We kicked off wedding season this year with a gorgeous multicultural wedding in Arlington. Chris and Marie were married on what started off as a cloudy day, but brightened up in time for group pictures outside, taken by the super fun Daniel McGarrity.

Marie had her hair and makeup done in the house she grew up in. Cori Campbell came up HUGE in the hair department, by doing Marie’s trial the weekend before, and traveling all the way from West Virginia to be in Potomac by 8:00 in the morning! Makeup was done for the girls by the AMAZING Lori Nansi, who then came to the hotel later for the reception to refresh Marie’s makeup and give her a “nighttime” look — what service!

After a traditional Indian ceremony at the bride’s parents’ house, the bridal party and family made their way to Arlington to the beautiful Cathedral of St. Thomas More

Marie’s bridal party had beautiful teal lenghas:

All of the flowers were provided by Jen and Nate’s florist, Maryam Flowers. We LOVE Maryam, she is SO amazing!

I’m seeing more and more cascade bouquets these days. Have you noticed that?

After the ceremony and family photos at the church, the bridal party, transported by the wonderful drivers at Limos, Inc. (Call Elissa there…she’s AWESOME!), headed off to the Library of Congress with Daniel and Neil from Blue Sky Films, one of our favorite videographers. (Here he is in action with his assistant later in the evening…)

I LOVED the pictures from the Library — what a great idea for a photo location, Daniel! (Caution…slight photo overload ahead

After the visit to the Library of Congress, the bridal party headed to the Sheraton National for the reception. Their rooftop ballroom has a great view of the city, especially of the Pentagon and the Air Force Memorial.

(This picture is from the hotel’s web site, just so you can see the view!)

When she arrived at the hotel, Marie made her first costume change of the evening, from her white wedding dress to her traditional sari, which was a gift to her from Chris.

She wore this during the first dance and toasts, but, seeing as how she had trouble moving in it, she soon switched to her lengha.

Marie’s cousin, who is a priest at the Vatican, was supposed to perform the ceremony, but due to the volcanoes earlier that month in Iceland, he wasn’t able to get a flight…or so Chris and Marie thought! Her cousin was able to get there in time for the reception — and he brought with him a blessing from the Pope! WOW!

Chris and Marie had a DELICIOUS cake from one of my absolute favorite bakeries (which is dangerously close to my house) Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe

And, of course at the reception, we had more gorgeous flowers from Maryam! (These pictures are from me, not Daniel)

Thanks to all of the wonderful vendors who made this day great!

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Hey, gang! I’ll have some AMAZING pro photos taken by Michelle Lindsay for you soon from Diane and Allen’s gorgeous wedding at the Clarendon Ballroom, but to tide you over, I have some pictures their guests took and posted to a web site Diane and Allen set up to see the pics! I LOVE that so many couples are doing this — it’s SO much better than the disposable cameras on the tables, since everyone’s cameras are digital now, and you get to see so many candid shots you might have missed!

First up are some shots of the GORGEOUS flowers provided by Yellow Door Floral Design:

I loved the girls bouquets…I can’t wait to post some close ups of them!

The kids in this wedding (an adorable set of triplets!) were AWESOME!

I need to remember to ask Sandra at the Clarendon Ballroom who did this GORGEOUS cake! The Clarendon Ballroom does in house catering, but outsources its cakes. SO pretty!

I LOVE an involved groom, and Allen was a great one! He designed a lot of the couple’s stationery items, including their programs and escort cards (check out the cute icons for dinner choices on the escort cards

Allen also purchased some great props for their photo booth — I can’t wait to see more pictures from this!

Stay tuned for pro pics in the next few weeks!

Every so often us wedding planners get spoiled.  Many of the parties and events we attend are purely functional to network with other industry leaders and to promote our business.  Sometimes, though, we are treated to something wonderful without all that “work” nonsense!

Last week we had the fantastic opportunity to join Main Event Caterers for a private luncheon tasting in their showroom.  What a phenomenal culinary event it was.  They presented it like they would for a bridal tasting so we really got to see and feel how our clients are treated.

Here is our luncheon table in the showroom:

They also set smaller tables in the showroom to give clients ideas on new colors and trends.  You may remember these from the last time we visited Main Event.  Here are two that Brian put together:

I’m so in love with this plum chivari chair cushion:

As we sat down for lunch my first exclamation was, “oh!  we have names!”  Everyone thought this was hilarious as I’m known for my ditzy comments.  I really meant that each menu was customized with our names, indicating where we should sit.  Here’s my menu:

First we started off with a sampling plate of hors d’oeuvres.  They presented each plate in a different way!  Each person received the same five appetizers.  It was a nice treat to see the chef’s creativity.  Here’s all the plates:

From the top we have a Portuguese Poached Pears & Brie de Meaux (eveloped in phyllo), then to the right is a Thai Spiced Chicken Salad (gathered in a petite crepe rucksack chive drawstring), below that a Isola di Capri (bocconcini with tiny yellow & red tomatoes, basil, & vintage balsamic), then a Jumbo lump Petite Crab cake (with eastern shore remoulade), and finally a Forest Foraged Mushroom & Camembert buttery tartlet.  MMM!

All of these amazing serving pieces are from our buddies at Party Rental Ltd:

Another fun tidbit!  All the garnish they use on their plates is 100% edible:

This one was set with a large cheese crisp embedded with peppercorns.  We couldn’t resist breaking it up and eating almost the whole thing.  Yum-o:

Next was the soup course.  Yes, a soup course after all those hor d’oeuvres!  This was a sampling of mini soups, including a butternut squash bisque with chestnuts, a very wild musroom soup, and a oyster creme with thyme and roquefort grissini:

On to the entrees!  We got entrees (PLURAL) after all that food.  First up was this beautiful Miro Miso Cured Monk Fish with carrot ginger broth, baby bok choi, and purple potatoes.  Anyone will tell you that I’m not really a seafood fan but this was really light and not ‘fishy’ at all:

Next we enjoyed a beautiful chicken dish.  They described this one as a Goat’s Cheese & Mushroom Plumped Breast of Chicken with glazed turned vegetables & griddled polenta cake.  What a great combination:

Our final entree was a unique spin on a beef.  Most weddings turn to the traditional filet mignon.  Here we were presented with a Braised Boneless Beef Rib with a syrah reduction, cauliflower puree, and tobacco fried onions (named for the spice in the batter):

If that weren’t enough, we were then invited to their wine room for dessert and coffee!  These guys are serious about dessert.  Check out this beautiful display:

Main Event is known for their signature Deep Dark Chocolate Truffles.  You can see those in the bowl in the center of the lower tray.  These little guys are so good they even come with their own warning!  The menu says “caution: may elicit an elation of joy.”  They sure were.  One of my favorites was the Truffle Mousse Cake with Grand Marnier Swirl:

Here’s a small portion of the Main Event crew.  From the left we have VP Nancy, General Manager Cheryl, Creative Director Brian, and Director of Sales Renee:

We really enjoyed our afternoon with Main Event Caterers and hope you’ll take a moment to consider them for your event!  They are a great value for the quality they produce and the people are just delightful to work with.  We hope to see them at more weddings very soon.