Sarah & Lando

September 9, 2006
Annapolis, Maryland



Photos by Jessica Claire






Slideshow & Pro Photos!
By Jessica Claire


Check out our quick 2 MINUTE SLIDESHOW of wedding pics!

Here's a SNEAK PEEK of our best photos!





Bio Sections



Getting Ready
The Girls
The Guys
The Ceremony
Casual Photos with the Bridal Party
The Yacht & Arrival
The Details
The Party
Day After Photos
Honeymoon
Invitations / Menus / Etc.
Tent Details & Setup
Ideas for Weddings
Music
Vendor Reviews



** LINK TO PLANNING BIO **
"thirdhoya"










The Dress




Notice this patch sewn inside my dress. It's extra fabric from the bridesmaid's sash embroidered with my monogram and the wedding date. It's also my "Something Blue"








Wedding Accessories











Surprise!
My hubby designed these beautiful earrings for me!









Bridesmaids



















Dressing










The Girls









Our Moms!
MIL on the left, my mom on the right







Groom & The Guys








Silk pocket squares instead of boutonnieres!
Lando had these custom made for all his groomsmen.







My surprise gift to him:
A vintage Rolex from 1925.



My little brother read my card aloud to him.

   









The Ceremony

United States Naval Academy Chapel
Annapolis, Maryland



My dad and I arrived at the church in this vintage Mercedes!










 

 










Casual Photos with the Bridal Party!
After the ceremony, we walked through the streets of Annapolis to capture these photos!







 





 




The Yacht

No limos here! We took a beautiful 67' Vicem to the reception!
This is a friend's yacht, and this ride was their wedding gift to us!






 











The reception was at my parent's home!
All the guests saw us arrive by boat!





 










The Details!





























The Cake!

 






The Party!

First Dance
I've Got the World On A String

by Frank Sinatra




Toasts!
























Sparkler Sendoff!







 





The Day After!

The next day, we met up with our photographer, Jessica Claire, to do some fun shots around Washington, DC! We started out at our suite at the Hay Adams Hotel and then went to a few monuments! It was great doing more photos the day after the wedding, and I highly recommend it! This way we didn't have to see each other before the ceremony, and here I didn't have to worry about my dress getting dirty or anything. We could be really playful and fun!
But first, hubby had to get me back in my dress….


 

















 





 





 :



Here's my favorite shot….






I don't recommend getting into the Washington Monument's reflecting pool unless you're prepared to get arrested! We got this shot, but it was just a few seconds later that a cop came screaming at us and threatening arrest! So there I was, duck crap and feathers covered my dress, pond scum squishing in my toes, crinoline wet and itchy, and practically on my way to jail! However, the officer let us go with a "warning" that we should never do this again! Here's my reaction when it was all over!




Thinking of a "Day-After" Photo Shoot?
Click ** HERE ** for a great article our photographer, Jessica Claire,
wrote about the "Day-After" photo shoot concept she invented!





Honeymoon

Bora Bora & Moorea






The view from our over water bungalow (#102) at the Bora Bora Nui






 







 







 






Invitations, Ceremony Programs, Menus, Etc.




Invitations







Main invitation from Encore Studios (ordered from Papyrus)
A separate gatefold and printed insert cards from MyGatsby.com
















 


Assembling the invites!
I assembled them myself using the famous ATG-700 gun. The main invitation was from Encore Studios – ivory square with triple embossed border – style D9008. I also ordered the large outer envelope from a separate collection by Encore Studios – style D1158. I did not do an inner envelope. I mounted the main invitation from Encore Studios onto bronze metallic cardstock that I ordered from MyGatsby.com ~ MyGatsby pre-cut the cardstock to this square you see. Then, to hold all the reception cards, I also ordered a gatefold from MyGatsby which hels 5 insert pieces: Reception card (mounted on the left side), Accommodations Info, Response Card, Response Envelope, and Ceremony Card (describing related security requirements since it was on a military base).
It looks more polished to have all these cards in a gatefold rather than loose in the envelope. The Reception Card was mounted onto cardstock for a double layer, and that was then mounted onto the left inside panel of the gatefold. MyGatsby printed all the inserts, I just assembled them. I am very happy with the way they turned out.






