Happy New Years!!

From all of us at AVE, we wish you the happiest New Year!

photo credit: Whimsy Boutique

And always remember...

Till next time, happy planning!!

Old Town Alexandria's Fashion Night Out!

by Ashlee

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! The hubs and I headed up to Ocean City for a surprise party. Can you believe in my eight years of living in VA that I had never been to Ocean City during the summer? I have been there two times, but both in the off season. Boy is there a HUGE difference in the off to peak season :) I am lucky to have friends that live there year round. I felt like such a celebrity heading to Secrets by boat ;) Can you imagine having this view year round?

I also found my new second favorite drink (behind Sweet Tea vodka of course)- Birthday Cake flavored vodka! How have I never heard of this before now!?!?!

Enough about my wannabe P.Diddy lifestyle...Last night Trish, AVE's newest planner, and I headed out to Old Town to check out their first Annual Fashion Night Out. We are both huge Old Town lovers. We chose Alexandria for two reasons- 1. We love Alexandria's traditional, preppy vibe, and 2. We both REALLLY wanted to meet Monte from Atlanta's Say Yes to the Dress. Unfortunately both of us were tied up with event stuff and got there about 2 hours later than we anticipated. We arrived right at the start of the Fashion Show so our chances were ruined of a meet and greet...tear :'( Luckily Trish got a picture during the show!! I'm thinking he wasn't a fan of what the model was wearing...

After checking out the Fashion Show, we headed to a few of our favorite shops to score some sweet deals :) Our favs in Old Town are- The Lucky Knot, 3 Sisters, Lou Lou's, and Ben and Jerry's! I scored a super cute purple blazer from 3 Sisters which has me uber excited for fall! We had such a good time and wish we could have gotten there earlier. Already can't wait till next year!

The next few weeks are insanely busy so I will try to keep up with blogging! Remember you can always follow us on Twitter too!! 

Lastly, we will be at the Patriot Center Bridal Show this Sunday so please come by and say Heeeyyyy!!!!!

Till next time, happy planning!!

Jamie and Ed at Oxon Hill Manor

by Ashlee

Last year I was introduce to Jamie and Ed through a mutual friend. They had already selected a venue, but were looking for someone to help with all the other planning processes. Since I have been to Oxon Hill eight million times, they knew I'd be the perfect fit!

Check out the pictures below of their gorgeous celebration!

All pictures are courtesy of Freed Photography!

More weddings coming soon!!

Till next time, happy planning!!

Welcome Back!!

by Ashlee

Hello lovelies! I'm back to blogging and am another year older. Thanks to all those that sent well wishes my way. I cannot get over the fact that September is two weeks away. While I love me some fall weather, I seriously don't think I even got a tan this summer!!

I have owned the DMV area this summer. I have traveled up to the Eastern Shore and as far west as Charlottesville. I love that I get to hop around and check out so many beautiful areas and don't have to sit behind a desk and long for freedom outside. 

Check out some of my awesome summer adventures below! 

Eastern Shore

I did a beautiful wedding on Kent Island at Kent Manor Inn. Luckily the weather held out and we had a beautiful summer night. We had lounge furniture from AFR Rentals that was such a hit. It's where Lisa and I relaxed once we got the party started! Professional pictures will be coming soon from Natalie Lane Photography!

 Fauquier County

My wonderful husband recently got a promotion at his job so they've sent him away for training in Richmond for four weeks. We tried to spend as much time as possible together since he won't be at home until the middle of September. We had a wonderful date night in Old Town Warrenton. One of the reason I love Warrenton so much is because it's where I found my love in Event Planning and Design. I can't believe it's been 4 years since I've become a full time Event Planner. 

Keswick, VA (Albemarle County, VA)

Castle Hill Cider

The hubby and I went out to meet some clients at Keswick Vineyards to do a site visit. We got done with lunch with his family reallllly early and had about an hour to kill before our appointment. We thought we would go to the tasting room of the vineyard but on the way we passed Castle Hill Cider. I have looked into this venue for a couple clients and it has never worked out. The pictures online make it look absolutely gorgeous so I thought why not swing by and have a glass there...O.M.G....the place is absolutely amazing. I must must must must place a bride here. 

Keswick Vineyards

The last stop on our 'tour' was Keswick Vineyards, where we have a wedding OCT 2013. This venue is perfect for an outdoor bride. They have a permeant sperry tent that overlooks the vines and the ceremony and cocktail area has views of the Blue Ridge Mountain in the back. The owner Cindy is such a sweetheart too and gave us a personal tour!

 

It doesn't hurt that their wine is totally delish too :) Keswick is just getting ready to start harvesting the grapes so the vineyard was lush and picture perfect! 

Luckily the next few weeks should be pretty low key and I should be staying around the NOVA area. 

Till next time, happy planning!!

Rainy Saturday

I had the best day shopping with my little sister and got to end it with with some friends at Miracle Valley Vineyards in Fauquier. Not a bad view to end of the day :)

Till next time, happy planning!!

Fancy Flats

For tall girls like me, heels were not an option for my big day. I figured it would be difficult to find cute flats, but ladies...there are SOOO many cute options! 

In the market for flats? Then be sure to check these out below!

Nefertiti custom orders- Etsy

Smole Cascade

Beck- Jimmy Choo

And lastly, my flats :)

Felice- Dolce Vita 

Till next time, happy planning!!

