Elegance & Simplicity - Engaged & Green Blog » Katie Martin

Katie Martin on Smartbride

Katie Martin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:30:53 +0000

Book Signing on Sunday!

Katie Martin — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:30:32 +0000

Don’t forget to stop by our booth at the

Katie will be signing her second book (The Everything Wedding Book) and you can learn all about Elegance & Simplicity, Inc.’s Services.

See you Sunday!

To learn more about the event – click here.

Baltimore Bride’s Aisle Style – Book Signing With Katie Martin

Katie Martin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:57:19 +0000

We are excited to announce that Katie will be doing a book signing at Baltimore Bride’s Aisle Style Event on March 20th!

Don’t Miss it!

A few of my favorite things…

Katie Martin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:30:45 +0000

My birthday is tomorrow and if you are really in the mood to still buy me something…these are the things I am diggin’! Of course, you don’t need to buy me anything, but I know if you knew these products were available you might want to buy them for your bridesmaids, your groomsmen or yourself. I normally would reserve these products for my editor’s picks – but it’s my bday and I am feelin’ sassy!

Everyone knows I love my iPad -and this case is so adorable and eco-friendly. The case I have for my ipad right now is what they were selling at the Apple store as I had to travel the very next day…but this is way too cute and it comes in black, white and orange as well!

I am on a pretty strict gluten and lactose free diet. I can’t stand that I can’t eat caramels anymore – so I love giving DAS Caramelini caramels as gifts! They have a faint twist of lavender and they are just mouthwatering! Jelly Belly and Vermints are both made in the USA and are all-natural and gluten-free yumminess! Click on the candy above to learn how to buy these products!

My two favorite places to grab cupcakes from are Cakelove and Hello Cupcake since they always have something gluten-free available!

And o my..this upcycled genius chica makes handbags and headbands to swoon over…I want them both! Find out about Etsy Designer Sparky Jones by clicking on the two photos above.

Tell me what you buy!!!

Cheers!

Last Day to Win from My Editor’s Picks! POLLI!

Katie Martin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:30:33 +0000

Don’t forget to get on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Blog today to win one of these cute necklaces by eco-designer Polli (as featured on my Editor’s Picks page in the current issue)

Click on the image to learn how to win!

My mom…

Katie Martin — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:41:56 +0000

Last night was such an amazing night for me…so I am going to get a little long-winded and sappy here – sorry! I don’t do this often – I promise!

Yesterday I celebrated two anniversaries! First and foremost I celebrated the anniversary of marrying the love of my life (Te Amo Carino Mio)! Then, last night was also the one year anniversary of Eco-Beautiful Weddings and we celebrated it at the Decatur House in Eco-Style -more about that here! Both anniversaries on the same day was a little stupid of me – I know. I did not originally plan to have the 1st day of the magazine go live back on 12/15/2009 – it just sorta happened. So 12/15 will always be a big day for me!

But the photo above is what I want to talk about. I think over the years I have lost touch with the fact of how much my mom adores me. You can’t tell here – but she had tears in her eyes. She looked at me and could see how happy I was and, in her words, I looked beautiful. For those that know me, I don’t wear dresses often, but when I do – I like to go all out. This dress was custom-designed for me by Chris Kole of The Cotton Bride and I felt beautiful in it. When my mom first saw me in the room, she said a few “proud momma” things and all of a sudden I was swept away back to when I was a little girl.

I remembered this one day when she was brushing my long brown hair and looked at me in the mirror and said “You are just so beautiful”. My mom is such a wonderful lady and everyone had fun chatting with her at the event.

This year has been so amazing with many beautiful and fun clients from Elegance & Simplicity and the growth of Eco-Beautiful Weddings. I really owe a lot of my success to my mom. She always taught me to work hard. It was not necessarily with anything she said, it was what she did. She worked so hard when I was a child, but always found time to spend with me. She still works hard and still comes out to party on a Wednesday night!