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Ceremony Programs
Bronze metallic cardstock from MyGatsby.com ~ same cardstock as the invitations.
Chocolate and Ivory ribbons from NashvilleWraps.com.
Cover stickers form MyWeddingLabels.com
This program was sent to me from SquashedRice. I tailored it to our wedding ceremony specifics on a word document, and it was then printed by Kinkos on ivory paper. My family and I assembled them with the ribbon, covers, and sticker.






Here's some pics I took of the ceremony program

PAGE 1


PAGES 2 & 3


PAGES 3 & 4
 

PAGES 5 & 6
 

PAGES 7 & 8
 

And the last page


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Dinner Menus

From MyGatsby.com printed these on 7.25" x 5.25" paper, color: Metallic Ecru. I then ordered 125 standard sheets (8.5" x 11") of metallic Gold Leaf cardstock. MyGatsby cut each one in half resulting in 250 sheets of 8.5" x 5.5". I then mounted the dinner menus onto the Gold Leaf cardstock.






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Cocktail Napkins
From Ebay seller "CanopyStreets" ~ Only $5.99 for each set of 50. Free shipping too! We purchased 500 napkins, but used them only for drinks and not hors d'oeurves – and 500 was the perfect amount (230 guests). I am highlighting this deal since it was so great! I am particular about items like this, and wanted quality cocktail napkins. These are a 3-ply thickness and personalized too!



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Advice Cards
Tucked under each menu was a card and envelope. The card asked the guest to write some wit and wisdom about marriage to us. We will open one each year on our wedding anniversary…. Or maybe a few each anniversary since we received so many!




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Place Cards

I purchased ivory business cards from Staples and printed them from our home computer. Just $16 for 200 cards! They were then held up by these silver ball holders from WeddingThings.com, only $1.50 each. (You can sort of see the silver balls in this photo.)



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Table Cards

Same type of cards here as the place cards.
To display them, I filled a large, fabric-covered box with rice.





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Wedding Martinis

We had a vodka martini bar, and I made these martini menus on our home computer, printed them on ivory paper, and then had Kinko's mount the paper onto foam board. Super easy! I then had 4 of them displayed on the bar.

 
Old Classic Martini ~ Vodka, Splash of Vermouth, Lemon Twist or Olive
New French Martini ~ Vodka, Chambord, Pineapple Juice, Lemon Twist
Borrowed Lemon Blast Martini ~ Vodka, XS Energy Drink (Lemon Blast), Simple Syrup, Lemon Twist
Blue Hoya Blue Martini ~ Vodka, Pineapple Juice, Blue Curacao




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Out Of Town Bags
Bags from PaperMart.com
Stickers from MyWeddingLabels.com (same as the ceremony programs)


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Tent Details & Setup







TENT: 50' x 100' Century Tent with 6 poles
SQUARE TABLES: 5' x 5'
RECTANGLE TABLES: 16' x 3' (or two 8' tables together)
SEATING: Bride/Groom at head table with parents

No round tables here! Ok – so I have this aversion to round tables at weddings and parties—I think it's too basic and expected. Do something different! Some specific venues just work better with rounds, but most of the time you can shift things around to use squares. If you have this option, I say go for it! I was set on square tables and long tables, and many guests thanked us for it! They said it was easier to talk across the narrow 3 ft. tables. Those seated at the square tables said it was more comfortable conversing with this layout as well. Even the caterer said it was much better than rounds and mentioned serving dinner was very fast since they could navigate the tables quickly. This layout seats 238 guests, but can go up to 272 guests if you add 2 chairs to each long table side, and add 4 to the long back table. The long back table is 3 long tables together and can be "adjusted" to accommodate last minute changes to your final head count.
Email me if you want me to send this layout to you: SarahWeddings@gmail.com





Our Seating Chart

I designed and created this seating arrangement. I first drew it on graph paper and then replicated it on a PowerPoint slide with the drawing tools. I then took the file to Kinko's and they printed it on a 3' x 5' sheet to mount it onto foam board. I then printed each guest name on small yellow tags, and used those to place each guest at their seat. As you can see, we used this layout for seating details, but we also had another one printed specifically for the caterer. I marked vegetarians, bridal party, head table, etc. on this large chart. They said it was one of the most helpful tools to them!




More Tent Info and Setup Photos
I thought I'd include a section on the details of the tent. It's a lot of work to have a wedding at home since you have to bring in EVERYTHING! The tent, dance floor, band stage, tables, chairs, linens, electricity/generator, catering tent, stoves, ovens, etc. Most tent rental and party rental places take care of this for you, but you need to select what you want. Contrary to what some may say, a wedding at home is much more expensive than at most other venues. When you have a blank palate, and you're building your entire reception space from the ground up (literally), there's a bit of a choice overload, and that can be daunting. Here's some of the elements we selected – black and white Lucite dance floor, pleated ceiling liner with lights behind it (on a dimmer), pole covers, sheer curtains around the perimeter, pin lights over each centerpiece and arrangement, perimeter lighting, and huge lamp shades hanging from inside the tent.


   

   

   

   

   

 

 

Catering Tent
 





Ideas for Weddings

Tables, Tents, Flowers, Candles, Cakes and more!
I used many of these photos and ideas to create my wedding!
Click below to get ideas, organized by topic!







My Favorite Wedding Websites!


General
WhiteAisle.com
WeddingThings.com
FiligreeMonograms.com
MyGlassSlipper.com
HairComesTheBride.com
Beau-Coup.com
WeddingFavorites.com (for favors)
PerfectDetails.com
DIYBride.com
KnotForLife.com
WeddingSolutions.com
MarthaStewart.com
DCKnottieReview.com (for DC Vendors)
Invites
WhiteAisle.com
NotFromABox.com
PaperStyle.com
MyGatsby.com (discount code AMEXKNOT)
PolkaDotDesign.com
CardsandPockets.com
IDoOriginals.com
TextStyleDesigns.com
RemoteAssistance.com
VistaPrint.com
Paper-Source.com
GaddisDesign.com
TrumpetCards.com
SmashingCards.com
BellaFigura.com
Labels/Gift Tags, etc.
MyWedidngLabels.com
LabelsByTheSheet.com
IDoOriginals.com
Candles / Craft Items
DIYBride.com
Ikea.com
Cudge.net
DowntownCrafts.com
CandlesJustOnline.com
Joann.com
Ebay seller: CanopyStreets (for napkins)
PaperMart.com (great OOT bags)
NashvilleWraps.com (good ribbon here)
Uline.com
Other
SparklersOnline.com
WeddingMapper.com (for making maps)
MomentsOfColor.com (for making maps)




 

Music



Cocktail Hour: Frank Sinatra
His website is under construction, so in the meantime
you can email him at: currerifamily@msn.com

YES! A Frank Sinatra impersonator for cocktail hour! We loved having Frank Currari (yes, he real name is Frank!) as part of our wedding day! He kicked off the cocktail hour with an elegant and festive feel. It set a fantastic tone to the whole evening! As a special touch, he also sang "Beyond the Sea" as we arrived in the yacht! Once cocktail hour wrapped up, and the guests were seated for dinner, we entered the tent for our first dance. Frank belted out "I've Got the World on a String" to perfection!!! If you want a chic and vintage feel for your wedding, then I highly recommend hiring Frank!



Band: Amaretto

This 10-person band, with 3 lead singers, knows how to get a party rockin'! WOW! They played elegant music during dinner, and then kicked it up for the rest of the evening! We hired them for 5 hours rather than the typical 4 hours of most other bands. We wanted coverage throughout dinner as well as a good stretch of party and dancing time. It worked out great!!! We loved the vibe and energy they had running! They played mostly Motown and classic wedding songs! All elegant, nothing cheesy. We even met with the leader, David Fletcher, up here in New York to go over the details. We hired Amaretto 16 months before our wedding, and selected them based on their DVD. However by the time we met with David, a few weeks before the wedding, he refused to play some of the songs we loved from the band's DVD! That was a bit disappointing. Also, we didn't want them to "set up" during cocktail hour because guests would see all of them bringing in their equipment. They said they would set up early for an extra $1500!!! That was ridiculous to us! We eventually worked it out so the band members arrived during a suitable time frame, no extra charge. Working with the band was a stressful aspect of the wedding planning. In the end, though, we got a fantastic evening and a rockin' night of wedding celebration!



