A Disney Romance {Kristine & Alec}

From the moment I met Kristine, we clicked.  Whether it was the fact that we both went to Duke or the fact that she (and the groom) works for Disney (how much fun is that?) or the fact that we had a similar sense of humor, we had the best time working together. Add to this a fabulous groom, lovely families, gorgeous venues, fun details and I was in wedding planner heaven.

We didn't have tons of time to put the wedding together (6-7 months for a Spring wedding in D.C. is not long) so we opted for a Friday evening wedding to get our choice of vendors.  After a citywide venue search, Kristine and Alec fell in love with the National Museum of Women in the Arts.  New York Avenue Presbyterian Church happens to be right across the street from the museum so it was the perfect choice for the ceremony site.

The wedding day looked to be potentially rainy but that didn't dampen the spirits as the bridal party got ready at The Willard Hotel. The Willard really does has great suites for getting ready!  The ladies were transformed by Gustavo's makeup team and Susie McNair's hair expertise. At the end, the bride was getting hair and makeup done simultaneously to stay on schedule!

The bridal party hopped on a shuttle for monument photos before the ceremony so they could get good light (and miss the rain).  I love the jumping shots because this was a really fun group!

The groom had to stop for ice cream before heading over to the ceremony! I mean, can you blame him?

The programs, menus and other reception paper goods were designed by yours truly (using fonts and inks to coordinate with the couple's Smock invitations) and printed by my favorite folks at Rockville Printing.  I am getting mad Photoshop skills (okay, maybe not mad, but definitely proficient).

Rev. Peyton (another absolute favorite of mine) presided over the ceremony that featured a solo by the bride's college friends from her days singing in the Duke accapella group Lady Blue. Guests threw biodegradable confetti as Kristine and Alec ran out the doors and over to the reception.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts looked absolutely stunning with the shades of dark blue and white that the couple had selected.  Nick Perez of Multiflor created gorgeous white arrangements of hydrangea, orchids and stock with lots of glass and candlelight that sat atop shimmery dark blue linens. John Farr Lighting created the romantic ambiance with soft amber lighting that seemed to make the room glow.

And of course, we had to have bride and groom Mickey ears!

Instead of traditional escort cards, we had four large white frames with canvases covered with a pretty swirly blue fabric (that went well with the table linen) and white tags pinned to the fabric with guests' names on them (calligraphy in dark blue ink by Caren Milman).  It was something unique and it fit in well with the museum setting. Alison and I spent a better part of the week before the wedding painting the frames and covering the canvases and we had a lot of fun!

After the guests took their tags, we transformed the frames into "charity boards." Each of three boards had a description of a charity near and dear to the couple: Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Special Olympics, and Honor Flight. Each guest received a custom paper tag that said "Share the Love" and an instruction card explaining that they were to pin their tag to one of the three frames downstairs to vote for their favorite charity.  The bride and groom would then donate money to each charity according to the votes.  People had a lot of fun voting and coming back to check on the status of their favorite cause during the evening.

Another fun detail that fit into the museum setting was the live painter, Irina Koren, who created a portrait of the bride and groom's first dance.  It's always fun to watch Irina work and the couple gets a beautiful painting of their wedding.

After an amazing seated dinner by Occasions (and the incomparable Joel Wolke), guests watched from the balcony as the bride and groom danced their first dance.

Then the bride danced with her father and finally everyone took to the dance floor while the fabulous band Nightsong took the stage.  I have to say this band was fabulous and kept people dancing all night!

The only time guests stop dancing for a second was when the bride and groom cut the cakes by the lovely Kendall from Kendall's Cakes (don't you love the custom bobblehead cake topper?). 

The groom's cake was a replica of the bride and groom coming down the Splash Mountain ride at Magic Kingdom since working together on this ride was how the couple met.  

And see if you can find the hidden Mickey in the icing on the white wedding cake.  Okay, it's not hard to find in this close-up shot. It was a lot harder to find when you had a whole cake to examine, let me tell you!

Another big hit of the evening was the s'mores station.  The bride and groom love s'mores so we had a do-it-yourself s'mores making station.  Everyone loved this!

The final surprise of the evening were Mickey Mouse cookies that Joel and I conspired to do without the bride and groom knowing.  It was fun to see their faces as the trays of decorated cookies came out.

This wedding was so much fun to work on and to attend. It was filled with creative touches that were personal to the couple and were just plain fun. I loved every moment of it! 

I have to thank all the wonderful people who went above and beyond to make the day happen. Thanks to Linda (a Disney alum herself) from Linder and Associates for flawlessly (as always) coordinating the transportation, Michelle Alberg from Michelle's Memos for the beautiful invitations from Smock, Regal Limousine for the getaway Rolls Royce, Tom Bowen for video coverage so unobtrusive we almost forgot he was there, the team from the Women's Museum who let us have s'mores, and my phenomenal assistants Alison and Maeve. A special thank you to Juan Carlos Briceno and his team at Fotobriceno for the gorgeous images.

We wish Kristine and Alec lives full of imagination and wonder (what else?)!
Laura