Elegance & Simplicity - Engaged & Green Blog

DC Wedding Design at the Ronald Reagan Building

Katie Martin — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:00:04 +0000

This wedding was so cute and so much for us to help plan and design for – we are so excited to finally show you the professional images from Documentary Associates. Katie + Steve’s DC Wedding day started at Dahlgren Chapel and ended in the Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Building! (Even the cake had a special recreation of the items designed by the bride and groom by Fancy Cakes by Leslie!)

Congrats to Katie + Steve!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

(yes – we custom designed that purple ribbon wall behind the escort magnets and candy bar we designed)

We love Oklahoma!!!

Katie Martin — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:35:01 +0000

My mom is from Oklahoma and we are incredibly saddened by the devastation in Oklahoma.

So to honor Oklahoma in their time of need, we will be donating 3% of all deposits made on any of our services between now and June 15th!

Your wedding planning, decor and floral designs can now be part of an even greater good!

Prayerfully we lift up the folks in OK!

Pavilion Wedding Sneak Peek

Katie Martin — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:00:32 +0000

We got back some awesome images from a beautiful wedding we did this past fall at the Ronald Reagan Building.

Here is a sneak peek of what’s to come later this week!

(Photography by Documentary Associates)

Red Bridal Bouquet

Katie Martin — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:00:25 +0000

I really can’t wait to get the professional photos from this gorgeous wedding we did a few weeks ago in April. I just loved the bride’s bouquet we made with burgundy calla lilies and lush red ranunculus accents!

Have an Artful Weekend!

Katie Martin — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:14 +0000

We have 3 events this weekend all with artful floral designs. This is a sneak peek photo of a sample arrangement we did for the our 5/26 wedding. I will show you the whole design hopefully next week prior to the wedding as it ended up changing.

Have an artful weekend and be creative!

Blue Wedding Design

Katie Martin — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:00:44 +0000

I am trying to catch up on a few requests from brides and grooms this week. Yesterday we highlighted boutonnieres and corsages upon request and today we are focusing on blue wedding design. This actually was requested by 2 brides and one groom! So this is long overdue and I apologize! Take a look!

Design elements + credits:

Bridal bouquet (downtown DC wedding) by us – taken with my iPhone

Blue shoes (at Decatur House) – Photo by Rodney Bailey

Blue Wedding Dress (at Woodend) – Photo by Heather Z

Blue mason jar with stock (at Strong Mansion) – Photo by Carl Bower

Blue wedding cake by Cakes by Design (at Engineer’s Club in Baltimore) – Photo by Jennifer Hughes

Navy blue bridesmaids gowns + subtle blue floral accents by us (ceremony in front of the Netherlands Carillon near the Iwo Jima Memorial with reception at Top of the Town) – Photo by Documentary Associates

Blue centerpiece with hydrangea and peonies (at the Decatur House) – taken with my iPhone

Blue plates for salads (at Woodend) – Photo by Michael Bonfigli

Blue wedding garter made from recycled plastic bottles from The Garter Girl (event at the Decatur House) – photo by The Observatory)

How about a blue dresser accent during your cocktail hour or a blue necklace or blue veil? This was taken from our Summer 2011 issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine. Styled by us and Polished Image and Style and Photography by Marta Locklear!

What are you doing for your blue wedding!

Boutonnieres and Corsages Galore

Katie Martin — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:00:15 +0000

We had a request recently to do a post on recent corsage and boutonniere work! So here it is – a nice long post on boutonnieres and corsages!!

Photo credits:

Purple mini calla lily boutonniere for the groom (wedding at the Rockville Courthouse)- from my iPhone

Blue delphinium and rose boutonnieres (wedding at a private home) – from my iPhone

Scabiosa and fern curl accents (wedding at Silver Spring Civic Center) – from my iPhone

White ranunculus corsages (wedding at a private home) – from my iphone

Orange ranunculus with fern curl and green hypericum accent (wedding at Silver Spring Civic Center) – from my iPhone

White lisianthus corsage and boutonniere with phaleanopsis orchid groom’s boutonniere (Halcyon House wedding) – from my iPhone

Babies breath boutonniere with hemp twine (at Morais Vineyards) – from Elisa B Photography

Red dahlias with dried hydrangea (a Woodend) – Heather Z Photography

Green dendrobium orchid and pink nerine lilies with cording accent (private home on the Eastern Shore)- from my camera

Green mini cymbidium orchids boutonnieres (at the Ronald Reagan Building) – from my iphone

We try to post as much as we can – but sometimes the boutonnieres and corsages go by the wayside! Sorry!!!

