Helene & Josh’s Orange & Blue Northern Virginia Wedding at Top of the Town

I wanted to accept today’s Virginia wedding at first because of the awesome bright orange and blue color palette (a totally nontraditional and not often seen, choice of colors for a wedding). But once I found out WHY the couple chose the colors, well then, it was a given. Helene shared, “We chose colors that represented our alma maters.  Orange for Clemson, Josh’s college, and blue for Penn State, my college.  We used the two colors throughout the wedding and I loved the playful feel of the two colors.”

I could agree more! Thanks to Documentary Associates for submitting this one our way, via Two Bright Lights.

Helene & Josh’s Orange & Blue Northern Virginia Wedding at Top of the Town

Vendors:

Photographer:  Documentary Associates | Ceremony Venue: The Textile Museum | Reception Venue: Top of the Town | Catering: R&R Catering | Flowers: Flowers by Cheryl Ann | Bride’s Dress: Watters | Bridesmaids Dresses: Alfred Angelo | Groomsmen: Black by Vera Wang | Transportation: Diamond Limousine | Invitations: The American Wedding | DJ: DJ R to Da Izza | Cupcakes/cake: Family friend | Makeup Artist: Shaune with Bridal Artistry | Hair Stylist: Sonia with Bridal Artistry | Musician: Harpist, Nadia Pessoa |   Submitted via Two Bright Lights

We choose our photographer, because we had seen him work the previous year at our friend, Shannon’s wedding. We loved his photos and realized we barely noticed him at their wedding. We liked that it didn’t feel intrusive, but that we got really great photographs.  At our wedding, he got a shot of Josh retrieving the garter from over my shoulder, neither of us remember him even being there at that point!

I wanted a more intimate setting for the ceremony.  I’d grown up loving gardens and appreciating the outdoors.  We searched for weeks to find a venue that could accommodate the large number of guests we had AND could feel romantic.  We found the Textile Museum, it was everything we had hoped, beautiful gardens, interesting architecture and only a few miles from our reception venue.

We made our programs by downloading fonts that matched our invitations.  We printed the grams and attached them to popsicle sticks.  Honestly, that process was much more tedious than I thought!

Click inside for the rest of Helene & Josh’s Orange and Blue Northern Virginia wedding!

For our ceremony, my Aunt and godmother, Margaret was our officiant.  She asked each of us to write a letter explaining why we wanted to marry each other.  She read the letters and then used parts of them in her message at the wedding.  When she recited part of my letter, I couldn’t keep the tears in.  The personal touch made the ceremony much more meaningful.

For one of our readings at the ceremony, our cousins read portions from a children’s book called “I like you.”   We felt like the book really spoke to our relationship and was more appropriate for our wedding than a poem reading would be.  We got so many compliments from our guests about the reading.

We had a lot of help from family in setting up and delivering items to the venues for the ceremony and reception. We couldn’t do it without them!

For our groomsmen gifts, Josh ordered the guys custom sneakers. He used their shoe sizes from their tux orders.  The sneakers were in our wedding colors and had the numbers associated with their initials on the backs of the shoes.

We love living in Washington DC and wanted to incorporate our love of the city in our wedding.  We wanted to find a venue with an amazing view, Top of the Town offered us one of the most amazing views we’ve seen!  It had indoor (with air conditioning) space and an outdoor area for our guests to enjoy.  It was a beautiful venue and we couldn’t be happier with the unique experience it offered to us.

We ordered a cake topper that featured a couple playing basketball because Josh loves basketball.  It was playful and different.

Our cupcakes and cake were baked and decorated for us by my mother’s friend and co-worker. She did an absolutely amazing job and we saved a lot of money by using a friend.  She even  baked and sculpted a air jordan cake for the groom’s cake. Josh loves sneakers! It almost looked too good to eat!

The bridesmaids flowers doubled as centerpieces at the reception. This helped us to save money and gave us a useful place to store their bouquets because no one wants to hold their flowers during the reception!

Our wedding favors were small bags filled with homemade cookies.  A yummy midnight snack for everyone!

Congratulations Helene & Josh! Thank you for sharing your awesome orange & blue, Northern Virginia wedding with us! A special thanks again to Documentary Associates for sharing their images with us via Two Bright Lights.

[icon size=”small” image=”icon-heart”]