Best Of Northern Virginia 2009

Best of Northern Virginia 2009

Thank you so much for making us Best Event Planner 2009! Northern Virginia Magazine polled readers and A Simple Wish was voted #1.

We could not be successful without the support of all of our clients, vendors, and cherished friends in the industry.

The magazine is on newsstands now and is filled with other great categories for "Best Of."

For more information, visit the website at http://www.northernvirginiamag.com/best_of_2009/.

Meridian House Wedding

Meridian House Wedding, Washington, DC
June 13, 2009

Jaye and Ben

What a beautiful day it turned out to be! Although the rain was threatening all week, we ended up with gorgeous weather for this 300-person wedding reception at the Meridian House in DC.

The day started with the bride and maids getting ready at the bride's parents' Georgetown home and continued with the ceremony at St. John's Episcopal Church in McLean. There were 24 people in the wedding party, including 12 groomsmen, 8 bridesmaids, 1 flower girl, 1 ring bearer and the bride and groom!

The 300-person reception was hosted at the Meridian House and R&R Catering catered the event. The multiple buffets included an Asian stir fry station, raw bar, gourmet macaroni and cheese bar, and a 12 ft. long table full of sumptuous foods.

Paul Morse Photography provided the beautiful pictures. What a lovely photographer! With his calm and pleasant demeanor and eye for detail, Jaye and Ben will have beautiful pictures to last a lifetime. http://www.paulmorse.com/

Spectrum Band entertained the guests all night long and the dancefloor was never not full. The band rocked the house with a mix of classic and contemporary music and much to the guests' delight, they never took a break.

Dave Millspaugh with Ultraviolet provided the flowers and decor--crisp hydrangea, hanging lanterns, and a chic white lounge area with a lit-up bar.

Sweet endings were provided by Just Cakes--my favorite baker in Bethesda!

This was a party that no one will forget!

For more pictures, check out Paul's blog! http://www.paulmorsecode.com/

Jamaica Mon

Honeymoon in Jamaica anyone?

Destination wedding in Jamaica?

You could be here......

I just recently returned from a trip to Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica and I am so excited to blog about it! The purpose of the trip was a FAM tour of Sandals/Beaches properties in Jamaica.

The flight from DC was very seamless. It took 5 hours including a short layover in Charlotte. Because I left DCA at 5:45am and was in Jamaica at 10:00am (their time, they are currently 1 hour behind us) I was able to enjoy an entire day in the sun before our first "work commitment."


The drive from Montego Bay airport to Sandals Whitehouse was about 1 1/2 hours. We drove through the countryside and saw houses and little towns along the way.




When I arrived at the resort we were given cool, wet cloths and champagne. We were taken to the concierge lounge and just sat on couches as we were checked into our rooms. The rooms were amazing! They are all suites with king beds (Sandals is a couples only resort) with a fully stocked bar and refrigerator.






In the evening we were invited to a welcome dinner. When we first arrived we were treated to an open bar cocktail hour and a serenade of lovely cello music.











When they unveiled the dining room we saw that they were showcasing the Preston Bailey wedding collection for Sandals Resorts. Just look at how gorgeous the designs are. Let me tell you, the pictures don't do the designs justice. They are truly stunning.





The second day there we toured Beaches Negril, Sandals Negril, and Beaches Sandy Bay. They can all do destination weddings and each resort wined and dined us. We were greeted with a chocolate buffet complete with a chocolate fountain at Beaches Negril.















Our second stop was to Sandals Negril, which was my favorite resort that we saw in Jamaica. It is a truly romantic place and the staff at Sandals will go out of their way to give couples the experience that they are looking for--be it a romantic private dinner on the beach, butler service, a drawn bath with rose petals, a special drink, or whatever your heart desires.

Imagine saying your wedding vows here.....

My favorite rooms at Sandals Negril were the swim up suites and the suites with the private plunge pools. Honeymooning my style.






Our third stop was at Beaches Sandy Bay. The Beaches properties are great because if you have kids in the family you can bring them along and still have a wedding in paradise. We were treated to a cake tasting that included different options that couples can choose from. They all tasted great! And the scenery was amazing--imagine getting married here on the beach.

On the way back to Sandals Whitehouse we stopped at the famous Rick's Cafe in Negril. Here they party all day and all night complete with cliff diving from the locals and daring tourists.

On our third day in Jamaica we attended an all-day workshop and learned about booking destination weddings and honeymoons at Sandals and Beaches Resorts. I'm proud to say that I am now a Certified Sandals Specialist and can book weddings and travel to Sandals/Beaches properties all over the Caribbean. If you've ever been curious about Jamaica or Sandals Resorts, please contact me. I'd love to share my experience with you. Happy vacationing!

Beach Wedding

Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, Maryland, beach wedding.

With the weather that we had this past weekend, I was inspired to share some pictures with you from a beach wedding that we did in August on the Eastern Shore in Maryland.

The bride's beautiful hair was done by Giselle http://www.hairbygiselle.com/.

Makeup was done by the talented Carl Ray who is with George Salon at the Four Seasons in DC. Both Giselle and Carl Ray travel to provide on site hair and makeup.

The flowers were done by Jack Lucky http://www.jackluckyfloraldesign.com/. The bridesmaids bouquets were stunning, combining cream roses, lisianthus, mini callas and spray roses with a touch of bright green. The bride's bouquet incorporated white and cream garden roses, mini white hydrangea, with an accent of seeded eucalyptus.













The chuppah was beautifully designed by Jack Lucky's team. The arbor at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club is just stunning to work with. It was a perfect day for pictures, as you can see a few white clouds in the sky and bright blue sky.

After the ceremony was over, the bride and groom took a walk down to the beach.



















This photo was taken at sunset.
The bride had a vision of sunset colors in the reception room. We created this look by using soft pink and orange lighting. Lightolutions http://www.lightolutions.com/ was just amazing to work with.

Jacky Lucky also helped embellish the sunset look by using a combination of high and low centerpieces with amber, peach, gold, dark orange and hot pink flowers that included mini callas, mokara orchids, pincushion protea, roses, spray roses, gloriosa lillies, green hydrangea, bells of Ireland, cymbidium orchids, dahlias, hanging amaranthus, and crocosmia.

Guests were invited to leave "well wishes and words of advice" in this gorgeous little glass box. You can find these at http://www.perfectweddingbox.com/.

The chef at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club is amazing. The bride and groom offered a dessert buffet in lieu of a wedding cake.

Summer is right around the corner! If anyone is looking for ideas or inspiration for a summer or beach wedding, please contact us anytime!

Pictures for this wedding provided by the ever so talented Steve Canning http://www.stevecanningphotography.com/. Video was provided by Jessica Piscitelli http://www.jessicapi.com/.