Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Winter Wedding Drinks {Festive Signature Cocktails}

As the weather gets chillier and holiday decorations are popping up all over the place, my mind turns to fun holiday drinks.  If you're planning a wintertime wedding, consider one of these for your signature drink.  If you're not, consider whipping up a batch of these for a holiday party or just for fun (if you drink a whole batch yourself, you will have fun)!


The Candy Cane

2 1-2 oz Van Gogh Blue vodka
1 oz White crème de menthe
1/2 oz Peppermint schnapps
Cream
Splash of Grenadine
Peppermint candy for garnish

Directions:
Add a dash of grenadine into the bottom of a chilled martini glass and set aside. Pour the rest of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into the glass with grenadine to create a “swirl” effect. Garnish with peppermint candy.



Eggnog Martini

2 1-2 oz Eggnog
1 oz Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka
¾ oz Amaretto

Directions:
Combine ingredients in shaker and shake over ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Dust with freshly grated nutmeg or cinnamon.

Cheers!

Monday, November 29, 2010

We are Family! {Jaime and Matt}


Ok, I'm not family with Jaime and Matt, but I feel like it sometimes!  On October 9th, Jaime and Matt got married in Jaime's parents' home in Bethesda, MD.  Surrounded by close family and friends, the couple had a celebration that screamed of their style and taste!



True foodies, in the most serious sense of the word, Jaime and Matt spend their free time together dining at the best restaurants in the MD, DC and VA area.  Jaime, a lawyer and Matt, a manager at the nationally recognized Wine Market in Baltimore, gave me an assignment I had never tackled before.

I do weddings to fit bride and groom's styles all the time.  But this was a new adventure.  Picture that commercial where the woman brings an architect a sink faucet by Kohler and asks him to design a house around it.




This beet risotto was amazing!


One of the couple's favorite restaurants is Komi in DC.  As even their caterer, Design Cuisine, found out, the wait for a reservation in the handful-of-tables sized restaurant is several weeks, easy.  So of course, we, they, I was inspired to give their guests the same type of experience.

Ingredient 1- VERY generous and understanding parents.

So the idea developed to create a restaurant in the basement of the bride's parents' home.  While I let the family manage the guest list, I started thinking decor.  The fabulous team at Capital Decor and Events draped the basement walls with sheer fabric, added a shaded chandelier, right off their office ceiling, over an existing wet bar, and fashioned benches and chairs into booths around the perimeter of the room with a few free standing tables.  Digital Lightning uplit the space with a romantic candle lit look as well as added party lights upstairs on the dance floor.



This handsome group really IS the family siblings: Lauren, Blake and Jacqueline

So the generous and understanding parents, here's where they came in.

                                                            
             Parents of the bride

This was unlike so many of the private residence events I do where we tent the backyard and everything takes place outside.  We were invading their house, literally.  We had moving crews come in and take furniture away before any set up could begin.  We cleared out the basement, of course, as well as the dining room and living room, which served as the ceremony and reception spaces.




The intimate fete of just over 100 guests was exactly what the couple envisioned.  


Kendall of Kendall's cakes customized this amazing, homemade goodness of a spice cake.  



Cute pre-ceremony dress Jaime sported during cocktails out back on the deck as guests arrived.


Burger cookies, mmmmmmm.
Other participation vendors:
Fabulous Jenni Green at Studio Diana
Entertainment by Bialek's Music
Make up by Pattie Martin
Hair by Remona

I Love it!

Sara

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Harvest Escort Cards {Ceci Style}


Love the idea of using seed packets for escort cards!  Check out this fun harvest wedding from CeciStyle.  Love her creativity (and escort cards that do double duty)!  And I love that the menu cards carry through the harvest/seed packet theme, as well.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Adele Wechsler Trunk Show {Hitched Salon}


 We're so excited to share the news of the Adele Wechsler trunk show at the always fabulous Hitched Salon.  We love all things "green" and it's easy to love Adele's gorgeous eco-friendly gowns!



