Capitol Wedding: Carla & Kevin’s Multicultural, Backyard Wedding in Northern Virginia

There is A LOT to love  in this morning’s offbeat, multicultural Northern Virginia wedding. The couple met in an International Studies program, which is appropriate considering their multicultural backgrounds. The bride is Honduran and the groom, German. Their amazing, nontraditional wedding ceremony was in their Aunt’s back yard with DIYed florals by the bride’s sister and the celebration ended at 2941 restaurant in Falls Church.

This beautiful union comes to us courtesy of Photography by Susie [submitted via Two Bright Lights].

Oh … and just wait until you see the bride’s white & gold dress. STUNNING and amazing and so unique!

Kevin & Carla’s Multicultural, Offbeat Backyard Wedding in Northern Virginia

http://www.photographybysusie.com/

About the couple:

Carla & Kevin met in school in an International Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University. Her family moved to the US from Honduras years ago, and Kevin is from Germany.

Wedding details:

Their wedding was held in the backyard of Carla’s Aunt’s home, and included their closest friends and family. Kevin’s family flew over from Germany to attend, and Carla’s parents and sister flew up from Florida. The decorations and flowers were all made by the bride’s sister.

Their offbeat, personalized wedding ceremony:

Carla & Kevin’s friends are gifted in music, and there was live music for the ceremony. The guests all got involved with the processional music by playing the wooden maracas that were on their seats. The bride’s Father gave marriage advice in Spanish with the bride’s mother translating, to the bride and groom during the ceremony, and the groom’s mother also spoke to the bride & groom during the ceremony.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom danced back down the aisle to folk music, played by the bride’s brother and close friends.

Click inside for the rest of Carla & Kevin’s beautifully offbeat, multicultural backyard wedding in Northern Virginia!

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Capitol Romance: Vida & Chris’ Waterside Engagement Session in Alexandria, Northern Virginia

We’re back this afternoon with a lovely little waterside engagement session in Alexandria, VA by Kelly Ewell Photography, submitted via Two Bright Lights. Vida & Chris have a beautiful love story, with the cutest proposal [and an awesome capture of Chris popping the question, in real time] down by the Capitol Building!

Vida shares some details on their engagement shoot:

 Our shoot was in Old Town, Alexandria. It’s where we first met and where we love to hang out. It will also be where we live in our first home after we’re married! Since the engagement session was in fall, we wanted to incorporate pumpkins. We love carving pumpkins and like to have a little competition every year with our jack-o-lanterns. Also, since we spend the majority of our summers watching the Nats play, we knew we had to include some curly W pride too!

 Vida & Chris’ Waterside, Alexandria VA Engagement Session

How They Met:

 The first time I saw Chris was one night when we were out at a bar with a group of mutual friends. I was immediately interested but didn’t get the chance to talk to him! Luckily for me we were re-introduced at a friend’s birthday party a few weeks later. We exchanged numbers and, a few days later, we had our first date where Chris made me a delicious dinner. Best meal I’ve every had :) We were both pretty smitten after that and have been dating ever since!

Click inside for the rest of this beautiful Alexandria, VA engagement session and to read the proposal story!

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Wedding Music That Doesn’t Suck: Imagine Dragons’ “On Top of the World”

This weather is weird as hell for January and it’s Monday. But I can’t help but be optimistic about this week. This afternoon Maggie Winters Photography & I are starting a new project we decided to call “At Your Service“. If you haven’t seen it on my Twitter or Facebook accounts, At Your Service is a day of giving back to our city and networking with other rad DC wedding vendors.

We will be spending 3 hours this evening working at a food kitchen (DC Central Kitchen) and then heading to a bar to hang out. We hope this movement spreads from DC to other towns & cities. We already have someone interested in running an Eastern PA service day and look forward to hearing from other wedding vendors that want to start one in their hometown.

In addition to this awesomeness, I am sharing my recent song obsession as today’s Wedding Music That Doesn’t Suck, modern wedding song suggestion: Imagine Dragons’ “On Top of the World”. I think I listened to this song about 1.85 trillion times over the holidays, and I haven’t really slowed down since. Check it out for yourself and I dare you not to dance instantly.

‘Cause I’m on top of the world, ‘ay
I’m on top of the world, ‘ay
Waiting on this for a while now
Paying my dues to the dirt
I’ve been waiting to smile, ‘ay
Been holding it in for a while, ‘ay
Take it with me if I can
Been dreaming of this since a child
I’m on top of the world.

I think I want to get married again just so I can use this song in my wedding. I’d say it’d be a pretty rad processional or recessional song for an alternative wedding and at the very least should be in your cocktail hour playlist! OH I also think it would be the perfect way to end your wedding reception as well.

Thoughts? Let’s get this Monday going!

Capitol Inspiration: Hot Pink & Sunflowers Wedding Inspiration from a Real North Carolina Wedding

Keeping things beautiful this Friday for our inspiration post from Gambol Photography [via Two Bright Lights]. This real North Carolina wedding paired bright hot pink bridesmaids with the golden yellow of sunflowers and I just LOVED it. The brightness of the overall flower design is the perfect compliment to the 65+ degree weather we are about to get this weekend. Have a great weekend everyone!

 Vendors:

click inside for the rest of this inspiration wedding pictures full of hot pink, sunflowers, and stunning wild flower floral centerpieces!

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