Images: Captures by Justine
Another super sweet DC area wedding is on the blog today (crushing it this week!). This one features two adorable people and their COMPLETELY DIY wedding in Maryland. They made a ton of their wedding details and poured themselves into the wedding. Check it all out below!
We met at Jesse’s favorite neighborhood bar Looking Glass Lounge. On our first date, we bonded over Montessori schools, ancient Egpytian culture and the plight of the bees (they’re dying). I skipped Yoga and a dinner date with a friend. The deal was sealed when Jesse correctly answered the question: Who’s a better dancer, Michael Jackson or Fred Astaire (Michael Jackson). A second, third and fourth date ensued.
Jesse proposed at our home and incorporated my six year old son Emerson. I knew it was coming for awhile, and it was a running joke between us for him to reach behind a pillow on the couch and pretend to pull out a ring. Well one day Emerson came over to me and said “Jesse has something to ask you,” so I wander into the living room, Jesse reaches behind the pillow and actually pulls out a ring this time! He gets down on one knee and proposes. Needless to say I was in shock. The answer was obviously yes!
Our planning process was a bit of a whirlwind since we both work full time and also have a 6 year old who was getting ready to start first grade right before our wedding. We planned our wedding for our 3 year anniversary. It just so happened to also be Beyonce’s birthday which I was thrilled about. We didn’t have any set wedding colors, just a general garden party wildflowers theme.
We initially wanted a small wedding that would have been more of an elopement, but wanted to invite more people than we could have doing that plan so we settled on inviting 50 people and having a brunch. Jesse and I walked in together. I loved that he was right there next to me especially since I started ugly crying halfway down the aisle and he was there to squeeze my hand. We wrote our own vows and I have to say his were so much better than mine, they were hilarious and sweet at the same time, he had everyone laughing. We also jumped the broom to honor my African American heritage.
Having a brunch wedding was such a good idea for us. It was completely laid back which is our vibe. We had an open bar with champagne, mimosas, and bloody mary’s as well as POPSICLES! I stumbled across the idea of having a champagne and popsicle bar on pinterest and everybody really enjoyed putting the popsicles in their champagne as a mixer.
We did the majority of planning and prep ourselves with a lot of friends help. I made all of the signs myself with the help of my trusty Cricut, and I collected all the vases and candlesticks from local thrift stores. We chose Old Angler’s Inn as our venue because we went hiking on the Billy Goat Trail right across the street on one of our first dates, and had lunch there. I always thought it was such a great spot and when I found out they did weddings I was sold!
The planning process went well since I am a spreadsheet queen and kept everything veryyyy organized. We had a bit of an issue with the flowers. The original flowers we ordered got lost in the mail so we were scrambling two days before the wedding trying to figure out what to do. We made a trip to our local floral warehouse and luckily they had everything we needed. Even though they were rushed, they turned out beautifully. My son’s aunt was a florist in a past life and helped tremendously with them. She’s the real MVP.
The weather forecast leading up to the wedding was horrible. Hurricane Hermine was slated to directly impact our wedding day. We were obsessively checking the hurricane track on 5 different weather websites simultaneously. Miraculously the track changed and we had gorgeous weather.
Vendors ~> Venue: Old Anglers Inn | Officiant: Karen Gray | Month of Wedding Coordinator: Stephanie at Giving Tree Weddings | Day of Hair and Makeup: Latavia Alise | Hair Care Specialist: Shantah Omeally | Guitarist:Jerry Lynn | Baker: Tart and Craft | Nails: Amy of Noriandee | Flowers: Potomac Floral Wholesale | Photographer: Justine Bumpers