Adele Wechsler's collection is receiving a ton of hype these days, as her Eco Couture gowns are so well received by brides trying to have the most green/organic wedding possible. Made from organic, vegetable dyed hemp/silk fabric and produced using fair trade labor, these are dresses that brides can truly feel good about purchasing and wearing on the big day. They're lightweight, ethereal, and perfect for the DC bride who is about more than just fuss and frills!

Adele Wechsler herself will be attending the event and Hitched will be offering lots of special incentives-- including 10% off of gowns, custom measurements, and more! The trunk show is going to span a whole week (November 27th-December 4th), with Adele attending on Saturday, December 4th, and appointments can be made by calling [202.333.6162] or emailing appointments@hitchedsalon.com.

Don't miss this amazing event!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Harvest Inspiration


A big shout-out to our dear friend and former colleague, Anne Book, for sending this fun photo that we like to think is an Engaging Affairs inspired tablescape!  Be sure to check out Anne's fabulous lifestyle blog: www.signaturestyleblog.com.  She is one talented (and friggin' hilarious) woman!

Friday, November 19, 2010

New blog crush: United With Love

Happy Friday, everyone! As you can imagine, we do a lot of wedding-related searches on the Internet. (Reason #483 I love my job: browsing cake galleries on Martha Stewart Weddings and The Knot counts aslegitimate work!) And as you can tell from our blog roll, there are a lot great sites out there that we read every day.


Well now there's a new favorite on the list: the newly launched DC-area blog United With Love. We love the mixture of real weddings and local features combined with practical advice, inside scoops and total eye candy. It's clear that the editors, Nole and Julianne really know their stuff, and after creating their own successful wedding-related businesses, we're excited they've entered the DC blog scene. Welcome to the (virtual) neighborhood, girls!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Night at the Museum {Amanda and Mike}


Amanda and Mike truly had a perfect day: gorgeous weather, a breathtaking setting and a great party!


This was a quintessential Washington wedding complete with fun portraits at the monuments, a museum setting and the DC skyline adorning everything from the menu cards to the escort cards.




The romantic ceremony featured a lovely chuppah and a string ensemble from MSE Productions for the blending of the couple's Jewish and Christian heritages.

I love the National Museum of Women in the Arts and Nick Perez of Multiflor ensured that it looked stunning.   Nick's work always blows us away and we especially love when he gets to flex his creative muscles.  John Farr Lighting provided the lighting to give us the perfect ambiance.



Joel from Occasions provided the delicious food including a sumptuous dessert buffet (serious yum!) and flawless service.  Occasions always rocks it!

Kendall's Cakes created a gorgeous and scrumptious cake.  Her carrot cake is so addictive but my favorite flavor may be the lemon curd.  So hard to decide!

Guests packed the dance floor thanks to the fabulous band Round Midnight.

Special thanks to Linda from Linder and Associates for her always amazing transportation, Gustavo Mottola for beautiful makeup and Susie McNair for perfect hair, Fotobriceno for sharing the lovely photos, and my phenomenal staff.


Congratulations Amanda and Mike!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A Home Town Wedding {Cori and Rob}



As the weather turns cold, I've been thinking back about the fantastic spring and summer weddings I have had this year and the beautiful couples each was celebrating.  Today, I bring you Cori and Rob's May wedding.  The couple who lives in New York City came back to get married in the brides home town of Rockville at her family's synagogue.


The fabulous Kim and Giselle were on hand at Cori's parent's home for hair and make up that morning.


I've been so blessed by the weather.  Well, my clients have I should say.  A major concern for all of us was the potential for soggy ground.  But, we lucked out and had an amazing outdoor ceremony.



Cori was classic bride as her parents prepared to walk her down the aisle.



One of my favorites, the Fabulous Fantoms, kept this crowd going all night.





The always fun Greg Gibson was on hand to capture all the fun and laughter.




Catering By Design Cuisine

Thank you Cori and Rob for making me a part of your big day!

Sara