Cecelia and Patrick got hitched on a beautiful sunny day in the middle of our fair city, amongst scads of family, tons of friends and with plenty of style to spare. First they got full and really married at
Holy Rosary Church, then partied it up at the
Hotel Monaco, which supplied lovely red lamps for me to use as background. To top it all off, they hired a grilled cheese food truck to refuel their guests, who spent most of what they had on the dance floor. Cecelia and Patrick:
Special shouts to
Kara from HJ Planners. We hadn't worked together before, but she was so awesome and such a pleasure to work with!
We started at the
Monaco, which is always super-fun to shoot in with all the textures and patterns and such. And, you know, busts of Jefferson (?) to help with the dress shot.
Thanks also to
Tim who came along to help out.
Also, can I just say... Cecelia's hair looked this good
all day. That shiz is unheard of.
Amie Decker Beauty has the hair thing
down. (PS: I'm not just pimping all these vendors for SEO or good will or whatever - I'm
moving to Sweden in a few weeks! - They really were this good!)
Yeah I have like seven thousand photos of this flower girl.
Gotta love the dads.
A little bit of Senate Park action to round off the very-DC day.
I'd almost forgotten what it's like to shoot during golden hour vs. working around midday sun. So delightful! Also, I know C&P were straight ready to dive into some apps but they trudged down the hall with me for this silhouette portrait and I'm glad they did.
Sisters.
This is the first real cake-smash I've seen in a long time.
And, of course, I had to stick around to snap a few of the cheese truck. Best idea ever.
Congratulations, you guys!
Cecelia & Patrick's vendor team:
Planning and coordination:
Kara from HJ Planners
Getting ready and reception venue:
Hotel Monaco
Ceremony venue:
Holy Rosary Church
Band:
Escapade for Bialek's Music
Florist:
Greenworks
Lighting:
John Farr Lighting Design
Cake:
Fancy Cakes by Leslie
Baklava:
Shatila Bakery
Hair & Makeup:
Amie Decker Beauty
Cecelia's ridiculously pretty dress: BHLDN
Patrick's dashing suit: Suit Supply
Post-party grilled cheese truck:
The Big Cheese
We started at the Doubletree Columbia, which has some fun art for playing with.
Did you know that wedding certificates include a family planning guide in Columbia? Helpful!
Everybody all gussied up, we headed over to Oliver's Carriage House.
This wedding had no shortage of adorable children.
A few buttons buttoned, then it was go time.
Thanks as always to Julia, who nailed the "bride entrance from behind" shot.
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Basically everybody at this wedding was a blubbery mess of happiness.
The crowd went absolutely bananas for Blake's grandparents at the end of the anniversary dance.
The money dance can sometimes be really awkward and timid. This one was a riot of bills flying everywhere and squeals of laughter.
Congratulations Nike and Blake!
Planning & Coordination: Bird of Paradise Events
Ceremony & reception venue: Oliver's Carriage House
Getting-ready venue: DoubleTree Columbia
Catering: Absolutely Perfect Catering
Florist: Maryland Bay Blossoms
DJ: DJ J Fresh
Hair: Nappstar Salon
Makeup: Keisha Willis
Nike's beautiful dress: Nicole Miller
Blake's dashing suit: Men's Warehouse
Bridesmaid dresses: Weddington Way
This, folks, is the face of a man who wants to be married.
We stole off for a few photos around the grounds, with the repeated admonition not to get in the way of the golfers. Those golfers mean serious business!
The kids' table was deserted by mid-meal. I found them in the cool-people area getting into trouble.
And here's 
I waited by the ice cream sundae station (yeah, you heard right) knowing full well the kids' faces were going to do something like this:
You always see high heels kicked off, but I love the addition of tiny shoes here.
Congratulations, you guys!
Julie and Brandon's vendor team:
Ceremony and reception venue: