1. WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 2016WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 201668 69
Everlookatanamazing
wedding photo on
Pinterestandwonderhow
itcametobe?Hereare
thebehind-the-scenes
storiesof16eye-catching
momentsfromtheDMV.
BYSARAHZLOTNICK
photographsofchairswapbyeliturner;craneescort-
cardwallbykateheadley
Pre-foldedpapercranescanbefoundeasily
on Etsy, but designer Julie Vieira couldn’t
locate her desired colors and size, so she
ordered origami paper from Amazon. She
and an assistant used an assembly-line
strategy to fold five of the 153 cranes at a
time; the process took about four hours.
Vieira’s husband built the four-by-six-
foot backdrop using plywood and trim
from Home Depot, and the cranes were
attached using 3-D Zots adhesives. Florist
Holly Heider Chapple used three claw
hooks to secure the garland of scabiosa,
ranunculus, and roses.
ORIGAMI
ESCORT-CARD
WALL
DESIGNERS: Kruse & Vieira Events
The bride wanted a garden wedding. The groom wanted to show off the best of DC.
Duncan and Amaryllis melded their wishes into a Tuscany-inspired celebration for
the Hay-Adams’s Top of the Hay event space—which happens to have one of the city’s
best views of the White House. Duncan rented 45 residential chairs and sofas from
Amaryllis for the entire day. The mix-and-match group provided eclectic seating for
the intimate 35-person ceremony and cocktail lounge. After vows were said, a dozen
staffersquicklymovedsomeofthechairstolinethesingledinnertableintheadjoining
room. There, Amaryllis’s custom 25-by-26-foot suspended pergola of Italian ruscus,
curly willow, and grapevine completed the alfresco feel of the evening.
TWO-FOR-ONE SEATING
DESIGNER: Elizabeth Duncan of Elizabeth Duncan Events
The ceremony chairs
take their place at
the dining table.

2. WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 2016WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 2016
Extensions are usually needed for a lush,
full-looking hairstyle like this, but Breeding
transformed her model’s thin, collarbone-
length hair the old-fashioned way—with hair
spray, bobby pins, and a healthy amount of
teasing. Working with the model’s natural
wave, she curled sections of the hair in
different directions, then added texture with
salt spray for a beachy effect. Breeding next
finger-combed the hair back before teasing
it and loosely pinning pieces at the nape of
the neck. She hid the bobby pins (there are
about 20) by catching the end of each hair
section and placing the pin straight into
the updo. The gold Enchanted Ateliér
by Liv Hart headpiece secures with clips
hidden under the flowers on each end.
Styling took an hour from start to finish.
“I don’t like anything to look too hair-
sprayed,butthisdefinitelyis,”saysBreeding,
who trained under star Charlottesville
makeup artist Lora Kelley and launched her
own business in January.
STYLIST: Anna Breeding
THE UNDONE UPDO
LAST-MINUTE MANDAP
70 71
FLORAL DESIGNER: Sidra Forman
photographofsparklerkissbymichaelo.snyder;chairsby
genevieveleiperphotography;invitationsbyjeffelkins;
cherry-blossomdecorbyabbyjiu
photographofmandapbyameliajohnson;
hairstylebylauragordon
Forman had just four days to design, build, and order blooms for this
ten-by-ten-foot Indian mandap. The day before the wedding, four
staffers assembled the 90 ruscus garlands that would hang from the
rear beams; Forman herself rose at 5 am the morning of to weave local
heirloom mums, Southern Hemisphere peonies, and California garden
roses through a tangle of eucalyptus and bay leaves on the front beam.
Once on site, six people had two hours to assemble the structure, hang
the side-front garlands, and place groupings of pillar candles—the only
sources of light for the ceremony—on each side of the floral canopy. Event
planners Laura and Erica Long of Wit Weddings completed the look
with ivory chairs and a havan kund fire pit from Imperial Décor, and
Design Foundry provided wood flooring and bound sisal carpet as the
foundation for the setting.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael O. Snyder
Snyder used a 24-millimeter lens with an F5 aperture
setting at ISO 250 for a 15-second exposure. After
securing his Canon camera to a tripod, Snyder and his
assistant circled the bride and groom waving sparklers
for the full 15 seconds of the shot (the couple held their
pose). There’s no Photoshop involved in “removing”
the photographers—they do not appear in the photo
because they didn’t hold still long enough to be recorded.
SPARKLER KISS
Laura Ritchie of Grit & Grace asked Christina Barbour
of Paperzest to design this custom monogram for a
black-tie “winter wonderland” wedding stationery suite.
For the reception decor, Barbour replaced the couple’s
initials with “Mr.” and “Mrs.”, then sent the graphic to
Carolyn Clauss at Revolution Events. The Revolution
team printed the design on low-tack vinyl, then applied
the sticker to their own white Louis ghost chairs.
CUSTOM CHAIR DECAL DC’sMellon Auditoriumisbig—evenfora250-personwedding—soDominick
sectioned off 4,000 square feet for the ceremony with 16-foot-high curtains
from Fabrications Events (this also allowed the band to set up unseen in the
reception space). To complement the scale of the room’s 60-foot ceiling, the
nuptials took place on a riser in front of a 14-foot-tall display of 45 flickering
LED candles. For their floral arrangements along the aisle, Amaryllis built 12
custompedestalsanddisplayed40cherry-blossombranchesoneach.Attendees
took their seats in ghost chairs that later were moved to the reception. Load-in
and set-up took a crew of 47 five hours to complete.
CHERRY BLOSSOM ALTAR PATH
DESIGNER: Aimee Dominick of A. Dominick Events
20-100
Number of
Bobby pins
in a Breeding
updo.
The Dandelion Patch worked
with Luscious Verde to turn their
clients’ wedding-day information
into a vector file in which all the
letters and design elements are
touching. Luscious Verde’s laser
is programmed to cut the design
through one piece of card stock at a
time; designs this intricate typically
take 15 to 20 minutes per invite.
LASER-CUT
INVITATIONS
ARRANGEMENT
IS 5 FEET TALL
RISER IS
3.5 FEET
TALL

3. WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 2016WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 201672 73
photographoffloralchandelierbyjodi&kurtphotography;cakecourtesy
ofcatherinegeorgecakes;doughnuttruckbymarissajoyphotography
photographofreceptionbynataliefrankephotography;
favorbagbylisaziesingforabbyjiuphotography
DESIGNER: Catherine George Cakes
George forms each gum-paste petal by hand and paints it
with a mixture of food coloring and vodka before assembling
the full bloom (the process takes roughly one hour per flower;
the leaves are also made of gum-paste). Touches of gold leaf
lend a metallic effect, and the wire vine is attached to a white
fondant cake. The taller bottom tier is actually a stack of two
cakes—a board hidden between the layers makes them easier
to slice and serve.
DESIGNER: Karson Butler Events
Karson Butler packaged mix-it-yourself Brazilian
caipirinha kits as a way for guests to cheers the couple
one last time after a recent Four Seasons wedding.
The firm ordered bottles of cachaça from Schneider’s
of Capitol Hill, funneled single servings into miniature
glass bottles, wrapped sugar cubes in parchment, and
called grocery stores well ahead of time to ensure they
would have enough limes for 80 bags. A few simple
edits turned a directions card from Minted into a
recipe card, and the cachaça bottle tag is a flat
Minted place card cut in half.
DIY COCKTAIL FAVOR
Set-up for this waterfront Kirkland Manor reception began on Wednesday
before the Saturday event. Eastern Shore Tents & Events first erected the open-
air 60-by-90-foot tent; underneath the liner, they rigged 60 strands of twinkle
lights to a dimmer for gradually illuminating the party as the sun went down.
The 142 guests sat at four long tables flanking the 20-by-20-foot monogrammed
dance floor, each topped with a dozen high and low arrangements of hydrangea
and garden roses from My Flower Box Events. The newlyweds relaxed in a
sweetheart settee from XOXO Vintage, which also provided four lounge sofas
specially covered in a blue-gray fabric just for this event. The nine-foot-wide,
five-foot-tall chandelier arrived from Revolution Events in five pieces and took
four hours to assemble. After it was attached to a pulley system, four My Flower
Box designers added a ring of hydrangeas around the crown (a hidden water tube
kept the quick-to-wilt flowers fresh).
THE ULTIMATE
OUTDOOR RECEPTION
DESIGNER: Elle Ellinghaus of Elle Ellinghaus Designs
Chapple’s husband built the base for the chandelier in this photo
shoot: one five-foot-diameter ring and one seven-foot ring. Fourteen
of Chapple’s floral-design students then covered the structure in moss,
affixed water-retentive floral foam garland to the rings, attached an
abundance of East Texas smilax and other greenery, then added the
blooms. Three to five designers would need three hours to create
something similar.
FLORAL CHANDELIER
DESIGNER: Holly Heider Chapple
SUGAR-FLOWER CAKE
This quirky food cart may look custom designed, but
it’s not! Charlottesville’s Carpe Donut cooks and serves its
sugary treats fresh from this six-by-ten-foot red trailer that
will come to your wedding looking exactly this adorable.
Price starts at $850 for two hours.
RETRO DOUGHNUT TRUCK
$912 for
76 servings.
$2,000 $1,000
CHANDELIER
RENTAL
FLORAL CROWN
FOR CHANDELIER
100
“NAKED
LADY” AMARYLLIS
40
RED
PEONIES
40
PINK
PEONIES
70
“ROMANTIC
ANTIKE” ROSES
90
PINK
LISIANTHUS
90
“GOLD
COMBO” ROSES
90
GOLD AND RED
AMARANTHUS
45
PEPPERBERRY
▲ BY THE
NUMBERS
1
1 2
2

4. WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 2016WASHINGTONIAN BRIDE & GROOM SUMMER / FALL 201674 75
photographoftentedreceptionbyabbygracephotog-
raphy;paper-flowerbackdropbyhannahhudson
photographsbynataliefrankephotography
The groom wanted a modern, Miami-club feel, but the bride loved romantic
European vintage. Working with a 20-person crew, Niles combined the two with
a “Bay chic” outdoor cocktail-style reception at Chesapeake Bay Beach Club,
where, instead of celebrating at assigned seats, 130 guests mingled among seven
vintage-furniture clusters and several sit-down tables. The furniture came from
two companies, Something Vintage and White Glove Rentals, and because
vintage furniture is one-of-a-kind, careful selections were made to achieve a
cohesive look. After several electrical tests, EventPro hung eight chandeliers
from the venue’s garden trellis, and, in a nod to the VIP lounge at a club, a
sweetheart table flanked by two throne-like Versailles chairs was put in place
forthenewlyweds.Tabletopfloralarrangementsmatchedthegardenblooms,and
foodstationsweresetupindoorstoprotectthemealfromthestickysummerheat.
The overall vibe: a back-yard party kicked up three elegant notches.
DESIGNER: Lauren Niles of Lauren Niles Events
THE SUNKEN-GARDEN
RECEPTION LOUNGE
Enright’s team took ten days to build
this eight-by-eight-foot plywood-frame
backdrop, which served double duty at
a Fairmont hotel wedding: first at the
ceremony site and then behind the head
table. Houston’s Balushka Authentic
Paper Floral Artistry madethetenwhite
paperflowers;the200tissue-paperflowers
are from Cultural Intrigue. All were
stapled (very carefully!) to the backdrop.
PAPER-FLOWER BACKDROP
DESIGNER: Bill Enright of Edge Floral
Event Designers
For this “romantic twilight” wedding, bringing
the elegance of an indoor ballroom to an outdoor
country-club lawn required three days of set-up.
Two hundred twenty guests celebrated under
a 50-by-80-foot enclosed structure built by
Sugarplum Tent Company. Six Sugarplum staffers
draped twinkling string lights at one-foot intervals
from the top of the tent before lining it with ruched,
semitransparent taffeta for a starlight look, and 12
crystal chandeliers further formalized the space.
Everleigh suggested opening just the corner panels
of the tent to complete the ballroom fantasy.
THE LIT-FROM-
WITHIN TENT
DESIGNER: Grace Everleigh
of Engaging Affairs
$24,000
Estimate for tent,
lighting, draping,
and dance floor
(not shown).
#PROTIP
Have seating
for at least 75
percent of guests
at a cocktail-style
reception.
▲ Each white flower is
12 to 16 inches wide.
▲ A closer look at the sweetheart
table and Versailles chairs.