Stephanie and Brian's International Spy Museum DC Wedding

Photo by Bee Two Sweet

We’ve been excited about The International Spy Museum for a while now. And I’ve been dying to show you all this gorgeous wedding that Rebecca helped plan! It’s bittersweet to share since we don't know when we can again work at this fabulous venue, but as I’ve mentioned previously, my hope is that these looks back at weddings can bring some smiles to faces.

This was one of the first weddings held on this stunning venue’s rooftop and the day turned out perfectly.  After their ceremony at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and photos around DC, the reception was held open-air and the sun set behind Stephanie and Brian’s families and friends as they gave wedding toasts.  They really embraced the spy-theme (Bond's Aston Martin was in the lobby, after all) and named their tables after James Bond movies, with the head table titled "Diamonds are Forever".  The cocktail hour in the Spy Museum lobby featured a boxwood covered bar and an escort card wall filled with custom calligraphy marble coasters.  And of course the flowers were spectacular and filled the reception space with color and texture. As their send-off, they took inspiration from Crazy Rich Asians and had firefly lights for our guests to wave as we departed.

Enjoy these beautiful photos from Bee Two Sweet!

Stephanie and Brian’s Vendors:

Planner: Rebecca O’Donnell, The Plannery

Ceremony Venue: Cathedral of St. Matthew The Apostle

Reception Venue: International Spy Museum

Photographer: Bee Two Sweet

Caterer: Main Event Catering

Florist: Amaryllis Designs

Hair: Hair by Giselle

Make-up: Shaune Hayes Makeup

DJ and Lighting: Dan Goldman Events

Cake: Sweet Crimes

Our Favorite Moms

This Sunday was Mother’s Day, so to honor all our awesome moms out there, we decided to look back at some of our favorite Mom moments from past Plannery weddings. To those Moms who help us get ready, walk us down the aisle, dance with us, cry with us, and are there to support us, huge love to you all you!!

Photo by Sarah Gormley

Photo by Tell Chronicles

Photo by Leo Druker

Photo by Susan Hornyak

Photo by Go Kate Shoot

Photo by Love Life Images

Photo by Chris Ferenzi

Photo by Charles Archambault

Photo by Olivia Jacob

Photo by Photo Lady Love

Photo by Charles Archambault

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

Lindsay and Jeff's The Assembly Room Baltimore Wedding

Photo by Peyton Rainey Byford

Where oh where do I begin with Lindsay and Jeff?! From their incredible taste, to their ooey gooey infectious love for one another, all the way to their bad ass, upbeat personalities, they are and will forever be favs of mine. As a month-of coordinator, you are not always looped into every step of the planning process.  Usually it is not until the day-of or post-wedding that I see things like the invitation suite. But with Lindsay and Jeff, just like one of their cherished guests, I too received the invitation to their wedding.  You should have seen the look on my face and felt the warmth in my heart when I opened the mailbox that day. WHAT SWEET CLIENTS I HAVE!! I will never forget their wedding date, it’s the best date in the world. My birthday, September 28th! I was exactly where I was supposed to be that day in 2019. 

Lindsay and Jeff are true city-goers, married on the perimeter of downtown Baltimore at The Assembly Room.   When you soak in The Assembly Room and what it has to offer, you are soaking in Lindsay and Jeff.  It has them written all over it!  This couple was very meticulous in all of their vendor selections, which makes me so happy and honored that they chose me to be part of the team too! Given their diligence, it was particularly hard when the venue manager and I noticed that one of their vendors was shaping up to be an ill fit just a few weeks before the big day.  It is not always easy, but totally part of my job as a coordinator to break this news to Lindsay and Jeff.  Naturally, this was tough news for them to hear and all of us had to work tirelessly and quickly to replace this vendor.   Over the years, I have dealt with tears at weddings in the past, but this time was different.  This time it was before the wedding and it was one of my clients and we all felt the hurt on that dreaded call.  But it made us stronger and better as a client-coordinator force!

Wedding planning as a process can sometimes be hard and unkind, but in the end, it always seems to end up perfect and beautiful. Lindsay and Jeff had an AMAZING, AMAZING day. The evidence is in the photos by Peyton Rainey Photography and incredible video footage shot by Wild Light Films.  Enjoy - and congrats again to Lindsay and Jeff!

