Old World Wedding at The Anderson House

There is something so special about a small, intimate wedding. Don't get me wrong. I love the big, grand affairs and do quite a few of them but I seem to identify more and more with the understated affairs. If I was planning my own wedding again, I wouldn't even dream of having six bridesmaids (or was it seven?) and worrying about their dresses for months. I would do what Ceci did at her May 30th wedding and have just one.

Ceci and Eric chose one maid of honor and one best man and kept their guest list under 100 people. This made for such an intimate, lovely wedding. Every single person at the wedding meant something to the couple, and the bride and groom were able to spend time with each of them.


The bride got ready at The Park Hyatt with the fabulous Ishmael from George's at The Four Seasons doing her hair and the super-talented and incredibly sweet Kim Giammarria of Beauty Mark doing makeup.


Ceci's gorgeous dress was from Carolina Herrera in New York. The detailing on the gown was breathtaking but the silhouette was so simple and completely in keeping with the Old World style that the bride wanted to evoke throughout the wedding.

My associate, Grace, helping Ceci with her veil once I had dashed off to Christ Church in Georgetown to get ready for the ceremony.

Because the Anderson House is so ornate, the bride wanted to follow the style and have an Old World feel to the floral decor. Christopher from Amaryllis created the gorgeous, lush arrangements that used shades of creams, whites and pinks. We used silver candleabra and heavily gilded china and crystal to create an almost Romanov feel to the formal dinner. For a fresh look in the garden, we used pink toile and julep cups with soft pink peonies.

Heavy, gold-edged menu cards from Mrs. John L. Strong in New York were engaved with the couple's monogram.

In the Winter Garden, we used long rectangular tables and a collection of arrangements running down the tables to make the space unique since it was slightly separated from the party (it opens into the ballroom via French doors) . In the ballroom, we used rounds and one large oval table for the head table.

To change the mood for dessert and dancing, we used a lucite table lit from within and very modern green and white flowers. The lighting that created the beautiful, warm atmosphere in the ballroom (and uplit the dessert table) was done by Lightolutions.

The groom toasts the bride as guests look on. I love it when grooms make remarks at weddings and especially when they say as lovely things as Eric did about his bride.

The couple enjoying the dinner. Design Cuisine created an amazing dinner featuring an amuse bouche of gazpacho, a fish course, lamb, a salad and cheese course and a sumptuous dessert buffet. Guests were raving about the food.

The couple dances to the Burnett Thompson band. Burnett and his fabulous musicians kept the guests entertained with classic big band and Sinatra.

My favorite thing: a happy bride and groom! Thanks to Greg Gibson for the stunning pictures. It is always fun to work with Greg and his team.

A big shout-out to Linda from Linder and Associates for the seamless transportation the entire weekend. We had lots of out-of-town guests and Linda and her team made sure everyone was taken care of.

My favorite moment of the day: The father-of-the-bride introducing the couple as they walked down the long staircase into the ballroom. It was so personal and sweet!

My favorite detail: The fun, modern dessert table!

As always, I had so much fun working on this wedding.

Laura