Weddings in the Washington, DC area come in all sizes, from grand ballroom affairs to intimate family-only celebrations.  Laura and Jason’s beautiful July wedding from Lauryn Galloway Photography falls into the small and intimate category, yet their day was practically bursting with love.  They said their wedding vows surrounded by immediate family and friends in the courtyard of the Leesburg courthouse, then walked across the street to Lightfoot Restaurant for their reception.  Laura focused on a few key details like flowers and attire and brought in some pops of bold color to help bring the day to life.  And by keeping to a small guest list, the entire wedding budget came in below $5,000!

From Laura: We wanted a simple and sweet wedding to share with our closest family.  I love bright bold colors and really wanted to have a bouquet that would pop against my white dress.  My sister found her dress first and I loved the purple and wanted it in my flowers.  I also wanted to include blue to match my blue sapphire engagment ring.

The earrings I wore were borrowed from my twin sister (and matron of honor).  She wore them for her wedding on May 29th, just two months before mine!

One of my favorite memories is laughing about how incredibly hot it was that day, it was over 100 degrees and I will always remember that!  Luckily Lauryn is a fabulous photographer, so you can’t tell from our wedding photos that we were melting.

What I loved most about our wedding was that our closest family was able to be there, including my grandfather who had recently undergone hip replacement surgery and was having a hard time getting around.

If you choose to have a small courthouse wedding you don’t have to give up flowers, a dress, or a cake.  You can still do all of those things on a smaller scale to make your wedding day special and uniquely you.

Since we planned to have a small and simple wedding, my main priorities were photography and flowers.  I wanted to have great photographs to remember the day and share with the people who were not there, and the flowers did a great job of transforming the restaurant into a beautiful setting to celebrate our wedding with family.  They were the perfect thing to change the setting from a typical dinner out to a beautiful wedding celebration!

I also really wanted a gluten-free wedding cake, so I could eat some of my own wedding cake!  A parent from the school where I teach makes fabulous cakes and was able to make a gluten-free chocolate layer for me and a “regular” vanilla layer.  The cake was delicious and I really appreciate her finding a gluten-free recipe for me.

The following Washington, DC area wedding vendors contributed to Laura and Jason’s wedding:

Reception Venue + Catering: Lightfoot Restaurant, Leesburg, Virginia
Photography: Lauryn Galloway Photography
Floral Design: Holly Chapple Flowers
Attire: BCBG
Cake: Cake Harmony

Don’t forget to visit our vendor guide for more fabulous Washington, DC area wedding professionals or our real wedding gallery for more beautiful weddings!

Photo Credits: Lauryn Galloway Photography

Submitted via Two Bright Lights