Dale & Samir’s Modern, Multiculutral DC Wedding at the DC Ethical Society

This morning’s real Washington, DC wedding feature, could be called nontraditional [with it being a same-sex wedding], however, it was as the same time, somewhat paradoxically speaking, full of tradition in its own way. Thanks to Jessie Mary Photography, I am honored to get to share the story (and wedding!) of Dale and Samir on my blog today.

More about Dale & Samir:

Dale and Samir are a same-sex couple, who live in Atlanta. They met through a mutual friend and after knowing each other socially for 3-4 years, they started dating. They were together for 6 years before they decided to come to Washington, DC to get married!

Dale shared why they chose to get married in Washington, DC:

We wanted to have our wedding somewhere that it was legally recognized even though it would not be legally recognized in the state we resided (Georgia).  We knew we were leaving Georgia anyway, and frankly it was just a matter of principal to have our wedding in a location that recognized it rather than having it in Georgia.  As it turned out, DC was the most convenient legal location for us, as it was close to my family in PA, Samir had some family in DC, and we had mutual friends in DC that were also friends with many of our Atlanta friends.

LOVE this purple flower arrangement, with the pops of bright blue

The ceremony & reception was held at the Washington, DC Ethical Society. Dale shared some more insite into their venue and ceremony:

We wanted to plan a ceremony that captured who we were, so we planned a fusion ceremony that incorporated important things from both Eastern and Western ceremonies.  We also wanted a ceremony that was not just ‘all about us’, but acknowledged and incorporated our friends and family and recognized their importance to this occasion.

Click inside for the rest of this beautiful, modern, traditional, non-traditional Washington DC wedding!

 such a great shot of the emotion of the day!

 Dale & Samir tried to incorporate both Western and Eastern traditions into their wedding ceremony

Dale shares more abotu the reception decor & design:

  We had to plan the wedding and take care of many of the arrangements remotely, with only two trips to DC to view venues, meet with vendors, etc.  We relied heavily on doing things online.  Our friends in Atlanta and DC were also a great help with arrangements.

Well, I’d say their friends did a REALLY good job! I love the shades of blue and purple throughout their floral arrangements!

the design of their reception is BEAUTIFUL

 love the pretty blue peacock seating assignment cards at the reception!

Jessica shared that Samir’s dad had spoken at the wedding about how traditional their family is, and how hard it was for him to accept the marriage … that was until he met Dale. He said they instantly loved Dale and that helped them accept Samir’s choice. 

A truly touching & sweet story.

Dale & Samir closed with this in their email to me:

We think the wedding turned out great, and several people said it was the best they have attended, including family members!  This was especially amazing for us to hear, as our families were less than enthusiastic about it originally, and we were not sure if they would attend when we first informed them of our intention to get married.

 Such an amazing tidbit!

And quite the reception it looks like it turned out to be!!

Congratulations Dale & Samir ~ thank you so much for sharing your multi-cultural wedding with me! I wish you both the best. A special thanks again to Jessie Mary photography for sharing her beautiful images with us!