Marilyn & Rob’s Intimate, Modern Succulent & Lace Wedding at Oxon Hill Manor

Images: Rachel Gierlach

Happy Friday Romancers. Another week of blog slacking, but it’s Andy’s birthday today, and I’ve got an Eastern Market wedding tomorrow, and FALL WEATHER IS HERE (back? it better stay!), so it’s been another busy week, with lots on my mind, not enough things accomplished, too much bad news, and always looking for more happy. So here’s a GORGEOUS Maryland wedding at Oxon Hill Manor to help get you all to the weekend.

“When Rob and I decided to get married, first we looked at the things that are most important to us. We decided: Our people – We’ve both been blessed with amazing families we couldn’t live without, and a group of friends as close as family. Our people are by far the most important thing in our lives and we knew this had to be a priority.

Rob and I both grew up in Georgia (different areas oddly enough, we didn’t meet until years later in Washington DC). Rob’s family is from Michigan, and he considers it a second home. Lastly, Washington DC has been our home for almost 10 years. We own a home and consider it a very important part of our life together. We wanted to incorporate aspects from all of these places that have shaped who we are.

We consider ourselves fairly funky and somewhat non-traditional (at least we like to think we are :)). We’re city people who like to have fun. We really wanted to make sure our personalities didn’t get lost in the planning process, and our priorities remained at the forefront.

We opted for a small wedding party of just our siblings- my brother and Rob’s 2 sisters- my brother standing on my side and Rob’s sisters behind him. We even had my “bridesman” hold my bouquet during the ceremony. He was a good sport. We also had 2 friends pick out and read passages during the ceremony, and 5 ushers to greet and seat folks as they arrived.

We involved friends and family in other ways. As you know, our people are a huge part of our life, and we wanted their influence, ideas, and creativity to be braided throughout the wedding events. Our dear friend Halley officiated the wedding. She did an amazing job and made the wedding feel personal and sincere. She gave a shout out to our families, and speckled in personal anecdotes. Rob’s sister, Heather, designed our save-the-dates, ceremony programs, welcome letters and stickers for the guest welcome boxes. Then we had everything printed at the company where Rob, my brother and sister-in-law work. Our close friends at Arrowwood Farms provided the beer for the wedding. They run a small farm and brewery/restaurant in Accord, NY. Blake Arrowwood (owner), worked with us to decide on the specific types of beer, quantities, etc. It was such a nice touch to have personalized beer from some of our favorite people.

Our wedding planner, Stephanie Dasch from Diamond Events, is a friend of my sister-in-law and did such an amazing job making our vision a reality. She’s a DIY goddess and did all of our flowers from her own greenhouse, and most of the decorations by hand. She custom made a BEAUTIFUL arbor for the ceremony, little terrariums for centerpieces, and perfect boho bouquets. It gave the decor the funky, creative vibe we wanted and looked awesome.

We decided to incorporate succulents in the flower and décor for a less traditional look. We used a succulent envelope liner with the invitations, and had a cactus/desert color palette.

Shout outs to our city: Gin Rickeys, the “Official Washington Drink”, as a specialty cocktail. | Mini Ben’s Chili Bowl half-smokes as a late night snack | Local Maryland crab cake bites as passed hors d’oeuvres | Cupcakes made with a stout beer from Three Stars, our favorite local brewery

Music! – We are total music nerds. We’ve been to countless live shows, and spent probably way too much time listening to and discussing our latest obsessions. Rob even proposed by playing a song he thought represented our relationship (which we eventually used for our first dance.)

The band, Dance Candy, was amazing. We selected them based off of the list of songs they offered, which featured a wide array of genres, but had particularly good funk, soul and R&B options. The players in the band we’re all very talented and kept everyone engaged the entire evening. Our first dance was to a song by one of our favorite artists, Hope for Agoldensummer, from Athens Georgia (also the song he used to propose).

Another friend, Allison Icardi, provided mini cupcakes. She came up with 3 recipes: 1) Peach with Brown Butter (shout out to GA), 2) sour cherry and lemon (Michigan), and 3) Chocolate made with a local Washington DC beer. She did an amazing job we couldn’t have been happier.