I love brunch. I also love weddings. So obviously I REALLY love brunch weddings (sometimes I wonder why the heck I didn’t have one myself). I am also considering specializing in only brunch weddings for my wedding coordination business (I kid – but seriously, getting home at 5pm is awesome). But other than the food, the thing I think I love about brunch weddings is how relaxed they are. Other than the super early wake-up time, brunch weddings have a different vibe to them – one that is more focused on enjoying a casual setting with your guests and one that is less focused on crazy “blog-worthy” details.
All of this is apparent in Gillian & John’s DC Brunch wedding today. They kept things light, cool, and easy, but still personalized and fun, by hosting a crazy cool rehearsal at the Mansion on O, and then throwing a brunch wedding the next morning and an afterparty later in the evening. They kept things local with DC wedding details and super awesome wedding vendors. Everything was planned to a T by Rebecca Dick with Blue Canary Events & captured beautifully by Procopio Photography. Check it all about below!
Gillian & John’s Washington DC Brunch Wedding at Sequoia
 Vendors
Photographer: Procopio Photography | Wedding Planner: Rebecca Dick, Blue Canary Events | Wedding Rehearsal Venue: The Mansion on O | Ceremony & Reception Venue: Sequoia, Georgetown | Band at Reception: The Winn Brother’s Band | After Party: Bar George | After Party Band: 90’s cover band “White Ford Bronco” | Hair Stylist: Alison Harper & Co. | Makeup Artist: Blend | Floral Design: B Floral Event & Design | Photobooth: Majestic Photo Booth
From the photographer:
Their rehearsal was at this crazy cool old mansion called The Mansion on O. You can have dinner on the main floor and then explore the rest of the mansion. This place is covered from head to toe with chotchkies and music memorabilia. It has secret doors and passageways that will really get you lost! Guests found and put on vintage hats as they meandered about. It was not only unique but a great ice breaker for folks that didn’t know each other prior to the wedding.
From the bride:
Basically- our goal was to have our friends all become friends. Having the wedding on a holiday weekend, we knew people would be foregoing time with their families, so we wanted to make it worth while. Our main focus was the music, even with a brunch wedding, we wanted people to dance – and they did! John grew up in DC proper, and I grew up in Fairfax county, so we are both local -which is rare in DC!
Click inside for the rest of Gillian & John’s Washington DC brunch wedding reception at Sequoia!
We knew we wanted a bunch, and something that felt “open” instead of a hotel ballroom. Music was really important to us because we wanted people to dance, even in the morning! ( we picked the weekend partly on when both bands would be available)
We wanted an “all in one” venue for both the ceremony and reception. We didn’t want it to be too “churchy” for our guests who aren’t religious, but will wanted the ideas of a traditional ceremony for people who were expecting that. Our readings were light hearted and fun ( “A lovely love story” – a short book about dinosaurs) and one about a relationship being like a dance, trusting your partner etc. I am a dance teacher so that had special meaning.
We had one bridesmaid, one groomsman, a ring barer and 4 flower girls. ( one was a former student of mine who won the spot in a school silent auction fundraiser!). In the end we had 205 guests
All of our “wedding songs” were from musicals (I’m a musical theater fan!) and two were sung by high school friends. Our songs were: Bride’s entrance – “Love Changes Everything” | Recessional- ” I Don’t Need Anything But You” from Annie | First dance “I’ll Cover You” from Rent | Father daughter dance “On a Wonderful Day Like Today”.
I knew I wanted dark purple as a main color, but sequoia has these huge blue chandelier things that my florist was able to compliment with the table arrangements. She did an awesome job! My husband(and the other guys in the wedding) wore a brown tux, which usually isn’t done but I loved the look with the purple! As a true dance teacher/ former pageant girl I love sparkle! I really wanted flower girls to throw glitter, but that was nixed. Instead we had rhinestones anywhere possible – invitations, table arrangements, in the center of the tiny orchids that were on each napkin. Etc
One comment we heard over and over, was how much people liked the mimosa and Bloody Mary bars, especially since they could be drinking before and during the ceremony! Again, we wanted as many opportunities for our friends to mingle as possible which is why we had the welcome reception instead of a rehearsal dinner. And an after party with such a great band.
Overall – we put a lot of ourselves in the details – in a non obnoxious way! Hints of our personalities – the musicals, the rhinestones etc. honestly – our wedding planner was the best part of our wedding. Without her I’d have gone insane!
Congratulations Gillian & John! Thank you for sharing your offbeat, local DC wedding brunch reception with us! A special thanks again to Procopio Photography & Blue Canary Events for sharing this DC wedding feature with us!
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