District Weddings

Washington, D.C. Wedding Blog – Real Weddings, Inspiring Ideas, Planning Tools, & Top Vendors in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia

Archive for the ‘Budget Savvy’ Category

Round Hill Farm Wedding

This past weekend has left me longing for more warm weather…and this wedding leaves me yearning for even more sunshine! Garrett Hubbard Wedding Storyteller captured Kelly and Kevin’s big day at Round Hill Farm last June – and it is full of all kinds of prettiness from the homemade signage to wildflower galore to lovely bistro lights. This celebration is sure to start your week off right – enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry.

Gadsby’s Tavern Wedding

Hooray, I am back with this darling quaint wedding at Gadsby’s Tavern – I promise you it was worth the wait!!

From the photographer, Kelly, of Kelly Ewell Photography

It’s one thing to have to deal with rain on your wedding day. It’s another thing to have to deal with the effects of rain that happened well BEFORE your wedding day! As so many in the D.C. area were dealing with power outages and damages from the massive derecho storm that came through the area, Kelly and Joe were getting ready to be married. Luck was on their side though as the Hotel Monaco where they were getting ready and Gadsby’s Tavern where they would have their ceremony and reception were some of the very few places that managed to keep their power on. I call it a very fortuitious start to an enduring and happy marriage!  The couple was on a budget for their wedding like many couples often are, but instead of doing things on a cheaper scale they instead chose to scale down their guest list.  With fewer than 30 people attending, Kelly and Joe were able to enjoy luxuries on their wedding day and chose to invest in those things that meant the most to them.  For example, a classical guitarist was hired to play flamenco music, which was accompanied by spanish fans and red details like flowers and shoes.  Having their reception in a private room of Gadsby’s Tavern restaurant allowed them to save over a typical wedding-only venue.

The fabulous vendor team:

Ceremony and Reception: Gadsby’s Tavern

Planner: The Finer Points

Officiant: Jone at Northern Virginia Ethical Society

Guitarist: Rafael Scarfullery

Cake: Heidelberg Bakery

Flowers: Bergeron’s Flowers

Hotel: Hotel Monaco Alexandria

Hair Stylist: My Mobile Salon

Make Up Artist: My Mobile Salon

Photographer:  Kelly Ewell Photography

Vintage Hotel Monaco Wedding

Karima and Nelson’s wedding, by Robin Shotola Photography, took place this past July in Alexandria at The Hotel Monaco.  It is vintage and darling and has quite the personal favor detail – read more to check it out!

Read the rest of this entry.

New Design and Friends Meeting House Wedding

First up today, I am beyond excited to launch our new design! After weeks – okay, months – of tweaking, adjusting and updating, I am delighted to share the redesigned District Weddings! A huge shout out goes to Jessica D’Amico of Just Jess for her patience and guidance along the way – she is the best!

Please be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think – I love hearing from you and appreciate your feedback as we continue to grow and develop the site.

Next up, today’s Real Wedding…Lauren and Desaray had a Quaker wedding at the Friends Meeting House in Dupont August of last year. They got ready at their home in Old Town Alexandria VA and had the reception in their backyard. Both Lauren and Desaray focused on an intimate wedding of friends and family rather than a big, expensive, lavish wedding.

Thank you to Kelly Prizel for sharing her fabulous pics!

The ceremony was inside the Quaker meeting house, so no pictures were allowed. It was an hour long ceremony with no officiant, simply people getting up and saying what came to their mind. A guest even broke out in song. The ceremony had a lot of tears because so many guests got to share their thoughts of love and good wishes.

Desaray’s dress was a vintage dress with a huge peacock design and Lauren had a suit chocolate brown custom made at Dash’s in Alexandria, VA.

As they left the ceremony, their guests threw cups of mini smores as them- tiny chocolate chips, graham crackers and mini marshmallows. Everyone was trying not to eat their entire cup before they threw it!

The reception was in their backyard with the hot dogs and hamburgers grilled for dinner by a friend. Guests sat on picnic tables and came and went as they pleased. The music was done by a DJ friend.

The cake was by Charm City Cakes – and what a cake!

Thank you to Lauren and Desaray for sharing their big day!

Happy Monday and please let me know what you think of the new design. ox.