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!)

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/floral-designs/meridian-house-wedding/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/meridian-house-wedding/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:30:21 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=6182

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!

One final post from the wedding we did a few weeks ago at the Halcyon House.  Here are few close ups of the flowers we provided.  Above is the bridesmaid bouquet made with local hydrangea, purple scabiosa and white snowberries.

And here is the beautiful bridal bouquet with purple mini calla lilies.

And here are the matching boutonnieres wrapped with twine.

Here is another look at the lower centerpieces that used hydrangea, roses with either echeveria or artichokes!

We loved using this color palette!!

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/brookside-gardens-vintage-style/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/brookside-gardens-vintage-style/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:30:00 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=5971

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

If you have not gotten a chance to see Katie’s picks for Fall in the new Fall Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings – now is the time to head over.  This season’s picks include 3 giveaways!!!

The giveaways include some awesome placemats, a watch and some shampoo for your dog!!! Yep – all eco-friendly items too!

Click on the photo above to start reading the magazine and blog to learn how to win!!!

Fall colors are pretty much always associated (but should never be limited to) with different tones of gold, orange, red and yellow…so we are starting our wedding style blog series with just that!

Above is just a sampling of what we have done for previous fall brides.

 Details – Top to bottom, left to right:

Gorgeous wreath at Woodend Sanctuary with various fall shades of roses (photo by Katie)

Classic bridal bouquet with mini calla lilies and roses (photo by Documentary Associates)

Burst of orange gloriosa lilies with variegated lily grass (photo by Katie)

Mini calla lilies with chocolate cosmos (photo by Katie)

Cymbidium and mokara orchids, roses and ranunculus (photo by Documentary Associates)

Stay tuned every Monday for our Wedding Style Blog Series…

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/perfectly-fall-wedding-style/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/wedding-style-and-venues/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/wedding-style-and-venues/#comments Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:30:43 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=5709

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!)

It is always so much fun to be part of the planning process of a wedding and to watch brides and grooms see each other for the 1st time!  Katie and Grant were so easy to work with and they ended up having a beautiful day at one of our favorite hotels – The Hotel Monaco in Washington, DC.

Her bouquet was comprised of local green hydrangea with local white phaleanopsis and fun billy ball accents from Canada!

The bridesmaids bouquets were a fun clutch of billy balls with a lily grass loop accent.

They had a cute little lemon and lime theme for their wedding in not only colors but with lemons and lines in general.  The escort card and the cake sported some lemons and limes!

They had similar flowers as well in their centerpieces with the local hydrangea, billy balls and white dendrobium orchids.  Really perfect for a July wedding!

Congrats to Katie + Grant!

We have had so many lovely weddings this summer.  Here are few photos I took from a wedding we did recently at Meridian House (one of our favorite venues)!  The above is the escort card table arrangement with pink Dutch hydrangea, marigolds and green cymbidium orchids.

The centerpieces mirrored the escort card arrangement with a pretty white square ceramic vase.

I had a little fun with the Indian wedding garlands by hanging it over the statue that is under the Linden trees outside.  They used our simple reclaimed wood chuppah with a sage green sheer cloth topper from us for their ceremony.  The garlands for the ceremony were composed of white mums, jaguar pink orchids and marigolds.

Stay tuned for photos from a wedding we did a couple of weekends ago!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/meridian-house-indian-wedding/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/carnival-wedding-style-at-glen-echo/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/floral-designs/carnival-wedding-style-at-glen-echo/#comments Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:30:01 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=5532

We have been so excited to show you these photos from a wedding we did in early July with Amber Karson Events!

The bride had the most amazing carnival theme that had a wonderful red and blue color scheme.  To go along with the carnival theme we added candy to all of the centerpieces either in jars or with candy apples complete with color coordinated ribbon.  The candy bar was complete with all sorts of nostalgic candy and more caramel coated apples!  We got the apples custom ordered from the Dutch Farmers Market in Laurel.  I even watched them hand dip them!

The candy bar was complete with cute banners from the client!

There are so many other fun elements from the wedding – which should be spotted on another blog or magazine shortly!!

Congrats to Sarah and Joe!

Photography by Documentary Associates

I love Back to School themes and here are a few ideas from a few weddings we have done to get your creative wedding juices flowing – no matter what color your wedding is!

Image Credits (Top to Bottom , Left to Right)

Kathy Blanchard at Rust Manor in Leesburg

Love Life Images at Dumbarton House in Georgetown

Ralph Alswang at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC

Documentary Associates at the Ronald Reagan Building

Ralph Alswang at the Ronald Reagan Building

Mary Kate McKenna at Shepherd’s Hey Farm in Comus, MD

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)