A Musical Wedding

Photo by DuHon Photography

We think of music at weddings in the usual ways - ceremony music, having an awesome band for your dance party, what your first dance song will be, etc. But if you’re a couple that really loves music, what are some other ways to incorporate that passion for music into your wedding day?

We’ve had some really creative couples come up with other options - so check them out below and let us know what you think!

A Musical Guestbook

We’ve had two separate couples use records as their guest books! It’s a unique way to share your love of music (or even particular songs and artists), while collecting the names of your guests

Photo by Chris Ferenzi

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

A Nod to your Favorite Concert

Alicia and Matt, one of our awesome, past couples, used concert wrist bands at their wedding!! Such a fun way to keep track of your guests if the venue requires it, while adding a little nod to your concert-going

Photo by The Oberports

Get creative at cocktail hour

We’ve had many clients get a bit more creative at cocktail hour as way to honor either their wedding’s location, their heritage, or other musical aspects. One of our favorite DC weddings had a DC-based funk band meet their guests at the church! Another couple wanted to honor their Irish heritage and had a fiddle and pipe player for their cocktail hour, which even led to some Irish dancing! Whatever direction you go, think outside the musical box for cocktails. It’s a great, more casual time to have a little fun and be more non traditional

Photo by Mathy Shoots People

Photo by DeNueva Photo

Music as Decor

Mariah and Rob used records as decor! They hung records from the ceiling to create a super fun look, all while tipping their hat to their love of music

Photo by Stephen Gosling

Musical Invitations

Angelina and Ron had some of the best wedding invitations I’d seen - they used Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix stamps on their wedding invites!

Photo by Olivia Jacob Photography

Musical Theatre Nerds, Unite!

And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t mention several of our couples who gave a little shout-out to the musical, Hamilton! One bride wore an A. Ham (if you know, you know) hat when they were announced into the reception. And my other favorite did a spin on the Hamilton Playbill for their ceremony program! Such creative, fun ideas:

Photo by DuHon Photography

Photo by Ayesha Ahmad Photography

Ode to The Carnegie Institution of Science

We were pretty devastated to learn that the Carnegie Insitution of Science, one of our favorite wedding venues, was closing. It was such a beautiful space that offered unique space, very DC-esque architecture, and so many photo opps. So we thought we’d look back at some of our favorite Carnegie weddings as a bit of an adieu!

We had a Beyonce performer, a surprise visit from Storm Troopers, and a Halloween inspired wedding here (with pumpkins in the fireplace). The front stairs gave us so many beautiful photo ops, and the inside stairs brought us many a stunning entrance (including one mishap where a bride got her veil stuck on the bannister!). We had many awesome dance parties with glow sticks and props galore. Candle lit dinners in the ballroom, cocktails on the front stairs, and so many awesome wedding crews hanging in the gorgeous library.

So here’s to many fond memories of this lovely space with our awesome clients:

Afternoon tea in the time of COVID

Home celebrations are obviously having a moment ever since COVID reared its head. A couple years ago we started the tradition of taking my Mother-in-law out to afternoon tea with her granddaughters for her birthday. This year, we obviously couldn’t do it - so we decided to give it a try at home.

It being COVID, and me being a homeschooling stay at home mom, I tried to make things as easy as possible. So we reached out to Treats by Gale - and thank goodness we did. She was the perfect choice - she catered the tea party, complete with two types of teas, desserts, cakes, scones (and clotted cream and jam, obviously), as well as delicious tea sandwiches. I was so impressed with the food, the tea (it came as a concentrate so it was SUPER easy and fast to make! and tasted wonderful), and how easy it all was - from ordering to her delivering it right to our door the morning of the party.

As for the set-up, the girls wanted to use the real tea set their aunt had given them, so we started with that. I then found this tea set and loved the bright colors and the fact that it was fairly cheap so we could use it for future tea with the girls and not worry about it if one of them breaks something! We used an old table cloth, some existing plates, ordered some napkins to compliment the girls tea set, and we were pretty good to go. I even managed to get roses delivered with my grocery delivery (!) so I was able to get some flowers on the table :)

My daughter hand-made the place cards and we added some PB&J to the menu for the girls, and plated all the food from Treats by Gale ourselves.

