We are excited to announce that our own Katie Martin will now be writing for Wedding Aces.  Click on the logo above to see her intro entry.  She will be writing at least once a week for Wedding Aces.  Stay tuned here!

Oh how we love it when wedding professionals get married and ask us to be a part of their day!  As company policy – we will help give our friends in the biz some tips – but most of the time – they don’t need it.  Sure – I will point them in the right direction if they want it, but we will not coordinate the day of the wedding – too much pressure!  Amen for Laura Auer from Wish Special Events for taking care of the details the day of the wedding. Most wedding professionals get pretty darn creative for their wedding day – as they have seen so many details that they have loved along their career path.  Mary Kate McKenna’s wedding was no exception.

We just loved how she gathered bottles and mason jars from all over the DC, Frederick and Baltimore area to create a unique mix of local flair.  Not only that – she made these adorable boxes with the numbers of the tables on them herself!  Yes – she went to a carpentry class to learn how!  We could have made them for her – but what a great DIY project!  So adorable!  We simply provided the flowers!

Thanks to The Blonde Photographer for taking these photos and getting them back to Mary Kate so quickly!  Keya did such an amazing job on this bouquet.  She used a beautiful coral toned peony, purple delphinium, peach lisianthus and fresh lavender to create her beautiful hand-tied bouquet.  Take a look at the first post to see the cute arch we made.  We will post more as soon as their photographer has them ready!

Cheers!

I know that this wedding is going to have a few posts on it…

So I decided to start with the most unusual part of this wedding.  Never mind the fact that the beautiful bride in the photo is cutie patootie photographer Mary Kate McKenna – this wedding had some serious flair!

Her wedding was at the beautiful Thorpewood and her wedding planner – Laura Auer of Wish Special Events made it incredible and easy for Mary Kate!  Of course – we love working with other wedding planners!

I wanted to focus on this very special arch we made for Mary Kate.  She let us get creative but using hearty branches, a bit of curly willow, and grapevine to create this quirky (and I think adorable) arch for their altar.  Being outside and in a very woody area – it made the perfect setting for a very cute couple!  So many of our couples this year have let us get creative and use the talents of my amazing husband – who is a master carpenter!  We donated the arch to the property as the branches will biodegrade over the next few months!  Click on the photo to enlarge it!

Stay tuned for more photos!

Thanks to Jaime from The  Blonde Photographer for the image above!

For those of you who do not follow me on Twitter – I thought I would go ahead and post the three images that I posted to  Twitter the day of Jordan and Jeremy’s wedding on June 26, 2010.  Keep in mind all of these photos were taken by my Blackberry – so they are not the finest in photography!  Those will come shortly from Ralph Alswang!

As you can see – this was a very bright and summery wedding!  I can’t wait to show you all the pink, yellow and green yummy details.

We created our signature photobooth for Jordan with her colors and style from her wedding.  Above is Jen Franz from Documentary Associates who took the photos at the photobooth during the reception! I can’t wait to show some of the funniest photos I have ever seen from a photobooth and the funnest props!

Now this photo is really terrible and does not show the true essence of this decor piece at the reception.  We brought in actual school lockers that we painted in their wedding colors!  We still have the lockers in stock as we just could not part from them!  Inside the lockers were her stuff, his stuff and then in the yellow locker – their stuff.

There is so much more to show – so stay tuned for the professional photos – which will be so much better than these!  But I just could not wait to show these to you!

We just got the news that one of our favorite local jewelry designers is having an earring sale!  Andrea D’Ambrosia’s site is filled with eco-friendly and one of a kind earrings that are perfect for bridesmaids, brides and rehearsal dinners!  Click on the image above and buy yours today!

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!

Ok – so I am officially obsessed with this cake.  Debbie Delardi from Cakes by Design outdid herself with this one! I am in love with it!  Debbie based the design on the Save-the-Dates and Invitations by her Etsy designer Magnolia Papier!

She also made cupcakes which we inserted paper flowers from Magnolia Papier into!

(Notice the cute paper detailing on the blue cake pedestals – which I am also obsessed with!)

Now – here comes even more craziness!  Their wedding will be on Ace of Cakes this summer!  For all you cake addicts out there…I will post about the show as soon as I know the date!

Kendall wanted to surprise Mo with a cake made in the likeness of the robot that Mo has to use 3-5 times a week to perform surgery at John Hopkins!  The robot is called the Davinci – here is the real life version of it:

And here is the cake:

It was so much fun and such a wonderful surprise for Mo!

Check out the cake topper for this one:

Her in her dress, he in his scrubs along with their doggie and the cute love birds from their invitations! ADORABLE!

There are so many more photos from this wedding…but I am figuring 4 posts is enough!  We will have a gallery of their wedding soon on the main website as it was such a wonderful day!

Again – a huge thanks to Jennifer Hughes for the images and a big ole’ congrats to Kendall & Mo!

I will post once we know about the show airing!

Cheers!

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!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/kendall-mo-part-iii-wedding-decor/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/kendall-mos-wedding-at-the-engineers-club/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/kendall-mos-wedding-at-the-engineers-club/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:53:55 +0000 Chris Easter http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=3099

I am so excited about the cutie patootie wedding that we did with Kendall & Mo on May 8th!  I got the photos back last week and was just so jazzed to relive this event.  Truly one of the top ten favorite weddings we have every done.  From the bride and groom being just fantastic clients to now being our friends…to the amazing details that I can’t wait to share.

Stay tuned for a more detailed post later this week!  The images from Jennifer Hughes are amazing!

Here are a few more details from Kati & Jason’s wedding at the Decatur House this spring.  They had such a fun a funky decor design and everyone left saying that the wedding was “so them”!  I love hearing that!

Yes – we always want people to say that the wedding was fun and beautiful and elegant…but we also want the weddings that we are a part of to really reflect the client and their taste.  It is not about what we want or how we do things – it is about what you want for your wedding day.  When we hear guests say things like that was so unique and so much like Kati (the bride) – then we know we have done our job!

Kati and her mom brought me dozens of cute and interesting small vases that they collected over the past few months and we filled all of them with various purple and blue flowers.  They had one small vase with two photos of them at each age – representing the number of the table…very cute and very them!

Along with this hilarious – yet simple cake.

We love weddings that are as unique as the couple themselves.  They had two ceremonies to reflect both of their cultures – be sure to incorporate heritage and culture in your reception as well!

Thanks to Rodney Bailey again for providing amazing photos in with such a short turn around!

Congrats Kati & Jason!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/kati-jasons-wedding/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/summer-issue/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/summer-issue/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:32:12 +0000 Chris Easter http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=3030

It’s live folks!  This issue was definitely a labor of love.  A lot of changes happened with this issue – although they may not be as apparent to the naked eye.  We really streamlined things and cut out some of the fluff and expanded some sections!

As you can see – the cover is amazing and so is everything inside!

Let me know your thoughts as we are excited to get started on the Fall Issue!

Happy Greening!

This wedding was our masterpiece of the spring.  Why?  It was a collaboration of all of the players from the Washington, DC Green Wedding Consortium for the $50,000 Green Wedding Giveaway on Earth Day!

From her garter to the pies on sticks – everything was stylish and easy on the environment!

Here is a list of the fabulous vendors that helped make the day green and beautiful:

Decatur House - Historic Property

Elegance & Simplicity - (That’s us) – Planning, Floral designs, repurposed wood stage, photo wall, guest book wall

Polished Image & Style – Color Analysis, Bride, Groom, Bridesmaid Styling

Occasions Catering – Organic and locally sustainable catering

Ampa Events – LED Lighting, furniture rental

The Observatory – Eco-photography

Documentary Associates – Eco-photography

Jessica Piscitelli - Eco-Videography

Disc Jockeys on Call - Eco-DJ

Jim Burch – Local Officiant

Cakes by Design – Organic and local ingredients cake

Table Manners – Local Linens

Giselle – Eco-Hair Styling

Carola Myers – Eco-make-up

Julianne Smith – Green Garter

Marry Me Live – Live video streaming

More photos will be up on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings blog (along with other fun green, wedding and lifestyle blogs) soon!  Stay Tuned!

I am slowly catching up to posting photos from weddings from earlier this spring!  Here are a few images from a beautiful wedding at Mount Airy Mansion in April.  Photos by Brian Lusby!

I love the fun orange and purple complimentary color scheme from this wedding!

Look at that pretty Paula!

