Monday, June 1, 2009

Outdoor Wedding at The Mandarin Hotel


I must admit, I have been pretty fortunate, scratch that, my brides have been pretty fortunate, in that the weather for their weddings, has for the most part, but perfect when it needed to be. There was the wedding last Sept. during the absolute monsoon where streets in DC were flooded and alas, 20 minutes before the bride left her hotel for the event site, the skies cleared and the group took pictures at the monuments. There was also the wedding last October where the rain held out just long enough for the bride to walk from her hotel to the ceremony site. And of course, the 81 degree weather for my tented wedding at a private residence last November 1st is not one to forget.

Two weeks ago, I was almost foiled at the Mandarin Oriental. All Nicole wanted was to get married outside in the garden. Weather reports called for rain and when I spoke to Nicole that morning about bringing her guests inside, she almost said YES! Now, if had let her do that, I wouldn't have been doing my job of making her dreams a reality.


The ceremony was slated for 5:30 and at 5:00 the dark clouds began to roll in. "why didn't I do the ceremony at 5:00?" is what I know she was thinking. I was praying for just 45 more minutes as the guests shuttles began to arrive. The always fabulous Michael Deltette of the Mandarin looked at me like, "You're really going to make this happen?" If I told you we started the ceremony at 5:29 I don't think I was lying. Once everyone was in their seat I wasted no time. The sky had become dark, but awesome for pictures, and the guests were getting nervous. About 15 minutes later, the couple was saying "I do" with lightning flashing behind them. It was quite appropriate that the last passage that was read began with "Now you will feel no rain". Five minutes after the guests were safe inside, the skies opened and the rain came pouring down.


Special thanks to all of you who had faith in my ability to control the weather and to my fabulous bride and groom, Nicole and Nick, for being so adventurous!


Here is a list of the wonderful people who contributed to this wedding:
Venue/Food: Mandarin Oriental, Michael Deltette
Photography: Fotobriceno, Juan Carlos Briceno
Flowers: Exquisite Design Studio, Jennifer Dolan
Entertainment: Dan Haas Band
Dress: Ulla Maija from Hitched
Hair: Susie Rucksthul
Make up: Pattie Martin
Cake: Creative Cakes
Sara