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

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

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

Congrats to Beejal + Ben!!!

Can’t wait to show you the photos from this wedding!  One of our gorgeous weddings at the Ronald Reagan Building that we did in November!  Above is our mandap with curly willow, delphinium and orchids going up the sides along with our gold aisle aisle runner and stage cover.  We also provided the floating candles and orchids.

Credit – Top to Bottom, Left to Right

Pinwheel Save the Dates from Etsy with the beautiful Momentum Headband by BHLDN

Our gorgeous lanterns at the Ronald Reagan Building as photographed by Documentary Associates…Learn how to make your own caramel popcorn via Ruffled

Cotton candy via flickr at 2941 Restaurant with gorgeous DIY invitations as photographed Kelly Prizel

Caramel and candy-coated apples from the Dutch Country Farmers Market from a wedding we did at Glen Echo – photographed by Documentary Associates

We are thrilled to show you the details from Jordan and Jeremy’s beautiful wedding last year at the Ronald Reagan Building!

Many thanks to Blue Sky Films for taking such great footage!!!

To read more about their wedding and see more fab photos – click here!

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

Was just looking through some older photos from brides over the years and came across some of my favorite wedding dress details.  Folks – don’t give up on buying vintage or worn-once gowns – look at what you can find!

Above left was from a bride where we did  the wedding in Anguilla.  Her Melissa Sweet dress is simply timeless and fun!

Above right is a gown from Amsale from a wedding we did at Woodend Sanctuary.  Just the beautiful hand-sewn detail of reused materials for the flower makes me happy!

Bottom left is a gown from Lazaro (which the bride met in person at Kleinfeld’s in New York) was just an absolutely stunning dress!  The details were magnificent at her beautiful wedding at the Ronald Reagan Building!

Finally, the bottom right gown is from Vera Wang at a wedding we did at the Decatur House.  Simple and lovely with flower and button detailing!

All photos were taken by Documentary Associates!

Over the past few weeks I have met with so many fun brides that are looking for purples and lavenders for their wedding flowers!

So it got me thinking – I better do a blog post about this!  I created the above color palette as I met with one of my clients and we came up with a fun design scheme complete with flowers, furniture and colorful linens galore!  Purple has always been one of my favorite colors and can be used everywhere!  So here are my picks for purple for your wedding and your home!

(Credits Top Marta Locklear, Documentary Associates and ME!)

Some of the best purple floral designs use hydrangea, roses, calla lilies and orchids.  But don’t forget fresh lavender, veronica, delphinium, stock, aliums, carnations, agapanthus, caspia, statice, anemones, hyacinth, muscari and so much more!  Check in with us to find out what is available for your wedding day!

This photo from Apartment Therapy is just delicious!  This should inspire you to use purple with matte gold items for your wedding day.  Go with matte gold chivari chairs and gold rimmed plates to get this regal look! Heck – get someone like Kendall’s Cakes or Cakes by Design to paint with edible gold on your cake or wrap pretty matte gold ribbons around the tiers of your cake.  (And no – I will not spray any of my flowers with gold – sorry folks!)

And this beautiful combination of purples, aquas and blues is enough to make me swoon!  I am starting to dream of an amazing lounge combination with purple and blue flowers with funky aqua bridesmaid dresses!  The splash of red gerbera daisies adds the extra touch of whimsy!

If you have not found inspiration for your purple wedding and modern home landscape here – let me know and I will whip up something purple next week!

We are thrilled to be showcasing Christina and Brent’s gorgeous wedding day at the Ronald Reagan Building as seen through the truly talented eyes of Marta Locklear!

I never tire of Holy Trinity Church and all its grandeur in Georgetown. We have done countless weddings there – but there is something about those large beautiful restored wood doors along with the beautiful stained glass that scream classic DC wedding to me!  It always makes me fall in love with Georgetown every time we are there!  (Yes – I love my city!!!)

Christina choose simple and beautifully elegant flowers for her and her wedding party including freesia, green hypericum berries and cymbidium orchids along with dahlias for the gals!

I have to say – this is one of my favorite escort card tables we have done this year.  Yes – those are plums to bring in the purple that they wanted!  The staff washed the plums after the event and donated the plums (and ate a few) – so there was no waste!

Their fun centerpieces consisted of tall rectangular vases filled with cymbidium orchids, manzanita branches and hanging votives.  Their low centerpieces were simple purple hydrangea arrangements with local green apples inside the vases!

