Sailing on a sea of tranquility!: June 21, 2008

Dawn's wedding this past Saturday couldn't have been lovelier as you can see by the pictures. Even a lone rain cloud passing overhead 30 minutes before the ceremony began delivered only a few scattered rain drops before beating a hasty retreat and leaving a clear sky in it's wake.

Dawn made liberal use of bright color for her day. Originally, she had selected a bright pink color for her bridesmaids dresses, candies, flowers and more. However, only one month before her wedding day, she decided to shift to a soothing turquoise to compliment her tropical theme.

• Table toppers provided by Gala Cloths accented dining tables and the cake. Taking a big chance really paid off in a fabulously cohesive and elegant look. Even more perfect, the hibiscus in the garden echoed the color of the bouquets and dresses. Inside the Providence Ballroom, a liberal use of votive candles and our lighting effects made the aqua really pop against the white.

• DJ Jim Hester with Sound Wave Entertainment, http://www.soundwavedj.com/, provided both the ceremony and reception music as well as taking these great photos. As you can see, he kept the energy high all night with dance music and fun!

• Dawn also selected a specialty cocktail to be served at the bar - Blue Paradise. Yummy! A truly refreshing beverage. See below for the recipe.

Blue Paradise

1 ounce Blue Curaco

1 ounce Rum

1.5 ounce Pineapple Juice

Shaken with ice and poured into a martini glass. Enjoy!

Team Spotlight: Julio Lemus

Julio Lemus is our banquet manager and after 15 years of experience in this business, I can honestly say that he's been the best banquet manager that I've ever had the opportunity to work with. Because he is such an important part of every event that we do here, I thought it would be helpful to share a little more about him with all of you. The following is a summary of our discussion.

Julios Resume: Six years experience in banquets plus 9 years in customer service puts Julio in excellent position to attend to every guests need. Julio learned his customer service skills from his grand dad who owned a lending service in Mexico for 65 years.

Julio, we do all kinds of events here from training classes to holiday parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, anniversaries and more. What is your favorite type of event and why? Weddings. Weddings are such important events for the couple and for their entire family and friends. The father/daughter and mother/son dances are so special and filled with meaning. As a father of three, I can truly appreciate the emotion and love in the moment.

What is one fun fact about you that you will share with our guests? I love to play soccer. I started playing at age 8 in Mexico and played on many teams. I am still playing now and plan to still play into my 60's. I love it that much. My sons are not that interested in soccer but that's okay. I want them to do what they enjoy.

Thank you Julio for spending this time with me and thank you for making our events so successful!

My first blog: May 3, 2008

Welcome to my weddings blog! I'm excited to be here and I hope that you are too!

I wanted to use this blog to give you, my clients, the opportunity to communicate in a new and different way! Check back frequently for photos of recent events, news on upcoming open houses, the bloom report garden update, Hilton Garden Inn Fairfax team member interviews and more!





For my first entry, I wanted to take you back to May 3rd, Rosemary's wedding day. As you can from the photos, she made a lovely and colorful bride and she was so sweet to work with! Her day was mild and sunny for her outdoor ceremony. She has agreed to share her photos with all of us! Thank you Rosemary and best wishes for a long and happy marriage!

I think that's enough for my first day but I hope that you will check back for my next post!