Coordinator: Tarra Morgan, The Plannery @theplannery @tar2ra
Venue: The Assembly Room @theassemblyroom
Photos: Peyton Rainey Byford @peytonrbyford
Caterer: Rouge Catering @rougecatering
Videographer: Wild Light Films @wildlightfilms
Hair/Make-up: Shine Tina @shine_tina
Lighting/Pipe & Drape: Baltimore Event Solutions @eventsolutionsbaltimore
Flowers: The Flower Basket @theflowerbasket_ltd
Lounge Furniture: Something Vintage @smthingvintage
Photobooth: Pixilated Photobooth @pixilated

Pivot

Photo by Breanne Furlong

We’ve been pretty quiet over here, as I’ve tried to let things settle into this new non-normal. For a while I felt like posting about weddings just didn’t make sense - so much was unknown about the future of weddings and social gatherings, so much was unknown about our own little business, so much was unknown about the future in general.

But unfortunately, it looks like clarity won’t be making an appearance any time soon. So I wanted to pop on here to give some small updates from our end:

First, if you need anything from us - please reach out. Can we foresee the future? No, but we’re here as ears and as a resource to you as we all try to navigate the future of events. I know there are a lot of couples eloping and making new plans - and again, we’re here if you need us in any way!

The main news is that unfortunately I’m going to be stepping sideways (cue PIVOT meme from Friends) as we have to make some essential adjustments. I was planning on announcing in April that I’d be stepping sideways because I got a new gig helping with events at a local venue. That job fell through for obvious reasons. So now, I’m stepping sideways because I have to be a stay-at-home mom. I’ll continue to be the owner of this business - but I likely won’t be able to take on any future coordination or planning gigs. Our amazing team - Rebecca and Tarra - will continue to help coordinate and plan - so please know The Plannery will still be here, I’ll still be at the helm (and on social media), but won't have as many active clients as I have previously. We’re going to start easing back into more blogging again - I feel like it doesn’t make sense to not share happy content when we could all use some smiles. So expect some more weddings and other event-related content coming your way.

I’m as curious as everyone else what weddings will look like in the future. In some ways I’m intrigued by how this will change things - will it mean more intimate gatherings? Or will we be in a place where everyone can socialize again and folx will go ALL OUT?!! Probably a bit of both. Only time will tell…

But til then I wanted to wish you all well and send you lots of love!

Best, Katie

An Ode To Flower Children and Ring Bearers

Photo by Sarah Gormley

My daughter was recently a ring bearer at a family member’s wedding (more on that later!) - and it got me thinking about flower children and ring bearers. We opted not to have any kids at our wedding, but many do - and goodness gracious are they adorable. Children bring fun, whimsy, tears, laughs, and the unexpected - much like marriage ;) So I thought we’d take a look back at some of our favorite Plannery kids. From bubbles to balloons, a literal parade of babies (to Prince Ali, from Aladdin, obviously) to jumps and winks, enjoy these kiddos and hope they brighten up your day as much as they brightened up ours!

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

Photo by Bonnie Sen

Photo by Tell Chronicles

Photo by Hannah Hudson

Photo by Sarah Gormley

Photo by Go Kate Shoot

Photo by jess Latos Photography

Photo by Charles Archambault

Photo by Amanda Gilley

Photo by Shandi Wallace

Photo by Photo Lady Love

Photo by Amber Wilkie

Photo by Susan Hornyak

Photo by Sarah Gormley

Photo by Ayesha Ahmad

Photo by Mantas Kubilinskas

Photo by Sam Hurd

Photo by Justin McCallum

Photo by Lily B Photography

Alicia and Matt's Modern Longview Gallery Washington DC Wedding

Photo by The Oberports

Enjoy this insanely colorful, modern, stylish DC wedding from Rebecca!

Alicia and Matt's modern wedding at Long View Gallery began by throwing tradition out the window right from the start.  The couple knew they didn't want a "traditional" processional, where the bride is the focus.  They felt that, as partners, both were equally important.  As a result they, along with my help (!) designed a ceremony layout with two angled aisles, meeting in the middle, so that the couple could walk in at the same time, meet in the center, and then proceed to the "altar" (in this case a gorgeous hanging greenery arrangement by florist Sidra Forman) together.  