My Mother in Law loved it and raved over the food and tea - “5 stars!” - so I’d highly recommend Gale for anyone looking to do a bridal shower, baby shower, or - like we did - just any old party! I’ll also mention Treats by Gale is a black, woman-owned business which is always a bonus cause I want to support local, BIPOC small businesses as much as possible!

International Transgender Day of Visibility

Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility!

We at The Plannery recognize, celebrate and honor ALL love. We want more stories of trans love, marriage, partnerships to be shown in the wedding industry & media (and everywhere). Doing our very small part by sharing this past wedding between Jenevieve and Janine we were SO honored to be a part of. Their love story is beautiful and I highly recommend you check it out here.

Why Spring Weddings are the Best

Yes, things are still crazy in the land of weddings due to COVID. But to celebrate the official first day of Spring tomorrow (I love all the crocuses popping up, and the buds on the trees getting ready to flower!), I’ve been thinking about spring weddings. Traditionally the busiest “wedding season” months in the DMV area are May, June, September and October (I blame the humidity). But increasingly, I’ve been seeing more April weddings in this area and I love it.

In the DC area, spring really does come early (or on time, depending on where you’re originally from). While there’s always the risk of April showers bringing May flowers, there’s also the chance that you’re going to get a really beautiful day, as well as more availability for that much-in-demand venue, lower pricing, and - let’s face it - cherry blossoms.

So I thought we would do a round-up of some of our favorite springtime weddings in the area to inspire you to think Spring!

(psst: be sure to click on the photos if you want to see more of these weddings, featured below!).

Outdoor Weddings are Cooler… literally

Photo by Lady Love

Lots of folks want outdoor weddings - but in the DC area that can be quite difficult if you don’t like the heat. And sweat. And thunderstorms. April can sometimes be a good option because you’re more likely to get cooler weather so that outdoor wedding is more do-able.

Beautiful Spring Photo Opps

Photo by Shandi Wallace

Spring is all about flowers. April brings with it stunning flowering trees in the DMV area and they make for a wonderful background to your wedding photos. What better way to bring color and beauty to your wedding than to embrace what nature gives you?!

Embrace those April Showers

Photographer Mantas Kubilinskas

Ok, so no one really wants rain on their wedding day. But spring showers can actually create some beautiful photo moments! Also, embracing the rain (and all of those fun inconveniences life may throw at you) is a wonderful way to start a marriage :)

Joy for the new Season

Photo by Olivia Jacob

Much as I mentioned in my post about winter weddings (and folks wanting a reason to gather and celebrate during those cold months), I love the idea of combining a celebration of a couple with a celebration of a new season. Spring is such a hopeful moment, filled with possibility and growth - all of which create a wonderful time of year to start a new relationship and forge a new path.

Flowers and Color

Photo by Darling Photographers

You know I couldn’t end without mentioning the decor options that come with spring! Whether with a more modern touch (like Kara and Mike’s wedding pictured above), or a full-on cherry blossom extravaganza, spring provides so many colorful options for wedding decor. It’s truly an inspirational season!

COVID realities for The Plannery

It’s been very quiet around here. At first we were dealing with our clients, trying to help folks postpone and handle the realities of COVID. Then, quite frankly, we as individuals had to deal with the realities of COVID and how that was going to change our lives. I won’t speak for our entire team, but I thought I’d do a quick update for you all - real and honest as we always are here! - to let you know what’s going on at The Plannery

It’s crazy as we near the year-with-COVID mark to look back and remember how quickly things changed. But the biggest issue on our end was that my daughters’ daycare shut down for quite a while, so within an instant, I was a stay-at-home Mom. And with no new weddings in sight, that quickly became my full time job. Then, as my oldest daughter’s first year of school came up this Fall, we knew I’d need to be around to help her with virtual kindergarten, and still be available to be with our youngest as well. And finally, after virtual kindergarten really didn’t work for us as a family - I’ve transitioned to something I never, ever imaged for myself: a stay at home homeschooling Mom.

