Welcome back to the second half of Bridgette and Bruce’s Washington DC wedding reception! (Did you see their outdoor garden wedding ceremony in Georgetown?) After their garden ceremony, guests headed to Darlington House in DuPont Circle for the celebration where Bridgette and Bruce impressed all with their DIY skills captured by Vness Photography. Think gorgeous paper goods, all crafted and designed by the adorable bride and groom. One of my favorite details of their day includes the floral design by Urban Petals where the leftover flowers are donated to a non-profit the next day love it! 

From Bridgette: After the ceremony, family and friends traveled to Dupont Circle to celebrate within the elegant, yet cozy, upstairs hall of the Darlington House. Deep blues, silver accents, mercury glass and floral arrangements helped to make the warm colors of fall pop, meanwhile, food and drink reflected the season through inspired dishes highlighting autumn squashes, while pumpkin ale, imported from Maine, accented the refreshments with seasonal notes.

We reused the bouquets from the bridal party as floral arrangements on the tables at our reception. They were beautiful and gave them a place to rest during dinner and dancing!

The setting for our reception was gorgeous, and we did not want to take away from it with gaudy table settings, so we went ahead and splurged on the best linens we could find – it was amazing how just this simple touch helped to pull the whole room together, bringing the perimeter mantles, adorned with additional arrangements and mercury glass, together with seamless effort.

We decided to make the wedding invitations by hand, which resulted in us getting to know the employees at Papersource extremely well! While it would be an understatement to say that the whole process was more time consuming than we originally thought, the time spent together crafting each invitation (and being able to brag that we did so) was more than worth it!

Bridgette’s wedding planning advice for other DC-area couples:

Delegate! Don’t be afraid to loosen the reigns and let those “with experience” put a little of their expertise to use!

Thank you so much Bridgette and Bruce for sharing your wedding ceremony with us! The following Washington DC area wedding professionals contributed to their wedding:

Ceremony Venue: Tudor Place
Officiant: M. Caryl Jones-Swahn
Reception Venue: Darlington House
Photography: Vness Photography
Bridal Attire: Elegance by Roya
Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Groom Attire: Jos. A. Banks
Floral Design: Urban Petals
Hair and Makeup: Stylist to Go
Catering: Darlington House
Transportation: Haymarket Transporation
DJ: e2 Events
Linen: BBJ Linens
Harpist: MSE Productions, Inc.

Visit our vendor guide for more fabulous Washington, DC area wedding professionals, our real wedding gallery for more beautiful Washington, DC area weddings and join the local wedding conversation on our DC wedding forums!

Photo Credit: Vness Photography