And this beautiful cake from Fluffy Thoughts!  We only added the flowers to this masterpiece!

A big congrats to Christina & Brent!

Cheers!

Starting off this post by saying this was one of the liveliest photobooths we have seen at any of our weddings.  Needless to say, we had a ton of props, a cute backdrop and a cute couple to work with!

To see more images from Jordan and Jeremy’s Wedding – click here to see the list of posts!

Photobooth by Documentary Associates!

We want to extend our congratulations to our bride Jordan Scott Kandah and her dad Richard Scott for winning the race for Governor in Florida.  Jordan was married to Jeremy Kandah this past June and had one of the most amazing weddings at the Ronald Reagan Building.  To see more from  their wedding reception on the blog – click here!  Thanks to Ralph Alswang for this beautiful photo of Jordan and her father on her wedding day!

Grab a cup a coffee or a glass a wine and get ready as this post is long!  There is simply no way to break up  this post into smaller parts!  The details of this wedding are just so much fun and better to see all together!  We have done two previous posts on the decor of the ceremony and cocktail hour (along with 3 teaser posts!) Now the finale!

Even with this overall Atrium room shot at the Ronald Reagan Building – you still can’t see all the stations of fun at this wedding!  To give just a little backdrop – Jordan is a school teacher – so some of the props might make more sense once you see them!

To bring in the true school spirit – we ordered some basic student high school lockers and painted them for the couple.  We still have them – so let us know if you want them for your wedding! It was the talk of the wedding and everyone had so much fun looking inside and seeing all the fun photos [if you look closely enough here - you can see her dad Rick Scott (who is currently running for Governor in Florida)].

Another fun station was the “Map Station”.  Since both Jeremy and Jordan love to travel so much – they wanted to see where everyone else has traveled to.  So we placed pink and green pins on the maps for where Jordan and Jeremy have been and asked the guests to place the yellow pins (as shown in the letters J) on the map for where they have been.

Then we had the photo booth.  I will most likely do a whole other post just on the photos from the photographer (Documentary Associates) that took the photo booth photos as they were hilarious!

(You can’t have a photo booth these days without props – we got these from Etsy!)

A couple of days ago we showed you the program we designed…here is the menu that matches!

There were so many flowers everywhere at this wedding that there just is not enough room in this post to show them.  We had tall arrangements filled with green and white dendrobium orchids along with jaguar pink orchids and yellow mokara orchids!  The two long head tables for the wedding party had lots of fun different shaped vases filled with seasonal local flowers including local hydrangea, peonies and roses.

One of the funniest things about this wedding is that Jordan wanted to possibly trip up the guests by numbering the tables with prime numbers (take a look at the photo above this one and you can see that table number is #29).  Carla David Design did such an amazing job with these table tents, the map station, soda station and lemonade/pink lemonade/limeade bar signs (below).

And now…the cakes!  Cakes by Design did such an amazing job!  I still can’t get over how she was able to create Jordan and Jeremy’s dog and how she used the decor on the groom’s cake to look like the masses/crowd (GENIUS!)

And…their super fun candy bar!

It was an amazing party and we had so much fun designing it!

Congratulations Jordan & Jeremy!

Wedding Planning, Floral Designs & Decor, Lanterns, Stationery, Candy Bar – Elegance & Simplicity, Inc.

Venue & Catering - Ronald Reagan Building

Photography - Ralph Alswang

Band + Ceremony Music - MSE Productions

Videography - Blue Sky Films

Lighting & Fabric Draping – Ampa Events

Cake – Cakes by Design

Linens – Table Manners

Bridal Styling – Polished Image and Style

Hair – Elegant Hair by Giselle

Make-up – Carola Myers

Detail Signage – Carla David Design

Photo Booth Photography – Documentary Associates

Rehearsal Dinner – Arts Club of Washington

Transportation – Chariots for Hire

Accommodations – Willard InterContintental

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/jordan-jeremys-reception/feed/ 3 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/jordan-jeremy-cocktail-hour-details/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/jordan-jeremy-cocktail-hour-details/#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:15:23 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=3869

Without showing you too much of the actual reception until tomorrow, this gives you a glimpse of how fun this wedding was!   This was the view from the oculus in the Atrium at the Ronald Reagan Building (where the cocktail hour was held).

Here is a fun close-up of the cocktail hour arrangements with moss covered vases with twine and curly willow and filled with pink peonies and yellow orchids.

The escort card table arrangement requires a few photos since it had 4 dimensions with 3 arrangements and the beautiful pink escort cards.