I love doing wedding planning and floral designs and I have been totally diggin’ being an Editor-in-Chief this year! So the point of this post is? My mom and I will both tell you we don’t photograph well and Delores from a little bit of whimsy photography really took my breath away when she sent me this image yesterday! This photo will always mean a lot to me as it was such a special night and it started by celebrating with my biggest cheerleader – my mom!

Love you mom!

Flower Faves 2010

Katie Martin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:00:37 +0000

As tomorrow is a big day for anniversaries for me – I wanted to start off this final flower fave blog post with my bridal bouquet from my wedding in the Dominican Republic! Our Anniversary is tomorrow along with the Anniversary of the Magazine!

My best friend and Logistical Manager on staff Keya Beale made this bouquet for me. She traveled to the Dominican Republic to be with us on that very special day! We have had three brides this year fall in love with my bouquet (but those leaves can really only be found on the beaches of the Dominican Republic)! We brought the beading down from some leftover Christmas decorations we found and picked the limes from a local market along with the phaleanopsis orchids! My brother was our best man and photographer for the week, along with his wife and associate Angela – whom you will see a photo from her wedding below! (Documentary Associates)

This was one of my favorite photos taken by Jennifer Hughes this year for a wedding that will be featured in Baltimore Bride Magazine. I love the bridesmaids bouquets as the ranunculus was just perfect that weekend in the spring and the hydrangea and mini cymbidium orchids complimented the overall color scheme of the day!

Not the fanciest of floral designs – but fun nonetheless. This wedding that we did with Sara from Bella Notte was photographed by Greg Gibson. We love working with both of them and I, in general, just love limes. A lot of the photos from this particular wedding are actually in the current brochure for the Decatur House!

And yes – if you have been following my blog over the past couple of months – I am obsessed with the Ourisman Wedding with images taken by Love Life Images. Candace just let me get as creative as I wanted to be and the designs we created were flowers that I will never forget. Their wedding will be featured in the Washingtonian Bride & Groom Shortly – so I am sure I will blog about them again!

I loved making this bouquet for my friend Angela, one of Tom’s associates at Documentary Associates. This wedding and this photo always makes me smile for so many reasons. First of all – I just love this photo. The bouquet I made for her as a gift…but that day it rained like cats and dogs….I MEAN IT RAINED!!! She got married on Chincoteague Island and my hubby and I strung up a bunch of lanterns in the small tent behind this lovely bed a breakfast. By the time the rain stopped – there were literally DUCKS swimming underneath the tent, the lanterns were destroyed and the ceremony location had to totally be moved to a new location. Of course, the wedding planner in me kicked in and everything worked out just fine. I am still so thrilled to see my two friends married and now happily awaiting a new baby!

Stay Tuned Tomorrow for the Anniversary Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings (and don’t forget its my anniversary too)!

Cheers!

Everything Wedding Book, 4th Edition

Katie Martin — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:02:27 +0000

IT’S HERE!!!

My second book The Everything Wedding Book, 4th Edition is here! I am so excited to finally have the paperback in my hands!

The book is currently available for pre-sale as well on Amazon – click here to see how to pre-order!

Are you engaged and want a comprehensive guide to planning your wedding? Let me know what your initial plans are in the comments section below and I will give away one copy next week!

Cheers!

New York Fashion Week Recap

Katie Martin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 02:54:51 +0000

Robin Fisher (from Polished Image and Style) and I had such a jam packed and fun-filled day in New York City last week for fashion week! We had a few appointments and we attended two runway shows (and got in a little shopping – all in one day)!

We started our day off at the B Squared Pubic Relations (run by the lovely “Beths” – hence B Squared) firm that represents a lot of jewelry, handbag and fashion designers). The above photo is all about the Jemma Wynne Collection – which one their bracelets was featured in the new Fall 2010 issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings! Loved seeing more from the collection live! Real semi-precious stones and recycled gold! YUM!

Robin fell in love with this gorgeous necklace from Fulham!

The above are more pieces from the exquisite Fulham collection – made with upcycled item and natural stones in Canada! Look for some of these pieces possibly in the December or March Issues of Eco-Beautiful Weddings!

