Today’s Coffee Talk is with Kelly & Chris, who were married at the beautiful Mellon Auditorium July 5, 2014. I [Anne] had such a wonderful time planning with and getting to know Kelly & Chris. Their wedding day was a true testament to their deep love for one another and for their families and friends, and I felt honored to be part of it.
Tell us a little about your wedding style?
Like many couples, we had talked about spending the rest of our lives together since our first date. Unlike most couples, we hadn’t talked about how we wanted our wedding weekend to unfold until we started the planning process. Going into our first meeting with Anne we mentioned that there were three topics that were important to us:
1) People: finding a DC venue with enough capacity to eliminate the need for those dreaded A, B, and C invite lists
2) Food/Wine: Yellow Tail and Five Guys, while delicious, weren’t going to cut it for the big day
3) Music: sound that made you want to move and a dance floor big enough to hold all our guests
After speaking with Anne, we realized that we wanted to combine the elegance and history of DC with the fun and easy-going nature of our California lifestyle. We’re pretty sure we accomplished that.
Favorite detail of your wedding?
Is it unfair to say everything?! If so, then we’d need to break it out by each part of the evening. During the ceremony, the black and white walls varying in height and materials; during cocktail hour, the black escort/table assignment wall and mirrored bar; during the reception, the white dance floor and combination of rectangle and round tables. Throughout it all, the flowers! After putting minimal importance on the flowers at the start of the planning process, they were the most unexpected, beautiful highlight of the entire evening. And of course, The Grilled Cheese food truck.
Most memorable part of your wedding day?
Seeing the Mellon transformed for the ceremony and reception was truly special. We had imagined what our wedding day would look like, but having it exceed our wildest expectations was a pretty emotional experience.
Why did you choose Atrendy for your wedding?
Planning a wedding in the nation’s capital comes with its own set of nuances that you won’t find in most other destinations. Tack on a couple based on the opposite side of the country with little extra time to devote to researching the perfect {fill-in-the-blank wedding vendor} and we knew we needed help. After making the choice not to elope (our family and friends likely would’ve never forgiven us), we set up phone calls with various DC area planners that were recommended to us. We had no idea what to expect during these calls but knew that we wanted to work with someone that just ‘got us’. More specifically, a planner who could put our vision into action, who would give recommendations after getting to know us, who had experience with DC venues/vendors and who ultimately would make us feel like our day was as big of a priority to her as it was to us. It was love at first phone call with Anne. The passion and excitement she held for each couple she had worked with came through in spades over the phone. We cancelled the rest of our interviews and immediately hired Atrendy. Next to us saying “I do”, working with Anne was the best wedding decision we made.
If you could give one word of advice to a couple what would it be?
Two words: don’t stress. Planning the next chapter of your lives together should be fun. Both the bride and groom should have smiles on their faces throughout the entire process. If you get stressed, remember to take a step back and remind each other why you’re planning a wedding in the first place.
Photo: Connor Studios