What does that mean for the future of The Plannery? Honesty? I’m not sure. Rebecca and Tarra are still taking on clients and we’re definitely open for business for ALL types of clients from full planning to month-of. But my role has had to transition into one of business owner and operator, but not official wedding planner. It may be it stays that way for quite some time as the future of child care and schooling remains unclear for my girls. But I promise that I remain involved and committed to our clients and especially my awesome team.

So here’s to vaccines, future weddings, and embracing the insanity, life-changing stuff that gets thrown at you. Everyone I know has handled it so well and with such grace. But I’m sorry if any balls have been dropped and apologize for being so quiet as I focus on my kiddos. We’re here and have our fingers crossed for some awesome celebrations in 2021!!!!

Carol and Greg's Winter Woodend Sanctuary MD Wedding

Photo by Stephen Bobb Photography

This wedding was one of our favorites from last year. Though it was pre-COVID, I’m excited to share it now because it was a small, intimate winter wedding - something folks who are dealing with the new COVID restrictions may be considering this year - so hopefully this can give you some fun inspiration! Carol and Greg had a beautiful wedding at Woodend Sanctuary. Because it was winter, Woodend’s usual tent was down, so they had a short ceremony with some guests standing and some seated, in the main room, followed by cocktails and dinner indoors as well. Tarra had to get creative with the flow and floorplan, but it worked out well and everyone had a blast.

I adore that they embraced the holiday season with red pops of color (including the stunning bride’s lips!), and additional green and white accents. It was a meeting of two cultures, his (Southern) and hers (Korean) which they honored in various ways including culinary touches from Main Event. Enjoy these beautiful shots from Stephen Bobb Photography and embrace the chilly air heading our way. Congrats again to Carol and Greg!

Carol and Greg’s Vendors:

Coordinator: Tarra Morgan, The Plannery

Venue: Woodend Sanctuary

Photographer: Stephen Bobb

Caterer: Main Event Catering

Music: Double Entertainment, DJ Elon

Florist: Park Florist

Cake: Alexandria Pastry Shop

Hair/Make-up: Shanel Salon

Nick and Zach's DC Microwedding

Photo by VNess Photography

Things have been pretty quiet around here due to COVID. But I’m happy to share a micro-wedding from Nick and Zach, one of our clients who were supposed to get married in August at the Carnegie Institution of Science. Never fear, they’ll be partying there next year to celebrate their marriage (and I’ll be coordinating!), but in the meantime, they got hitched THIS August to make it official. They did some photos with their photographer, VNess Photography, at Rock Creek Park , had an intimate ceremony with immediate family at the Kennedy Center, and ended the day with a delicious dinner at All Purpose Pizza by the Nats Stadium. Huge congrats to this wonderful couple! I’m so sorry we weren’t able to celebrate this August, but SO looking forward to helping you with your party in 2021!!

Our Favorite Dads

We did a shout-out to all the awesome Moms out there for mother’s day - so of course we wouldn’t forget our Dads for Father’s Day! We’ve had some beautiful moments between fathers and our couples, so enjoy some of our favorites, below!! Thanks to all you fab Fathers out there!

Photo by Love Life Images

Photo by Chris Zarconi

Photo by Jess Latos Photography

Photo by Love Life Images

Photo by Modern Frames Photography

Photo by Love Life Images

Photo by Tell Chronicles

Photo by Ayesha Ahmad Photography

Photo by Olivia Jacob

Photo by Breanne Furlong

Our Favorite Wedding Dogs

This is a straight-up “how the hell can I bring a little happiness to people’s lives” post. But you know what? Hopefully it will work!

We’ve been having fun with round-ups lately and I realized we’ve thus far neglected to give a shout-out to our favorite Plannery pups!! So once again, here’s a feel-good blog post for you: enjoy these wagging tails and adorable doggies - hope it inspires you to somehow incorporate your own furry friend into your wedding day - or at least give them some extra cuddles today!

Photo by Debi Parker

Photo by George Street Photo

Photo by Darling Photography

Photo by M&E Photography

Photo by Modern Frames Photography