Destination: Naples

Engaging Affairs has two brides-to-be on staff, which makes for lots of fun (and even more wedding talk)! You all know that Sara is recently engaged and will be blogging on the trials and tribulations as she plans her DC wedding. One of our faithful associates, Grace, is also engaged and will be getting married in just a few short months. She's been planning her wedding in Naples, Florida although she lives in DC and has some unique insights into what goes into putting together a wedding long-distance. So for all of you ladies planning (or thinking of planning) a destination wedding, Grace has some tips on how to survive and keep your sanity!

Three months to go! I can’t believe my time being a fiancée will soon be over. As Monica Geller on “Friends” would say, “Soon I will just be a stupid wife” ha! But what a wonderful ride this engagement has been.

It began with a beautiful, surprise of a proposal, followed by the wonderful support and love of my family and friends. But soon after that came the planning! It felt like the moment after the ring hit my finger it was time to plan! Questions arose from friends, family, co-workers and perfect strangers like, “So when’s the big day? How many people are you having? Where are you getting married? Are you going on a honeymoon?”

If all these questions didn’t stress me out enough, it was the constant feeling of worry that everything may not be as perfect as I have always pictured my wedding to be. Especially while working with the best wedding planners in DC…beautiful weddings is what we do…so when the time came to plan my own wedding, I wanted the same. So here I am with nine months of planning behind me, but I am rearing up for the next three, which will probably be the most exciting yet! So here’s a synopsis of my last nine months…in the life of a wedding planner and soon-to-be-bride!

Our vision began as a Caribbean wedding on an island, somewhere far, far away. Now, mind you, I love DC, but my family resides in FL, my fiancees’ family is all over the place and after the chanting at the dinner table on our engagement night, “Destination Wedding, Destination Wedding,” we figured it may be the best idea. But let me tell you, it’s hard planning your ideal wedding from thousands of miles away! Most of the destination wedding packages we encountered were a bit too cookie-cutter for us. And after working with Engaging Affairs and seeing so many amazing weddings, I really wanted to add a special touch.

So after much, MUCH research and talk, we both decided to have our wedding near my parents' house in Florida. It’s at a beautiful club in Naples, The Club at Mediterra, with a Mediterranean feel and gorgeous landscaping. You couldn’t ask for a more picturesque wedding. (Found the place, check!) After the search for the venue completed, my fiancée and I spent the better time of June, July, December and now January hopping back and forth to Florida making arrangements, meeting with photographers, videographers, cake designers and music ensembles (check, check, check!)

One weekend, we met with 6 photographers and 8 DJs! What a ride! But we were efficient! That’s one thing to remember when planning a wedding far from your home…call ahead, schedule meetings, make a timeline and take lots and lots of notes to remember who you met and what they said. Believe me, after your 3rd glass of wine on the plane ride home, you and your fiancée will be bickering about whether DJ Zizzy was the one that use to sing on cruise ships or the one that asked if he could sing along with the music as he DJ’d! TRUE STORY!

So after securing all our vendors in Florida for the wedding, I definitely wanted to ensure I received wonderful engagement pictures in our hometown of DC. Renee Michele was the photographer that my fiancée and I were lucky enough to book for our engagement shoot. Not only is she a wonderful, professional photographer, but she’s sweet, energetic and very creative! If you ever have the chance to work with her, take the opportunity!

But as easy as it was for me to find vendors in DC, especially working with the best in the biz, it was extremely difficult blindly choosing vendors for my wedding without local knowledge! Tons of questions went through my mind when researching and finding our vendors. But I learned that the best thing to do IS to ask tons of questions! Don’t feel bad, just do it! It’s your wedding day so don’t be shy when explaining exactly what you would like and how you would like it. They won’t know unless you tell them. This has been a hard part for me. I’m used to being on the other side of things and seeing how hard the vendors work. Therefore, it’s difficult for me to not be sympathetic or understanding to their needs. So good thing I have my sister or my fiancée with me when the caterer starts to say, “Wouldn’t the macaroni and cheese look perfect for your centerpiece?” Ummm…

So here we are, with three months to go. The end of this month will be our last visit to Florida before the big day in April. Time is going by so quickly. For the three days we are there, we have scheduled our last meeting with the club/caterers, my last (hopefully) dress fitting, our last run-through with the florists/lighting technicians and our last bits of designing with our cake decorator. On top of all of this, at the end of the month, it will be the last time I can call myself a fiancée in the month of January…but next year I’m excited to be calling myself “just a stupid wife.”

And the Planning Begins!

Let me start off by saying thank to all the vendors, brides and mothers of brides, both past and present, who have sent well wishes and offers to plan my wedding. This is why I consider myself so lucky. I do something I absolutely LOVE and get to work with the most fabulous people.

So, it seems I am now planing my own wedding. I guess I had to experience it to believe it, but I was astonished that people I called to tell the evening that it happened, actually asked me if we picked the date! We have been engaged two hours people! Anyway, now I know how all you feel and why you call me the next day! But first thing's first.

