Happy Valentine’s Day from Blue Canary

February 14th, 2012

Our friends over at My Deejay asked for our favorite love song for an awesome playlist they made for today (which you can listen to here).  Of course, I had to give them my song with my boyfriend (aka “our song”) — “You Are the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne (also Meredith and Howard’s first dance song from our old blog).  I absolutely LOVE this song, but it got me thinking of a bunch of other love songs that I love — I don’t know how to make an awesome playlist like the music geniuses at My Deejay, so here are a few songs that no one mentioned on their list to make you feel the love on Valentine’s day!

“You Are the Best Thing” Ray LaMontagne

“Then” Brad Paisley

“More than This” Roxy Music

“God Only Knows” The Beach Boys (did you guys see them on the Grammys?!?!)

“You’re My Home” Billy Joel

“First Day of My Life” Bright Eyes

“The Way I Am” Ingrid Michaelson

“You’re My Best Friend” Queen

What’s your favorite love song?  (”These Arms of Mine” by Otis Redding just came up on the My Deejay playlist…MAN, do I love this song!)

Congratulations Katie and Ryan

October 31st, 2011

Katie and Ryan were married on the VERY popular wedding date of 10/10/10, so they’ve been waiting for this blog post for a LONG time!

I absolutely LOVED this wedding — from the setting to the flowers to the band, it was absolutely PERFECT — they even ordered perfect fall weather for the day!

The ceremony and reception were held at Ryan’s parents’ GORGEOUS vacation home in Purcellville, Virginia.  This property was so beautiful and idyllic I wanted to ask his parents if I could have MY wedding there!  I mean, just look at that lake!!  And check out this picture from the ceremony.  How perfect is that?!

But let’s back up…to the day before the wedding!  Katie and her bridesmaids made their way over to Fields of Flowers, a local “Pick Your Own” farm in Purcellville.  The girls picked the flowers for the centerpieces and the bridesmaids bouquets, and the owners made Katie’s bouquet and the boutonnieres for the guys:

The morning of the wedding, Katie got ready at Ryan’s parents’ house, which is just as cute inside as it is out — I mean, check this out!!

I want that window in my house!!

Like many of our couples these days, Katie and Ryan decided on a “first look.”  We HIGHLY encourage that couples do this.  Not only does it make you more relaxed, it gives you more time after the ceremony either to spend together just the two of you, or to mingle with your guests.

Sooner than you knew it, it was time for the ceremony to start!  If you ever wonder if you’ll still be emotional walking down the aisle after having a first look, you need only take one look at Katie’s face here to know the answer is still YES!

I absolutely love the emotion on her face in this shot!  You’ll see later on that Katie’s face does NOT hide her emotions well — and on their wedding day, her emotion seemed to be mainly ELATION!!!

After the ceremony, Katie and Ryan went back upstairs for some alone time, while guests made their way to the back yard for cocktail hour:

Other than each other, there are three things that I think Katie and Ryan love the most.  They love them SO much that they made sure their wedding showcased all three.  The first is wine.  These two LOVE wine.  I mean…LOVE.  They were engaged at a winery in California, and at that winery, they purchased two magnums of wine to serve as their guest book — how cute is that!?

(Note the vase of corks used as decor…I have a feeling those were obtained the old fashioned way…by drinking!!  LOVE these guys!)

(p.s. signs tell people what to do!  If that sign hadn’t been there, people would have been like “wow, big bottles of wine…cool” and would have walked right past them!)

We had a few visitors at cocktail hour…Good thing they were dressed for the occasion:

Soon, I went and disturbed Katie and Ryan’s adorable ‘couple time’ and they came to the cocktail hour for their first dance:

Next was my favorite part of the wedding — and not just because we came up with the idea together ;)  And not just because I’m TOTALLY stealing it for my own wedding someday…but because it was AWESOME.  I know that receiving lines are “out” these days — in fact, in my 4+ years of being a wedding planner, I have NEVER had one!  So most people do “table visits” with their guests.  But Katie and Ryan wanted to spend as much time partying as possible (you’ll see why shortly…it has something to do with one of their ‘loves’), so we came up with this “pseudo-receiving line, but not a line…”  Yep, that’s what I’m calling it.