Our Music List
We created this list of songs to be played at the wedding. We weren't expecting all of the songs to be played (or be played in a particular order) during the reception. The band performed many of the songs below, and some that weren't on the list, and the party really rocked! The music had a pretty broad appeal, and guests young and old danced the night away!





1 Pretty Woman Roy Orbison
2 Let's Stay Together Al Green

3 RESPECT Aretha Franklin

4 Independent Women Destiny's Child

5 Love Shack B-52's

6 Stayin' Alive Bee Gees

7 Jump, Jive & Wail Brian Setzer Orchestra

8 Le Freak Chic

9 Lady Marmalade Chrstina Agularia & Pink

10 I'm Coming Out Diana Ross

11 Can't Take My Eyes Off of You Lauryn Hill

12 The Way You Look Tonight Dorris Day

13 September Earth, Wind & Fire

14 At Last Etta James

15 Your Song Elton John

16 Wonderful Tonight Eric Clapton

17 Ain't No Woman Like the One I Got Four Tops

18 I Can't Help Myself+B44 Four Tops

19 I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor

20 You Sexy Thing Hot Chocolate

21 Can't Get Enough of Your Love Babe Barry White

22 I Want You Back Jackson 5

23 You're Beautiful James Blunt

24 I Got You (I Feel Good) James Brown

25 Get Up (I Feel Like A Sex Machine) James Brown

26 How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) James Taylor

27 You Are So Beautiful Joe Cocker

28 With a Little Help from My Friends Joe Cocker

29 Feelin' Alright Joe Cocker

30 Get Down Tonight KC & The Sunshine Band

31 Play That Funky Music KC & the Sunshine Band

32 What a Wonderful World Louie Armstrong

33 Sweet Home Alabama Lynrd Skynrd

34 Let's Get It On Marvin Gaye

35 Sexual Healing Marvin Gaye

36 Smooth Criminal Michael Jackson

37 L-O-V-E Nat King Cole

38 Stand By Me Otis Redding

39 Hey Ya/I Like the Way You Move Outkast

40 When a Man Loves a Woman Percy Slegde

41 Brick House Commodores

42 Living on a Prayer Bon Jovi

43 Build Me Up Buttercup The Foundations

44 We Are Family Sister Sledge

45 Living for the City Stevie Wonder

46 Signed, Sealed, Delivered Stevie Wonder

47 Ain't Too Proud to Beg Temptations

48 The Way You Do The Things You Do Temptations

49 My Girl Temptations

50 Get Ready Temptations

51 Oh What A Night The Four Seasons

52 Twist and Shout The Isley Brothers

53 Caught Up Usher

54 You Send Me Sam Cooke

55 Cupid Sam Cooke

56 All You Need is Love The Beatles

57 Uptight (Everything's Alright) Stevie Wonder

58 Rock Your Body Justin Timberlake

59 1 Thing Amerie

60 Crazy in Love Beyonce

61 Shout! Isley Brothers

62 Rescue Me Fontella Bass/Aretha Franklin

63 Try a Little Tenderness Otis Redding

64 Born to be Wild/Magic Carpet Ride Steppenwolf

65 Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond

66 Come on Eileen Dexy's Midnight Runners

67 Glory Days Bruce Springsteen

68 Let's Get It Started Black Eyed Peas

69 Best of My Love The Emotions

70 Think Aretha Franklin

71 Hit the Road Jack Ray Charles

72 New York, New York Frank Sinatra







Vendor Reviews



Photographer: Jessica Claire

I can’t say enough about Jessica! …and I don't need to since you can see her amazing photos here in this bio! She truly brightens up a wedding day. I highly recommend everyone book her for their wedding! Her talent is unsurpassed – simple as that! She is based out of Southern California, but shoots weddings all over the country. She flew to Maryland for our wedding -- was there for the rehearsal, wedding day, and day-after shoot. All of our guests keep saying they are so impressed with our wedding photographs! Thanks Jessica!