Robin was able to get us in to a great eco fashion show – one of the first with real passionate designers. I loved the collection from Vivienne Pash.

Hotness is all I have to say here! This lovely 100% silk dress has some amazing detail work on the “straps” made by artisans in Turkey. Sempre Lei is a brand new designer and we fell in love with this little white dress – perfect for an after party or honeymoon!!!

We saw a few other designers and lot of yellow everywhere! So don’t be surprised if you see yellow galore in Spring!

Robin and I are excited and gearing up for the Anniversary Issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings! Time Flies! I hope to do another post about the amazing purse I found – stay tuned for that!

Here’s to Eco-Couture!

Galleys are in!

Katie L Martin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:05:11 +0000

The final galleys have come in for my second book! Stay tuned to win a copy as it should be on bookshelves in November or December!

New Blog Updates!

Chris Easter — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:00:30 +0000

You have probably noticed a few changes to our blog! We have updated our list of the blogs we love and we know of a few more that we will be adding soon! Click above to see the list or- click here!

Now that we are down to a two column blog – our photos will be easier to see! (Above is one of our favorites from The Observatory).

We also really cleaned up our sidebar – a few more sidebar items are coming!

Have a safe a wonderful holiday weekend! We will be celebrating with our four couples this weekend at the Decatur House, Arts Club of Washington, Hotel Monaco and Brookside Gardens – Congrats to all our brides and grooms!

Roses- First Installment

Katie L Martin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:24:25 +0000

Here is the second installment in my floral design series. This week’s flower is roses. Last week I started with my most favorite flower (hydrangea). This week, I continue on to a flower that tons of people love – ROSES. They symbolize love , friendship and romance for so many people. They are available year round and come in every single color (and two-tones) except blue (naturally)…and no – I won’t dye roses blue for my clients. Sorry folks!

A rose is timeless for sure. You can never go wrong with it as a rose bouquet will still look lovely 75 years from now in your photos! For some practical advice – I never recommend using an all white rose bouquet. An all-white rose bouquet sounds appealing at first – but white flowers with a white dress make for a very non-descript photo (and your bouquet will end up looking like a bundle of marshmallows floating in front of your dress – just my opinion). I realize I may be stepping on some toes here. I know there are all white weddings out there and we have made all white bridal bouquets (in fact – one is going out this weekend). You can ask any seasoned photographer and they will tell you that they love color in their bridal bouquets! All white flowers cost more (by the way). Why? Because we have to buy extra in order to make up for the 15-20% of the flowers that come in with browning edges and we know that every single bloom needs to look pristine!

I am going to let you in on a big secret that every florist does not want you to know. Roses don’t cost all that much more than other flowers. Nope – you know what cost more – the stripping of the roses. That’s right! We have to strip every single rose so it does not tear you (or us) to shreds. Those pesky thorns are the reason why I don’t love roses. Yep – I hate stripping them…and we get sliced by those nasty pointy things every time we go to strip them. They are evil I tell you (the thorns that is)! There are varieties that come without thorns! YAY – SCORE! However – they are typically not available year round and they cost more. So in the end – roses just really cost the same as most flowers – its the labor that kills us. So when you are asking your florist to make you an all white rose bridal bouquet – they will most likely need to buy at least 50-75 roses – strip each one individually (unless they have a big rose stripping machine – which I don’t have) and then start on the design. Remember – they will also most likely have to throw away (or hopefully compost) 10-15 of those roses as they will not be perfect. You are not paying extra for the roses – you are paying extra for the time, perfection, and design.

There really is a never ending list of what I could write about roses – so I am going to stop here and post again at some point about roses in a second and possibly third installment over the next few months. Stay tuned!

(top photo – Jennifer Domenick/Love Life Images, middle photo – The Observatory)

Katie Martin on Wedding Podcast Network

Katie L Martin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:35:00 +0000

I am excited to be on the Wedding Podcast Network again! This time around, I am giving wedding planning advice from my first book the Mother of Bride based on her second book the Everything Mother of the Bride Book!