Because cocktail hour was in the back yard, and the tent for dinner and dancing was in the front yard, it was the PERFECT set up for this.  Katie and Ryan went to the front yard, where we had set up a table with the guests favors and escort cards:

Of COURSE the escort cards were wine themed — a waiters’ key (aka corkscrew) that I use on a regular basis now with a cork in it, holding the escort card.  Favor and escort card in one — LOVE!!  And, if you look closely, you’ll spy one of their other loves in the corner of the picnic table…wait, here it is closer…

(More details on that shortly…)

Katie and Ryan stood at the escort card table along with a server with a tray of champagne.  I was in the backyard, and would go around to small groups of people, and quietly ask them to make their way to the front yard for dinner.  Usually we’ll make either a bigger announcement, or we’ll go around to groups quickly, telling them all to go to the dinner area.  However, by doing this, Katie and Ryan could welcome small groups, spend a few minutes with them, and hand them a glass of champagne to celebrate with!

By doing this, guests aren’t stuck waiting in line, and Katie and Ryan didn’t have to rush through dinner to do table visits — it was PERFECT!!  Feel free to steal this idea…it’s okay ;)

Dinner tables were named after places near and dear to the couples hearts…

This table description, though, leads to the love I hinted at earlier…

Yep, Katie and Ryan are Skins fans.  In fact, they are SUCH huge Skins fans, that Ryans parents, as soon as they found out they were having the wedding at their house, planted burgundy and gold mums along the front sidewalk!  I mean, that is dedication!!!  (It helps that those colors are PERFECT for fall!)  They also bought more mums for the escort card table, which went great with the little signed helmets.

You can see more hints of their colors EVERYWHERE, from Katie’s purse:

To the flower in her hair…

to the M&M’s Ryan’s mom had specially made for the day!

However, and I don’t know what they were thinking when they planned the wedding on a Sunday in the fall, but the Redskins were PLAYING DURING THE WEDDING!  In fact, it was like pulling teeth to get people out of the house!

However, with a crowd of guests full of Skins fans, no one would miss any details of the game.  I saw eyes glued to iPhones and small TV’s throughout the cocktail hour.  Katie, being such a detailed bride, thought of everything, and we had an iPod ready and attached to the speaker system should the Redskins pull out a victory.  And, as if the perfect weather and the fact that they had just been married weren’t enough, the Redskins made Katie and Ryan’s day even MORE perfect by doing just that.

And with the announcement that the Skins had won, the speakers blared “Hail to the Redskins” at full volume, as the crowd cheered along!

After sitting down to a delicious family-style dinner provided by BasiKneads, everyone was really ready to party.  Luckily, Katie and Ryan’s third love, 80’s music, was represented in FULL force!

Guys, if you EVER need an 80’s band, THESE are the guys to book!  They’re based in Virginia Beach, but are MORE than happy to travel!  Their name?  Oh, of course it’s a perfect 80’s name…The Deloreans!

These guys were AMAZING!  Every last one of them had the PERFECT outfit on, their singing was awesome, and the crowd went CRAZY for them!  I loved them all, but my favorite might have been the male lead, who I swear was a dead ringer, both in looks and sound, to Billy Idol (swoon…)

I think Katie might have been swooning too…check her out here like she just got pulled up on stage, Courtney Cox style!

The guests, no matter how old or young, LOVED these guys — the dance floor was CRAZY packed all night!

Okay, the wedding planner was a little scared at this point that “Billy Idol” was going to come crashing to the ground…where is the nearest hospital to Purcellville anyway?!

Remember how I mentioned Katie’s expressions?  I would be remiss if I didn’t include a small montage…

Oh…did I forget to mention the cake?  Oh yeah, it was only made by one of the most famous, most awesome cake bakers around…Charm City Cakes. Not familiar with the name?  Um, hello?  How about Ace of Cakes?  Heard of that little show???  I thought one of my assistants was going to tackle me when the delivery van showed up to see the cake! 

So Katie and Ryan’s cake was, of course, wine themed.  It had wine labels all over the cake, from various wines they love and various wineries they’ve been to.  They even had a sign explaining what all the labels meant!

And on top of the cake were “Katie and Ryan” pouring a giant bottle of wine!

I was SO AFRAID of them cutting this cake!  Not just because it was so gorgeous, but I was afraid when they started cutting, the whole thing would topple over!!  Luckily, the Charm City Cakes crew had given me instructions, and Katie and Ryan did a great job!