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Florist / Event Designer: Spot Floral Design
Silver Spring, MD
 
Spot decorated the entire inside of the tent, custom made table linens and huge lampshades hanging from inside the tent, did the flowers on the cake, and all bouquets and boutonnieres for the dads and ceremony ushers. They even made and delivered a 2nd bouquet to me for the "Day-After" photo shoot. I was blown away with Douglas and John's floral genius, and they are more than just a "florist" ~ they are true event designers. I went through 4 other florists in the Annapolis/DC area, and landed on Spot Floral Design! I have seen what's out there in terms of florists, and Spot Floral Design is by far the BEST!!! These two talent gems who run this incredible floral business really know how to create a magical scene! – and not just pretty arrangements plopped onto standard tables. One of my friends also used them for her Oct 14th wedding, and I was blown away again there too.
As far as specifics, I was so happy with what they were able to create within my budget. I was not on a big budget, but they made it look really lavish. I really wanted lamps on the tables, and so they custom made them along with the huge 6'x3' lamp shades hanging from inside the tent! They custom made all the pink iridescent table linens as well to pull the whole look together. To help us *see* all of this, they did a mock up of our table in their studio! They do this with all brides! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Spot Floral Design! Mention my name if you decide to use them for your wedding!


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Tent: Loane Brothers
Towson, MD
Loane Brothers provided the tent (century pole tent 50x100) as well as the tables, gold chivari chairs, the band's stage, and dance floor. They also did all the lighting, provided the catering tent, and the HUGE generator to supply electricity to all of this! They were easy to work with, very accommodating when I called about 2x per month to discuss specifics, and the tent turned out great. I am really happy we went with a black/white checker dance floor. It looks more classic and formal than the traditional wooden style. I also think it coordinated better with our black tie wedding, and elegant feel. I also REALLY loved the pleated liner on the tent ceiling and pink lights that illuminated the tent.


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Catering: Ken's Creative Kitchen
Annapolis, MD
Ken Upton is a true star, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he put into making my wedding a magical affair. Ken and his team have been doing events for my parents for the past 15+ years, so he is also our dear friend. His team is unmatched in terms of their personal service and attention to detail. He is also more than just a caterer; he is also an event coordinator and master chef rolled into one. His events are unparalleled! Also his food just melts in your mouth! He is very easy to work with! He had great suggestions for tweaking different elements of the reception which were all very helpful! Other vendors found him very accommodating when they worked with him as well. I highly recommend Ken! Mention my name if you decide to use him for your wedding!


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Cake: Charm City Cakes
Baltimore, MD
 
If you want your wedding cake to make a statement, then go with Charm City Cakes! Duff Goldman and his team have gained popularity in the past few years as the word has spread of his cake masterpieces. Duff now regularly appears on the Food Network's show "Ace of Cakes", so you may recognize his work from there too! To achieve the look of this cake, I just emailed a photo of Martha Stewart's "Tower of Roses" cake and asked them to replicate it except with 5 tiers, instead of 4. I really wanted a cake with some height , and a 5 tier (with an additional 4 tiers of flowers) did the trick! It looked magnificent! We did a fondant cake since it would be displayed outside, and the weather was a bit warm. A traditional, "sugar icing" cake could have melted, and the fondant helped it hold its shape and gave that smooth pristine finish. As for the flavor, Lando really wanted yellow cake with chocolate and caramel layers >> DONE! He has a big sweet tooth, and this was his primo request! So I made it happen! …and it was sooooo yummy! The cake was of course delivered on time, and our florist worked with Duff to create the floral layers. We opted for a hydrangea/rose combo instead of just roses. (If we did roses, we would have needed 700+ to achieve the look.) I love the way it turned out, and tasted spectacular! What more can you ask for? I can't wait to call them for our 1-year anniversary cake! I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend Charm City Cakes. Check out their website to see all their creative designs!


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Sparklers: Sparklers Online (36" length)
SparklersOnline.com ~ These sparklers were a perfect sendoff, and I was happy with how they turned out! We purchased the 36" length, which I would highly recommend! This long length is great since they burn for 4 minutes each! That offers tons of time for all the guests to get lit and for a bright and sparkling departure! We purchased a total of 96 sparklers (2 boxes), and that was plenty, even though we had 230 guests. Just a word of caution—do not order these sparklers at the last minute. They have to be shipped UPS Ground since flammable objects can not be sent via air mail. Also, I know some people think the sparklers will "burn" your dress or cause little ash marks. This is so NOT true! The sparks fell all over me, and not one burn! As you can see the dress was free of any burns at the "day after" photo shoot. I can't speak for other brands, but these from Sparklers Online do not leave burn marks on clothes. These sparklers were a hit, and I HIGHLY recommend this company!


