We are excited to announce that the Spring 2011 Issue of Uptown Weddings & Travel Magazine features Elegance and Simplicity as one of the best wedding planners for teh Washington, DC area in their Gold Pages section!

We are excited to finally showcase Melanie and Michael’s wedding from June at Woodend Sanctuary.  As many of you know – it is one of my favorite locations in the entire Washington, DC area.

We helped Melanie and Michael with a partial planning package along with all of her flowers and decor.  Her bridal bouquet was comprised of lavender and white mini calla lilies with light blue delphinium and fresh lavender accents.

They kept the ceremony pretty simple and added a touch of whimsy with these adorable purple, lavender and white carnation pomanders – which we reused on the back of the chairs at the head table during the reception.

Their centerpieces had luscious local purple hydrangea with lavender vanda orchids.

Melanie had so much fun picking out their candy for the candy bar!  She did not stick to a color theme – she stuck to the candies that both her and Michael loved!

Congratulations Melanie and Michael!

And thanks to Martha Fitzsimon for all the beautiful photos!

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

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

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

Cheers!

So I asked Blue Sky Films to send over the video from their wedding.  There is seriously nothing more magic than seeing their wedding on film again. I absolutely adored working with them.  Just sweethearts to the core.  I miss them – but now I will get the chance to work with Ameena’s sister for her wedding!  YAY!  Take a look at the video and you will see why I adore them!

]]> http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/ameena-james-video/feed/ 0 http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/citystate-spotlight-i-heart-vermont/ http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/announcements/citystate-spotlight-i-heart-vermont/#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:24:31 +0000 Katie Martin http://www.eleganceandsimplicity.com/blog/?p=669 My next vacation spot in the States is Vermont.  I hear nothing but rave reviews about the food and beautiful views everywhere you turn!  It is also a state that does not get a lot of play for some reason (wedding-wise) on blogs.  So I set out to find some of my faves in Vermont to showcase here!

I love finding photographers around the country that simply do it right!  Look at this amazing photo by Liz Linder Photography in Vermont (she is based in Boston).  I adore her style and loved browsing her website!

Found a cutie patootie florist as well – Silver Toad Floral Design!  Love the name – but the photos on their website are just as cute and wonderful as the name is!

When my family & I go to Vermont, of course we will stop at Ben & Jerry’s and report of my adventures!

Happy Wedding Planning!

~Katie Martin

Sugarplum helped to create a beautiful tent on the Congressional Country Club’s terrace.  Lauren let us create a custom beautiful white wall backdrop and custom pedestals along with a touch of whimsy from the lanterns.  Although this was the landscape for the ceremony – it ended up being the lounge after the wedding – complete with cigar rollers that we flew in from Florida!

Then – Jennifer Domenick met up with the bride and groom a couple of days after the wedding for these amazing portraits….I love this style so much…they look so relaxed!

I know I say this often…but it is the truth…I will miss spending time and emailing with Lauren and her mom. Lauren was the kind of client that reminded me often about why I love in the wedding industry.  She was in love with the wedding planning process while utterly in love with her husband.  The day of the wedding – she was beaming with an amazing smile (all day)!

Congratulations Lauren & Shane!

Katie Martin

The famous Drake Hotel for instance – what a cute place!  The Drake has its own in-house pastry chef to make your wedding cake as well.

While you are hosting your wedding weekend in Toronto, why not have the welcome or rehearsal dinner (or even your brunch) at the Mill Street Brew Pub.

Sample some of their own organic beer with their feisty brunch menu! Browse through their website and fall in love!!!

Pamper yourself at one of the Shizen Spas which are located in two of the hottest hotels in Toronto – The Cosmopolitan Toronto Hotel or The Pantages Hotel (or take a 1 hour day trip north to Horseshoe Resort in Ontario)!

Really, any one of these hotels would be a great place to host a welcome or rehearsal dinner as well!

The Pantage Hotel is also a hot spot for weddings as it has a swanky martini bar that can be used for private events along with their ballrooms!

The Horseshoe Resort is really an all-inclusive resort where you are your guests do not have to travel anywhere but around the resort on your golf cart!  They have group activities, golf and alpine skiing!!!!!!!

Last, but not least.  Toronto has such a great style and shopping district!  Famous bookstore David Mirvish Books on Markham Street – they have a fantastic website where you can buy amazing art and design books as well! Like this ceramic design book Object Factory:

Then – you must stop by Soma Chocolatemaker!  Famous for its gelato and chocolate truffles!  It is also located in the Famous Distillery District near the Mill Street Brew Pub!

Then, for my coffee lovers out there – there is the Mercury Organic Espresso Bar!

You simply will not run out of options in Toronto.  It really is worth the second look!  We have contacts in Toronto to help make your wedding in Canada a smashing success!  Heck – if you have already planned your wedding but not your honeymoon – why not just go to all of these places without your guests as you celebrate your 1st week (or two) together married!!!

