Jaime & Matthew’s Quintessential DC Wedding at Eastern Market’s North Hall

Well other than feeling SO very tired, I am not nearly as distraught as I expected to feel after yesterday’s Super Tuesday results. Am I dissappointed that Elizabeth Warren, the (by FAR) best, smartest, most passionate, candidate in the Dem field didn’t get many delegates? Absolutely. But hey if 2016 taught me anything, it’s that even the most qualified women don’t usually win. And for that I am more TIRED than anything.

Also I stayed up until like 11:15pm following the returns on Twitter, texting & messaging with friends, family & clients. And then once I finally powered down, I couldn’t sleep … and now Andy is sick – so yeah TIRED. So, other then sending money to Fair Fight (to help combat voter suppression), I’ll just be over here attempting once again to focus on weddings, love, happy couples, and dreaming of at LEAST having a female Vice President.

Matthew and I are congregation members at the Washington National Cathedral. The venue for our ceremony was most important to us because Matthew and I became Episcopalians prior to meeting each other. I grew up in a non-denominational church and Matthew in a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). Through different journeys, we both found our way to the Episcopal church. Our common faith is the foundation of our marriage, and it was deeply important to both of us to be married in the Parish we attend every Sunday. During our ceremony, our mom’s brought forward the gifts for the Eucharist. This was special for Matthew and I to honor our mom’s in this way.

Since we had our first date at The Gibson, and named our sweet, energetic dog after the speakeasy, Matthew and I wanted to share an intimate, private cocktail hour here after the ceremony, and before hitting the dance floor with our family and friends. We’ve shared many a cocktail together throughout our relationship and we could not think of a better way to start our marriage than to return to our first date spot!

Whether it’s grabbing breakfast at Market Lunch prior to church or perusing Capitol Hill Books on a rainy Saturday, Matthew and I often find ourselves in Eastern Market. So, for our reception we could not think of a better venue! We loved the idea of moving our guests from the grandeur of the Cathedral to the chill, fun vibe of Eastern Market.

For our wedding invitations and cartooning, we hired my friend, Megan Tennant. For my sister’s and friends’ engagements, I have commissioned Megan to create cartoon pictures of the happy couples. So, for our wedding, we asked Megan if she would be willing to cartoon the various elements of our save the dates and wedding invitations. The save the dates, included a cartoon from our engagement in the Serengeti. For the wedding, she did a details page with various DC scenes, an RSVP card with The Gibson on the back, and an envelope liner of a map of DC. We used works we commissioned her to do for our Signature Cocktail signs as well. Matthew and I printed and put together the wedding invitations, which was time-intensive, but totally worth it. While we were in the midst of making the wedding invitations, our then-young puppy Gibson, accidentally got out of his crate and had an a fun arts and crafts day for himself. He was confused as to why we didn’t appreciate his artwork and help making the wedding invitations!

Since my grandmothers had passed away prior to Matthew and I getting married, I wanted to find a way to incorporate their presence and acknowledge their roles in my life. So, both of their wedding rings were weaved into my wedding bouquet. That way they were nice and close with me throughout the whole day! My aunt made a ring bearer pillow out of my great aunt’s wedding dress and the veil both my grandmother and great aunt wore for their wedding days. At our wedding reception, we had wedding photos from both of our parents and all of grandparents. Only one of grandparents was able to attend our wedding, Matthew’s grandmother, so this was a way to honor other grandparents who have been part of our lives.

At our wedding reception, our table names were named after places we had traveled together or separately. We provided a description of what we did during our time there, and why the place was important to who we are as people. Our parents’ tables were named after places Matthew and I had been with our mothers. Also, our guest book was a coffee table book of pictures from African national parks. This was a nod to our engagement in the Serengeti.

We love Urbanstems and send them to each other frequently. Since we love their company so much we wanted to use them for our wedding. The flowers were sent to our apartment a few days in advance (there were flowers everywhere in our apartment!). Jaime’s friends put together the bouquets the day of the wedding. We also ordered the roses for the reception. A funny story, we had ordered a long garland to go down the middle of our head table, but we forgot to put it out.