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Dress: Mary's Bridal
Annapolis, MD
 
My dress was custom made for me here, and I absolutely LOVED the way it turned out. They call this color "goldspun" which is like a deep ivory with a little dose of "yellow butter" color thrown in. The final product was amazing, but I personally did not have the best customer service experience here. Since it's a custom made dress, I had to go in for 5 fittings over the course of 6 months. Mary was not accommodating since she doesn't do ANY fittings on weekends, and I live/work in New York City—so this was tough for me. Also, I was kept waiting for over an hour for my 3rd fitting – not cool. While I was waiting, I repeatedly (and graciously!) asked for my dress to be brought out so that I could try it on regardless if Mary was late. They would never bring it out, and they had various excuses why it was remaining in the back room of the shop.
The dressing rooms are very dingy, poor lighting, and the bathrobes are ragged. They also do not have a user-friendly full length mirrors accessible to brides. All the mirrors in the dressing rooms have beveled seams, and this makes it difficult to see a full view of the gown. There was one mirror in the store (with no seams), but a whole coffee table had to be moved for me to get a full view and I was still 10+ feet away from it. The overall lighting in the store is not flattering, just big florescent lights (like a school classroom).
Also, there are NO prices on any of the merchandise. Mary sort of talks with the client, gauges their budget, and then comes up with a price. Mary will deny this, but this method was confirmed by an employee. I do feel as if I overpaid for the dress, and a custom gown like this must be paid in full at the onset. The brooch on my dress was also made by Mary, and I thought it was great…. until it broke (in half!) a month after the wedding when I put my dress on again.
I am sure there's some excuse for all of this ~ there was always an "excuse" for everything throughout my experience with Mary. The final product ~ a great looking dress on my wedding day ~ was the ultimate goal, and thus I bit my tongue (for the most part) and held a gracious tone throughout my fittings. Once I got the dress in my hands, I vowed not to go back for any future purchase. My mom's dress was also made here, and she had a similar experience to me. I didn't expect or need any sort of royal treatment, but this shop left a lot to be desired in the way of bedside manner. The in-store experience was rarely enjoyable, and even the basic pleasures a bride expects during a fitting for her dream dress were absent at Mary's Bridal. I have seen other bridal shops out there and have been to several salons with friends for their fittings (everything from Reem Acra, Vera Wang, to local bridal shops in the Annapolis/Balt/DC area), but this shop was by far the worst in appearance and service. While the dress turned out great, I do not have a solid basis to recommend her to other brides.


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Bridal Accessories: Shoes, Jewelry, etc.
     
Shoes: Delman ~ "Candy" in champagne. Purchased from Bluefly.com…they were sold out everywhere else in my size!
Brooch: Lando purchased this beautiful diamond brooch for me at an antique market in New York. I kept it as a brooch, and then bobby pins were used to secure it into my hair.
Patch: As previously mentioned, this patch was created using extra fabric from the bridesmaids sash. I took the fabric to an embroidery shop, Bags and Sew On, in Annapolis to have them create the monogram and date. The ones available to order online (such as filigreemonograms.com) are nice, but the date inscription is only numbers. I really wanted mine to read "September 9, 2006" rather than "9-9-06". This local shop was able to customize it exactly as specified. It's also my "Something Blue!"
Earrings: Lando personally designed these with Jacqueline Martin at The Mineral Kingdom located in Georgetown (Washington, DC). He also purchased my engagement ring from her. Her tiny shop and highly personalized service make for a memorable experience and jaw-dropping jewelry!


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Dress Cleaning: Wedding Gown Specialists Restoration Labs
Arlington, VA
My dress was super dirty and gross after going in the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial! I took it to Wedding Gown Specialists Restoration Labs to tackle this project! They were amazing, and my dress came out SPOTLESS!!! …and only cost $100! I highly recommend using them!
3008 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA 22204 ~ TEL: (703) 521-2400


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Moms' Dresses
Left: Mother of the Groom ~ Right: Mother of the Bride
Lando and I thought our mothers each looked radiant the day of our wedding! My mom's dress (brown) was custom made at Mary's Bridal where my dress was also made. She looked great in her dress, but did not have the best experience dealing with this bridal shop. See full review of this shop in the review of my dress. His mom's dress (sage green) is from Montage by Mon Cheri (Style 16977) The jacket was light, and she was able to remove it for dinner and dancing!