I was lucky that my man actually surprised me. After !#*!? years together I figured there was no way. But he did. Check it out. I think this is when it all hit me what was going on.

If you can't tell, he surprised me on the rooftop of the Hay Adams. So we decided we'd wait until after New Years to start planning and here we are.

It would be easy enough for me to implement all the ideas I have, but I understand now I have other people's feelings to consider. So, it all begins and I figured, I may as well chronicle the planning as, for my benefit, it will be interesting to read back through, and will hopefully help some of you. I will also get to talk about all the fabulous people I will get to work with. So, stay tuned! It should be an exciting ride.

Sara

Baubles That Give Back

Our brides are always on the lookout for unique bridesmaids' gifts and we've found some that not only are unique, but the proceeds benefit charity (which we love). We are very into finding products and vendors who improve the world or help the environment, and these items certainly fit the bill!

You may have already heard about The O Bracelet because it's sponsored by Oprah and, well, that woman can market. The bracelets support women in Rwanda and Kenya who face ethnic violence. The women actually handcraft the bracelets and they (and their communities) are the only ones making a profit from the enterprise. The bracelets range in cost between $54-$350. There are several versions with semi-precious stones, as well as the newest design of mesh filled with crystals. To order, visit Macy's website.

Brighter Futures Project is another group that helps women through the sale of some pretty cool jewelry. Their bracelets are each $56 and are made by orphaned teen girls in Third World countries. The money supports these women as they transition from orphanage life to life on their own. The bracelets are made of semi-precious stones like amethyst, jasper, and tiger's eye and each one is unique. Each bracelet comes boxed with information about the project, as well.

These are both amazing projects that help empower women so please check them out!

Glamour Shots

We have a tradition at Engaging Affairs of sending Valentines cards instead of holiday cards. Frankly, it gives us more time to get them together after our Fall wedding season ends. We like to do a company photo on the card so all our colleagues can see our team so this means we have to do a photo shoot each year. It's a lot of fun but it takes some coordination to find a great site and get the photography team lined up. This year we chose to do the shoot at our new favorite event site, L2.

L2 is a membership club in Georgetown with fabulous exposed brick, a bar with customized lighting and funky, modern furniture. Plus, their food is really good! We planned a book launch there in October and it was a huge success so now we're working on booking the space for rehearsal dinners and cocktail parties. If you're looking for a hip venue for up to 200 guests (standing) that no one has seen before, this is the place!

Our contact at L2, Lucia, was kind enough to arrange for us to come in on a weekday and take over the club. As you can see, we had a great time toasting with our martinis (okay, they're just water and olives) and taking some fun shots. Juan Carlos Briceno of Fotobriceno took the photos and was endlessly patient with us, shooting all over the club for a couple of hours. We even took a shot of us checking out the recently released Washingtonian Bride and Groom magazine. Both Amy and Sara have weddings featured in the issue so you can understand our excitement!

Congrats To One Of Our Own!

Congratulations to Sara on her recent engagement to Levi Brandriss!! We are thrilled for them and will keep you updated as the months go by and the wedding planning progresses!

Best wishes for a blissful marriage!

Christine & Daniel High

Sneak peek!! Just in from the wonderful and very talented photographer, Kara Pennington, of Christine & Dan's wedding this weekend in Marco Island, FL! The weather was a beautiful 80 degrees the entire weekend and all the guests made it safely from around the country to celebrate in spite of the various snow storms.

Christine's family has vacationed in Marco Island for many years during her childhood which made it a natural location for their wedding. Family and friends flew in from Seattle to DC and the sun drenched beaches made for a glorious backdrop during the cocktail hour and pictures at Hideaway Beach Club.

Check out Kara's Blog for more photos later today!

xoxo,

Amy

A Day In DC

Breakfast at Tiffany's... well almost. It was an early morning yesterday as I wrenched myself out of bed to attend a 7:30 am ISES event at the Mayflower Hotel. I was amazed as I walked into the ballroom at 7:35 to see many of my peers already bright eyed and busy talking to friends and enjoying a morning wake up, a mimosa! Over 100 guests came out to enjoy breakfast and hear from Bill Hanbury, President, Destination, DC, about how the year finished up and what we should all expect not only for inaguration, but for the next few years in this region. Good news, DC is pulling tourists from not only all over the country, but all over the world and it doesn't look as though that will stop. There are great things to do and see here including the new DC Visitor's Center and the upcoming Lincoln Bicentenial. Sounds like nobody will be disappointed to leave 2008 behind.
My day in DC continued as some of my peers and I went on to have lunch at the Fairfax Hotel. Just finished it's 18 month complete renovation period, the hotel, formerly the Westin Embassy Row, sparkled from head to toe. Everything from the lobby to the ballroom, the guest rooms to the grad re-opening of the famed Jockey Club, this hotel is ready to shine in 2009. I am working on a wedding there for June 27th and I know it will be amazing. Stay tuned for that!

