Warm. Kind. Generous. Tall. Short. Loving. The bride's sister Liz read off a huge list of adjectives Karen and David's friends and family had used to describe them. I looked around the room and saw a lot of tears and a lot of nodding heads. Some came all the way from Egypt to see these two tie the knot and it was truly an honor to be their wedding photographer.
Karen and David were married at the
Mayflower in DC, a beautiful historic hotel with quite a bit of history and a ton of class. Karen was an incredibly sweet and very composed bride. David didn't seem the least bit nervous, an admirable trait in any groom. I was struck by the graciousness of their families. And even though I saw it plenty in their
engagement session, they once again won me the heck over with how ridiculously cute they are once you tell them "go stand over there and hug."
These cool cats were upgraded from some other swanky bridal suite to the Presidental Suite, which they informed me is one of only two hotel rooms in the city that is bullet-proof! This here room where Karen's getting dressed? That is their
hallway, y'all.
Karen's gorgeous ring is an antique and was picked out by David alone because he knew she would love it.
Karen and David didn't have a lot of bridesmaids and groomsmen, so they went all-out on the bouquets. Check out Karen's on the left full of anemones (I learned this flower word that day), and two other kinds (the tendril-things and the fern things). I don't know all this technical flower stuff, but I was super-impressed with these bangin', unusual bouquets.
So much thanks to
Kelly for helping me out. Love this frame she grabbed right before they walked in the doors!
They were married at the gorgeous
Holy Rosary Church on Third street right downtown.
I love their families. Everyone was so gracious.
David's brother brought down the house.
And then Karen's sister made everybody cry.
And then there was a surprise belly dancer! With a candelabra on her head! She did the
splits balancing this monstrosity on her head. I photograph the coolest weddings.
This is what happens to the photobooth at the end of the night.
Karen & David, your wedding was spectacular and so filled with love and good wishes and kindness. Thanks for being you and good luck with everything!!
You can see even more of Karen and David's day in this little slideshow action right here:
Mad props to the fabulous vendors who helped with this wedding:
Ceremony -
Holy Rosary Church
Reception -
Mayflower Hotel
Cake -
Fancy Cakes by Leslie
DJ -
David Grimm with Signature Talent
Flowers - Mayflower
Hair and makeup -
Salon Blu
Karen's fantastic dress -
Lazaro
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
The gentlemen started the day at 
...while the ladies got prettified at the 
Many thanks to Marie for coming out for this one.
It was Rolling Thunder that day, so we made it to the church just in time.
I've never seen a couple get a letter from the Pope before.
Roberto's mother arranged for these awesome fancy old cars to take Kelly and Roberto around the city.
They projected old-timey music out of the back, so we were a rolling party. It turned a lot of heads.
Such a convenient boat painted with Georgetown.
Portraits done, rings on, they headed to Sequoia to dance the night away.
I knew it was going to be a great night when the entire wedding got up and danced like this in-between courses. I've also never seen that at a wedding!
I can't help it. The sparkly things are so sparkly.
Possibly the most hilarious grandpa I've photographed. Yes, that is his handicapped placard.
They danced like this all night.
Congratulations, you guys!
Kelly and Roberto's vendor team:
Ceremony venue: