My Big, Fabulous Greek Wedding

I gave a sneak peek a few weeks ago of the beautiful Greek Orthodox wedding that I did at St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church but here is a bit more. I love the pageantry of Greek Orthodox weddings. The candles, the crowns, the chanting. It is all so formal and beautiful.

Laura and Mike were such a fun couple that nothing (including pretty steady rain) could dampen their excitement. Everyone involved in the wedding was lovely to work with from the bride's parents to the groom's large family to the eight ring bearers and flower girls!

My favorite memory of the wedding is the traditional Greek money dance where everyone danced around throwing money at the couple. The Alpha Orchestra from New York kept everyone on the dance floor the entire evening even after the money stopped flying!

My favorite detail of the wedding had to be the custom matchbooks that we tied to the bundles of sparklers we handed to the guests at the end of the evening. Sure, it took three assistants and me cutting and tying ribbons for over an hour, but it looked great!

I had a lot of my usual dream team vendors with me for the wedding so the day was pretty flawless. The Willard team was, as always, amazing. Christina is always fun to work with and she did a great job pulling all the hotel details together. I love working at the Willard because they make my life so much easier!

Linda from Linder and Associates coordinated the transportation and did an outstanding job. For those of you in the event industry who work with transportation, you know how crucial it is to have good people and Linda is tops. I never have to worry about a car running late or getting lost when she is on the job (and I don't want to tell you the horror stories I've had with some other companies). The bride and groom rode in style with a classic car from Regal Limousine. John Bays is the classic car guru in town. I have used his cars for the past fourteen years and he has never let me down.

The bride wore a stunning Reem Acra gown from Carine's Bridal Atelier with a custom-made bolero jacket. The jacket was the perfect touch for the ceremony and then the bride took it off for the reception. Carine and her entire staff were wonderful to the bride and she couldn't stop raving about them! We love you, Carine!

It is always fun to work with Neil from Blue Sky Films. He is unobtrusive and laid-back--just the way I like videographers.

I also got the chance to work with some new vendors who were friends of the couple. Jennifer from Atelier Floral Design was lovely and so easy-going. Her cherry blossom centerpieces were so pretty and looked amazing in the Willard ballroom. We brought in gold linens and chivari chairs from DC Rental to complete the formal and dramatic look.

The photographer, Joyce Boghosian, knew Laura and Mike from their White House days. She and her brother, Haik, were so nice and got some really gorgeous images. A big thank you to them for letting us borrow some for the blog!

This was a fun wedding to plan and an even more fun wedding to attend. As I've said many times, I have amazing clients. Laura and Mike were no exception. They were so much fun every step of the way, and it is always nice to work with a couple that is so crazy for each other (and these two were head-over-heels in love). To quote the bride (who had the best laugh ever), "Love it!"

Laura