Washington, D.C. Wedding by Marta Locklear

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From the bride... We wanted our wedding to be a modern garden party with some vintage elements mixed in, and of course lots of DIY details! We met in Washington, DC in 2006 when I was working full time while going to business school at night. With little time to date, I found myself on Friendster (remember Friendster?), and Andy's profile popped up as a 'local single'. I thought he was cute, and we had lots in common, including both attending Quaker high schools (he in Providence, Rhode Island, and me in Baltimore, Maryland). I contacted him on the newer and cooler site MySpace, and we hit it off. After dating for three years, we bought a house together in DC and got engaged a year later. We knew that we had to be married in DC since we wanted the wedding to be a true reflection of us as a couple. A lot of our inspiration came from the location. The Sewall-Belmont House is located in the heart of Washington, DC, directly adjacent to the Capitol building, and is a historic home where many famous women once lived during the women's movement.We liked the importance of this, and felt proud to host our wedding in this great place. We had to be budget conscious and did many of the decor elements ourselves, including all the paper products. Together we have art/web design backgrounds, so it was a quick decision to design and print our invitations, ceremony programs, welcome bag notes, etc. ourselves. I made the ring pillow with fabric purchased off Etsy and I made the cake plates from plates and candle stick holders from Goodwill by gluing them together and spray painting them white. Andy and I made all the chalkboard signs from frames purchased from a second hand store, painted gray and fitted with foamcore painted with chalkboard spray. The lettering was done by a very close friend. We also made the paper bunting inside the card basket, the ribbon flags for the cupcakes and the cork ampersand. Instead of a guest book, we took one of the gray frames, stenciled the word "LOVE" inside and asked guests to "leave a bit of love and your thumbprint." Instead of numbering the tables, we chose images and icons from our hometowns of Baltimore, Maryland, and Providence, Rhode Island, along with a few from Washington, DC since these images would resonate with the majority of our guests. We cut them out of yellow paper using our Silhouette machine, mounted them on gray paper and framed them. The only project that did not have a DIY element to it was the circular paper fans that hung over the candy buffet. A local gifts store had these hanging in the window as a display, and I just happened to visit them when the display was headed to the recycle bin. The owner was nice enough to gift them to us and we were so happy to be able to reuse them. The most memorable moment was the ceremony. We wrote the entire ceremony ourselves with the help our of dear friend who was officiating. He was an internet "minister" that we got registered to perform ceremonies in DC, and it was so worth the bureaucratic hassle and paperwork. It was wonderful having him stand up there with us and help us along. We also wrote our own vows and didn't allow each other to see them beforehand. When it came time to read them, we found we had written almost identical vows! We both were choked up, and I'll never forget it. Of course a close second to the ceremony, was the Baltimore-DC dance-off that took place near the end of the party. I was in tears from laughing so hard at my nearest and dearest busting a move! Wedding Photography: Marta Locklear / Wedding Venue: Sewall-Belmont House & Museum in Washington DC / Day-Of Coordinator: Courtney Swierczek of A Sweet Soiree / Florist: Karin's Florist / Cupcakes: Woodmoor Pastry Shop (301-593-7667) / DJ: Song for You / Tent + Equipment Rental: Select Events Rental / Wedding Dress: Birnbaum & Bullock / Bride's Shoes: Cole Haan / Bride's Earrings: LiveInStyle / Maid of Honor's Dress: Saja Wedding / Tuxes: Geoffrey Lewis / Bride's Wedding Band: Custom-Made by Stanton Jewelry / Groom's Wedding Band: Belonged to his Late Grandfather / Officiant: A Friend of the Groom / Baskets: IKEA / Picture Frames: IKEA + RusticRefined / Table Centerpiece Paper: Kate's Paperie / Cupcake Table Paper Fans: Reused from an Old Window Display at Trohv / Flip Flops: Old Navy / "R" and "A" Wire Letters: Urban Outfitters