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Bridesmaids Dress: Bill Levkoff
ordered from NetBride.com
 
Style 966 – Color: Champagne with a Taupe sash.
I love these dresses and how they flattered all my bridesmaids! I also LOVE the smooth color combination and the fact the color was similar to my dress. I wanted an "all ivory" wedding when I first started planning all this. Throughout the process, I didn't think about it too much, but it sort of turned out that way in some respects– and I loved it! The girls said the dresses were comfortable especially because there's an internal bustier that holds the dress up. With the weather a bit warmer than expected that day, some of the bridesmaids were a bit warm. Well, that also may have been due to our photographer having us all run through the streets for pictures! The dresses didn't wrinkle at all… and even looked great at the end of the evening. Retail price was $230, but ordered from NetBride.com they were only $128! All the positive reviews of NetBride are true – they are absolutely wonderful! Yes, size charts were a bit big, but that was from Bill Levkoff and not NetBride. They arrived one month early. I had all of them sent to me rather than pay for seven different shipping costs. All the dresses had to be altered, especially in the bust and length. To make them easier to wear, the "tails" were shortened so the bottom point was about 1" above the hem; also the small train was removed so the length was the same all the way around. The dresses came with a "shawl" (same material as the dress.) I gave it to our florist to wrap their bouquet handles with it!

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Bridesmaids Shoes
 
I selected these two styles for the bridesmaids to choose, if they didn't already have a pair of strappy champagne heels. LEFT: Tommy Hilfiger "Fancy Gold Leather Slide" ($36) or RIGHT: Colorifics "Lindsay" low heel in gold ($55). Both were available on Shoebuy.com, and a $15 coupon code plus free shipping made these pretty affordable. Since only the toe was visible, it didn't matter which shoe they chose. I hope they were comfortable for the wedding day! I'll have to ask the girls!

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Hair: Elegant Hair by Giselle
North Bethesda, MD
 
Left: one of the bridesmaids hairstyle ~ Right: My wedding hair
Giselle Zlotnisky is very popular among DC brides, and I now know why! With 80+ weddings a year, she knows how to do wedding hair! Even my regular stylist at the Four Seasons recommended her. She is very easy to work with; her hairstyles are soft, yet formal, and she does virtually any style you want. She came to my parent's home in Annapolis which was really convenient. As for my style, I wanted my hair up and pulled back, but done in a way that you could still see it around my neck (when viewing me from the front). She achieved exactly that! I did a trial a year before the wedding, mostly to see what she suggested and to ask her about veils, etc. I then did another trial a few weeks before the wedding. To achieve my updo, she put in several long extensions (of real hair) in two different shades of blonde. At first, I was a bit skeptical of the extensions, but I loved the way they turned out! My hair stayed in place all night. Giselle also styled all of the bridesmaids. I did not have any set style or agenda for them, but instead let them select a style with Giselle. They all looked beautiful! I highly recommend Giselle!

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Makeup: Beautymark by Kim Giammaria
Lorton, VA
 
Kim Giammaria is also very popular among DC brides! Many brides hire Kim (for makeup) and Giselle (for hair) together to achieve a beautiful look for the wedding day. Kim also came out to Annapolis to glam up the moms, bridesmaids and me! She too is very easy to work with; her makeup doesn't look too heavy…and stays all night! All the girls looked pretty and polished!
I am a makeup girl myself, and wear it everyday. I wanted to have great makeup, but appear different from my everyday look. Kim, with her extensive color palate, great products, and gentle hand achieved exactly this! I did a trial one year before the wedding to see if I liked Kim's style and to determine if I wanted to book her for the wedding. I gave her a deposit on the spot, she is so good! I visited the tanning salon quite a bit leading up to the wedding, but wanted to make sure I was not "too tan." Then about 5 days before the wedding I did a final trial with Kim accounting for my tan skin tone. Also at the trial we used Smashbox "Photo Finish" – a clear primer that helps makeup stay on all day. I brought this to Kim to test out, and she loved it! She used it the day of the wedding on me and all my bridesmaids. I think she's using it on most brides today! Kim made me feel beautiful and glamorous, and had a real calming effect on me in the final moments before slipping into my dress. I hope all DC brides book her for their weddings…but do it early because her calendar fills up fast!

