Ombré blooms, warm hues, two ceremony designs and one EPIC dress – these are just a few things you can expect to be inspired by throughout today’s gorgeous styled shoot from A. Griffin Events at Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. Modern brides, you’re going to LOVE this one. Head on over to the full gallery captured by Sarah Bradshaw to see all the pretty!
From A. Griffin Events… Moving from West to East – after years of living out West, Rachel (originally from California) and Tom (originally from Arizona) picked up and moved to Washington DC to pursue higher education where they met and fell in love. Two years and two degrees later, Tom proposed to Rachel and they immediately began planning the wedding of their dreams. They knew they wanted to pay homage to DC as the city that brought them together and what feels more Washington DC than a Smithsonian Museum? The Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian posed the perfect fusion of their two homes with its Rotunda design, reminiscent of the sunshine they missed back home.
Being such a stylish couple, we knew we had to design a wedding that would be equally as stylish while still including intentional touches of home. The color palette of warm tones included magentas, plums, oranges, and thoughtful touches of gold and copper and served as the perfect nod to the famous southwest sunsets. Because we were in a museum, we wanted to include pieces from their collection in the design so we intentionally designed around the stunning copper wall built by Hopi artist, Romona Sakiestewa. We chose a minimal and modern thin-framed copper frame for the chuppah custom built by Syzygy Events International to accent, rather than detract, from the copper wall. Sweet Root Village then enhanced the design by adding asymmetrical flowers in an ombre design, for added interest. With this design we paired a custom dress with a fitted silhouette from Carine’s Bridal Atelier, fully equipped with a modern tulle cape attachment that trailed and swayed effortlessly with every movement.
Rachel wore her custom engagement ring complete with a deep, magenta-toned ruby from Trumpet and Horn and dramatic, gold, sun flare statement earrings that popped against her sleek, slicked-back hairstyle and her plum + golden smokey eye from Red Carpet Ready Makeup. No wedding day is complete without designer shoes and these certainly took the cake – Rachel wore nude/white crystal embellished Jimmy Choo heels adorned with a white feather tassel for her stylish bridal look. To make Tom’s gorgeous blue eyes pop, we styled him in a plum shawl collar tuxedo jacket from The Black Tux and kept to clean lines for the rest of his styling. A petite boutonniere from Sweet Root Village was the perfect finishing touch to his attire. The second ceremony design centered around the incredible views from the rooftop, overlooking the Capitol Building and Washington Monument. Sweet Root Village kept the bold color palette as they designed, to pop against the bright blue sky.
Asymmetrical pedestal arrangements ensured that all focus would remain on the couple and the views around them. With this setting we paired a more romantic strapless A-line gown, with floral lace detailing, also from Carine’s Bridal Atelier. With a wedding at a museum must come a museum-worthy stylish reception design. We knew immediately we wanted to include an abundance of texture and color in the reception design and chose to design two separate but congruent tablescapes to add interest for guests. The Rosa Lucca rose gold linen and Wine velvet linen were the perfect backdrops for the golden chargers, all from BBJ Linen. For an added DC flair, we included natural wood wishbone chairs and handmade plates from Something Vintage Rentals with a white trim, to echo the chargers. Pops of pink could be found in the handmade salt cellars from Something Vintage and all place settings were topped with custom menus from Emily Baird Design, complete with color-corresponding tassels. Emily Baird also designed the invitation suite, a multi-layered colorful packet that sat neatly in a custom box for protection and added flair. All paper goods were styled on two handmade, custom-painted backdrops from Lindale Studios – one brighter and one darker for added interest. Lindale Studios also created a custom backdrop for the impeccably designed cake from Buttercream Bakeshop, which echoed the pink ombre tones of the florals from Sweet Root Village. The cake was layered with fondant texture, rather than flowers, to keep the look modern and fresh.
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Photography: Sarah Bradshaw | Floral Design: Sweet Root Village | Wedding Dresses: Carine's Bridal Atelier | Cake: Buttercream Bakeshop | Stationery: Emily Baird Design | Shoes: Jimmy Choo | Engagement Ring: Trumpet & Horn | Hair Stylist: Go By Geohaghan | Hair & Makeup: Red Carpet Ready Makeup | Tux: The Black Tux | Venue: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian | Wedding Venue: Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian | Backdrops: Lindale Studios | Design & Planning: A. Griffin Events | Models: Rachel Jessamy & Tom Casey | Rentals: Syzygy Events | Rentals: Something Vintage Rentals | Rentals: BBJ La Tavola | Video: Bowen Films