Happy Holidays!
Sara

'Tis the Season to Celebrate

It's comforting to know that in an unpredictable time in our economy people are still celebrating things from the success of what became a troubling year, to the accomplishments of thirty years and even still the obvious holiday season. Last week played host to all of these celebrations and I was able to attend two of them. Congratulations to Martha K. Bindeman of Finishing Touches Events for thirty years of service and friendship to so many in the special events industry. Marty celebrated this milestone Monday evening at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda with her daughter and grandson in attendance. The evening brought together friendly industry faces the craziness of the fall season has kept me from seeing. The Crystal Ballroom was draped in regal shades of reds and pink. The fare was fun and casual as four different stations offered guests cuisine from sushi and dumplings to French fries with carvings to a Maryland classic, crab cakes. No one could overlook the dessert table after Marty herself gave a ringing endorsement to the chocolate macadamia nut treats. It was an evening to celebrate a truly beloved woman and to toast the future ahead for all of us.

The following evening the Ronald Reagan Building held their third annual Sparkle Lounge holiday event in the Pavilion Room. This event was near and dear to my heart due in part to my wonderful relationship with the fantastic events team there as well as their eco conscious theme for the evening. Everything from the buffalo to the seas bass to the wine that was served came from self sustaining, eco friendly and conscious sources. It's nice to see so many of our event partners doing their part for the environment. It really helps when collaborating on new menus for our fabulous events. Bravo team! You managed to bring partners from both private social and corporate events together yet again to celebrate the year that was and the new one that will be. Happy Holidays!!

Sara

A Night with a Top Chef

For anyone who is slightly addicted to Top Chef, you will appreciate my excitement over having dinner prepared by famous chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in New York and Westend Bistro at the Ritz-Carlton Washington DC. I should probably come clean and admit that Chef Ripert did not prepare dinner just for me (although that would be nice). I was lucky enough to be a guest (along with many of the city's other top event planners) at a dinner hosted by The Ritz-Carlton in Washington DC to showcase Ripert's new Fall menu.

Let me just say that the Ritz-Carlton knows how to do things right! Using only a portion of their ballroom, they draped the walls from floor to ceiling in chocolate brown fabric and ran a single table down the length of the room. The rich brown linens and chairs from Party Rental continued the look of opulence and set off the stunning white and green floral arrangements from Greenworks that created a virtual runner down the table. Gorgeous lighting added the finishing touch to the breathtaking room. This is my new favorite idea for a unique rehearsal dinner spot! More private than a restaurant and with Ritz-Carlton food and service--what's not to love?



If the setting was stunning, the food was equally so. Starting with a lobster cappuccino (lighter than a bisque but with lots of chunks of lobster) that I could have happily swam in and continuing with a delightful salad of seared tuna and greens, guests then chose between a butter-light halibut and a rack of lamb that Chef Ripert promised was raised humanely and lived a happy life. The Chef emphasized the use of locally raised and organic food, which is a big plus since Engaging Affairs is going more and more eco-friendly. The meal ended with a heavenly chocolate, peanut and caramel tart.

Chef Ripert was as charming as he is handsome, and more than one woman at the event checked for his wedding ring (there is one). Our hats are off to the delicious Chef Eric Ripert and the amazing Ritz-Carlton staff (we must mention the divine Debrajean Overholt) for an amazing evening. Check out these stunning photos by Regati's.

Laura

Washingtonian Shout-outs, Take Two

In our excitement about hitting #1 on The Washingtonian list again, we forget to include some very worthy colleagues in our shout-outs. This doesn't mean we don't love them; we were just too darn giddy!

Kudos to the fabulous folks at Entertainment Exchange for being voted #1 this year. We have used their great bands like Free Spirit, Nightsong and Highway Star for well over a decade now! Another well-deserved shout-out to Design Cuisine for being the top vote getter for caterers. We love working with Christine Cadima there; she's done so many of our fabulous weddings including one infamous one on a super-yacht during a flash flood. Hooray Design Cuisine!

Congratulations to Instyle Catering for making the list. Denise Thorne is so wonderful to work with and just about the sweetest person on the planet! Also big hugs to Kendall's Cakes for being the Reader's Choice. Her cakes are amazing and so is she. We could die happy surrounded by her lemon curd cake. Keep your eye on K. Rose Cakes. We sampled her pumpkin cupcakes at a recent event and were very impressed.

Big congratulations to two of our wedding planning colleagues who made the list, as well. We've known Michele Hodges since back in her Car Barn days and her inclusion on the list is well-deserved. We've also known Sara Franklin of Social Scene for ages and it's great to see her on the list, as well. Congratulations ladies!

We have no doubt that we've forgotten many more wonderful colleagues so be sure to check out the listings for yourself. Washingtonian Bride and Groom magazine hits newstands on December 12th and will contain the full list as well as two real weddings from Engaging Affairs! Don't miss it!