Loved her bridal bouquet comprised of white cymbidium orchids, phaleanopsis orchids with crystal and lily grass accents!

Love love love her dress!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/spring-wedding-photos/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/celebrate-green-with-katie-today/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/celebrate-green-with-katie-today/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 16:09:29 +0000 Chris Easter http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=2929

Katie Martin will be interviewed today on live blog radio with the authors of Celebrate Green – a great book that we just gave away on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Blog from the Spring Edition of the magazine!

Tune in at 10:15 PST/1:15 EST by clicking on the Celebrate Green photo above!

Happy Green Planning!

Virdina, our green bride, was pretty in pink on Earth Day!  We have gotten all the photos back and hope to have it showcased in a magazine for you!  Until then – I wanted to just show you her cute shoes that she plans on wearing again of course!  I can’t wait to show you all the details!

Trust me – it will be worth the wait!

I will be at the Aveda in Georgetown talking to brides about how to go green on your wedding day along with Adele Wechsler and Aveda.

Get a signed copy of my book and check out Adele’s new line!

Persephone from Polished Image & Style will be there to help you find your perfect dress as well!

Check out the details below!

Happy Planning!

We were honored to help Julianne Smith her new collection Launch Party in Washington DC!

I was unable to actually attend the party – but we did sponsor her event with libations!  We sell Julianne’s garters here in the office – so be sure to ask about her collection when you stop by!

Happy Spring and Cheers to Julianne and her beautiful new collection!

Katie

ps – Thanks Allison for the wonderful photos!

Watch Virdina & Kevin Get Married Live – right here at 4:30!  If we have problems with the weather – we will post a ceremony video up at 8pm!

A huge thanks to all of the vendors from the Washington DC Green Wedding Consortium for making this a reality!

Happy Earth Day!

Don’t forget to sign up for the Creative Custom Card Box Giveaway on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Blog! The box was featured in my editor’s pick section!

WIN IT!

Click here to learn how to win it for your wedding!  We will choose the winner on the 5th!

Good Luck!
Katie Martin

by Janice Wallace, Editor of The Bridal Wishlist

One of my newest obsessions is finding beautiful salvaged jewelry, especially multi-strand necklaces with big baubles. So I was in awe of Loyale Clothing’s gorgeous Emily necklace made from 100% reclaimed gold chain + vintage chandelier crystals. Yes, I did say “vintage chandelier crystals.” Brilliant, right? A fab finishing touch to your wedding attire. Get it at Loyale Clothing.

by Janice Wallace, Editor of The Bridal Wishlist

I recently had the pleasure of attending “A Chic Affair” last Sunday at the Longview Gallery in D.C. It truly was a chic affair. One of the most memorable vendors was Treet Bakery. I sampled the most delish mini cupcakes, as well as, one of their delightful Pretty Petty Petit Fours.

What was more amazing was Theresa’s (Treet’s Chief Sweetness Officer) commitment to incorporating green practices in her baking by using fresh ingredients from local farms. In addition, Treet packages their goodies in 100% recycled and/or compostable packaging, deliver their “treets” in a hybrid vehicle, and will soon work in an office that will run on clean wind power. For me, Treet Bakery puts its money where its mouth is. That’s my kind of bakery.

To find our more about Treet or just to order goodies for your stash, visit their web site.

Thanks to Katie for allowing me to sit in while she is working hard to make this world a better place. You can see what I am blogging about weekdays on my blog, The Bridal Wishlist. Have a great weekend!

Today is the perfect day to go green…so get ready for this long post on some of the many ways you can make today green!

Take the above (cute as can be decor) – you can hang on your wall or put on shelves.  These finds come from an Etsy designer made from old dead wood!  Spring is upon us and it is time to spruce up your bedroom for sure!  See how cute this could be on your wall?  And hey – you can use these on your escort card table as decor!

In love with these shoes I found on Nimli today – I want them and your groom might want them for the wedding day!  Why not?  He can wear them again!  Made from 100% fair trade organic cotton!

For the dog lovers – how cute this is? ‘Nuff said!

Cute Skirt – Made in the USA and from the ever-lovely Anthropologie website:

We have had so many of our clients adore our line of stationery by Luscious Verde in the office…here is a similar design that a client picked out last week for her August wedding with eco-cream paper:

Make a statement and give buttons as favors for your guests!  This Etsy designer only has one of these in particular:

But my fave on this Etsy shop (at the moment) are these as I am writing this pretty late at night!