Always best to try to follow me on Instagram as I post all day long at wedding of the little details that don’t always make it to the blog!

Happy Planning!

Late Spring Woodend Blue Wedding

Katie Martin — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:00:20 +0000

We had a gorgeous wedding a few weeks ago at Woodend. We absolutely loved the gorgeous cake from Fluffy Thoughts. Looks like it might have even been on one of Sarah’s Stands! We provided a simple arrangement on the cake table with hydrangea, muscari and dusty miller accents.

We provided this simple yet beautiful buffet arrangement in our special silver dipped vase with blue and white hydrangea with dusty miller accents.

All the details of the day were in different shades of silver, grey and blue with touches of lavender tones. Absolutely gorgeous! The centerpieces were comprised of white hydrangea, blue thistle, muscari (grape hyacinth) and delphinium accents. The mantels were adorned with blue hydrangea and white muscari which was perfect as the ceremony was held in the great hall.

We will be at Woodend again at the end of this month! Absolutely one of our favorite venues!

Congrats to James + Jason!

Eco-Beautiful Baby Magazine is live!

Katie Martin — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:00:23 +0000

We are thrilled to announce our newest magazine - Eco-Beautiful Baby!

This newest edition to the Eco-Beautiful family of publishing came due to popular demand by our readers from Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine (all housed on the same site and will continue to grow)!

The magazine really helps moms and dads navigate the new world of becoming a parent while staying green at the same time! We are also all about featured eco heroes! A true inspirational and practical magazine.

Enjoy!

Early Spring Comes to a Close

Katie Martin — Tue, 07 May 2013 14:00:25 +0000

We sadly are starting to say goodbye to some of our favorite early spring flowers – such as this glorious white muscari!

This is also a fun sneak peek for an upcoming real wedding we hope to show you later this week!

Goldman Environmental Prize

Katie Martin — Fri, 03 May 2013 15:00:01 +0000

We were absolutely honored to be a part of the Goldman Environmental Prize event that took place at the Ronald Reagan Building a couple of weeks ago. The event is all about investing in regional eco heros around the world for their innovative and earth-protecting projects grassroots style. People like you and I making a difference around the world. Truly an inspiration for us all! We provided all of the floral designs for the event!

The VIP Reception for the event was in the Rotunda where we provided two large pedestal vase arrangements made with reclaimed wood with hydrangea, manzanita branches and sustainable orchids. The welcome arrangement as guests arrived was another small reclaimed box with local echeveria, billy balls, moss and river rocks.

We had our signature garden boxes on the buffets for the general reception in the Atrium after the presentation took place in the Amphitheater. Our boxes were filled with moss, echeveria, ornamental cabbage, blue thistle, hanging amaranths, billy balls and river rock accents.

We had other decor on the dessert bars and on cocktail tables along with large rental plants as well!

All sustainable products and designs for a truly eco event!

Have a great weekend!

New Ottomans and More Props!

Katie Martin — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:00:28 +0000

We are super excited to announce that we are adding new furniture and staging items to our list of services! Not on our main website yet – we thought we would give you a peek at some of the new furniture designs we have made in-house for our clients and continue to manufacture here in our workshop!

Above are our new ottomans with cushion tops that can be customized with any color fabric for your event.

We have also added wooden benches for ceremony and outdoor furniture vignettes!

In addition, we are now offering staging all in-house.

All of our ottomans, benches and stages are made with reclaimed or FSC-certified wood right here at our workshop. We can customize any stage with colorful stage covers as well.

Stay tuned for a new gallery on our main site!

We are so excited to finally have these eco-friendly and stylish options available for our clients!

What can we make for your big day?

English Garden Wedding at Woodend

Katie Martin — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:00:34 +0000

We had a beautiful English garden wedding at Woodend in April! I can’t wait to get the professional photos back! In the meantime – here are few images from my phone!

Above is the bride’s bouquet with lilies, Queen Anne’s lace, fresh lavender, seeded eucalyptus, roses and ferns.

