The reception was at the Decatur House. I love videotaping there, especially when they have the outdoor tent set up. It’s a great space and provides a beautiful backdrop for a beautiful day.

This couple had a great wedding, but with such a top notch team of vendors, I can’t imagine how it could’ve been anything but perfect.

Contact Tom Van Veen:
thomas@documentaryassociates.com
301-758-3085
www.documentaryassociates.com

Contact Elegance & Simplicity:

301.656.5560
800.768.8814
Twitter: GreenWed + EcoBeautiful
www.eleganceandsimplicity.com
www.eco-beautifulweddings.com

And then my phone rang. It was the bride. She had been out of town and had only just watched the video the night before. After watching it “My husband told me to call Jessica right away and tell her how much we love the video. We do, Jessica. It’s perfect. We love it!”

I love hearing that. It’s why I do weddings.
Here’s a short version of their recap so you can see a little of what made them so happy.

Aside from the bride and groom being gorgeous, this was a beautiful all around event, and a lot of the credit for that goes to the wedding planner, Mr. William Grace. He put together a fabulous event and seemed happy and relaxed the whole time. He was a pleasure to work with and I know the bride and groom loved him. You can see the bride giving him a little token of her appreciation in the bridal prep video.

It was a beautiful wedding day and there was a lot of love to go around. I am glad I was there to catch some of it!

“Hi Jessica,
Thank you so much!!! We LOVE the wedding video! It made everyone cry all over again and you caught all the wedding day details I was hoping to see. Is it possible to get 2 more copies of the DVD?
Thanks!
Allison
P.S. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like me to write a review for you?!”

Check out this recap of their beautiful day. Maybe it will make you cry.


We are not supposed to have favorites, but this wedding was one of my favorites of the year. Allison and Brian were a pleasure to work with. Their ceremony was made unique with personal thank you letters to their families and promises made to each other. The River Plantation, where the ceremony and reception were held, was gorgeous, as were the bride and groom. To top it off, I got to work with two of my favorite wedding vendors - Kristi Odom, of Kristi Odom Photography, and Kelley Cannon, of Kelley Cannon Events.

Check out Kristi’s photos. Her style is professional and fun and that’s what working with her is like.

Kelley Cannon, after planning a wonderful event, had this to say about the wedding:
“Allison & Brian definitely put a lot of thought into all the details of the wedding (which as a planner, you know I appreciate!), but one of things that I loved the most about the day was the heartfelt emotion and personal touch they incorporated into their ceremony. Allison’s uncle officiated the ceremony and they included personal addresses to their parents, vows they wrote themselves (which made just about everyone- including me) laugh and cry. They also had a close friend sing a beautiful song (“Feels like Home to Me”) in the middle of the ceremony. A lot of times in the flurry that is wedding planning, couples can lose focus of the reason they are planning the celebration, so I thought that was really special.”

Allison and Brian chose to see each other before their ceremony. You can see their pre-ceremony photos as well as some beautiful decorative touches set up for the ceremony in this video:

To discuss wedding planning with Kelley Cannon, check out her website or call her at (703) 477-5111.

To see more beautiful photos like the one below, check out Kristi Odom’s website.

Michael Alvarez, an associate videographer, captured the ceremony and reception.  Here is a short clip from the wedding video.

Myrna had this to say about the wedding:
“Jen and Frank were a full plan.  I worked with them for over a year after meeting them at a bridal show at Bristow Manor. They were delightful to work with every step of the way, having their definitive ideas of what they envisioned their wedding day to be, yet, always open to suggestions. I just finished watching Jen and Frank’s video and loved it.  Thanks so much.”

Myrna Grossman, CWS
For All Occasions, Inc.
Wedding Planning and more…
Fairfax, Virginia

“I received the videos and watched one last night. We loved it! Thank you so very much for a job well done. You really seemed to catch all the highlights and it was so much fun to relive it again!” - Mother of the Bride

The bride and groom wrote their own ceremony, which had me getting choked up watching the footage! Jennifer Arezzo, as always, brought together a top notch team of vendors and had all of us prepared ahead of time with the schedule of events, directions, etc. The entire wedding day went perfectly and it was another success for everyone involved.