My Current Obsession with Color!

by Ashlee

Oh yeah guys! Hope you all are having a great start to summer. This 91 degree high today definitely feels like your typical VA summer day! One of the things I love most about summer is the fact that all the bright color trends come back around. If you didn't know, I LOVE color. I would prefer to be in a bright pinks, blues, and oranges, etc all day then a little black dress. 

Lately I've been totally obsessing with bright, chunky accessories. Some of these are perfect to wear with your wedding dress or even to match with bridesmaids! Check out my favorites below! 

I love this J.Crew necklace. I bought it in this color :)

credit: J.Crew

Love this little white dress and matching turquoise shoes!

credit: Polyvore

Kate Spade has some big beautiful pieces too!

credit: OneWed

I WANT THIS!!

Celedonia Twisted Necklace

credit: Bloomingdales

Lastsly, Kendra Scott has an amazing selection of wedding jewelry. I wore a matching necklace, earrings, and bracelet from her line for my own big day!

credit: Kendra Scott

What is so great about Kendra Scott is that if you don't like the color options they have available then you can make your own!!

credit: Weddingistas

What will you wear for you big day? Will you go bold, or choose something more classic?

Till next time, happy planning!! 

National Doughnut Day!

by Ashlee

HELLO!! Wouldn't you know the time I blog it happens to be National Doughnut Day. I LOVE me some doughnuts. My favorite is one with white icing and rainbow sprinkles from Shoppers. I swear Shoppers has the biggest and best doughnuts around. Would you dare to have doughnuts as your wedding cake in lieu of a traditional cake? This couples below did! 

credit: Maria Vicencio Photography (love her!!!)

If you are a lover of doughnuts and want to incorporate them into your wedding day did you know there is a bus that can come to your event here in the DMV area? 

credit: Abby Jiu Photography

 You can find out more information here: Carpe Donut

They also can make great late night snacks or favors!

credit: Martha Stewart Weddings

credit: Ruffled

credit: Abby Jiu Photograpy

I hope you all had a long relaxing weekend. The hubs and I went back to Beaufort, SC, where we were married last fall, to visit with my mom's side of the family. I LOVE it there. So peaceful...well except that my sister came with her two dogs. There were more dogs than people in our house. Luckily we spent more time outside than inside. This is my baby Rusty and I trying to get a tan ;)

That was one happy pup!

Well I'm off to get back to work finalizing some agendas and floor plans for my June weddings. 

Till next time, happy planning!!

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day!!

by Ashlee

Howdy y'all! Sorry we've been so MIA from the blog. Lisa and I have an event on Friday we just got TWO weeks ago. It will be our first Hindu wedding. I am SOOOO excited to be branching out to different religions! To date I've done Christian, Jewish, and Pilipino. Can't wait till Friday to put another notch in the belt ;)

Any who, today is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! I personally do not have a big sweet tooth (unless you're talking about strawberry ice cream, skittles, or starburst..my fav!!), but I actually bought a chocolate chip cookie when I went out for lunch to Wegmans before I even knew it was National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Talk about foreshadowing.... 

Check out some super cute pictures of how to incorporate cookies into your big day!

source: Jen Williams Photo.com

source: Hannah Elaine

source: Jimages Photography

source: unknown

Well it's the National's on Glee and I'm waaaay behind on my favorite show.

Till next time, happy planning!!

Calling all Brides!!!

Funday Sunday!!

by Ashlee

Hey y'all! Hope you are enjoying this lovely cold, dark, and wet Sunday. How is it possible that yesterday was 80 degrees?! Knowing that the weather was to take a huge turn for the worse Brennan and I tried to spend as much time as possible outside yesterday. 

After our late lunch we headed to the Leesburg Flower and Garden Show. Once a year Leesburg closes the Old Town area and brings in over a hundred garden, landscape, crafty vendors and fill the streets. Brennan and I have been renovating our house for the past two years and the show had a million different landscaping design ideas. Even if you don't need anything for your home garden they have tons of other stuff ranging from live music, free ballon animals for kids, to a beer and wine "garden" for those old enough to partake in adult beverages ;) 

Here are some (bad) pictures I took while there with my iPhone!

So this is us looking down from the Beer and Wine Garden. 

How cool is this? There were so many awesome landscape design inspirations!!

This is was my favorite one. Can this puhleasssse be my backyard??

There were also a couple familiar names for you wedding people ;)

Well guys, I've got three VERY hungry boys that I need to start cooking some hot chili for.

Till next time, happy planning!!

Girls Gone WILD!!

by Ashlee

Ok, well not really wild, but Lisa and I have been super busy over the weekend and this week. On Saturday we prepped for the Bridal Showcase at the Dulles Expo Center. The show was a great success! We did a rustic, chic booth using some of our event props. We had hundred of people swinging in and checking it out. I love going to those shows not only to meet potential clients, but to see and catch up with old friends and vendors! One of the greatest perks in going to those shows is all the sweets! I munch on cake and other treats all day long! Gosh, I am getting hungry now just thinking about it!

sorry for the cruddy iPhone picture :(

On Tuesday we headed off to the annual Knot party. This year it was hosted at the Stage Arena. It was the first time that either Lisa or I had been there. It was a beautiful venue!! They had these massive tall glass walls looking out into the city which I loved! They had delicious food catered by Market Salamander and entertainment by NYX Entertainment and Events. We met SOOOOO many new people it was one of the best events we had attended. We already cannot wait till the next one!

Well I'm off to finish up some work! I've got a site visit in a couple hours in MD!

Till next time, happy planning!!