Happy travels! ~  Katie Martin

Here is a sneak peek!  Will post more photos soon!

Check out the post here!

They posted our wonderful artichoke bouquet from my upcoming book about eco-friendly weddings!  They sourced the photo back to one of our earlier posts – gotta love a well-done BLOG!   Thanks casasugar!

photo by Documentary Associates

I am sending out a request to all of the MOBS out there that would like to tell me what they have learned throughout the wedding planning process!

If you are at the beginning stages:

• What frightens you most?
• Are you wanting more or less control over the bride or grooms choices?
• What are you most excited about?

You have seen previous posts about the beautiful Adele Wechsler wedding gown that was provided by Promise for the Savvy Bride, but here you will finally get to see the bride in the dress that she chose! Robin Fisher from Polished helped to style the bride and her sister with the best colors and accessories.

Although Earth Day was a very strange weather day, the wedding was beautiful!  Fortunately, the couple had two of our favorite photographers (Love Life Images & Documentary Associates) that took amazing photos for them. The wedding day started off with a quick interview from WJLA Channel 7 at the Mount Vernon United Methodist Church!

We designed the eco-friendly bridal bouquet with blue delphnium, yellow freesia, pink astilbe,  lisianthus and bouvardia.

Videographer Jessica Pi took amazing coverage that I will post shortly!  Elegant Hair by Giselle provided a beautiful natural look for the bride and Carola Myers provided flawless eco-friendly make-up by Korres (which Katie is an avid fan of!).

Utilizing the amazing local Cherry Blossom farmers, Green Love Events was able to display these magnificent blooms in the alcoves going up the stairs to the cocktail hour.

The cocktail hour was hosted upstairs in the museum, complete with mason jars filled with flowers!  The tops of the mason jars were available to the guests at the end of the evening; encouraging guests to reuse the jars for their own use after the wedding!  All of the flowers used for their wedding were grown by local farmers or from Holland’s pesticide free farmers.  All Dutch flowers were flown in on a commercial flight to utilize space otherwise unused by the average consumer on a commercial flight! 

The bride and groom made their way to the reception in a pedicab!

The guests were invited into the Carriage House after the cocktail hour for dinner and dancing.  Here are some of the beautiful details from the tables!  We love billy balls and lisianthus!  Every place setting had a different type of flower tucked into their napkin!

The centerpieces consisted of three vases.  Some tables had pink recycled glass jars (others had orange) accompanied by a flip top container and spice bottle filled with flowers.  The tops for the spice jars were provided to guests at the end of the night and they were able to take the flip top jars to use for anything from holding sugar for their coffee in the morning to saving leftovers!

Evan from MyDeejay.com had everyone dancing all night long to the couples favorite tunes!

Avalon Caterers provided eco-friendly, local and organic cuisine from the cocktail hours through the end of dinner!

 Cakes  by Design provided a beautiful eco-friendly cake complete with fresh local raspberries and decor that can be reused again and again!

The bride’s Scottish heritage brought forth the bagpiper at the church and the the beautiful custom-designed Korean Korum Bow on the bride’s gown was a fantastic addition to celebrate the groom’s culture.

Of course,  the snapshot studio from Love Life Images was a hit!

Last but not least, the entire wedding was carbon neutral with a carbon offset purchased by Elegance & Simplicity  from Carbonfund.org!

Elegance & Simplicity also provided all wedding stationery (which was all post-consumer waste recycled paper) and calligraphy.  The stationery included wedding invitations, escort cards and programs.  Elegance & Simplicity provided the couple with a logo and a logo sign to be reused by the couple as personal decor.  All leftover flowers were either taken by the family or composted by Elegance & Simplicity.  The discarded programs and escort cards were recycled by Elegance & Simplicity.  Leftover food was packed up for the bride and groom and their families at the end of the evening by Avalon Caterers.  Avalon Caterers made sure that all of their staff either carpooled or took Metro to the event.  Ask your wedding professionals how they can make a eco-friendly difference in your wedding day!  Check out all of the green wedding professionals in the consortium by clicking here!

Congratulations to our 2009 Green Wedding Giveaway Couple!

Here are 2 pairs that I love from his current selection online:

And of course, a couple of classics that will never go out of style and can be found at online bridal shoe stores!!!  LOVE THEM!!!

For those of you who are bucking tradition and really want the shoe to be the center of attention, go for color and go all out!  How about these luscious Giuseppe Zanotti shoes (yes for the low low price of $698!!!! HA!!!)…found at Zappos!

Or these ridiculously cute blue shoes from my ever favorite Kate Spade!

Whichever shoe you choose, note that you should have a comfortable back-up shoe (of-course)!  I say this only because I live vicariously through my brides and their wonderful shoes as I have to wear my stylish flats the day of the wedding!  Have fun shopping ladies!