The escort card arrangement was comprised of a low yellow fabric colored vase filled with pink peonies and vibernum.  The tall vase was covered with moss, curly willow, twine, and yellow orchids [which also had manzanita branches with hanging pink votives attached to it (not shown)] along with a medium size vase filled with a submerged green cymbidium orchid stem and river rocks.

The sushi bar was a huge hit!

The guest “sign-in” was their matted engagement photo by Documentary Associates - we just provided the pen and the cute floral arrangement (please notice that cutie patootie ribbon on the vase as it totally matches Jordan’s bubbly personality)

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post where we show the utterly fun and unique reception that Jordan and Jeremy let us create for them!

(All images by Ralph Alswang)

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/wedding-planning/jordan-jeremy-cocktail-hour-details/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/jordan-jeremy-part-iv/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/jordan-jeremy-part-iv/#comments Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:05:17 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=3836

Yes – we are on part four of our Jordan and Jeremy’s Wedding and I think there will be at least 2 more posts! Of course – the 1st three posts were just teasers and sneak peaks from camera phones!  However – we have gathered all the photos from Ralph Alswang and  we were finally able to sort through and show the best of the best!

Today – I am going to focus on the 1st part of the day through the end of the ceremony as the details are a plenty.  From the beginning to the end of this – you will see Jordan and Jeremy’s color palette of pink, yellow and green!  Of course – pink is the main color – starting with her cute purse and bouquets (above)!

It was a scorching hot day in DC.  They took a quick drive over to the monuments with Ralph in order to take a few portraits -which lasted all of 5 minutes!  Getting over to the Ronald Reagan Building was in their best interests at that point!  Her beautiful gown was bought at Kleinfeld’s in New York city – a Kirstie Kelly dress that Robin from Polished Image and Style helped her pick out!

Their wedding had a theme of travel, fun, school and love!  Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post to figure out why there is a map behind this program and why the parasols!

You might recognize the reclaimed wood trellis from a previous post – but we are so happy with this structure as it has been used 3 times since their June wedding in different ways!

I loved creating this bouquet for Jordan!  It’s not often that I get to use yellow peonies – but we had them here!  The entire bouquet was comprised of peonies, ranunculus and freesia.

A quick kiss after the ceremony before heading off for more photos and the cocktail hour!

Part V tomorrow!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/jordan-jeremy-part-iv/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/jordan-jeremys-wedding/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/jordan-jeremys-wedding/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:00:28 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=3714

Oh – the yumminess from this wedding is abounding!  Stay tuned for several blog posts on this amazing wedding that we did for Jordan and Jeremy at the Ronald Reagan Building.

(Photography by Ralph Alswang, Cake by Cakes by Design, Lemonade Sign by Carla David Design)

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 were so happy to be a part of Jordan and Jeremy’s wedding day last weekend at the Ronald Reagan Building!

We custom made a lot of very fun details for their wedding that I can’t wait to share once I get the photos back from Ralph Alswang!

Above – you can see our new trellis that we have in stock.  It is with reused wood and is seven feet tall by five feet wide by three feet deep!  We added curly willow, peonies and green cymbidium orchids.  We also provided our custom gold  stage cover, pink step and pink and yellow aisle runner.  I can’t wait to show you the rest!

Congrats Jordan and Jeremy!

Hats off to one of our favorite chefs in the DC area – Executive Chef Xavier DeShayes at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.  It is not a secret that we love working with Chef Xavier – but now we are excited to hear of his newest initiative to keep the food at the Ronald Reagan Building green!

He recently signed a petition to conserve the Blue Fin Tuna and has removed tuna options from the menu to Salmon.  With a venue as large as his and the number of events that he and his staff produce – we are excited about this initiative.  We get to work alongside him this Saturday for Jordan & Jeremy’s wedding in the Atrium.

Here is a sneak peek of the vibe from their wedding from their Save the Dates from Luscious Verde!

And that is all I am givin’ ya for  now as this wedding is just going to be a blow-out-crazy-good time!

Happy Planning and thanks Chef for being an innovator in the DC area!

Scenario #1: You are only paying for a few items of the wedding. Your daughter and her fiancé are paying for the venue and the dinner and they are trying to keep within their budget.  Everywhere they’ve looked that they like is waaay over their budget, so they sheepishly show up for Sunday dinner and suggest your house since you do have a wonderful area for entertaining inside and a large backyard with some big trees and neighbors that don’t have ‘tacky’ yards.  On 1^st thought, this sounds like a really nice way for everyone to save some money! YAY!