The ceremony altar arrangement was made with ranunculus, roses, lilies, delphinium, seeded eucalyptus and fern accents.

We adorned the headpiece with small centerpieces accompanied by the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets.

Here is a look at the centerpieces for the other tables with roses, cymbidium orchids, lavender and fern curls.

Stay tuned for more photos!

Baltimore Wedding Bouquets

Katie Martin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:00:43 +0000

We had a gorgeous wedding a few weeks ago in Baltimore – which started at the rehearsal! The mother and father of the bride had a renewal ceremony at the rehearsal and the bride surprised her mom with this bouquet (above) that we made for her. She never had a beautiful bouquet on her wedding day – so it was truly a special moment!

Then we made these gorgeous bouquets for the bridesmaids and the bride the next! As soon as we get the professional photos back, we will post all the details!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

United with Love Feature at the Ronald Reagan Building

Katie Martin — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:00:40 +0000

We are so excited to be featured again on United with Love with Courtney + Mike’s Wedding at the Ronald Reagan Building!

Click here to see the whole feature!

Congrats to Courtney + Mike!

Woodend Preview

Katie Martin — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:00:57 +0000

We had a beautiful wedding at Woodend in the beginning of April and another one this past weekend!

Stay tuned for all the gorgeous details like this beautiful salad created for Jennifer + Andy’s wedding by Ridgewells.

Earth Day for Your Day

Katie Martin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:00:27 +0000

From head to toe and from choosing your venue to riding off into the sunset – there is no other better place to reduce your carbon footprint for your wedding than with us! We are the nation’s leader in eco-friendly wedding design. Not only do we design sustainable, eco-chic events, we are also the design house for the internationally acclaimed magazine Eco-Beautiful Weddings - The first and only internationally stylish wedding magazine to focus only on stylish green weddings!

This past weekend one of our brides wore these adorable Tom’s Shoes from the ceremony to the time she left the venue! They are the world’s innovators in cooperatives to give shoes to those in need and help in the fight against blindness.

The bride’s beautiful bouquet was made with sustainable flowers (which I will post later this week) – but her stems were covered in her mother’s veil. We reused parts of her mom’s veil from her wedding day for an absolutely gorgeous, sentimental and eco touch.

For this bride’s ceremony at the Arts Club of Washington (a club that gives back to local artists) we used our reclaimed wood trellis covered in USA grown greenery and roses – all sustainable farming.

For our other Saturday wedding, we had a sustainable wedding as well. Helping to reduce the footprint of our clients – we are now adding new items to our list of services based on this wedding we had this past weekend at the Westfields Golf Club. Although we did not provide this particular stage in-house -we are building a stage for our next bride and can customize stages to be any size and any color. We created this custom reclaimed + FSC certified wood mandap with curly willow and sustainable flowers locally grown and grown in Canada. Our in-house seamstress made the stage cover and aisle runner. We also fabricated the white ottomans just for the bride. We will be adding benches made from reclaimed and FSC certified wood. We can customize all cushions to any color.

Keep in mind – we did all of the wedding planning and event design for both of theses weddings this past weekend, all sustainably. We do that every weekend! Our staff and services in-house include wedding planners, florists, lighting, carpentry, furniture rentals, structure design, stationery design and calligraphy. Keeping your driving to a minimum and working with less vendors that descend on your venue the day of the wedding is as green as it gets. Keeping things local and encouraging your caterer to use sustainable farmers and locally grown produce makes all the difference.

You could be the catalyst for your wedding to make our world a greener place.

Earth Day is every day for us – but we love that the world celebrates the ideas behind community and reducing waste on this day.

Tell us how you are making a difference today!

Baltimore Wedding Preview

Katie Martin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:00:17 +0000

We recently had a wedding at the Baltimore Basilica!

Out of all my 15 years of doing weddings in the DC/Baltimore area – this was a first! This space is gorgeous and it is the first Catholic cathedral to be built in the US! Stay tuned for more photos from this pretty wedding we did in Baltimore!

Have a great weekend! We have 3 gorgeous weddings this weekend and we can’t wait to post about them for you!

Easter-Style Wedding Planners Brunch Design

Katie Martin — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:00:20 +0000

We were so excited to create this design for the Ronald Reagan Building’s staff to host their wedding planners luncheon to showcase how fabulous their space is!