***Katie Martin***

• We now offer wall backdrops.  We designed this concept last year with one of our clients that is getting married in September.  More comprehensive and interesting than a typical pipe and drape backdrop, it creates a romantic mood and endless possibilities for making your wedding unique and interesting. The wall panels come in 8 feet by 2 feet wide combinations.  They are boxes making them heavy enough to withstand wind for outdoor ceremonies and we currently have 3 panels in our inventory.  We have the ability to make as many panels as you want with our in-house carpenter.  We cover each panel in the fabric of your choice!  Soon we will have swatch samples for you to choose your color!  However, keeping in tune with how original our brides our – we will use whatever fabric you desire.  Bring in a swatch of fabric with your appointment!  We can match your linens, bridesmaids dress or your venue colors.  We even had a bride bring in a swatch of her bedroom’s wallpaper!  Here is a sample of what the 3 panels look like next to each other.  We used them at both the Washingtonian’s Bridal Show and the Washington DC Couture Wedding Bridal Show in January. As you can see, we have shelves for the panels (customized to your liking) and the ability to hang photos!  The shelves can hold actual vases full of flowers or votives.  How do you want your backdrop to look?  After the ceremony – reuse them as a photo backdrop for your guests and more!

• Our 10 x 10 foot pergola style mandap/chuppah that we introduced to our inventory last year has won raves and is now being offered in a smaller 6 x 8 foot option.  The pergola style mandap/chuppah gives your ceremony structure a signature style.  Style the beautiful (and sustainable) wood with fabric, curly willow or flowers to make it yours!  Here is the 10 x 10 foot model.  The 10 x 10 foot size is wonderful for reusing after your ceremony to dine and entertain under!
• New recycled glass lanterns and sustainable material lanterns have been added and more coming soon to inventory in various colors and styles!  They are hanging in the mandap above.  Here is a close-up!

This photo comes from Jennifer Hughes.  A fantastic photographer that has a great way of capturing color.  Of course she has a ton of other talents!  I am big on color when it comes to weddings (as opposed to themes).  I find that colors can be used to create a mood or a feeling and in this photo – I see happy color and I see fun!  Weddings should be all about fun and love and for me – color!!!!  Love it Jennifer!

This next photo comes from Barbara Salisbury of The Observatory.  The Observatory and owner Andrea Jacobson are new to the consortium, but not new to DC!   I just basically like being around Andrea and her team!  Andrea has to be one of the sweetest photographers that I have gotten to know!  Their attention to detail is what catches my eye in particular.  This photo is about the details to me. In this photo,  you can feel the excitement!  I was actually the planner for this wedding (at the Decatur House Museum) and I remember how much in love this couple was and how much fun they had.  They had so much fun and you can see it in the photos from their wedding.  The detail here is the groom and the guys right next to him- priceless photo! Makes me smile and I remember this moment as if I were still there (click on the photo to see it enlarged). LOVE IT!

Here is a photo from Documentary Associates.  Tom Van Veen and I set up a photo shoot at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (www.nmwa.org).  Without going into too much detail as to the reason why we had the photo shoot – I will tell you why I love this photo.  It is the lighting and the city backdrop.  For those of you that did not know,  I was born in DC (at a hospital which is no longer in existence).  I love DC – I think it is the best city in the world.  Call me crazy – but that is how I feel! I find this photo to be beautiful and interesting all at the same time.  The beautiful bride, beautiful flowers and the lighting are all great…however it is what is going on outside the window that makes me smile.  I have a feeling that if it were 2 or 3 other photographers that I know, they would photoshop out the building’s address that is outside the 2 right pieces of window glass.  I love it!  You can tell that the bride is in a beautiful place inside a big city.  That is what your photographer should represent and document the day of your wedding. Those are the details in a photo that will make your grandchildren wonder where that photo was taken.  I know – I am rambling, but I love this photo!  Thanks Tom (you know I loved all the photos that day right?)  :)  A big thank you to the Tom & Ashlee, the museum staff, Carola Myers, Jessica Fox from Promise for the Savvy Bride, and the crew (especially my sweetheart!).

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day and these photos were a bit of eye candy for your “eyebuds”!

* Katie Martin

1st thing – hire a wedding planner that knows who is really green and who is not.  There are a ton of wedding professionals that say they are green for marketing purposes but have no concept of what the philosophy is behind being green.  It is not just about using green products and organic foods.  It is also about giving back to the community and not being wasteful along with a slew of other guidelines depending on the type of wedding professional that you are looking for.  As a wedding planner and a florist, I see a sea of waste after a wedding and it is always our goal to reduce waste before it happens and reuse, compost or recycle what is not not used or wasted after a wedding.  We can give you creative ideas on how to do that for your wedding.  There is not a formula for a green wedding – it is more about your general attitude towards your wedding prior to the planning process.  Find like-minded vendors to go with your philosophy as you start your life together!

If you can’t afford a wedding planner (or think you can’t) – make sure you read as much as you can before get started! 

I tip my hat to those that are really interested in doing it right!  Check back often for weekly green tips!