Click here to hear the interview – perfect for both brides and their moms to listen to and to get a taste of what the book is all about! You can also learn how to win a copy of my book!

Happy Planning!

Mary Kate’s Wedding at Thorpewood – Part I

Chris Easter — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:00:00 +0000

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!

Kendall & Mo’s Wedding Part II: ETSY LOVE

Chris Easter — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:43:39 +0000

Ahh – we just can’t say enough about Kendall & Mo’s wedding! So I decided to break it up into 4 posts! Yes! I thought I was just going to do 3 posts – but there was so much going on at this wedding – I just can’t get enough of it. The 1st post was just a teaser last week with their chalkboard!

Today – it’s all about the wonderful and creative Etsy Designers that they used!

All stationary (save the dates, invites, custom cardstock, escort cards, thank you notes, etc.) were done by Magnolia Papier. Taylor was AWESOME with all of Kendall’s special requests!

These flowers were attached to her escort card table – which I show the entire table in tomorrow’s yummy post!

You will see the two love birds below – that were everywhere at the wedding!

Her stationery items were also inspiration for her cake – which will be in a another post this week!

Their Fingerprint tree by Sweet Carolina Design

Her beautiful crystal headband was by LELETNY (as seen above in their portait – which I love with her amazing eyes flashin’!)

Kendall gave me and the bridesmaids beautiful vintage crystal brooches from Aged and Opulent (which I adore since her colors were also the colors of my wedding – yum!) and from Vintage and Victorian!

And these freakin’ adorable fairy wings for the cutie pie flower girl by attiTUTUde!

Stay tuned tomorrow for all the decor we provided that day!

A big hug and thanks to Jennifer Hughes for these magnificent photos!

2nd Anniversary!

Chris Easter — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:30:21 +0000

Today is my anniversary and since I have never really blogged my wedding photos (above photo taken by Love Life Images) – I was told by my industry friends that I better do it this year! So I have a special anniversary weekend on the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Blog this weekend. Since we had two weddings – one here and one in the Dominican Republic – I have our DC wedding recap today (Saturday) and our Dominican wedding on Sunday!

Cheers!

Washingtonian Feature

Chris Easter — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:21:14 +0000

We are very excited to be in the new issue of the Washingtonian Bride & Groom Magazine again as one of the best wedding planners in the DC area! Such a cute cover and the issue is chock full of great ideas!

We are especially excited about our featured wedding with Anna & Denis at the Dumbarton House! Click on the image (provided by the Washingtonian Bride & Groom) below to get a better view:

Thanks Washingtonian and Cheers to Anna & Denis!

Celebrate Green with Katie today!

Chris Easter — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:09:29 +0000

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!

Katie in Georgetown with Aveda & Adele Wechsler!

Chris Easter — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:46:45 +0000

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!

New York City, revisited

Katie Martin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:00:31 +0000

Over the past 11 years that I have been part of the wedding industry, I have been painfully aware that Los Angeles and New York have been in direct competition with the types of weddings that we all do here in Washington, DC. However, New York City simply has the best shopping resources and some of the brightest and greatest minds in the wedding industry. I tried my best to blog about all of my adventures while I was here in New York back in October for Bridal Market. However – I took so many photos – there was no way I could have posted all of them. I wanted to save this post for now. I knew I would be back in New York often and meeting with all sorts of people. Here are few more photos!

Yes – that is Randy Fenoli and I from Say Yes to the Dress! I found him to be one of the most amazing people I have met in the wedding industry. Not because he has a TV show and not because he is a major player at Kleinfeld’s – but because of his open and warm personality. I think it is very easy for TV and wedding personalities to become full of themselves and act like they are better than others. I have had my share of people acting like they are better than me simply because of their position in a certain company (this pertains to any industry). However, we ran into each other at about 5 events that week and every time he gave me a warm hug, kiss on the cheek and had nothing but funny and interesting things to say. On top of it, he remembered my name. With all the crazy amounts of people that he has met – he still manages to take the time to remember the names of as many people as possible. This is not just representative of a kind man, but a fantastic business man who understands that relationships are important to growing a business. I can’t wait to hang out with him again and hopefully bring him more brides for their fantastic dresses at Kleinfeld’s!

