Watercolor Garden NMWA Wedding: Rachel + Jonathan

As a DC area wedding planner (in addition to being a blogger), we are thrilled when we have clients who have so much personality and joie de vivre that it makes wedding planning fun and effortless; Jonathan and Rachel are one such couple. These two lovebirds fell in love with the National Museum of Women in the Arts for their spring downtown D.C. wedding, and it was perfect fate that their date was 3-14 “Pie Day”, given that it is Jonathan’s favorite dessert! Even through it rained the morning of the wedding, the couple didn’t let it dampen their spirits. Fortunately, in DC there are plenty of options for outdoor photos in covered areas which allowed them to have a sweet first look before bridal party photos outside the museum. My favorite piece of this wedding was the hand created watercolor invitations by Momental Designs. In vibrant shades of peach, pink, and yellow, they set the tone for this garden inspired DC museum wedding. I also can’t help but love the stunning textured garden bouquet by Amaryllis, which paired perfectly with the brides floral applique gown from Carine’s Bridal. After dinner and dancing Rachel surprised Jonathan with a doughnut wall for guests to enjoy on their way to the after party. Thank you to Lisa Boggs Photography for sharing this lovely wedding with us today!

From the Bride: “I would describe our wedding as “sophisticated fun!” The NMWA is a gorgeous but really formal venue. We didn’t want a black tie wedding so we used bright colors to give the venue a more relaxed/ springlike/indoor garden party feel. I think the lush flower arrangements, bright pink bridesmaid dresses, uplighting, and the beautiful hanging candles on the king’s tables really achieved the look and feel we envisioned. While we did not have a theme, our wedding did take place on Pi Day which we didn’t realize until after we booked the venue. We incorporated a few Pi Day touches such as pi symbol cuff links for Jonathan and pie for dessert. “

“The main priority was ensuring our guests had a great time. Besides that we also love food so finding a caterer who could deliver a delicious and unique menu was a big priority. We had tasty treats like a rolling cheese cart during cocktail hour, late night snacks, pie and cake for dessert, our favorite donuts available for guests to take on their way home, and the bar included Port City Porter which was the beer we had on our first date.
Another priority was finding a photographer who took timeless and gorgeous photos. I loved Lisa Boggs’ creativity and energy, within minutes of meeting her I knew that she would be perfect.”

“I loved the library card catalog holding the escort cards. I am a librarian so I assigned each table a Dewey Decimal number corresponding to something that held personal meaning for us. The back of the dinner menus had the explanations of the table numbers and their meaning, which ranged from sentimental to silly. For example, there was a table numbered 590 (Zoology) because our third date took place at the National Zoo during ZooLights and it’s also where Jonathan proposed.
The card catalog was later re-purposed into a guest book display which held post cards we collected over the years.”

From the Planner: “The couple are also complete and utter foodies, so having a roaming gourmet cheese cart at the wedding was a must! They worked with Cheesetique in Shirlington to come up with the perfect pairings for the cocktail hour. In addition to the cheeses, Spilled Milk Catering passed an assortment of appetizers such as lamb lollipops and samosas.”

Favorite detail or memory:

Rachel: My favorite detail was the piece of lace from my late grandmother’s wedding dress that was sewn into my own dress. It was really meaningful to have a part of her there with me.

As for memories there are so many. I loved seeing Jonathan’s face during our first look. Running in the rain from the limo into the museum was something I will never forget. I loved the recessional when the quartet played “All You Need is Love” (like in Love Actually one of my favorite movies). We also practiced a lot for our first dance and we nailed it!

Jonathan said: I’ll always remember the recessional. When we turned around and saw everyone and walked out it was pretty amazing. I also thought the cocktail hour was incredible, and it was great that we actually got to go to it. The museum itself really shined during that part of it in that upper level. Also, there was the donut buffet at the end. That was pretty memorable and awesome.

Advice from the Bride:

“While planning the wedding: Hire a wedding planner or day of coordinator. Do what makes you happy, don’t get bogged down trying to create the most perfect Pinterest-worthy wedding.

On the day of: Have a mimosa while getting ready. Relax and enjoy yourself. Trust your vendors.”