Thursday, October 15, 2009

An Opulant Affair at the Omni Shoreham


It is such a pleasure to be asked back to assist with a sibling's wedding. About half way into the planning, Aisha Parker, sister of my former bride Shani Parker, realized how overwhelming planning her wedding could be on her own. Fabulous Aunt Rita was still in the picture but helping Aisha plan from the west coast didn't allow for all the hands-on planning necessary. So, lucky me, I got the call once again to work with this wonderful family.


Aisha and Alex have such a great story. While planning her sister's wedding two years earlier, Aisha was challenged to find a man and coaxed into joining match.com. At the same time, Alex was getting ready to end his subscription to the service. Just the day before, he saw Aisha appear and he quickly sent her an e mail. He was about to sign off, so he sent her his email address so they could continue talking. A few months later, she agreed to meet him and the rest was history! And, my favorite part, he proposed in her favorite place, Disney World, in front of Cinderella's Castle. Now that is a Prince Charming!




It's so important that not only each bride has a day fit for her own style, but certainly sisters have days that are different from each other. Aisha and Alex chose the beautiful, historic Omni Shoreham Hotel for it's lush garden space in DC. With an August wedding pending, I was keeping my fingers crossed for good weather.

It could have been worse! The bride stunned in Ulla Maija purchased at Hitched Bridal Salon. The day was humid, but the bride, groom and their guests endured the heat and thankfully were given a bit of shade for the outdoor ceremony. The temperature cooled a bit by cocktail hour as guests mingled around the patio and backyard grounds of the hotel.


As I always do, I brought the bride and groom into the ballroom before the rest of the guests and the tears came rolling. We had transformed the Empire Ballroom into an Old World Hollywood space, complete with VIP bar area, built-in staircase and custom bar with hanging chandeliers. The colors were warm and romantic and the flowers were more lush than an overflowing flower market. It was a scene right out of a movie that could have only been created by the fantastic team at Capital Decor and Events. Thank you to Jeffrey, Kelly, Patrick and their fabulous staff.


Guests were entertained by DJ Aaron Couch from Bialek's Music and the day was captured by Julie at Blue Sky Films and Michael Bonfigli Photography. We also cannot leave out Digital Lightning for helping to create the mood in our reception.



Sara