Let’s Get Personal: Lessons Learned from my First 2013 Wedding!

Happy Monday Romancers!!

I hope everyone got to take advantage of the seriously gorgeous spring weather that we are FINALLY having in DC! My weekend was JAM-packed with action, starting Friday with my first wedding of 2013 as Capitol Romance Wedding Coordination! It also included TONS of house & yard work (mulching, raking, and cleaning – oh my!), a trip to Ikea, painting our bedroom, and our re-scheduled Love Shoot in celebration of Maryland marriage equality with Maggie Winters Photography!

I will be sure to share some more details on our recent bedroom upgrading and our shoot with Maggie soon, but for this morning I thought it might be fun to share 5 things I learned this weekend. Coordinating my first 2013 wedding (and really, first wedding as an official wedding coordinator) was amazing. It helped that my bride and groom were the coolest, but I also had a blast learning a TON and I thought it might be fun to share some of the things I learned with you all!

Check back this afternoon for a beautiful Old Town Alexandria, VA engagement feature!

5 Things I Learned this Weekend:

[a sneak peak from Amanda & Jason’s wedding via my phone. More amazing pictures from Stephen Gosling Photography pending]

1. DC weathermen are never right

All week Friday was to have 100% change of rain with a high of 50. Amanda kept asking me “what do we do?!” and I replied, “other than buy some umbrellas? Nothing. DC weather is as predicable as the future – they never get it right.” And thankfully they were at least consistent in their inaccuracies, because Friday was 60 with not a cloud in the sky!!! The lesson here is bigger than DC weathermen’s lies though, its that you can’t plan your wedding around the weather – you need to realize it can change in a heartbeat, and you have to be ready and willing to accept that!

2. Balloons do not work outside when there is a breeze

My whole plan for Amanda & Jason’s decor was oversized balloons. I had seen this picture online before, and was in LOVE. We bought the balloons and the helium tanks, and I got to the Jefferson memorial to setup and …. there was a gusty, constant breeze blowing in my face – which meant balloons were NOT going to stand up like that. What was I thinking?! So the lesson here is to anyone considering balloons as a decoration for an outdoor wedding – make sure there is no wind in your forecast :)

3. Tourists can be friendly (and actually helpful too!)

Usually this time of year in DC drives me insane – tons of people flooding our city that cannot navigate the streets nor our metro system. But during my setup for the wedding I had a TON of tourists stop by asking questions about the setup and even more about the wedding. My favorite tourist couple though was one that actually asked if I needed help setting up anything !! It was so nice of them.

4. I need to find a good, dependable shuttle service for weddings in this city

I had a terrible experience with our shuttle service for our wedding and the shuttle for Friday wasn’t much better – it got lost, the driver couldn’t find the memorial and needed one of the guests to direct them – oh yeah and they were 45 minutes late for the ceremony (no joke!). Does ANYONE know of any decent shuttle/transportation companies in this city? I’ve pretty much given up and really only tell my couples to use Uber at this point!

5. Great wedding vendors make my job easy

Last, but certainly not least, I had to share that amazing wedding vendors really make your wedding not only wonderful & beautiful, but WAY LESS STRESSFUL. I joke when I say that it makes my job easy, but really it does make the entire wedding planning process easier on everyone if you take the time to hire top notch, quality vendors. My bride on Friday was all smiles over everything! Her flowers were stunning (crafted by Love Blooms Here), her hair was GORGEOUS (Jewel Hair Design – of course) and the photographer (Stephen Gosling) kept both the bride & the groom happy through their first look, through a lost shuttle, and through to the dinner reception. Professional, talented, vendors that fit the couple, make a happy couple. And a happy couple makes for a happy coordinator :)