I also had the chance to finally meet Carley Roney at one of the fashion shows during Bridal Market. Carley Roney from The Knot is obviously one of the wedding world’s most brilliant minds. If we are all honest and think back…The Knot really is the one that revolutionized the wedding search engine! We have this woman to thank for many innovations in the weddings industry. She was so sweet and I look forward to running in to her again!

There were people like Adele Wechsler and Lela Rose that I met, along with some other very influential people in the wedding industry. I can’t wait to get back to DC and write about all the fun things I am doing this week in New York!

I hope you were able to see the Launch Party live! If not – you should be able to check out the recording soon! I will be posting al about the launch party shortly!

Cheers!

~Katie Martin

Come by the Mandarin Oriental Today!

Katie Martin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:01:36 +0000

Can’t wait to see you today at the Mandarin Oriental Today from 11:30 – 3. Click on the image above to learn more about the event. Yesterday was the last day to register online, but you can still come and register at the door!

A few of the prizes that we will be giving away:

One lucky winner will receive a coupon to receive a pre-launch and signed The Everything Mother of the Bride Book by Katie Martin!

We will also be giving away a bunch of books from Chronicle Books!

And now, if you click on their logo below, 20% of all the proceeds from the sale of books that you buy from their website between now and January 31st will be donated to the relief efforts in Haiti! Plan your wedding and your life while helping others!

Here are the books from Chronicle that we will be giving away:

We {heart} Carolyn’s Anti-Bride Book Series – to learn more about Carolyn – check out her twitter page – @antibride! She will be with us in New York for the launch party!

HILARIOUS!

Destination Wedding Planner – A Fantastic guide for all of you on your way to far off places to wed!

Fortune Telling Book for Brides – so much fun!

Sweetie Stats – cute little pocket guide for a happy marriage! ;-)

Thanks Chronicle! Check out their facebook page by clicking here. And of course – on twitter by clicking here!

Several other prizes like free bridal bouquets and discounts off our services will be given away as well! Don’t miss it!

If you are not able to make it today – come to the bridal show on 2/6 (psst….we will be giving more books away and some of the most amazing bloggers will be there!)

Also – follow me on twitter (@greenwed) as I will try to tweet the details of our booth!

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

Washingtonian Real Wedding Feature!

Katie Martin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:25:47 +0000

As promised, here are more photos from the real wedding that was featured in the most recent Washingtonian magazine. We are super excited about Kate and Mark’s wedding and I will do a follow-up post sometime in the new year about their engagement photos which were even cuter! Another eco-friendly wedding shot by Tom Van Veen & Ashlee Wilcox of Documentary Associates with our floral designs! Such a fun wedding!

Kate had her chivari chairs custom painted with the help of her sister Arney who used to work for one of the best wedding caterers in the DC area. We were so happy that Kate let us have free reign over making her floral designs to match their vintage and whimsical style wedding. The lapel flowers were finished with hemp twine and the bride’s dress was by Lela Rose (manufactured and designed in New York City!)

The programs were beribboned with various shades of raffia and ribbon by the bride and her sister.

Every single detail of this wedding was well thought out – down to the vintage typewriter as the “guest book”.

Congratulations Kate & Mark!!

(and to our wonderful friend Arney too – sister of the bride!)

~Katie Martin

Lasso’d Moon Designs

Katie Martin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:01:37 +0000

There are so many wonderful invitation designers all over the states. However, we strive to show smaller designers here and those that are doing some amazing eco-friendly things! We found this amazing designer on Twitter and we adore everything she does. Here are few of her samples that are specifically eco-friendly!

Carey, the owner, does a great job of explaining eco-friendly options for her clients. For example, to save paper in addition to having PCW papers, she makes these fun and original postcards for Save-the-Dates and respond cards.