In addition to the ceremony, food was very important to the couple.  Eric Fleischer Catering helped the couple pull together an AMAZING buffet dinner that featured the couple's favorite foods (Steak for the groom, tons of veggies and pastas for the bride) that not only tasted delicious, but was gorgeous as well.  Later in the evening, the couple decided that, rather than a traditional wedding cake, they would do a junk food buffet.  One side was sweet, with Oreos and Candy, and mini tarts and cheesecakes from the Caterer, then on the Savory Side, Eric Fleischer provided mini pizzas, soft pretzels and bags of various flavored popcorns, while the couple provided Goldfish, Doritos and, as a nod to the groom's Lancaster, PA family, Martin's BBQ Potato Chips!

The bride is one of the coolest people I've ever met, and has an AMAZING sense of style.  So it's no surprise that that was reflected both in her outfits for the night as well as the wedding decor.  The bride wore a simple A Line gown from Sarah Seven for the ceremony and dinner, then changed into a Rebecca Schoneveld jumpsuit for the reception, which she told me she felt like a total badass in :)  DC Rental provided crossback chairs, while Something Vintage provided Classic Farm Tables, Vintage Water Glasses, and an AMAZING bar and lounge furniture for the reception and cocktail hours.  All of it was highlighted by lighting from Bruce Pike Productions and greenery throughout.

Alicia and Matt’s Vendors:

Venue: Longview Gallery

Planner: Rebecca O’Donnell, The Plannery

Photographer: The Oberports

Caterer: Eric Fleischer

Florist: Sidra Forman

Rentals: DC Rental and Something Vintage

DJ: Les the DJ

Lighting: Bruce Pike Productions

Our Top 8 Favorite Non-White Wedding Dresses

In my post a couple weeks back regarding Valentine’s Day I started to think about non-white wedding dresses - something I’ve been quite vocal in supporting for years and years. I realized we’ve actually had a ton of Plannery couples who have opted for bright colors when it came to wedding attire, so I thought I’d do a fun round-up of our favorites here to get you engaged folks inspired to embrace more color! Whether it’s for cultural reasons or just to go a non-traditional route, color is always a fun option to try for a wedding. Enjoy!

Nasheed had a custom gold dress made to resemble Belle from Beauty and the Beast!

I adore Aileen’s gorgeous bright blue gown

Pink jumpsuit anyone? Hell yes!!

Huma looked stunning in red

One of my all time favorites: a gorgeous pink!

More red, this time on Mimi

I adore this subtle, gold, tea length dress for a wedding

More red red red!

…and I couldn’t leave out the guys. I’ve always loved Adam and Ryan’s custom blue tuxes. Swoon.

Julie and Charlie's Carnegie Institution of Science Washington DC Wedding

Photo by Rhinehart Photography

The Plannery loves, loves, loves the Carnegie Institute of Science. It really feels like home sweet home for me. If I am not mistaken, it is my most frequented venue working as a wedding coordinator and/or assistant.  It is safe to say that every couple loves the wedding venue they selected, but boy did Julie and Charlie REALLY LOVE their choice in Carnegie. Who can blame them? I am pretty sure that the thought of themselves posing in Carnegie’s infamous upstairs library led to the booking.  Lisa Rhinehart Photography delivered in capturing this darling couple and their wedding party in that unique space.  I bet if I were to invite myself over to Julie and Charlie’s home, I would find a large print of them in the library proudly displayed.

My last two couples including Julie and Charlie opted to have the gorgeous front doors of Carnegie serve as their ceremony backdrop, which I just love.  Don’t get me wrong, getting married in the center of the rotunda space is just as great too! I think somehow Julie and Charlie thought that this would lessen them being the center of attention, but of course that wasn’t the case. They were both way too sweet and stunning not to gawk at!

The couple was adamant about taking an all guest wedding photo and their guests were super happy to participate.  It will be a memory that they will surely cherish forever. Congrats again to Julie and Charlie!

Julie and Charlie’s Vendors:

Month-of Coordination: Tarra Morgan, The Plannery

Venue: Carnegie Institution for Science

Caterer: Main Event Catering

Photographer: Lisa Rhinehart Photography

Florist: Petal’s Edge

Hair and Make-up: Georgetown Bride

Music: Go 4 It Entertainment

A Winter Wonderland Kids Birthday Party

My daughter approached me with a seemingly impossible task as we started to discuss her birthday plans.

My almost 5 year old: “Mom, I want an ice skating party”

Me: “Oh, ok, great! But you’ve never gone ice skating before. Do you think we should give it a try before we have a whole party?”

5 year old: “No, I don’t want a party with ice skating. I want an ice skating party at home.”

Me: …

So… she had me really stumped. My husband was convinced we could do it - “just buy ice skating party stuff.” But the planner in me really couldn’t embrace such a strange theme without coming up with some sort of activity that could go along with it (how else to entertain a bunch of 5 year olds in your home?!!). I was starting to wish she’d gone with her original desire to have a “flying cheetah” party (no, I don’t know what flying cheetahs are, but at this point I was excited by the idea of cheetah print instead of an ice skating party with no ice skating).

Pinterest came to my rescue. After brainstorming a bit, I - along with my daughter’s approval - settled on a Winter Wonderland theme. We could have indoor ice skating (on contact paper stuck to the rug…and socks), have a hot cocoa bar, make edible snowmen out of marshmallows, and thanks to a random Target find, have a “snowball” toss game.

It ended up being a lot of fun for the kids (and the adults - yay mimosas!) and I’m pretty proud that I pulled it off! Just thought I’d share to remind you all that parties can still be at home, and with a little creativity (and Pinterest, who am I kidding?), can be fun!

p.s. mad props to my husband who baked a 4-tier chocolate cake from scratch (now THAT seems like a truly impossible task to me!)

Laura and Brendon's Gramercy Mansion Baltimore, MD Wedding

Photo by Modern Frames Photography

One of the things that's nice about The Plannery being a team is that, when one person books a wedding and then realizes that “Oops, I'm about to have a baby, this is probably bad timing!”, another planner can pick it up and run with it! :) That was the case when Rebecca took over this wedding from Tarra, whose wife was expecting.  But it was clearly kismet, because as soon as Rebecca met Laura and Brendon, there was an instant connection.  The three got along like a house on fire!  This couple was so sweet, Rebecca couldn't help but be charmed by their love for each other (and for their dog Otis!)  Then, when she first visited their GORGEOUS venue, Gramercy Mansion in Greenspring Valley in Baltimore County, she fell in love with the venue too!  Whether the ceremony was inside the beautiful mansion, built in 1902, or outside in the stunning gardens, she knew it would be stunning...but, of course, everyone REALLY wanted the ceremony to be held outside! 

The day of the wedding, this was literally a last minute decision.  It was raining on and off all day, and no less than 5 weather apps were consulted on various phones to try and figure out if it would stop in time.  Chairs were set up, blankets were laid out to ward off the chill, but still, as the ceremony got closer and closer, a decision had to be made.  To complicate things, we had a string duo, neither of whom could play their EXTREMELY expensive instruments in any sort of precipitation!!!  Rebecca consulted with the couple, and, of course, they asked her advice.  She crossed her fingers and took the leap...let's do it outside.  Literally in the MINUTES before the ceremony, the rain cleared, and not only did it stay clear through the ceremony (THANK GOD!) but they were able to do the cocktail hour in the beautiful gardens as well.  There is NOT a bad spot on this property, so guests were able to wander around looking at the gardens, which were still lush through the end of October, and play with Ring Bearer Otis the dog (until he went home for a much earned rest).

Other favorite details from this wedding include Laura’s dad making a sweet toast and pulling out hair ribbons she had loved when she was a little girl (!), their hot apple cider bar in the library, where guests took turns stoking the fire (such a lovely fall touch!), and the fact that this couple was brought to us by PAST clients of ours, who also attended the wedding! Melissa and Tashia have been favorites of ours ever since their wedding back in 2014 - Since then, Tashia has launched her own dog walking and pet care business, Platinum Pets, and she was the one who helped keep Otis occupied during the ceremony!

All in all, this is one of our very favorite fall weddings - so enjoy the lovely photos by Modern Frames Photography, and congrats again to Laura and Brendon!

Laura and Brendon’s Vendors:

Wedding Planner: Rebecca O’Donnell, The Plannery

Venue: Gramercy Mansion

Caterer: Linwoods Catering

Photographer: Modern Frames Photography

Ceremony Music: String Poets

Reception Music: AJ Productions

Draping: Event Dynamics

Cake: Whipped Weddings

Make-up: Ariel Lewis, Airbrush by Ariel

Officiant: Shannon Rice, Royal Ink Weddings