A little rain couldn't dampen Ellie and Brian's rocking fiesta at the
Josephine Butler Parks Center (yep, twice in one week for me!). These two had such a relaxed approach to getting married, and that calm carried all the way through the day. Plus, they had a gazillion-person strong wedding party, complete with scads of adorable kids making all kinds of faces. Ellie and Brian:
We started off at their home, because that's what the very chillest of chill couples do.
Then hopped in a big old Uber for the JBPC for putting on of big white dresses and champagne.
First onlookers.
One half of the wedding party, very expertly faking the fake laugh.
It was raining a bit, but fortunately the JBPC has these lovely porticos in the front so we could shoot outside but not get anyone messy before the ceremony.
Ellie didn't want to roll with slow processional (which also would have taken forever), so it was just a barrage of wedding party down the aisle. Honestly, it totally spazzed me out but it was still really fun.
Look closely. If you were four, vow exchanges would be really boring too!
Little dude looked this suspicious all day.
Promise, no wedding couples were seriously soaked in the filming of this day. It was mostly drizzle, but that's enough for this shot.
Big thanks to
Tim, who came out to work the Parks Center with me. He's my Parks Center specialist at this point.
Props to my tall wedding guest / photo assistant.
It was great to see
Meredith and Bill again, whose wedding I photographed more than two years ago. Glad to see these two still know how to party.
Congratulations you guys!
Ellie and Brian's vendor team:
Ceremony & reception venue:
Josephine Butler Parks Center
Coordination:
Cristina Carvedi Carrillo
Catering:
A Southern Affair
Florist:
Wollam Gardens
DJ: DJ
Steve Yates
Ellie's beautiful dress: Nicole Miller
Brian's dashing suit: J. Crew
Hair:
Claudine Fay
Makeup:
JH Makeup Artistry
Here's how it came about: we've got family and friends scattered throughout this great land. When we realized we'd never have the time or money to take little trips this year to go visit all of them, we determined the best plan of attack would be to take a massive end-of-the-year road trip to end all road trips. We'll see family in Florida, Houston and San Francisco, and also get to hit up friends everywhere in-between. Big, big bonus: we'll visit scads of U.S. destinations that we might otherwise never see, like Monument Valley, where we'll spend our sixth wedding anniversary.
People ask me a lot: "are you excited about moving to Sweden?" And yes, yes, I really am. But first, I'm super-pumped to take this massive road trip across our great land. I even roped my best bud David into taking the first leg with me, so we can have a last hurrah before I ship off to the far north.
So, United States! We are coming your way. We start Nov. 14 in DC and we wrap Jan. 8 in San Francisco. Do you have a friend along the way who needs some photos? Or maybe you just want to show me around your town. Or you have a space on your floor for George and me to crash on the way through town? Hit me up! We want to see everyone before we leave. I may not be back these ways for some time. Drop a line to amber@amberwilkie.com to talk about photos along the way. I'm not against money-making detours!
We'll also gladly take any and all advice for nearby scenic routes, tourist traps, hiking trails, diners, food stands, taco trucks and anything else we should see on the drive.
Finally, if you want to follow along with us, I'll be doing most of my posting to my Instagram account with the hashtag #greatamericanroadtrip. Come take a ride with us.
We started the day at 
Thanks to Tim for coming out to work this wedding with me. He got to hang with the guys.
While two merging families got a little closer.
Then we all got in the cars and made it to Meridian Hill Park for these two to see each other all dolled up.
Portraits wrapped, we all headed inside to avoid any raindrops and wait for the big moment.
Yichud guards.
More laughs and just a few tears...
...and it was dancing time.
My favorite thing in the entire wedding world: the hora.
Especially daring in chairs without arms!
Congratulations, you guys!
Alyssa and Matt's vendor team:
Coordination: Tara with