There’s a reason these guys are famous.  Not only was the cake unbelievably intricate and gorgeous, it was freaking delicious!  It’s a year later, and I still think about that cake.  It was full of fresh fruit, and the cake was moist and delicious!  I wanted more.  Lots more.  Sadly, it was gobbled up so quickly.  I miss you, delicious cake…so does Katie…

I CAN NOT end this post without talking about Katie and Ryan’s incredible photographers.  This couple drove out from Indiana, with Janelle more than just a little bit pregnant, to photograph Katie and Ryan’s wedding.  Janelle went to college with Ryan (or they were in a travel program together?  It’s been a year, people, give me a break on the details…) and so she was the first person Ryan thought of to photograph the wedding, and I’m SO GLAD he did!  I know you’re in photo overload, but let me close with a few amazing portraits from Janelle and her adorable husband Shane, the duo behind HappiNest Photo!

And I’ll leave you with one last picture and say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KATIE AND RYAN!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations and Best Wishes for many more happy Redskins seasons together!

Blue Canary Classifieds

September 30th, 2011

I CAN NOT WAIT to show you guys pictures from Meghan and Stephen’s adorable wedding at my favorite venue, Glen Echo, but in the meantime, Meghan has some super cute stuff to sell from their super cute wedding!

12 ice blue 28″ paper parasols w/ wooden handles - $30 for set (http://www.lunabazaar.com/ice-blue-28-inch-rice-paper-parasol.aspx)

10 narrow black and white striped bench cushions (8′ long x 10.5″ wide) - $40 (would work well in a pew too, or repurposed as smaller cushions) (Boo, I’m so bummed I don’t have any pictures of these — they are SO CUTE!  And they fit perfectly on Glen Echo’s benches, if you’re getting married there!)

15 narrow black and white striped table runners (12′ x 15″ wide) - $50

7 pink plywood hearts (for bridesmaids to stand on during outdoor ceremony) + one large double-heart for bride+groom - $40 for all (You guys, this was the MOST AWESOME idea I’ve seen in a while!!!  SO clever to keep your girls heels from sinking into the ground!!!)

~30 to 40 small milk glass vases (a lot of hobnail) w/ some cute glass ones thrown in - $30 for the lot

(All photos from Ashlee at Documentary Associates)

In a week or so, Meghan will have even more stuff, including their AMAZING photo booth set up that was a family affair to build, as well as a lot more milk glass!  Stay tuned for more details!

Sneak Peek: Jon and Lisa

September 29th, 2011

I absolutely CAN NOT wait to get pictures back from Jon and Lisa’s amazing photographer, Justine Ungaro.  But until then, I had to let you know what you were in for with this insanely GORGEOUS wedding!!!

(All pictures in this post taken by guests)

Jon and Lisa were married at Kirkland Manor in Easton, MD.  I won’t give too much away, since Justine’s photos are amazing, but I just wanted to show a few snippets of the gorgeous day!

Gorgeous bouquet from Ultra violet Flowers in Georgetown (Gorgeous bride from the people standing beside her ;)

Absolutely Perfect might be my new favorite caterer — from their staff to the food to the gorgeous displays, these guys were AMAZING!

(Yes, it was as good as it looks!!)

And here’s their staff bringing drinks and snacks to the bride and groom while they were taking pictures — I LOVE it when caterers do this, it’s such a nice touch, especially when it’s hot!

I swear, they aren’t paying me, but Absolutely Perfect did the INSANELY DELICIOUS cake too!  Not only that, but the cake was EXACTLY as the bride and I had described it to Leslye the owner — people were ooing and aahing at it as it was brought out, it was so gorgeous!!

Lisa’s Maid of honor made these cute signs for the buffet…I’m drooling again over the food, can you tell?!

Lisa’s brother owns Danny Macaroons in New York (they deliver!!)  I know French Macarons are the big thing, but seriously, guys…you’re missing out.  Forget what you think you know about Macaroons, these are AMAZING.  I have two words for you.  Salted.  Caramel.  Oh yeah, that’s right.  Needless to say, Lisa knew what her favors would be pretty early on :)

The awesome guys at A List Party Rentals did an amazing job on the tent, but they also worked for HOURS hanging the lanterns from the trees for the cocktail hour area!  (Hopefully Justine has a picture of how gorgeous these looked once it got dark!)

The people at this wedding were so gorgeous, I just wanted to show you two quick shots of the bridesmaids and groomsmen…STUNNING!

The guests really loved the thumbprint wedding tree, and it looked so pretty!

I’ll have lots more pictures later, but I had to close with the amazing sunset off of the Miles River!

Congratulations, Jon and Lisa!  Can’t wait to get your pictures back!!!

