Colin and Mara's Torpedo Factory Alexandria, VA Wedding

Photo by JPG Photography

Colin and Mara were married at The Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA this past August - on a hot, but luckily, not stormy (!) day. Mara’s family is Portuguese and she was able to integrate some Portuguese touches throughout the event (including Portuguese music and of course - dancing!) that made it really special. They got ready at nearby Hotel Indigo and did photos prior to the ceremony around beautiful Old Town, while we were getting the venue ready for their big day! D Nicole Settings provided a gorgeous fern wall for their ceremony (which covered the somewhat odd staircase at Torpedo Factory!), while Main Event Catering, Growing Wild Florist, and John Farr lighting also did an awesome job making the space look beautiful. After a very personal ceremony, cocktails were outdoors on the waterfront patio (with no rain! whew!), followed by dinner and dancing indoors. The Bachelor Boys kept the crowd dancing all night long, and Gustavo from JPG Photography provided these beautiful photos. Enjoy!

Mara and Colin’s Wedding Vendors:

Coordinator: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: The Torpedo Factory

Caterer: Main Event Catering

Photographer: Gustavo, JPG Photography

Music: The Bachelor Boys

Florist: Growing Wild

Fern Wall: D Nicole Settings

Hair/Make-up: Modern Bridal Studio

Lighting/Draping: John Farr

The Plannery Event Design - from inception to reality

We’ve previously showed you some examples of how our event design services go from mood board, to action and reality. We have another one to show you this week, from Janine and Jenevieve’s wedding at The Torpedo Factory. Janine and Jenevieve loved how unique the Torpedo Factory was and wanted to play on that artsy vibe. They liked how modern the factory felt, and that it housed actual working art spaces, so Kim incorporated some of those feelings into the imagery in the moodboard. They both loved purples and blues but also wanted to add a warmer color for contrast. Lastly, they were really into playing up the lighting in the space, and wanted a more organic flower style that incorporated several colors. 

As you can see, the florist took this mood board and created lush, romantic, organic pink and purple flower arrangements, both for the ceremony and the centerpieces. We incorporated candles, darker lighting, and pink uplighting to bring a romantic feel to the space. They also took the artsy vibe of the venue - the painting/brush stroke element in the mood board - and brought that into their printed materials (like their escort cards, pictured here), and also used romantic cursive writing. Finally, their family and wedding party wore shades of purple as well, to tie in with their color theme.

Hopefully this side by side comparison, as well as some other photos below help to give you a sense of how this mood board can be a real guide to execute a look and feel for your day! You can learn more about our design services here!

Photos by Shawnee Custalow

Jenevieve and Janine's Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA Wedding

Photo by Shawnee Custalow

Hopefully you all saw and heard about this wedding on my social media accounts ages ago, when it was featured on Bustle (and if not, check it out now). Jenevieve and Janine had a truly special love story, and I was honored to be a part of it. After postponing their wedding so that Jenevieve could transition, I was so thrilled to finally see their marriage happen, almost a year after it was originally supposed to occur. 

Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate so instead of having an outdoor ceremony at the Alexandria Waterfront park, we moved it and were still able to have it outdoors, but underneath the tented patio at Torpedo Factory. With the beautiful arbor by Barbara at Growing Wild, no one noticed :)

After a personal and beautiful ceremony, there were cocktails under the tent, followed by a wonderful dinner and dancing inside Torpedo Factory, one of my favorite unique venues in the area. 

Huge props to the super rad Shawnee Custalow for the gorgeous photos. Enjoy these shots and drink in this beautiful wedding! Congrats again Jenevieve and Janine!

**Also check back next week to see another post about J&J’s design. They used The Plannery’s design services and I’ll be showing you their initial mood board and the final product!

Janine and Jenevieve’s Vendors:

Venue: Torpedo Factory

Planner: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Photographer: Shawnee Custalow

Caterer: Catering by Seasons

Band: Take Cover

Lighting: John Farr

Flowers: Growing Wild

Cake: Baked and Wired

Sandhya and Steve's Alexandria, VA Wedding at Torpedo Factory

Sandhya and Steve were basically my first clients upon moving to DC and launching The Plannery. So I’m not gonna lie, I have a soft spot for these two. Sandhya was one of those brides that was convinced she was a bridezilla and was in fact my dream client: super smart, super savvy, super fun, super sweet and deeply in love (I’m a romantic, what can I say?). She and Steve were so much fun to work with - from tastings to photographer meetings to walk throughs to the day-of. Plus it didn't hurt that they lived near my neighborhood and frequented my favorite Mexican restaurant - so obviously they had great taste.

They got married in one of my favorite venues, The Torpedo Factory. The Torpedo Factory is in my hood (whassup Alexandria!!) and is modern, funky, non-traditional, and very fun. As you shall see. The day was captured by the ever-awesome Leo Druker.

Sandhya is half-Indian so while she didn’t do an official (epic) Indian wedding, she did want to incorporate elements into her ceremony and the reception and I thought she did a beautiful job. She wore the white sari her mother wore on her wedding day, and her uncle did a traditional blessing as part of the ceremony (those garlands… THOSE GARLANDS. sigh). And can we just say that my new favorite way to end a ceremony is with a high-five?? BEST.

After the ceremony they did some beautiful portraits in Old Town and by the waterfront.

Then Sandhya changed into her RAD reception dress (let’s hear it for non-white dresses, ladies!), and sat down for a great meal. After the speeches, her sister played a song for them on her violin - so lovely!

They kicked off their dancing with a ridiculously awesome first dance to Fly Me To The Moon.

Dancing and partying ensued thanks to Evan from MyDeejay.

And the night ended as only the most amazing wedding can end: with an impromptu push-up contest.

Sandhya and Steve's vendors:

Event Planning: Katie Wannen, The Plannery

Venue: The Torpedo Factory

Photographer: Leo Druker

Caterer: Main Event

Music: Evan from MyDeejay