Since the event was held right before Easter – they decided to go with that theme for the flowers and decor – so we went all out!

We had our reclaimed wooden boxes filled with local moss and eggs dyed with natural dyes! We then had gerbera daisies, tulips and billy balls poking out like they were growing from the grass! In between each box was a nest of moss with colored eggs.

Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!

What can we create for you? Let us know today!

National Museum of Women in the Arts Sneak Peek

Katie Martin — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:00:56 +0000

We should be getting the professional photos back soon from this incredible wedding we did in March at the National Museum of Women in the Arts!

The blushing bride is a friend of ours (works for an amazing caterer) and we were just thrilled to be part of her day!

Stay tuned for more!

Turquoise Inspiration for any Event!

Katie Martin — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:00:48 +0000

If you have been to my office, seen my closet, my wedding photos, my tech toys and more – you know I am obsessed with the color Turquoise and all of its variants!

I love to be inspired by everything that is around me. Every day I am inspired by my colleagues, friends. family and more. Today I wanted to show you that looking around your home, outside your window and walking around shopping can be a true inspiration for any of your upcoming events!

What inspires you? Be grateful for it!

Credits:

Color Palette found on Pinterest

Laduree storefront (famous for its macarons) + Window – Mod Vintage Life

White hydrangea + roses in turquoise beribboned vase by us!

Sarah + Michael’s Fall Wedding

Katie Martin — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:00:59 +0000

I am so excited to finally be showcasing Sarah + Michael’s gorgeous wedding we did back in November last year! Her bridal bouquet had to be one of my favorite designs I did from 2012! The design included ornamental cabbage, scabiosa pods, green hypericum berries, orange dahlias, white and orange ranunculus, veronica and baby echeveria accents.

Along with the gorgeous bride came her beautiful bridesmaids! What a beautiful color palette and just fantastic photography to boot! We decided to do simpler but fun bouquets for the bridesmaids with just the ornamental cabbage, scabiosa pods with lily grass accents.

We really love how modern the Silver Spring Civic Center is! With the ceremony and reception at the same location – we were able to reuse the tall centerpieces for both the ceremony aisle and for the tables during the reception. We were also able to use our reclaimed wood boxes with echeveria along with our signature garden boxes (not pictured here) for the reception as well.

A big congrats to Sarah + Michael!

(Photography by Ken Luallen)

Silver Spring Civic Center Wedding Sneak Peek

Katie Martin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:00:27 +0000

We had a gorgeous this past fall at the Silver Spring Civic Center! I just got the professional photos back and wanted to pop this photo up for a sneak peek before I post all of the gorgeous photos for Wednesday!

Come back tomorrow for more!

(Photo by Ken Luallen)

New Beginnings

Katie Martin — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 14:00:32 +0000

Elegance & Simplicity, Inc., has been in expansion for years now but we are about to expand even more over the next few months!

Hold on to your hats!

On Monday we will be revealing a brand new look for the main website for Eco-Beautiful Weddings! Be sure to check it out. We will also be housing a new section on the website (hopefully by next week) as well on babies! Yep – a whole new lifestyle section on how to keep your whole family Eco-Beautiful!

These past few years have been fascinating for us at Elegance & Simplicity and we plan on expanding our services for you. We are now expanding our corporate floral design programs and currently doing lifestyle and business consulting on how to green your lives and businesses. From small to large families and small to large companies, Katie Martin (our CEO of E&S, Inc.) is bringing her expertise and passion for stylish sustainable living and business development to the world. With clients in 5 different countries and 12 different States, the possibilities are endless on how to be a sustainable business both physically and fiscally.

We are also expanding our corporate outreach programs to the community at large for at least 3 different organizations in 2013. As we solidify our roles with these organizations, we will be sure to let you know how you can be involved too!

Stay tuned for a branding change to the website which will showcase all that we have been doing since 1998 and where we are going!

We have loved your amazing support and take great pride in being the eco design leader in the Washington Area and around the world!

Stay tuned next week for some awesome posts on gorgeous weddings and spring corporate floral designs and decor!

Have a great weekend!

