Liz and Tim's Hotel Monaco Washington, DC Wedding!

I recently had the pleasure of photographing a Liz and Tim's beautiful wedding at the Hotel Monaco in DC!  I had been to the Hotel Monaco before (and have always loved it for it's history and unique decor), so was really excited to be photographing a wedding in this unique space!  Liz and Tim decided to do a first look before their ceremony, and I was really excited about it because I had Liz go up this amazing stairwell to meet up with Tim!  Of course Liz and Tim looked so gorgeous and classic, and I just loved their first look reactions to each other. Liz and Tim's ceremony was in the Paris Ballroom, and boy did it look amazing.  I can't tell you how much gorgeous decor and lighting can transform a space!  I loved the intimacy of Liz and Tim's ceremony, as family was completely surrounding them as they exchanged vows.  Both Liz and Tim were beaming and looked absolutely giddy about getting married!  After the ceremony, everyone took an awesome break at the cocktail hour, and Liz and Tim even got to come in and enjoy it with their guests!  Meanwhile, A Sweet Soiree Events and her team flipped the Paris Ballroom into an absolutely stunning and dramatic reception space!  I think everyone who re-entered the room lit up with excitement at how cool it looked!  After Liz and Tim were announced we all enjoyed some dancing, amazing food, toasts and more dancing!  Oh, and don't forget the silly string (which I hadn't seen in YEARS!).  ;)

I want to thank Liz and Tim and their entire group of friends and family for having me photograph on their special day!  And many thanks to all of the incredible vendors that helped make it happen, especially A Sweet Soiree Events.  Enjoy!

Photographer: Lisa Boggs Photography Planner: A Sweet Soiree Events Venue: Hotel Monaco Florist: L'Artisan Lily Makeup: Gina Robinson Ceremony Music: Sage String Quartet Officiant: Julie Price of Creative Ceremony Cake: Fluffy Thoughts Reception Band: Doctor's Orders Ceremony and Reception Lighting: John Farr Lighting Design

Liz and Tim's Hotel Monaco DC Wedding - Sneak Peeks!

This past weekend I was fortunate to photograph the lovely wedding of Liz and Tim at Hotel Monaco!  I'll be posting their full wedding a few days, but until then, here are two sneak peeks!  Enjoy!

Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa

Lauren and Kunal's Hindu and Christian Wedding in Northern Virginia!

It's finally here!  Lauren and Kunal's jam-packed wedding day complete with two incredible ceremonies: one Hindu and one Christian!  Yay! I've already gushed about Lauren and Kunal in their super cute engagement session and their wedding sneak peek, but I may just have to gush some more!  I just love them!  Lauren and Kunal were married (twice!) at the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, and man did we have a good time.  To start the day, Lauren and Kunal got ready in their respective rooms, but I spent most of the time with Lauren as she really went through quite a transformation with her makeup, jewelry and sari!  After we took some photos with both groups, Kunal had to get ready for the baraat, the Hindu wedding procession in which the brides parents welcome the groom.  I love the milini where Lauren's mom welcomes Kunal by blessing him with a tilak, or mark on his forehead.  So cool!  The rest of the Hindu ceremony was just beautiful and I thought Lauren looked absolutely stunning throughout the whole thing!   My favorite part of the ceremony was the charthurthi karma when Lauren and Kunal fed each other four times for nourishment of the bone, muscle, skin and soul.  It was clear they were both a little hungry and were happy to eat!  :)

After the Hindu ceremony, there was as quick of a change as possible into the attire for the Christian ceremony!  The Christian ceremony was held in the same space as the Hindu ceremony, and Courtney of A Sweet Soiree Evenets did an awesome job with the turnaround of that process!  You could tell that Lauren and Kunal were super happy during the ceremony, and particularly Kunal at the end!  With the stress of two ceremonies, it's always nice to be done with the second one and officially married!  After the Christian ceremony we went back outdoors for some group photos that everyone happily participated in.  I really love the photograph of Lauren with some of her flower girls, as it's just adorable!  I swear, the kids in attendance at this wedding could not get any cuter!  :D

The reception following the ceremonies was absolutely beautiful and I loved how there was so much color in the room!  It did not take long for everyone to relax, eat a ton of Indian AND Louisiana-inspired food (think fried chicken and mac & cheese!), and dance the night away.  One of my favorite shots of the evening though was at the very end, where I took Lauren and Kunal out into the hotel lobby with...you'll never guess...a fish tank!  Yes, there was this awesomely lit fish tank in the hotel, which just so happened to match the color of Lauren and Kunal's reception.  I shot through the fish tank for some end-of-the-night photos and could not be happier with the results.

I want to thank Lauren and Kunal for having me photograph their amazing wedding day, and also thank their family and friends for being so great to work with!  I'd also like to thank Courtney Swierczek of A Sweet Soiree Events and Matt Buerhaus of Buerhaus Design for being so helpful throughout the day.  More vendors at the bottom!  :)  Enjoy!

Venue: Fairview Park Marriott Planner: A Sweet Soiree Events Photographer: Lisa Boggs Photography Videographer: Buerhaus Design DJ: Planet DJ Stylist: Makeup by Mala Baraat Horse: Harmon's Carriages Florist: Davinci's Florist Baker: Fluffy Thoughts

Thanks for looking!

Love,

Lisa

Meet the Team of A Sweet Soirée Events!

Just a few weeks back I was thrilled to be able to photograph the wedding planning team of A Sweet Soirée Events!  I have been working with Courtney Swierczek, the CEO (Chief Events Officer…as she calls it!), since 2010.  Courtney is an absolute pleasure to work with, and I'm very excited to continue working with her and her team in the upcoming 2012 wedding season!  Courtney was gracious enough to write up something about the styled shoot that we did with her and her new employees Ellen, Karen and Marisa...so without further ado, here's Courtney! "I am so excited to have Lisa share our styled photo shoot with her readers, and I'd love to share a bit of our background story to it. We are so thrilled and proud that A Sweet Soirée Events was able to hire three new employees last year to serve our clients. But along with it, came the need for cohesive head shots and group photos for our website and marketing materials. Of course when thinking of who would be the best to shoot our group, I immediately thought of Lisa. We work so well together and I knew she'd be able to make us comfortable and bring out the 'us' in us.

We knew we wanted to do something fun for the shoot instead of boring ole' regular head shots, so Karen and Marisa came up with the idea to do a styled shoot much like it was it's own little wedding. We incorporated our company colors of black, gold, peaches, and pinks into everything from the table cloths to the flowers, and added a touch of french from the french macaroons to the champagne on ice.

We are so, so pleased with the result, and hope that you enjoy our company's reintroduction and styling!"

Thanks so much, Courtney!  I hope you all enjoy the photos, and if you are looking for a wedding planning team, definitely check out A Sweet Soirée Events!  You can also find them on Facebook here and Twitter here.  Also, many thanks to the Briar Patch Bed and Breakfast for letting us use their venue!  Thanks for reading!

Love,

Lisa