Romantic + Chic Art Gallery Wedding
For starters, how jaw-dropping gorgeous is this Lela Rose gown!? Elegant and ethereal, this romantic fete crafted by Mallory Joyce is sure to sweep you off your feet. Brimming with olive branch accents and lush garden roses, every detail Blue Canary Events coordinated has SMP written all over it. And with Joey Kennedy behind the camera, every moment captured is a wedding dream come true.
From the beautiful Bride... Will and I both grew up in the south but met through mutual friends while living and working in Washington, DC. We considered getting married in North Carolina since both sets of parents have mountain homes in the Asheville area but ultimately decided on DC because it’s where we met…plus we thought it would be really fun to have a DC destination wedding over Memorial Day weekend.
We had to plan the entire wedding while doing long distance. I still lived in Washington, DC while Will was attending business school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Planning was even more difficult because both sets of parents lived in North Carolina. However, our 17 month engagement alleviated some of the stress by giving us more time to plan. Will and I had three top priorities when starting the planning process. First and foremost, we wanted our guests (and of course us) to have a lot of fun! In order to do so we knew we had to have a fantastic band and a generous bar. Secondly, we wanted to use an iconic DC venue for our reception. We chose the Corcoran Gallery of Art, located a block from the White House, as our reception venue because it was the perfect balance of timeless elegance and historic romance. Lastly, we knew we had to hire an excellent florist and photographer. We really wanted to bring a freshly picked garden-style atmosphere to our historic art gallery setting, and Sidra Forman was the perfect florist to do so. As for photographers, I was randomly introduced to Pittsburgh-based photographer Joey Kennedy and couldn't have wished for a more perfect match. He captured our wedding weekend (and engagement session) beautifully – not to mention Joey has one of the most contagious personalities out there!
Will and I wanted to incorporate some personal touches into our wedding. I wore my mother –in-law’s Belgian lace cathedral-length veil during the ceremony – the veil looked absolutely stunning with my Lela Rose wedding dress and it was such an honor to wear the family heirloom. For the reception we had a Bourbon Bar and a few signature cocktails… Will’s favorite cocktail is a Manhattan and mine is an Old Fashioned. Additionally, we both love to travel (plus I work in hospitality) so we wanted to incorporate travel into our wedding day. Instead of a traditional guest book we had a pushpin travel map and 1969 World Atlas – both ordered from Etsy. We asked our guests to place a pin on the map for their favorite destination and also asked them to leave a note (or special travel tip) in the atlas book. Both “guest books” are on display in our new house. The atlas is on our coffee table and the travel map hanging on our wall.
My absolute favorite part of the evening was when Will got up and played guitar with the band during the song Mustang Sally. I danced like the ultimate groupie but Will stole the entire show. Everyone was so impressed by his guitar playing and I've never been more proud! Another personal favorite was at the end of the night when we did our send off. Our florist had created a beautiful garland piece to go on our getaway “car”, which was a DC pedicab. We pedaled around DC listening to Motown and soaking it all in before heading back to our hotel. It was truly the perfect ending to the perfect weekend!
We had to plan the entire wedding while doing long distance. I still lived in Washington, DC while Will was attending business school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Planning was even more difficult because both sets of parents lived in North Carolina. However, our 17 month engagement alleviated some of the stress by giving us more time to plan. Will and I had three top priorities when starting the planning process. First and foremost, we wanted our guests (and of course us) to have a lot of fun! In order to do so we knew we had to have a fantastic band and a generous bar. Secondly, we wanted to use an iconic DC venue for our reception. We chose the Corcoran Gallery of Art, located a block from the White House, as our reception venue because it was the perfect balance of timeless elegance and historic romance. Lastly, we knew we had to hire an excellent florist and photographer. We really wanted to bring a freshly picked garden-style atmosphere to our historic art gallery setting, and Sidra Forman was the perfect florist to do so. As for photographers, I was randomly introduced to Pittsburgh-based photographer Joey Kennedy and couldn't have wished for a more perfect match. He captured our wedding weekend (and engagement session) beautifully – not to mention Joey has one of the most contagious personalities out there!
Will and I wanted to incorporate some personal touches into our wedding. I wore my mother –in-law’s Belgian lace cathedral-length veil during the ceremony – the veil looked absolutely stunning with my Lela Rose wedding dress and it was such an honor to wear the family heirloom. For the reception we had a Bourbon Bar and a few signature cocktails… Will’s favorite cocktail is a Manhattan and mine is an Old Fashioned. Additionally, we both love to travel (plus I work in hospitality) so we wanted to incorporate travel into our wedding day. Instead of a traditional guest book we had a pushpin travel map and 1969 World Atlas – both ordered from Etsy. We asked our guests to place a pin on the map for their favorite destination and also asked them to leave a note (or special travel tip) in the atlas book. Both “guest books” are on display in our new house. The atlas is on our coffee table and the travel map hanging on our wall.
My absolute favorite part of the evening was when Will got up and played guitar with the band during the song Mustang Sally. I danced like the ultimate groupie but Will stole the entire show. Everyone was so impressed by his guitar playing and I've never been more proud! Another personal favorite was at the end of the night when we did our send off. Our florist had created a beautiful garland piece to go on our getaway “car”, which was a DC pedicab. We pedaled around DC listening to Motown and soaking it all in before heading back to our hotel. It was truly the perfect ending to the perfect weekend!