You really  have so many options to go green with your wedding day.  St. Patrick’s is a great reminder that you can just start a new green trend in your wedding planning – starting today!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day – Start Greening your Life Today!

Katie Martin

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/st-patricks-day-the-perfect-day-to-go-green/feed/ 2 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/virdina-kevins-engagement-photos/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/virdina-kevins-engagement-photos/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:49:33 +0000 Chris Easter http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=2588 We are so excited to share Virdina & Kevin’s Engagement Shoot with Andrea Jacobson of The Observatory! Virdina and Kevin are the winners of the  Washington DC Green Wedding Consortium’s $50,000 green wedding giveaway on Earth Day (April 22)!  We are in the final throws of planning – but we were able to squeeze in a day for the engagement photos!

They took a stroll along the U Street/Cardozo part of Washington, DC.  Bohemian Caverns and the wonderful Eatonville Restaurant were the backdrops!  Look at how cute they are!

Here are the finalized dates for the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Tour for Wedding Professionals!

Cincinnati – May 11, 2010

Savannah – June 3, 2010

Los Angeles – July 6 , 2010

San Diego – July 7, 2010

San Francisco – July 8 , 2010

In each city, the seminar with be followed by lunch and a photoshoot!  The photos will be used either in my 3rd book Eco-Beautiful Weddings or in a forthcoming issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine and the blog!*

Actual seminar locations are being kept secret and will be sent to you the week of the event in order to reduce the amount of information that is released before the book is published.

Each seminar participant will receive a free copy of my first book: The Everything Mother of the Bride Book!*

Early Registration begins today and will end on March 7th!  All current registrations are $200, but the price will go up to $250 on March 8th!*

Sign up today to take advantage of the early bird registration!

If you are currently an Eco-Beautiful Weddings Vendor or Green Wedding Consortium member – you can take advantage of an additional 10% off.  Email me and I will send you the code!

I will post possible other cities if interest comes up!  Only 25 participants are allowed into each seminar!

See you soon!

Katie Martin

*Please note that there will be no photoshoot or free books for the seminar in VA Beach as all proceeds from that particular seminar are being donated to charity and the seminar is only $40.

My brand new book has made it to the warehouse for distribution to places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble!  I ordered a few to get them out to our favorite friends in the industry to review.  However, many of you have been wanting a signed copy for yourself.

I will put up pre-orders for my 1st book soon.  I expect to get my 1st shipment of books within this next week!

Soon I will be announcing the initial set of cities for my book tour which will include Eco-Beautiful Weddings seminars for wedding professionals!  Be sure to come back and vote for your city if you don’t see it on the list.  I will make room for a few extra cities on my calendar with enough votes.  Looking forward to meeting all of you in fantastic cities across the US and Canada!

Cheers!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/the-everything-mother-of-the-bride-week/feed/ 2 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/eco-friendly-weddings/etsy-love-4/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/eco-friendly-weddings/etsy-love-4/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:00:00 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=2330 I am gearing up for the DCCWC 2nd Annual Bridal Show Today!

We are doing a fantastic and new type of bridal show that I can’t wait to showcase here after the event!

While you wait for those photos – thought you might like to see some of my favorite Etsy designers in the wake of Valentine’s Day! Yes – love is still aflutter!

I totally dig this ring!  So cute!

And this ridiculously cute recyled bottle cap necklace pendant!

Beautifully packaged organic pink grapefruit soap!

Simply divine earrings – not just because they are vintage – but because they are the exact colors from my wedding day! I want them!

And this adorable retro skirt!  I know 4 people that could rock this skirt out!

As always, click on the photos to buy from Etsy!

Cheers!

~Katie Martin

It was so fun to have this lit-up mannequin that showcased the The Cotton Bride dress from the cover of the magazine (which we will give away on 2/6 at the DCCWC bridal show – click on the icon on the left hand side of the blog to learn more and to register for the show!)

I will be announcing the winners of the door prizes on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Blog hopefully by tomorrow!

We will be showcasing a lot of photos from the launch party in our 2nd issue!  (Which comes out 3/15)

~ Katie Martin