Welcome back to a new fresh week of DC wedding inspiration and real weddings! We took a few days off last week to allow for flu recovery as our family was wiped. We hope that you are all staying healthy and happy in the new year!

Today we have a lovely romantic winter Old Town Alexandria wedding at Virtue Feed and Grain. Melissa and Bogdan were married during a snowy March weekend. Knowing that they wanted an intimate feel to their wedding, the restaurant turned wedding space was the perfect fit. The pair wanted an industrial yet familiar feel for their day. Their largest priorities were having an energetic evening that was more of a party than a formal gathering. We are always down for that! Thank you to Andrea Rodway Photography for sharing a look into this day! Keep reading below for insight from the newlyweds about planning!

Any DIY or special projects? “Bogdan’s ring. We have mismatched rings, which we absolutely love. One of our favorite details is Bogdan’s ring, since it has both metals on it. The copper piece is the profile of the Carpathian mountains – the mountain range Bogdan grew up near. He’s actually hiked a few of the peaks on his ring!”

What was most important to you in the planning, splurge or skip? “Well, the largest thing we skipped was a long engagement. We planned our wedding in just over 10 weeks and were helped by an incredible team of vendors, a hugely supportive family, and wonderful friends that were able to pull it all off in a short time. We knew immediately that we didn’t care for the long year+ of planning, so we did it on our own terms. With two engineers in one union, our style has always been more to plan, execute, and move on to the next challenge! It might be a weird way to approach wedding planning, but it worked for us!” 

Favorite moment of the day: ” We had a non-traditional ceremony officiated by a friend of ours. We had put together our ceremony and vows, and knew what was included. However, during the ceremony our friend added a part where he spoke about how much we (Bogdan & I) meant to everyone in the room, and how much they loved us and supported us. He asked us to turn from facing each other and instead turn towards our guests, and really take a moment to appreciate just how much we were loved by so many.

Both of us did not see that coming, and for me I was truly overwhelmed and teared up. I had been doing such a good job at composure, but lost it at that moment! Never before have I stood in front of such a ‘proof of love’, and it was one of my favorite parts of the entire day. Nothing like being overwhelmed (in an amazingly great way!), by your own officiant! “

Did you have favors? “Instead of traditional wedding favors, we chose to donate the amount of money we would’ve spent on them to charities that our guests could choose. We had cards at the the guest book table that explained this, and that had choices for three charities that have impacted us or our families in some way. Guests could choose what they felt most strongly about, and then dropped the card in a copper geometric vase.”

Family Heirlooms or moments?  “There is a family story in my [bride’s] family about my paternal grandfather giving a speech at the 50th wedding anniversary of his in-laws. He toasted his wife’s parents, who immigrated from Italy, and worked really hard to be able to say part of the speech in Italian. I’ve watched the grainy footage of it, and it’s a beautiful video of my grandfather (who passed in the early 2000s, and was not at our wedding) thanking his in-laws for not only his wife, but for their shining example of marriage.

Fast-forward to our wedding, my father stood up and gave a toast to Bogdan and I, and part of it was in Romanian! How much of it made sense in Romanian, only Bogdan and our Romanian guests know, but it meant the world to us. It was a touching moment at our wedding that we will not soon forget.”

The following Washington DC wedding professionals contributed to their Old Town Alexandria wedding:

Photography: Andrea Rodway Photography | Venue: Virtue Feed and Grain | Event Planning: Amelia Lawrence | Floral: Vintage Floral Design | Stationery: The Dandelion Patch | Beauty: Agape Airbrush Makeup and Hair | Engagement Ring: Paul Michael Design | Wedding Ring: Mara Joyce | Wedding Dress: BHLDN | Groom’s Attire: Joseph a. Bank | Bride’s Shoes: Charlotte Olympia | Pocket Squares: The Union DC | Ties: The Union DC | Ring Box: Ostap of Leosklo | Groom’s Shoes: Magnanni | Submitted via: Matchology

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