One Note: I HIGHLY recommend hiring BOTH Giselle and Kim together. I loved the fact they came to my parent's home to get us ready. I know some brides/bridesmaids go to salons, but there's nothing like being at home the whole day, hanging out with your girls, and having a great team make you beautiful! If you can have everything done at home (or wherever you're getting ready), I would do it! …and it's especially great to have Kim and Giselle as your beauty pros!



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Church: United States Naval Academy Chapel
Annapolis, MD
I thought I would insert this section since we have received so many questions about our ceremony. How did you select the Naval Academy? Neither of you are military, so how did they "allow" you to have your ceremony here?
Well, we always wanted to get married here, and I have attended mass at this gorgeous chapel since I was little. You must submit your application only 1-year prior to your intended wedding date. Use of the Chapel for weddings is limited to Naval Academy alumni, active-duty military in the Annapolis area, and active-duty military personnel living in the immediate vicinity of the Chapel who also regularly attend Chapel services. Well, we didn't exactly meet any of these "requirements". Lando wrote a letter stating his admiration for the church, our respective parent's government service, my family's attendance for several years, and the fact that his mother was active-duty military currently deployed. Not sure which one of these gave us the "ok", perhaps the last one, but we were thrilled when they called and had accepted us. Claire MacCallum, the wedding coordinator there, was wonderful to work with. She answered all of our questions, and held our hand throughout the planning process. We used Monty Maxwell for organ music, one of their suggestions. Our ceremony was at 4pm, and was only permitted to be 23 min. long. All wedding ceremonies are held to this restriction. So we had a modified catholic ceremony where we eliminated communion. Also, I listed the wedding time on the invitation as 3:30 which worked perfectly… no one was late! Everyone stood outside the Chapel for about 10 minutes and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
Security is a major concern when having a wedding at the USNA. All adults (over 16) have to show a photo ID to enter the Naval Academy grounds. No parking is available on the USNA grounds, and there is little to no parking in the near vicinity—just small side street parking, but clearly not enough for 230+ guests. So guests valet parked their cars at my parent's home (reception site) and then took shuttles 5 min. away to the Naval Academy. None of the IDs were checked for guests on the shuttles, and instead the guards just waived through the shuttles sometimes checking just the driver's ID. They likely did this due to the lower security level of that particular day, but we could not have anticipated that especially with a wedding days so close to Sept 11th. All the guests that walked to the ceremony from nearby hotels DID have to show an ID at the gate… including the groom! I still had to somehow *elegantly* inform guests of all this on the wedding invitation.
I inserted a "Ceremony" card with the invitation:
______________________________________________________________
Ceremony

Photo identification is required for admittance
Vehicles are not permitted onto the Naval Academy grounds

Guests staying in Historic Annapolis may walk to the Chapel

Guests driving need to arrive at the Smith residence
before three o’clock for transportation to the Chapel

Following the ceremony, transportation will be provided for
all guests to the Smith residence
______________________________________________________________

(*You can see a photo of this above with the invitations.)

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Valet Parking / Shuttle Buses: Towne Transportation
Annapolis, MD
Towne Transportation was great to work with because they have done several weddings with the Naval Academy. They also provided the valet parking. Each of the three shuttles did a few runs back and forth to the church which was only 5 min away. The last shuttle took bridal party. One detail, but kind of important to me: I like the fact that the shuttles did not wait outside the ceremony with their engines running. I have been to a few weddings where this happened, and you can hear the engines throughout the ceremony inside! These shuttles left the chapel area during the ceremony, and were right there to pick the guests back up at the end. Very smooth. One guest did mention that they did not have the A/C running, which was needed on our fairly warm day. :( We had one shuttle remain to the very end of the evening to transport guests back to their hotels in Historic Annapolis. Overall, Towne Transport was great!



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More reviews soon!!!!!






My email: SarahWeddings@gmail.com

















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