Congratulations Natalie and Adam!

July 5th, 2011

I LOVE the Airle Center! My best friend got married here a few years ago, and it holds a special place in my heart.  So of COURSE I had to work with Natalie and Adam on their spring wedding at one of my favorite venues!

(All photographs taken by The Philip Kent Studio)

Natalie and her bridesmaids started the morning by getting ready in the bridal room of the Airlie House.  Tracie Rosales did a gorgeous job with the girls’ makeup, and their hair was done by a hair stylist friend of the bride.  Philip Kent arrived and quickly began photographing Natalie’s GORGEOUS dress:

Then he moved on to shots of the beautiful red-headed bride :)

The flowers were provided by Michael’s Flowers in Woodbridge.

Natalie’s father came in and put her grandmother’s jewelry on her, which was a sweet touch.

We attached a charm of Natalie’s grandfather, who had passed away, to her bouquet.

Then it was out to the Butterfly Garden for Natalie and Adam’s first look!

Airlie has SO many gorgeous locations to take pictures in!  We moved over to the little brook for bridal party photos

And then over to their back staircase for family photos and a few more shots of the bride and groom:

Then it was time for the ceremony, which was held in the formal garden.  The day was PERFECT for a garden ceremony!

Adam’s father has a GORGEOUS classic car (I’m sorry…I should totally know what KIND of classic car, but I just know that it’s old and amazing.  I’m such a girl).

Natalie wanted to get a picture in the back window, because her grandparents had one just like it in a car just like Adam’s dad’s — so cute!!

I mean, look at this awesome car!!!

Right at the entrance to Airlie is a BEAUTIFUL waterfall, so they took the car out there to get a few more photos during cocktail hour.

Closer look at the waterfall…

Adam and his dad share their love of cars, so Natalie wanted to be sure to get a shot of the two of them together…

While the newlyweds were off gallavanting in their classic car, the guests were enjoying cocktail hour, which featured music from a group called Music by Anthem, who performed the ceremony music as well.

OMG, these bacon wrapped scallops with a maple glaze were SO GOOD!

(Oh, is there fruit there too?  I hadn’t noticed…mmm…bacon…)

Favors and escort cards were combined into these cute photo albums

And Adam’s mom also had traditional Jordan almonds for each place setting

The reception was held in Airlie’s pavilion, a beautiful, round, open air space that is perfect for dinner and dancing.

The party really got started when Back to Zero took the stage!

It didn’t matter if the guests were young…

Or young at heart…

But these guys kept the dance floor packed!

The little ones definitely reappeared for the cake cutting — in fact, they had two cakes to choose from!

Actually, there were three cakes — Natalie and Adam are SO sweet that they had their cake baker, Wanda’s Cakes, make a small, gluten free cake for those with allergies.  How nice is that?!

I LOVED the bride’s cake, but the groom’s cake was awesome too!  It had all of Adam’s interests, from drumming to construction to hiking, all on one cake!

I just had to include another photo of this little guy, because he was too freaking cute!  (Also, I have no idea where his shoes went, which just makes it funnier)

Congratulations, Natalie and Adam!  I hope you’re enjoying life in West Virginia!!!

Congratulations, New York!

June 30th, 2011

Wish Special Events is now Blue Canary Events!

June 27th, 2011

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Blue_Canary_Events_Round

We have some big news!

Wish Special Events is excited to announce its new name: Blue Canary Events. Over the past year we have expanded our team to include wedding planners not only in the Washington DC metro area, but also in Baltimore, New York City, Los Angeles and the San Francisco bay area. While our website and blog will be moving, the people that make up our company aren’t going anywhere.

Blue Canary Events

Our planners are now in the following spots:

  • Washington, DC
  • Arlington, VA
  • Fairfax, VA
  • Alexandria, VA
  • Leesburg, VA
  • Baltimore, MD
  • Brooklyn, NY
  • West Los Angeles, CA
  • Mountain View, CA

If you’re already a client of Wish or Blue Canary, then you know that our contract and your planner are staying the same. For any engaged folks who are considering hiring Wish, please check us out on the new Blue Canary Events website. You’ll find that our packages and pricing are all the same. Be sure you read our awesome reviews on WeddingWire.com.

For wedding professionals in DC, Baltimore, NYC, LA, and San Francisco, we have a wonderful team of planners who are looking forward to meeting and working with you. Please email us some information about your business.

So - what are you waiting for? Check out our new website! We even have a new blog post up on the blog today.