Lisa Nelson, owner of Elegant Event Planning, recently posted her list of the Best Wedding Vendors of 2009, and I was excited to be chosen as the best videographer.  You can see a complete list of all of the Honor Roll Vendors here, or click the following to read what Lisa had to say about my work and why she chose me as the Best Videographer!

This is much better than all those times I was on the honor roll in High School!  First of all, I really like all the other kids who made the list, and secondly,  I like the selection process better.  I never was very good with averages, so I prefer being hand chosen for doing something I love to do.

Thank you Lisa.  I am looking forward to working with you and the entire Elegant Event Planning staff on many more elegant and beautiful events in 2010!

Katie is a very busy woman.  Not only is she a fabulous wedding planner and an amazing florist under Elegance & Simplicity, she recently published a new online magazine - Eco Beautiful Weddings, is working on getting her third book completed and published, and runs the DC Green Wedding Consortium, of which I am proud to be a member.

Photo By Jennifer Domenick of Love Life Images

I recently asked Katie a few questions about what makes an Eco Beautiful wedding.

What makes you a “green” vendor?

Everything from our wind-powered workshop and website to the flowers that we purchase are eco-friendly elements of an overall green mission that we have instilled in all of our employees and the way we run our business.

Being green is not just about our supply chain, it is about our outreach to the community locally and the environment at large.  We donate to local schools and help nourish local gardens from our in-house composting program and invest in international carbon offsetting programs along with other incredible forward-thinking and world changing organizations.

We also educate and help other wedding professionals about becoming a green!  We also are a source of eco-friendly wedding inspiration for brides around the world with the premiere of our new magazine Eco-Beautiful Weddings.  Our goal is to change the way brides plan their weddings from the beginning.  Being green does not mean wearing hemp on your wedding day and Eco-Beautiful Weddings helps show brides how to go eco-couture on their wedding day!

What are the top 3 things a bride can do to “green” her wedding?

1. Reduce the amount of out-of-town guests that will be traveling to your wedding.  Transportation is the biggest “eco-sin” when it comes to weddings!
2. Don’t serve red meat at your wedding.  Serve fish, chicken/fowl and/or vegetarian/vegan options instead. The amount of energy it takes to produce and digest red meat is staggering compared to the other options.
3. Choose décor and fashion items that come from renewable and free-trade and fair- wage resources.

As in all of your wedding planning visits…ask questions to see how green your vendors are.  You may be the catalyst to making a change, one vendor at a time.

Photo By Jennifer Domenick of Love Life Images

Why is having a green wedding important?  What is the impact, if any?

Having a green wedding is about putting a fist up in the air at the wedding industrial complex as a whole.  It is saying that you want your wedding to make a difference.  You want your wedding to make a statement, to be a journey in education for you and your guests.  It means that your big day is giving back to a greater purpose.  If each engaged couple made at least one change in their wedding planning process, the world and the environment can literally be changed.  The impact is priceless and without measure.

Why do you care?

There are several reasons why I care about the environment and impacting the wedding industry.  One is that I come from a very different background than many players in the wedding industry.  I used to be a missionary in the Dominican Republic, which is one of the greenest countries in the world by necessity.  I am sure, at some point, if people do not change their ways in general – we will all need to be green by necessity.  After coming back from living in the slums of Santo Domingo, I knew (no matter where I worked) that I could not longer just live like I had before in conspicuous consumption.  So, I decided to make a difference in the wedding industry.  I soon found my job to make a difference to be harder than I thought.  Waste is the status quo in the wedding industry.  So I decided to not really tell my brides that I was making a difference and just did it on my own.  I researched all of my vendors – making sure they had a soul and a purpose behind what they do on wedding days.  I wanted to find the vendors that were making a difference in their own way.  Whether it was small or large statements, all of my vendors were either giving back to the community or making a difference in their art through their supply chain or just plain being innovative or different.

In the end, I just care, period.  I am a wife and a mother and I want a better world for myself and my son and everyone really!

I have already met with one of Stephanie’s 2010 couples and could tell that they are really enjoying working with her on the wedding planning process.

Stephanie has been in business for herself for a little over a year now and has been learning about all of the different venues and vendors in this area since she moved to Northern Virginia from Blacksburg last year.  Stephanie is extremely detailed oriented and able to take care of all of your wedding and event planning needs.

If you are interested in learning more about Stephanie, check out her website or visit her blog!