Meredith and Shahrooz were married at the classically beautiful
River Farm in Alexandria, Virginia. The weather was perfect, the light was amazing and there were four adorable flower girls, who I took way too many photos of and am currently including way too many in this blog post. Meredith and Shahrooz were relaxed, gracious and had a pretty seriously great wedding.
We started the day at their home.
But quickly scooted on to River Farm for dress and things. It was a tornado of ladies and girls getting prettified. Too much for some.
Big thanks, as always, to Julia. I love this simple portrait of Shahrooz. It helped that those cufflinks were incredibly difficult to take on and off.
So I'd heard lots about River Farm but I had no idea how truly beautiful it is. The gardens are so picturesque.
Meredith carried an unusual and lovely bouquet.
So many pictures of these little ladies. And more to come. I can't help myself. Look at the floral crowns!
They had spiked lemonade for folks to enjoy before the ceremony.
Meredith and Shahrooz celebrated their marriage with a Persian ceremony, which included a veil carried by Meredith's sisters and friends, sugar ground over their heads, and a sofreye aghd - a spread of wonderful things to bless their union.
Then at the end of the ceremony - get this - they get to have sweets! I think we should immediately implement this for all weddings.
The flower girls getting down on the wedding-blessing candy.
I really could not get enough of these trellises.
Their decor included lemons as centerpieces - very cool.
And now, a flower girl dancing montage:
Congratulations, you guys!
Meredith & Shahrooz's vendor team:
Ceremony & reception venue:
River Farm
Catering:
Main Event
Florist:
Wild Green Yonder (They did a really beautiful job with bouquet and centerpieces - I hadn't worked with them before but they seemed great!)
DJ: DJ Hawke aka Munir
Flamenco guitarists for cocktail hour: Jose Oretea and Gerardo Moreno
Meredith's dress: Global Bridal Gallery
Did you know you can get married here? Apparently it's really affordable, but open to the public during the ceremony.
Brothers gotta hug, the too-close-for-comfort version.
Congratulations, you guys!
They got ready at the 
Thanks, as always, to my brilliant second Julia.
A preview of what was to come.
All of the spaces at the Grand Hyatt that were more beautiful were much more crowded and logistically, it's just easier to do it where you are, rather than try to finagle a "prettier" first look somewhere farther away. So I arranged them in front of the elevator banks.
And then we skipped on over to the church to get that knot tied.
I talked to the priest for maybe ten seconds, but he must be the coolest priest ever, because after the homily and all the things, Jordan broke a glass in the Jewish tradition. It only took two tries.
Proud mama.
DC is a wonderful place to do any kind of wedding-related thing with a street-photography-background photographer. This lady, who did not speak English, wanted to have her photo taken with the bridesmaids. She was really pushy. I think she's trying to do a selfie in this shot.
Meridian Hill Park is the obvious location for portraits when your wedding is at the Josephine Butler Parks Center. It rarely disappoints.
Here's a snippet for you in case you were feeling crafty: Sarah made this dress.
And then we were walking to the reception when I spotted what looked - and indeed turned out to be - a giant bubble maker. He indulged us in some rainbow-y wedding portrait fun. Yay DC folks.
Behind-the-scenes action.
Julia's photo. Still love her.
Congratulations, you guys!
Sarah & Jordan's vendor team:
Ceremony venue: