shoes Via Santa Barbara Chic Blog

Red Invitations via Invitation Crush

Red accented cake by Maggie Austin Cake

Our own red rose wreath and red peony posy

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/red-wedding-style/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/blue-wedding-style/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/blue-wedding-style/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:30:36 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=6130

Yummy Blue…

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:

One of our beautiful brides in her beautiful blue dress at Woodend Sanctuary- Photo by Heather Z

Blue Cake by Cakes by Design from a wedding we did last year at the Engineer’s Club – Photo by Jennifer Hughes

Gorgeous Blue Garter from The Garter Girl

Blue Veil by Ossai as seen in the summer issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings – Photo by Marta Locklear

Lapis Champagne Flutes from BHLDN

Gorgeous Blue Shoes from one our brides at the Decatur House – photo by Rodney Bailey

The ultimate Georgetown location for DC brides and grooms is the Halcyon House. A few weeks ago – we were there for Lillian and Henry’s wedding.  They wanted simple decor for their arch…where we added a cocculus garland and white lisianthus accents.

We also had our signature Manzanita branch escort card table arrangement complete with wheat grass as the guests entered the reception.

For the centerpieces we had a mix of tall and low ones.  Low centerpieces had local hydrangea with garden roses and echeveria. The tall centerpieces had trumpet glass vases with local hydrangea and white mini calla lilies.

As soon as we get the professional photos back – we will post them!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/halcyon-house/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/sneak-peek-for-next-week/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/sneak-peek-for-next-week/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:30:33 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=6099

We had a beautiful wedding at the Halcyon House a couple of weekends ago – here is a sneak peek!  Purple and green was a theme and the bride just loved the look of artichokes!  Stay tuned for more next week!  Have a great weekend!

We love this dark and beautiful bridal bouquet we made for our bride at the Arts Club of Washington a few weeks ago.  A beautiful combination of eggplant, burgundy and pink mini calla lilies mixed with lush garden roses!

Her pretty Maid of Honor bouquet was made with pink and lavender mini calla lilies with lavender dahlias.

We created a customized white chuppah for her complete with a customized top provided to us by the family.

Congrats to Tracy and Christopher!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/arts-club-of-washington/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/secretly-fancy-fridays-j-crew-edit/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/secretly-fancy-fridays-j-crew-edit/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:30:28 +0000 Candace Ourisman http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=5997 while i consider myself to have an eclectic and interesting style, i do undoubtedly always lean towards the all american classics. so what happens when the mother ship for all american classics becomes eclectic and interesting??? you get jcrew!!! (most notably over the past 5 years).  in honor of one of my favorite buttoned up with a wink companies, i am giving my own personal and secretly fancy edit for jcrew’s wedding ensembles for fall.  enjoy! be sure to take a look at my own secretly fancy blog, where i run free!

the brides…

 the “dinah” gown is fabulous in that audrey hepburn kind of way

 understated elegance in this glamorous “amelia” gown

 not in the bridesmaid category however this would be STUNNING for a fall wedding!

prabal gurung teamed up with j.crew to create this cocktail dress that would be a show stopping and secretly fancy bridesmaid dress

xx,

secretly fancy

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!

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!!!

For today’s installment from Amanda and Matt’s wedding in St. Michael’s – it’s all about the cocktail hour!  We had a nature and bird theme going on throughout the property – starting with 3 birdcages that floated about the lemonade and iced tea stand!  We have a bunch of fun and antique birdcages including the ones showcased here.

We were able to use our chalkboards again with our in-house calligrapher instead of escort cards to save paper and space.

Check back tomorrow for a few ideas and looks from their reception!

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

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/harvest-wedding-style/feed/ 1 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/black-and-white-wedding-style/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/black-and-white-wedding-style/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2011 12:30:15 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=5826

Our “black and white” bouquet with Picasso and Eggplant toned mini calla lilies, deep purple ranunculus with fern curl accents – Photo by Documentary Associates

Black and White Cake Inspiration via Wedding Place

Our pretty corsage and lapel flowers with lisianthus and phaleanopsis orchids

Our Luscious Verde Black and White Invitations

French Maid Garter from The Garter Girl

Lelah Shoes by Badgley Mischka from Zappos

Black and White Linens from Table Manners

Black and White Tags for your candy bar via Etsy

Here are the fun details from Tina and Chris’ wedding this summer!  Tina started the day at the Mandarin Oriental.  Right after getting ready, Tom from Documentary Associates took some stunning photos in her suite!

We made her beautiful bridal bouquet with green cymbidium orchids, scabiosa pods, seeded eucalyptus, white lisianthus, green hypericum berries, succulents, emerald green roses, lily grass with a few feather accents.

Chris + Tina – pronounced man and wife at Top of the Town!!!

Tina and Chris opted for a fun travel theme for their wedding.  Starting with programs shaped like passports and escort cards like airline tickets!  They also asked the guests to pin on a map where they have been.  The tall centerpieces were created with submerged cymbidium orchids and manzanita branches with hanging votives and orchids attached to them.  The beautiful cake was designed by Cakes by Linda.

Congrats to Chris and Tina – we are so happy we could be a part of your day!!!

Photography by Documentary Associates

Sorry we missed last week’s Style Post!! So we thought we would come back with something sweet!  While cupcakes and all sorts of dessert bars are the rage right now…we will always be in love with the “traditional” wedding cake.  We love cake!  Above is a way to incorporate your love of tradition with the cupcake aspect!  The cake was based on the design of the couple’s invitations and baked to perfection by Cakes by Design.  The bride added her own whimsy with the fun cupcake stand and cupcake decor inserts! To see more from this wedding at the Engineer’s Club in Baltimore - click here. (Photos by Jennifer Hughes)

We love the interesting design of the cake plate here to the left for a wedding we did at Brookside Gardens and the beautiful green garden design by Cakes by Linda for a wedding we did at Top of the Town (more from that wedding tomorrow and Wednesday).  (Photography by K. Thompson + Documentary Associates)

We will always love this cute bird cake topper from Mary Kate’s wedding at Thorpewood and this beautiful and intricate design from Cakes by Design at the Decatur House. (Bird photo by us, Pink cake by Documentary Associates and The Obsvervatory)

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)

Today is the last installment for Mari and Josh – I just love these fun portraits and interesting photos that happened throughout the day!

Such a funny photo from the Ketubah signing at the synagogue.

Hilarious random photo!!!

Cute photo just after the cake cutting!

Best wishes to Mari and Josh and a huge thanks to Tom at Documentary Associates for these fantastic images!!!

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

We are so excited to bring to you a series of blog posts from one of our favorite couples (Mari + Josh) from this past June.  Tinica and Chrishaun headed up this fantastic event that started at the 6th & I Historic Synagogue in Chinatown.

One of our favorite elements of our decor for the couple was that one of the little guys in the ceremony dropped greenery and then the little girls dropped petals afterwards…just had a really pretty effect for the entrance!

We were able to use the standard chuppah provided by 6th & I and attached a pretty garland of greenery and peonies along with a gorgeous heirloom quality quilt made by the mother of the bride as a wedding gift!  Wait to see how we reused it for the reception in our next post!

Such a gorgeous Ketubah!!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for more floral and planning details at the reception.  Then we will do a 3rd and final post with some really fun portraits and silly photos that Tom took!!!

(Photos from Documentary Associates)

As we enter Labor Day Weekend, many are filled with thoughts of “This is the last weekend to wear white”!  But oh the joys of being a bride and wearing and using white whenever you want! I started off with these gorgeous shoes today as there is a beautiful wedding featuring them on the Eco-Beautfiul Weddings Blog today! Just click on the shoes to see more.

Below are a few of our favorite white wedding yummies for you to dream about this weekend!

Photo credits/captions of what we did in each photo – Left to Right, Top to Bottom

Elegance & Simplicity, White Delphinium at Thorpewood

Documentary Associates, White Chuppah at Woodend Sanctuary

Elegance and Simplicity,White delphinium and White phaleanopsis orchid lapel flowers at Halcyon House

Cappy Hotchkiss Photography, Garden Rose, white phaleanopsis, lisianthus, phalaeanopsis and peony bouquet at Halcyon House

K. Thompson Photography, Manzanita branches with roses and clear hanging votives at Brookside Gardens

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!!

We finally got images from a wedding we did in May at Woodend Sanctuary and we are so excited to show them to you! Above is the bride with her sister just before the wedding in the grove at Woodend.  The bride had a lovely bouquet comprised of peonies in different shades of pink and ranunculus accents.  Her sister held a beautiful bouquet with garden roses, lavender, peonies, lisianthus, freesia and rosemary.

My absolute favorite detail from this wedding were the hanging votives our team hung in between the trees facing the meadow down at the grove.  The green and clear glass votives added such a touch of elegance for this gorgeous ceremony!

Here are our pretty vintage green tumblers filled with local peonies and rosemary for the cocktail hour.

The gorgeous railing decor with cocculus greenery garland and peony accents!  (Bride and groom provided the cute banner!)

Our pretty Pottery Barn chocolate urns on our custom-designed wooden pedestals filled with manzanita branches with hanging glass votives!  These were set in between the French doors outside under the tented reception area.

Finally the pretty centerpieces that had curly willow inside the vases for a nest feel (bird theme taken from the idea that Woodend is a bird sanctuary and run by the Audubon Natualist Society!).  Local green hydrangea and lovely burgundy peonies and white ranunculus accents.

Congrats to Caroline and David on their May nuptials!

(All photography except for last image were provided by Tara Welch Photography; last image by us!)