My wife and I wanted a wedding that embraced the natural beauty of our venue, Brookside Gardens, with it’s trickling fountains, beautifully overrun vine archways, and stone paths surrounded by lush green gardens. Yet we wanted to do it in a style that reflected who we are as a couple. We decided on a secret garden wedding theme that was elegant and soft but also fun and inviting. Something romantic and dreamlike, like a fairytale. Every detail in our wedding had these qualities in mind, from the cream and blush flowers to the delicately frilled Maggie Austin cake.

There were so many incredible details in our wedding: an apple cider station at the ceremony entrance, the cocktail hour location had a gazebo bar and four separate stations marked by large handmade signs reading “Sweet Memories,” with photos of the bride and groom hanging from clotheslines; “Find Your Seat,” with handwritten escort cards hanging from two wooden trellises; “Wedding Wishes,” where our guests could write us special messages on pebbles; and a “Love Bench” just for fun. The reception tent had six chandeliers, a floral halo over the cake, a framed floral backdrop behind the head table, intricate decorative plates, lounge furniture just outside the tent, and jars of local honey with a wooden dipper and a lid wrapped in cheesecloth as favors. Finally, there was a hot chocolate station and doughnut truck for guests as they walked to their cars at the end of the night. My wife’s favorite detail was the Wedding Wishes station because guests could write us a special message on a pebble, which has significance because it relates to our proposal story, while my favorite detail was the calligraphy (and the doughnut truck).

We mentioned to our planner, Pam Barefoot, that we didn’t want to see certain details before the wedding and that we wanted to experience them for the first time with our guests. Our reception tent was one of those details so Pam was really excited to finally show it to us after the cocktail hour. She walked with us uphill from our cocktail hour location and we finally saw our reception tent for the first time slowly emerge at the top of the hill, glowing against the starlit night and surrounding trees. There were no words. It was absolutely breathtaking. That moment was definitely among the most memorable moments of our wedding.

My wife and I privately began planning our wedding 8 months before we announced our engagement. We attempted to manage everything ourselves but quickly became overwhelmed and realized that we needed help from an experienced professional. We dedicated an entire weekend searching for a talented wedding planner in the DC/MD/VA area. During our search we realized that we really liked planners who had blogs on their websites because blogs provided us a lot of important information, such as: 1) personality, 2) photos of recent work, 3) frequency of work, and 4) style. Atrendy was the only company that had all the qualities we were looking for and a style that fit perfectly with our vision. The following week we scheduled a meeting with Atrendy’s lead creative director, Pam Barefoot, and within minutes after meeting with her we knew she would be perfect. Pam had the knowledge, experience, creativity, enthusiasm, and was genuinely passionate about designing and organizing an amazing wedding (which she ultimately did). We signed the contract with Atrendy and instantly felt relief that we no longer had to worry about every detail. It was the best decision we made.

My one word of advice to a couple would be to “relax” because no matter what happens everything will work out and you’ll have fond memories of this time in your life. Things may get challenging but it’s important to savor the moment and realize that this is all part of the wedding experience. Rain or shine, for better or worse, everything will be ok. If things get too challenging though.. I know a great wedding planner you can talk to