Laura

Sneak Peak: Cristal and Orialys

June 25th, 2011

I. LOVE. THESE. WOMEN.  LOVE them.  They are SO much fun, and I’ve been searching for flights to Miami to go visit them for weeks now!

Cristal and Orialys were married on an INSANELY gorgeous day in April at Tudor Place in Georgetown, followed by a trolley tour of DC, compliments of Old Town Trolley.  They followed it up with a delicious cocktail party and dinner at Art and Soul, and then a full on Miami dance party in the ballroom at the Liaison Capitol Hill.

I’ll have pictures to share of their beautiful wedding in a few weeks, but in the meantime, check out this STUNNING trailer of their wedding video, shot by Cinema Cake.  These guys were AWESOME to work with, and I can’t wait to work with them again, especially now that I’ve seen just a hint of their work!! (DC and New York Couples — they’re based in Philly, but happily travel!)

The Royal Wedding

April 29th, 2011

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All I have to say is, in the words of Entertainment Weekly’s Kristen Baldwin:

“Most perfect wedding dress ever.”

Kate, you are flawless.

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Congratulations, Amanda & Jeffrey!

April 27th, 2011

I had the distinct pleasure of working with Amanda and Jeffrey a few weeks ago.  These two are among the sweetest couples I’ve ever come across!  After meeting them, I immediately felt like one of their family.  I could just feel the love radiating between them.  It’s weddings like this one that make me happy to be a planner.

They chose the Montauk Club in Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY for their big day.  The club has two levels with two large rooms, which made it easy to host an indoor ceremony then continue dinner and dancing downstairs.  Luckily everything was indoors because it POURED that day!

These beautiful images were shot by the very talented wedding photographer, Kristina Hill.

Amanda’s dress hangs in the window at the Montauk Club.  For those of you who know Park Slope, that’s 8th Avenue out the window.

Sadly, Amanda’s parents are no longer with us.  I was so impressed with Amanda’s courage and strength through the planning process and wedding day.  Here’s her bouquet, lovingly wrapped with her mom’s brooch and lace from her wedding dress:

The gorgeous bride.  This girl was STUNNING!  Okay, she had a teensy bit of help from Face Time Beauty.  Just a teensy bit, though.

It’s a little hard to see, but there’s a pretty white tulle flower in her hair.  It looks like part of the veil in the photo.  After we removed the veil we kept the barrette in place.  It was a nice ‘bride’ touch for the reception that didn’t involve Swarovski crystals or plastic pearls.

Also of note is the bouquet!  Denise at Denise Fasanello Floral Design provided us with some of the prettiest floral arrangements I’ve seen yet.  They were just the right thing for a springtime Brooklyn wedding.

The programs from Lion in the Sun, another Park Slope vendor, featured the Brooklyn Bridge on the cover:

Amanda made sure to add some little touches for her family.  This sign and photo banner was the perfect way to include them in the ceremony:

The bride is personal friends with the band Pearl and the Beard!  They’re kind of a big deal.  They performed a fantastic rendition of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ song, Home, during the ceremony.  Really, it was fantastic:

Jeffrey, the handsome groom, anxiously awaiting his bride:

And he was not disappointed!  Amanda’s lovely procession:

After the ceremony, they braved a quick break in the rain and got some photos on the steps of the Montauk Club:

Meanwhile inside, the cute details were all ready for a party:

Props from Etsy.com for their photobooth:

The dessert bar was one of the more popular features of the reception.  All the sweets were from Baked, a wonderful Brooklyn bakery.  They had fudge brownies, peanut butter bars, pecan pie bars, assorted cupcakes, a mini wedding cake, and much more.  This cute sign was the finishing touch:

Cupcakes from Baked.  Aren’t those little heart cutouts in the cupcakes adorable?  Amanda made those herself.  She also made sure to put some family photos on the dessert table:

Everybody loves Runts, right?  Runts are better with diamonds, I think.

They danced and danced and danced.  Mandy from DJ Gaza kept the dance floor hopping the whole night.

And everyone LOVED the photobooth from the aptly named We Love Photobooths:

And they danced and danced some more…

Some cute snaps from the photobooth.  Really, this couple was adorable:

A special thanks to photographer Kristina Hill, who had these photos on her blog the SAME WEEKEND as the wedding.  Major props for that!

Congratulations again, Amanda & Jeffrey!  I’m so thrilled for you both and was honored to be a part of it all.

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