I love her map options. I love the look of a classy map! Some of our clients have done hand-painted maps (which can take FOREVER) or have scanned a map from the venue where the reception will take place. Doing a combo of the two is the most elegant way to do it in my mind. Most hand-drawn/painted maps are not drawn to scale and tend to be, well, just cute (meaning not very helpful as far as a map is concerned). If you are having a lot of out-of-town guests, a map drawn to scale is imperative if you are not providing transportation for them. Here Carey has a real map and has infused a small element of whimsy along with detailed written out driving instructions.

An invitation designer will do all they can to ensure that every element of your invitation is edited and easy to read. Carey does a fantastic job and it shows in her examples online and in her communication with me. Click on any of the photos above to get to her website and start planning your stationery journey today!

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

SugarB Studio

Katie Martin — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:01:15 +0000

If you are looking for a wedding website design or fantastic invitation (or a combination of both) – Kari Becker Beard of SugarB Studio can make it happen.

On top of the exquisite beauty and simplicity of her work – she is also local!

I met Kari at Ben’s Next Door in Washington, DC and got a chance to see a wide range and variety of her work! She can even do business collateral! Invitations are art and should be made that way – Kari definitely has the flair!

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

My First Book – WIN $250!

Katie Martin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:08:24 +0000

I just got the jpeg from my publisher today for my first book cover! The Everything Mother of the Bride Book, 2nd Edition! I am thrilled to share the cover with my avid blog readers first! Well, my publicist did tweet about it first – sorry! She’s my publicist – what can I say? We are pretty excited over here!

Your emails have been so supportive. I just wanted to to send a big thanks to all of you!

So…I thought I would announce my first blog contest with this book cover announcement!!!!!!

Make a comment here about why your mom is the best mother of the bride. The best comment (judging based on what my mom and I think) will get the following:

A signed copy of my book
$250 to go towards to your wedding budget

We have some time before my book gets here – so I am going to leave the contest open until March 15th. Spread the word and start making comments. Good Luck!

When you leave a comment, I automatically have access to your email address – so be careful to write the right email address when asked so I can contact you if you win.

Stay tuned for Wednesday’s post! If you haven’t heard or seen: Every Wednesday my mom (Claudia Van Veen) comes on my blog and has a weekly Mother of the Bride Guest Post! Super helpful for any mom prepping for a wedding.

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

UPDATE: Thank you for all your comments! We found our winner!

Design Inspiration – Start with Your Bedroom!

Katie Martin — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:39:56 +0000

If you are having a hard time trying to figure out what your wedding design & style will be? Then this post is for you!

Getting inspiration should always start with your personal style. So many couples come into my office with no clue as to where to start and always leave with a clearer picture. It is really simple…start in your bedroom or what you want your bedroom to look like.

Why your bedroom style? This is where you probably spend a lot of time! Most people love to decorate their bedrooms in their own personal style and then leave the rest of their home to more “mainstream’ decorating. (I said most people – not all!)

Are you a shabby chic or simply elegant kinda couple?

(above 2 photos from Atlanta Bartlett’s amazing website!)

Are you a Feng Shui “clean line” kinda couple?

Are you a practical kinda couple?

Or are you an artsy kinda a couple?

I am betting you will find certain elements in your bedroom that would translate well into your wedding design.

Do you tend to pick the same colors? Same designs? Same textures? Chances are those things will resonate with your wedding style.

This is not my room – but I might just make it mine as my wedding had similar style.

I used the same bright greens and blues with hints of browns with circles, polka dots, patterned papers and lanterns. We even had some daisies thrown in with our wedding in the Dominican Republic.

Decorating your wedding should be like decorating your new home together. Makes it much easier to dream! You might even be able to reuse some of your decor for your wedding into your home. This is a great green way to plan your wedding and nesting all at the same time!

Click on any of the photos above to find more inspiration from the websites I pulled them from.

Let me know what inspires you by leaving a comment or emailing me at katie {at} eleganceandsimplicity {dot} com

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

Invite Couture

Katie Martin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:01:09 +0000

While I was in New York during Bridal Market, I had the pleasure of meeting Corrie Feld of Invite Couture! Her work is exquisite and hand-made!