Whoa, though!  You and your husband need to really take a good look around the inside of the house where guests might wander and the outside – not only the yard itself but the exterior of the house – need new shutters?  Shingles looking faded? Never did get that patio finished?  Haven’t opened the pool for the last two years?  Inside: floors – need new carpet or does the hardwood need refinishing?  Have you been putting off getting the kitchen redone since the stock market played havoc with your finances (the reason you aren’t paying for everything)? Bathrooms – major stains in sinks or on the ceramic tile?  Did the bath upstairs leak through the ceiling in the guest bath on the 1^st floor?  Would you need to go ahead and buy a new sofa or get the dining room table refinished, paint the downstairs (which would lead to more décor changes), chimney swept, new window treatment and have the backyard professionally landscaped?  Hire a tent person, rent chairs and tables, hire someone to make an altar are for the service itself?  By the time you add everything up, you might be spending much more than renting one of the ‘best’ places available.  If a venue rents for $6000.00 against that $20,000-$45,000 to ‘fix’ the house in order to be ready for the wedding…then perhaps you might want to steer the couple somewhere else.  Don’t forget…this wedding will have its stressors but a lot more might be piled on if it were to be held at your home.

Scenario #2. What if the newly engaged couple suggests the wedding should be held at his home?  Whew!  That would let you off the hook.  But then, ‘they (his parents)’ might be calling most of the shots, wouldn’t they?   Hmmm.  It is your daughter’s wedding.  But, don’t forget, it is their son’s wedding too.  Of course, the reality is that no matter how well you get along with the new ‘in-laws’, there is the location ownership factor to be considered.  In the end, it just might not matter one whit.  However, all of you should consider that aspect before his parents are approached.

Scenario #3. Different types of locations to consider:

Destination wedding….hope you don’t mind if we leave this one for another blog post!

Guest list 75 people. The wedding could be held at a location such as Woodend which offers a MD country setting that is relaxed yet elegant. With its classic Greek portico, sweeping lawns, and spacious, high-ceilinged rooms, Woodend provides a beautiful setting. They do have a list of caterers they allow on property.

Guest list is 180. Perhaps you’ll consider an historic building in DC such as the very elegant Decatur House Museum? As the first neighboring residence to the White House, dating to 1818, the Decatur House is one of the oldest surviving homes in Washington, DC. It sits right on Lafayette Park which can provide the most wonderful backdrop of the White House for outside photos of the wedding party before the event.  Twenty-foot vaulted ceilings top the spacious ballroom, decorated in neutral tones, and the wall of windows and French doors bring the brick courtyard into view.

(Note: if it is held here, then the bride and groom might want to consider spending their wedding night at the Hay Adams Hotel which is only a block away…they can walk there after the reception. Wedding guests with sparklers to send them on their way could form a double line for the couple to walk through.)

Guest list 450 of your nearest and dearest friends, your ex-husband and his wife’s friends, the couples’ friends and co-workers (he is a Congressman – so security is an issue too), his mother and her husband’s friends, his father and his wife’s friends and although you only have 3 children, his family has a blended brood of 8 siblings and their families…plus the bride wants it to be spectacular and in DC!    OK – there are quite a few places to choose from…we really are lucky to have locations that can handle large crowds (remember the inaugural balls/dinners). There is the National Building Museum or how about the Ronald Reagan Building where you can have a reception in the Woodrow Wilson Plaza and the dinner/dancing inside.

One note of caution:  For a wedding/reception to be held in DC or the wedding in VA or MD and the reception in DC – don’t forget about traffic and where will the guests park?   You might want to consider hiring a valet service that will handle all that for you!

Rather than having to run all over town looking at 10-15 sites and think of all the multitude of items for “THE LIST”…might it be better to choose a really wonderful wedding planner?  And might it also be wonderful to choose one that can ‘green’ your daughter’s wedding?  Try the Washington, DC Green Wedding Consortium!

Happy Planning!
~Claudia Van Veen

Check out our featured wedding with Ameena and Jamie on District Weddings today! We miss them so much!  And, of course, the Ronald Reagan Building is one of our favorite places!

Happy Planning!

I can’t wait to hear more about their honeymoon to Costa Rica!  We loved planning for their big day and we will certainly post more details about their wedding on the main website soon!

Check out the feature online by clicking on the photo below!

Congrats Kimberley & Jake!  I just saw them recently for their 1st anniversary party!  What a fun time that was as well!