Hay-Adams Sneak Peek

Katie Martin — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 14:00:41 +0000

We had such a lovely wedding back in February for Annie + Jonathan’s wedding at The Hay-Adams Hotel!

Stay tuned for more images!

(Photography by Renee Michele)

Bicycle Themed Wedding

Katie Martin — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:00:03 +0000

We featured Danielle + Jason’s wedding in March (click here to see) but we just got back some more adorable photos!

Look at how cute – a bicycle built for two!

I love the bicycle theme and the gorgeous cake pedestal they choose! Finally got the gorgeous photo of her bridal bouquet that we made and the fun escort card table arrangement with our manzanita box with the billy ball garland!

Love this wedding all the way!

Congrats to Danielle and Jason again – we were so excited to be a part of their day at the Decatur House!

Cherry Blossom Festival Pink Carpet Event

Katie Martin — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:00:14 +0000

We love the Cherry Blossom Festival every year. It reminds us of peace and solidarity and we love doing Cherry Blossom Events!

We were honored to be a part of the Cherry Blossom Festival’s Pink Carpet Event at the Ronald Reagan Building. Above is a photo of one of the arrangements we did using hydrangea and pink cherry blossoms!

Have a wonderful week everyone! Our staff is on spring break enjoying the time with their children!

Finding Inspiration in Everything

Katie Martin — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:00:39 +0000

I have recently cut sugar out of my diet – but that does not mean I don’t find inspiration in all of the wonderful sweet things that surround me in the event industry! However – I do think there is a way to gain inspiration for your wedding by being healthy and eco-friendly while showcasing what inspires you on a daily basis.

Take this yogurt for example from above. Greek yogurt is healthy and so are berries – I eat them both pretty much daily! Why not have a berry theme for your wedding? Find a venue that has a fresh farmers market nearby that you can support. Always ask for farm fresh ingredients from your caterers – they can do it all over the DC Metro area and in your area (for our out of town folks!) From this you can take a cue with colors for bridesmaids dresses, ties for groomsmen and a color palette for your entire wedding day…down to the sugar paste flowers on your cake. So – here is my take on this greek yogurt photo as inspiration…hoping it inspires you to take a cue from the little things in your life for your big event!

Photo credits + Explanations

1st photo – Greek Yogurt – My Recipes.com

Floating purple vanda orchids by us – Gorgeous blackberry tie in! – Photo by Kathy Weddings

Black calla lilies by us – Perfect wine/berry tone! – Photo by Ken Luallen

Gerbera daisy designs with blueberry-filled vase by us at the Decatur House taken by Documentary Associates!

Berry cheesecake – perfect little dessert for your wedding day! – Epicurean Mom

Love the berry wedding palette from Sommerfugl Design

Have a creative and wonderful weekend!

Let me know what inspires you – I might even write a post about it!

See you next week!

Spring Event Design

Katie Martin — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:00:25 +0000

We delivered a fabulous floral design concept to the Ronald Reagan Building last week and we wanted to make sure you got a peek!

The Oculus above the Atrium provides the perfect setting for a grand statement piece like this. We almost always suggest something tall and sprawling. For this concept we used painted yellow manzanita branches with green and yellow spider mums attached to the branches. We then used hanging orbs with green dianthus, yellow billy balls and blue delphiniums inside the orbs. In the flanking arrangements we used hydrangea, delphinium, limes, mums and Belles of Ireland. We customized the vases with ribbons for a gorgeous colorful effect!

Let us know how we can color your next event with flowers!

Danielle + Jason’s Gorgeous Fall Wedding

Katie Martin — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:00:53 +0000

Here are some of the gorgeous photos from Danielle + Jason’s wedding this past fall at the Decatur House in Washington, DC! Just love how beautiful and elegant it turned out. I remember making Danielle’s bouquet and thinking how timeless and elegant it was!

I love this entire look and I am still trying to find the best photo from the escort card table! Her bridal bouquet consisted of dahlias, ranunculus, freesia and dusty miller while her maid of honor carried a gorgeous bouquet of billy balls and dahlia accents. We used our pretty vintage jars to hand different florals on the aisle chairs for ceremony. Every chair had a different floral design in it! The bride used recycled wine bottles to have her taper candles in and we provided the cute floral accents to go with them.

Gorgeous!

Congrats to Danielle + Jason!

(Alexandra Friendly Photography)