For couples that are planning eco-friendly weddings, Invite Couture offers a variety of eco-friendly stock options including cotton papers made from 100% cotton linters leftover from textile processing, or several 100% FSC certified papers.

Your invitations set the tone for your wedding day! Make sure they represent you and your fiance!

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

Etsy Love

Katie Martin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:01:14 +0000

Had a great week with Etsy. Take a look at the eco-friendly goodies I found!

Eco-Friendly Bookmarks!!! (I could not help myself…they practically belong on my blog with the colors!)

For a truly vintage and organic look to go with your gown – take a look at these beautiful organic linen Lariats on Magdalinen’s Etsy Site! GORGEOUS! I bought this green one (sorry folks, sold out) All of these are one of a kind: so HURRY! Click on any of these Lariats to get to her etsy page!:

Perfect for brides or bridesmaids:

Love these tags from Renee Anne (really could be used for weddings or Christmas!):

Have fun with all the Esty Shopping!

~Katie Martin

Andrea Jacobson – Cutie Patootie!

Katie Martin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:01:04 +0000

This week’s Cutie Patootie is Andrea Jacobson of The Observatory!

We have gotten a few chances to work with her and her associates! I absolutely adore Andrea! Her innovative photography and friendly approach with clients are always a fantastic combination. She is also a member of the Washington DC Green Wedding Consortium as an eco-friendly photographer and she was selected to be on the Washington DC Couture Wedding Consortium!

Here are a few photos from a recent wedding in DC that Andrea took.

The couple…also cutie patooties! Married at the Tabard Inn and portraits in Senate Park! So wonderfully DC!

Check out the zipcar and her cute red shoes! I LOVE IT!

(bouquet by Phillippa Tarrant)

Congratulations to the couple and Andrea for being cutie patooties and having such a beautiful wedding day!

Cheers!

~Katie Martin

A Few Thoughts on Wedding Photography…

Katie Martin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:12:52 +0000

photo by Documentary Associates

I took a look through my photo library today and decided to go back a couple of years to show you some of my favorite moments from a few of our fabulous weddings.

photo by The Observatory

I am in love with the moments that happen at a wedding. I think everyone knows that there is a certain kind of magic that a wedding weaves.

photo by Love Life Images

You can plan every last detail or have a wedding planner plan and design your day…but no plans can control the magic. A good photographer will capture these magical moments. Don’t cut corners in this department or your memories will be settled into mediocrity on a disc or online forever.

photo by Allison Britton

All of your wedding planning and excitement leads to one day. Typically your wedding will last 8 hours from start to finish (give or take 1 or 2 hours). The thousands of dollars you will spend are all about these 8 hours. Do you want to leave those 8 hours in the hands on an unseasoned wedding photographer?

photo by Rodney Bailey

These photos just reminded me again, how important photographers are to me as a wedding professional. At the end of this year, we would have done over 125 events (for both wedding planning and floral designs). As of today, I probably have less than 50 events that the photographers have actually sent me photos of (even after asking for them). Do you want a photographer that does not collaborate well with other event professionals?

photo by Documentary Associates

The above question is probably one that gets missed most often by couples when they are selecting their photographers. An additional question should be popping into your head. If a wedding photographer does not work well with a wedding planner, how will they cooperate with you after the wedding?

photo by Sota Dzine

These questions are of great importance if you are getting married. You will have a team of people putting your wedding together while you are getting ready on your wedding day. If just one vendor does not “play well” with others – how can your wedding day go smoothly?

photo by Love Life Images

Planning a wedding can seem like a complicated labyrinth of money, emotions and questions. It truly does not have to be if you just ask the right questions as you go! You should also know that there are a slew of other questions that you should be asking your wedding photographer before you hire them. If you have a particular question, post below in the comments section or email me directly at Katie {at} eleganceandsimplicity {dot} com!

Stay tuned for an upcoming similar post on videography!

Happy Planning!

~Katie Martin

(p.s. – This post by no means is a complete list of the photographers that have sent me images over the years. There is only so much room in one post for photos! I have a long list of fabulous photographers that I love working with!)