You are in for a real treat today with Melissa & Andrew’s Real Capitol Wedding at Eastern Market! Not only was this Washington, DC wedding located in a super cool, funky location, but Melissa & Andrew used a TON of local Washington, DC wedding vendors to make their wedding a success.
The icing on the cake comes with the fact that this fabulous, alternative Washington, DC wedding was capture by one of my very favorite photographers, Luke Eshlemen. I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again – Luke‘s style is just amazing, and 100% his own and I could go on forever about it … but instead…
let’s meet Melissa & Andrew…
Even more amazing ~ Melissa shared with me ALL the awesome details of their fantastic Washington, DC wedding … including how they found themselves in Eastern Market’s North Hall (a seriously fantastic unique, alternative, and affordable Washington, DC wedding venue)!
When we were planning the wedding, we were trying to think of a place that would be relatively informal, within the city, and meaningful to both of us. We had a lot of out of town guests, so it made more sense to have it in the city where people could see the sites during the wedding weekend. One morning, we were having breakfast at Jimmy T’s Place, and Andrew wondered out loud if Eastern Market rented the North Hall for weddings. So we went, checked, and sure enough they do, at what we considered to be a reasonable price. We live just 6 blocks from Eastern Market and we’re over there all of the time. So it fulfilled our “special meaning” requirement.
Once you rent the space, there are basically no restrictions on vendors or how you can decorate the space. This ended up being a big cost saver for us. We used Schneider’s (whom we love) in Capitol Hill to provide the liquor. They let you return whatever is left over after the wedding.
Now, take it away Luke …
Seriously, this shot of the Capitol building should be a POSTCARD. Luke – you rock!
Read more to see the rest of this fabulous wedding ~ including the awesome reception at Eastern Market, DC!
These next pictures are some of my favorite – a unique twist on the traditional “wedding pictures in front of the monuments” …
The wedding party just sat along right with the crowd and tourists .. I LOVE this!
Such a cool shot right before the cocktail hour fun begins!
How could I NOT include this pic?! haha I love it!
The amazing North Hall at Eastern Market, in all its glory.
Melissa shares:
Our wedding planner (Myrna from For all Occasions) had already done another wedding at Eastern Market. She said that couple, also from the neighborhood, got married there and had an all Eastern Market themed wedding/reception. They used paintings from an artist that sells at the market. The artist let them borrow the paintings for the night as a way to advertise his art. So the best part of having an Eastern Market wedding is that you can arrange it to focus on the things you want to focus on, spend more on the things that are important to you and less on other things.
We used the florist from Eastern Market, and I went out and bought random rustic planters from TJ Max for the centerpieces. Other than that, the space itself was decoration enough for us. They do have plain white art walls which they use for storage. These take up some room and can’t bee removed; this was the only complaint we had about the set up. We didn’t decorate the art walls mainly because we ran out of time while planning. But if we had had more time, we considered printing large prints of places in DC or of the market itself, framing them, and hanging them.
^^Some seriously awesome DIY Wedding Decorations ideas right there – Washington, DC themed and all!
Our caterer was Main Event. We chose to do small plates/stations, which worked out well because the food was great and also the dinner went by quickly, so we could start the party. We had a band, Kristen and The Noise, whom we both had seen in the past (I used to go watch them in college and Andrew had seen them a few years ago).
Let’s get this party started …
It ended up being a perfect day and a perfect place, for us, to have the reception.
A BIG congratulations again to Melissa & Andrew, your wedding was absolutely amazing! A special thanks for sharing your details with us and another special thanks to the man behind the photos, the one and only Luke Eshlemen! Thank you!
6 comments
I LOVE that dress. gorge gorge gorge.
Love the shots with the tourists-looks like such a fun wedding!
I LOVE this idea! Who woulda thunk you could have your reception at EM? Her dress is just gorgeous. Did I miss the designer?
I didn’t have it ~ but I can ask Luke or Melissa to get it :)
So fun. I love the throwback vibe of these images!