What’s fast and furious yet incredibly chic?  Denita & John’s wedding at The Ritz Carlton in Washington, DC – planned to perfection from start to finish in just 2.5 months!  When Denita told me on our initial phone consultation in early December that she wanted to get hitched in early March….I have to admit, even I was skeptical.  Any planner worth their salt knows that while planning a wedding completely start to finish from starting the venue selection process to walking down the aisle) in 3 months is undoubtedly ambitious, yet doable (I said doable – not ideal 😉 and while I have done it before with fabulous results; I had never done it over the holiday season.  This meant we would lose at least 2 weeks of productive planning time due to vendors being MIA on holiday break and businesses being completely closed the week of Christmas to New Years.  In fact, starting the week of Thanksgiving was even a toss up, as people start to travel and businesses reduce hours between Thanksgiving and New years to give employees a well-deserved break.  Any planner worth their salt knows not to expect much to be done during these 2 months — which is right when Denita and John would need to get the bulk of their planning done.  Oh, and there was one other caveat…Denita is a major boss lady (she’s CEO/founder of Proven Management, a logistics and facility management company that has moved Presidential administrations in and out of the White House.) Needless to say, she would be working right up until the Friday of her wedding and was in her busy season, traveling for speaking engagements and conducting lots of interviews (she frequently speaks at conferences as a minority woman business owner, and is currently writing a book.)  Thankfully my 12 years in this industry has afforded me some fabulous (and personal) relationships with the area’s top vendors.  It was imperative to select the right vendor team that I knew would come through and [literally] get the job done.  And by the skin of our teeth (because we squeezed every last day we had out of the process!) by jove, we did it!  And not only did we do it, but it was worthy of being featured in Martha Stewart Weddings – woohoo!  Check out the full feature HERE.

A large boxwood wall of greenery was framed by velvet white curtains and an accent garland of magnolia and roses really made it pop!  This antique demilune urn console table was the perfect accent for a ceremonial unity candle.

An oversized ornate antique mirror was calligraphed by local artist, Script & Wit and directed guests to their seats with the header reading “Be Our Guest” reiterating the feel of Denita wanting (above all else) for her guests to feel taken care of with her signature hospitality.