September 5, 2023

Judy and Dylan's Spy Museum Washington, DC Wedding

September 5, 2023

In spite of the fact that I didn't meet them in person until the rehearsal, I truly want Judy and Dylan to be my BFF's -- if only they didn't live in Seattle!!! They are two of the sweetest, kindest, most fun people I have ever met!

The day before the wedding, weird storms were predicted, so I made the decision to do everything indoors at the Spy Museum (including ceremony in their gorgeous enclosed space on the roof). The day of the wedding dawns, and everyone starts questioning me "It's gorgeous out, are you sure you want to move it inside?!" I said "I believe in the Capital Weather Gang...let's stick with indoors" As always...this is why you hire an experienced planner. Because by the time the ceremony started, there was quite the wind storm outside. By the time it ended, the winds were so strong even the Spy Museum's former military, VERY strong looking head of security could BARELY pull the doors open -- that's how strong the wind was!!! In fact, after we had moved all of the guests downstairs for cocktail hour, the bride and groom were practicing their first dance on the roof when he came to me and said "Um...yeah, let's get them out of here, I've NEVER seen winds this strong and I'm starting to get worried!"

Luckily, everyone was safe and sound and no damage occurred to our beloved Spy Museum :)

Speaking of their ceremony, did I mention that the flower girl and ring bearer were THE COUPLE'S CATS?!?!?! In my 15 years as a wedding planner, I can truly say that this was a first for me. I'm not even a cat person, but these cats were SO GORGEOUS, and were the sweetest!!!

We were thrilled to work with one of our favorite caterers, Main Event, who knocked it out of the park as usual. And Lisa Lee Florals, who we worked with for the first time last year at Lauren and Peter's wedding, has officially become one of our go-to gals!

These guests came ready to PARTY and another one of our favorites, DJ Kelton Higgins, delivered on all fronts.

We can't say how much we love this couple, how much we love our vendor partners and, of course, how much we love working at the Spy Museum (even more now that they kept us from blowing off the roof!!)

Judy and Dylan’s vendors:

Venue: Spy Museum @spymuseumprivateevents

Plannery: Rebecca O’Donnell, The Plannery @theplannery

Flowers: Lisa Lee Florals @lisaleeflorals

DJ: Kelton Higgins @luvdupdjs

Caterer: Main Event @maineventcatrs

Photographer: Ashton Campbell with Wilderpines Elopements @wilderpines.co

Rentals: Select Event @selecteventgroup

Katie Wannen

October 6, 2015

Real Weddings, The Plannery Weddings

Kim and Todd // National Museum of Women in the Arts Wedding, Washington, DC // DC wedding coordinator

Katie Wannen

October 6, 2015

Real Weddings, The Plannery Weddings

Kim and Todd have an awesome love story. As Kim’s dad recounted during his toast, thirty-some years ago - before Todd and Kim were born - their dads met at a job they both took after college and stayed good friends from then on. They each had children around the same time and they would often joke that they wanted to set their kids up so that one day they’d become family. Fast forward - Todd started college at James Madison University a year before Kim decided to go there too. Todd's dad told him to help Kim and her family move her into her dorm, so he did. The week before classes started, Todd and Kim met for lunch a few times and were officially dating a couple weeks after that. So, although they've been together for 7 years, they've actually known each other for over twenty!

They had a beautiful wedding this past June, with a ceremony at Holy Rosary Catholic Church and the reception at National Museum of Women In the Arts. After getting ready, their first look, and some portraits, the ceremony began. We amazingly crunched in some more photos post-ceremony before the rain really came down - it made for some windy but beautiful pics by Matthew D’Agostino of Love Life Images.

This was yet another example of a fairly traditional wedding made personal with small touches throughout the night. Kim made the NMWA venue even more beautiful with her stunning DIY projects which included escort cards on keys, Kim and Todd’s initials in flowers, and hand-made preserves as favors. Add in the beautiful florals by LynnVale Studios and delicious dining by Main Event and you had an incredible evening. After dinner, the guests danced the night away to Elan Artists’ band Nation - and had a very cool surprise set with Kim’s uncle (E Street Band’s Nils Lofgren!) and Kim’s father. The icing on the cake (pun intended) was that their wedding cake was made by their grandmother!