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Chagrin Valley Hunt Club Wedding from Jess + Nate Studios & Kirkbrides

February 23rd. 2012 by Mallory | 8 comments

I might have gone a little image crazy with this wedding – but as soon as you lay eyes on the photos from Jess + Nate Studios, you’ll understand. The wedding, planned & designed by the bride, her mother, and Kirkbrides, is absolute perfection. One for the books. Top of our favorite weddings list. Click here to see exactly what I mean!

Click here for the video from Z Media!

Patrick and I both attended Loyola University where we meet at the college gym. I was a freshman and he was a sophomore, I was attempting to use the fly machine (improperly according to Patrick) so he was determined to teach me proper fly machine form. I was pretty embarrassed, so needless to say that was a brief encounter. Throughout college Patrick would talk to his roommates and refer to me as the “the fly machine girl”. I still blush whenever he brings up the story.

After a year of dating I moved from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. for graduate school. The following year Patrick made the trek to D.C. as well. Three years to the week we started dating Patrick proposed!

Patrick proposed by giving me a cubed notebook with a handwritten timeline of “us” as a gift for our third anniversary of dating. I flipped through the pages, each containing notes of little events and important dates. As I turned to the last page there was an adorably gouged out square containing a beautiful engagement ring. He dropped to one knee and asked me to marry him.

My family belongs to The Chagrin Valley Hunt Club and my horses have called it home for many years. I have ridden and shown horses in the hunter ring for 20 years, and it only seemed natural to have an equestrian inspired garden wedding at The Hunt Club. I knew that the Hunt Club’s charm and beautiful setting would provide the perfect backdrop for a garden wedding.

My mother and I love design so we had a very specific idea of what we wanted- an elegant shabby chic garden wedding with a splash of equestrian. We engaged the services of Valarie Kirkbride, as our wedding planner and my mother’s good friend, the very talented florist Michael Day to help us create the perfect wedding. I have always loved blue hydrangeas, especially the colors they turn in late summer early fall. They are such a whimsical and happy flower, perfect for a wedding. We decided to use the beautiful range of blues that the hydrangeas offer as our color pallet with accents of silver and white.

Patrick and I wanted our wedding to be personal and for the officiate to have a close relationship with each of us. We asked a very close family friend who has been like an uncle to me and is someone Patrick has grown close to over the years to preform our ceremony. Patrick and I recited an 850-year-old love poem by Frau Ava as our vows.

One of my favorite memories came not from the wedding, but after it was all said and done. After the last of the guests had left, Patrick and I made our way to the cottage where we were staying. We passed through the tent and looked up at the stars. We looked at the flowers, the lights, the tables and the chairs and saw how beautiful everything had turned out. After all the hustle and bustle of the day was over, this was the first time that we were alone as husband and wife. It gave us a moment to reflect on all the people who had made this day so special.

Photography: Jess + Nate Studios / Cinematography: Z Media / Flowers: Flowerville / Event Design: Flowerville  & Kirkbrides / Event Planning: Kirkbrides / Ceremony Location: Chagrin Valley Hunt Club / Reception Location: Chagrin Valley Hunt Club / Invitations: Chocolate Butterbean / Desserts and Cake: Flour Girl/Luna Bakery Cafe

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Washington D.C. Ballroom Wedding from Scobey Photography

February 22nd. 2012 by Mallory | 3 comments

We all have that one thing that doesn’t go completely as planned, but snow and a strapless dress? That could turn those happy smiles upside down quickly. Luckily, this couple had buckets full of love AND the right team to have a day of bliss that could not have been more gorgeous if it were 70 degrees and sunny. Scobey Photography filled a gallery with images to swoon over all day, so please do oblige yourself – you won’t be disappointed!

A year of planning for a single day…what I learned…nothing goes as planned, but it’s completely worth it. To provide some context, my now wife was never one to imagine her dream wedding and me, I was still reeling from the fact that she said yes. Luckily, an amazing wedding planner crossed our path. Why was our planner amazing? He had connections with vendors, was extremely responsive to my lengthy groomzilla emails, reviewed all contracts, and took care of every detail on the day of the wedding. He also asked us what we wanted and transformed our vague ideas into pure gold. Now if nothing went as planned, why a wedding planner? Because he shielded us from everything that did go wrong to include having to move the wedding indoors due to snow…in OCTOBER!

A few other things we learned through this process – you don’t have to follow every tradition (we nixed the bouquet and garter toss for more dancing). We focused our funds on the things that were important to us (wife – flowers, me – open bar, us – DJ). The things that seemed frustrating at the time – kids running around like wild banshees on the dance floor throwing flowers – were some of our most favorite moments. Don’t skimp on photographers – great ones like ours will capture the true essence of the day and memories for a lifetime. And finally, on the big day…remember that it’s about the two of you, so breathe, relax, and let it all soak in (the planned and unplanned), because no matter what happens, the day will be perfect.

Photographer: Scobey Photography / Planner: William Grace / Ceremony & Reception Location: Omni Shoreham D.C. / Bride’s Hair: Devon Baltimore / Bride’s Makeup: Ana Merces / Dress: Rivini / Bride’s Shoes: Stuart Weitzman / Groom’s Suit: Hugo Boss / Florist: Da Vinci Florist / Caterer: Omni Shoreham / Cake Designer: Fancy Cakes by Leslie / DJ: Mark Yuen

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Washington D.C. Wedding from Pineapple Productions + Rodney Bailey

February 21st. 2012 by Mallory | 12 comments

When this couple couldn’t decide whether to go for the grandeur of Washington D.C. or the serenity of Maryland for their nuptials, they did what any normal bride and groom would do – and went for both. They were married at a romantic Maryland park, but not before a few phenom photo ops at the U.S. Capitol. To execute this beyond amazing wedding, the smart twosome hired some of the best in the business – from Pineapple Productions and Rodney Bailey to Holly Heider Chapple and Catering by Windows among other A-listers. Click here for the gallery!

When Ben and I first started considering wedding venues, we couldn’t decide whether we wanted to have our wedding in a downtown D.C. location where we could enjoy views of the city and its monuments, or whether we preferred a more quiet, rural setting with space to enjoy the outdoors. Although we did ultimately choose a venue on a forty-acre nature preserve in the Maryland suburbs, we were able to sneak in a little time at an unmistakably “D.C.” spot.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to stop by the U.S. Capitol (where my dad has worked for over 30 years) for a few pictures before heading to our venue. We almost decided to forgo the photo op during the planning stages because access to the Capitol is extremely limited for professional photographers, not to mention that the building is open to the public on Saturdays so we knew we’d have crowds to contend with. We are SO glad we made the trip! As it turned out, the tourists were really receptive to us – we were even greeted by applause when we walked into the jam-packed Rotunda! The building itself is magnificent and made for such spectacular pictures both inside and out! Also, we loved the contrast of starting the day at such an iconic D.C. location, since the rest of our day was spent at our far more rural venue.

Ben and I didn’t want to tie our wedding to one specific theme, but we were determined to make it feel personal and unique to us. He proposed on our six-year anniversary with my grandmother’s diamond ring, and from that moment I knew I wanted our wedding to feel intimate and family-oriented. From having my 101-year-old grandfather (a World War II veteran) walk me down the aisle with my dad, to asking our dear friend to officiate a ceremony filled with jokes and personal stories, to a reception complete with lawn games including a cornhole set handmade by Ben and his father and hand painted by me, we made sure to sprinkle the whole day with personal touches. The more details I selected and created myself, the more special the entire process felt to me. I scoured Etsy for unique items like the handcrafted bird cage for cards, the cake toppers shaped like birds as a tribute to our venue at the Audubon Naturalist Society, and the tiny logs and stationery that I combined to mimic a mini escort card forest. I picked up the miniature bird houses and wooden numbers at a craft store, and stained and painted them to turn them into table numbers. Although my grandmother passed away years ago, I pinned the heart necklace my grandfather had given her to my bouquet as my “something borrowed.”

We wanted the day to feel relaxed, so we extended the cocktail hour to an hour and a half and created an outdoor seating area so our guests could enjoy the beautiful setting. We wanted the vibe to be upbeat and energetic, so we chose “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles as our recessional and “If It’s Love” by Train as our first dance song. And we wanted to make sure our guests were taken care of from beginning to end, with everything from flip flops to avoid achy feet to buses to and from the hotels provided by Ben’s childhood camp. Our wedding turned out better than I could have ever imagined. But it wasn’t just the wedding day that stands out to me, as special as it truly was. We spent so many hours with our friends and families as we worked to put the various pieces together, bonding over wood glue and laughing during dance lessons. Now, as I think about our wedding, the journey to get there was an inseparable part of what made the whole thing so perfect.

Venue: U.S. Capitol + Woodend Sanctuary / Event Planner: Arney Walker, Pineapple Productions / Caterer: Catering By Windows / Photographer: Photos by RodneyBailey.com / Floral Design: Holly Heider Chapple Flowers / Outdoor Furniture: Capital Decor / Invitations: Jessica Stalnaker / Reception Entertainment: DJ Dan Goldman / Ceremony Music: Cherry Blossom String Quartet / Photobooth: Dan Goldman, Bialek’s

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