United with Love - Fresh Inspiration For DC-Area Weddings

Time to take a gander at the lovely light and airy reception that followed Emily and Matt’s outdoor wedding ceremony on Maryland’s Eastern shore. Shabby chic centerpieces, a super sweet wish jar and, perhaps most important to the newlyweds, great music were all this wedding needed, along with Sweet Tea Photography catching all the fun on film!

From Emily: My favorite memory was listening to the heartfelt and hilarious toasts given by our friends and family.

One of the main priorities for our wedding, and what we chose to splurge on, was the entertainment. We felt so luckily to find the amazing Adrian Duke Project whose jazz/blues/soul style matched the classic, old-school vibe we wanted our guests to experience.

Emily’s advice to other DC-area couples:

Start researching and securing vendors as early as you can. The good ones fill-up fast! A good amount of vendors starting filling up their schedule a year in advance.

The following Washington, DC area wedding vendors contributed to Emily + Matt’s wedding:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Tidewater Inn
Photographer: Sweet Tea Photography
Wedding Gown & Bridesmaid Gowns: J.Crew
Groom & Groomsmens’ Suits: JoS. A. Bank
Floral Designer: Intrigue Design and Décor
Hair Stylist: Studio 2 Salon
Cake & Cupcakes: Peace of Cake
Guitarist: Chris Dunn
Band: Adrian Duke Project

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

Photo Credits: Sweet Tea Photography

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

* Sweet Tea Photography is one of our fabulous sponsors.  For information on our editorial policies, please click here.

I couldn’t think of a better way to describe Emily and Matt’s Maryland wedding than sweet and simple. They wed on the Eastern shore with Sweet Tea Photography there to capture it all. Other than the fun and bold bridesmaid dresses, the palette was subtle and blended beautifully with their outdoor ceremony and the beautiful fall day. Don’t forget to check back later for part two of this understated wedding.

From Emily: Our wedding was elegant, classy, simple and understated with hints of vintage elements. I knew that I wanted to keep my color palette muted and soft. I played around with a lot of color palettes until I discovered and fell in love with the spiced wine colored chiffon bridesmaid dresses at J. Crew. I ended up building my color palette of muted peaches, ivory and gold off of this color. I also had the groomsmen wear charcoal which I felt was a softer alternative to a black tux.

The following Washington, DC area wedding vendors contributed to Emily + Matt’s wedding:

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Tidewater Inn
Photographer: Sweet Tea Photography
Wedding Gown & Bridesmaid Gowns: J.Crew
Groom & Groomsmens’ Suits: JoS. A. Bank
Floral Designer: Intrigue Design and Décor
Hair Stylist: Studio 2 Salon
Cake & Cupcakes: Peace of Cake
Guitarist: Chris Dunn
Band: Adrian Duke Project

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

Photo Credits: Sweet Tea Photography

Submitted via Two Bright Lights

* Sweet Tea Photography is one of our fabulous sponsors.  For information on our editorial policies, please click here.

I need your help to create an even better, more inspirational local DC area wedding blog! Will you take the reader survey?! It is a super short (I’m talking less than 5 minutes!) survey to help me get to know you better. If you are a general reader (as in a bride, groom or just a lover of weddings), you can take the general survey here. If you are one of our vendor readers (as in someone whose business services the wedding industry), you can take this vendor survey here. This is your chance to tell me how it is! What do you like? What do you not like? And most importantly, what do you want to see more of? Lay it on me!

 Photo Credit: Ethan Yang Photography from Patty + Jasper’s wedding

Thank you so much for reading United With Love each day! And, thanks for taking some time to fill out the reader survey. Remember, general readers go here and vendors go here.

The ladies of United With Love recently met up at our headquarters (better known as editor Juli’s house!) with the fabulous trio behind Blend Makeup Artistry for a truly unique makeup consultation. The D.C. area based makeup artists Kathy, Marquia and Ryan introduced us to Blend Couture, a personalized line of cosmetics. From concealers and foundations to lipgloss and lipstick, Blend Couture is created during a one-on-one session with your makeup artist. This isn’t just for weddings, ladies! You can have Blend come to your bridal show or bachelorette for your friends and you! Take a look at our makeup session and see their process of creating cosmetics, with Vicky Grafton Photography there to capture all the glam and beauty!

Finding the lipstick is a journey in and of itself, but with an array of options, Blend gives you the freedom to express your creativity and recreate the latest trends within minutes—plus, you get to name it!

And if, like me, you’ve ever been guilty of sporting a foundation color too light or dark from your neck color, well, consider your problem solved. Flawless skin as a result of what you choose goes into your product to suit your specific skin-care needs. Oil control, ultra-hydrating, SPF and anti-aging are just a few of your options!

The best part about Blend Makeup Artistry’s line of personalized line of makeup? Blend Couture avoid mineral oil, petroleum, animal by-products and parabens for mineral and botanically based products for healthy, immaculate skin.

How fun does all this makeup making look?? A special thank you to the Blend ladies, Vicky Grafton and, of course, our hostess Juli, for helping us bring a little glam into our lives! You can have the Blend team host you bridal shower or bachelorette party and then you’ll be all set with custom make up for your wedding. If you’re searching for a makeup artist for your wedding in the D.C. area, be sure to check out Blend Makeup Artistry.

Photo Credits: Vicky Grafton Photography

**Blend Makeup Artistry and Vicky Grafton Photography are a few of our fabulous sponsors. They did not pay for this post. We feature local DC area wedding talent because we love it! You can find more about our editorial policies here.

We’re back with part two of Kim and George’s stunning, black tie wedding from k. thompson photography. (Don’t forget to check out their DC wedding ceremony too!) The jaw-dropping long tables of the DAR library were dripping in gold. The grand and scrumptious cake tower represented the inspiration for the entire wedding, but I’ll let Kim describe that in her own words. Fair warning: this reception may sell you on long tables and black-tie attire, beware!

From Kim: I fell in love with a photo of a caramel apple cake with gold apples on top and caramel dripping down the sides. It’s a perfect formal, fall wedding cake. So I tried to tie in other elements of the wedding into the cake. We had caramel apple cupcakes, golden apple centerpieces, and a spiked apple cider at the end of the night.

Part of our reception was in the DAR library. There are these beautiful, long tables that are bolted to the floor with large lamps that are bolted to the table, so you have to work creatively with the space to make it fit your wedding. We decided to replace the large, plain library lampshades with something smaller, more formal for the reception. My mom and I made 40 decorative lampshades with a gold braid and black feather trim. They ended up looking amazing on the tables.

 We wanted great food with a bit of whimsy. One of my favorite touches by our caterer was that at the end of the night, they brought around a spiked hot apple cider to warm everyone up on a cold night.

Kim’s advice to other DC-area couples:

Know who you are as a couple and stay true to that. Many vendors will try to convince you to do something trendy and different — partly because they’re tired of doing the same old thing and partly because they want to expand their portfolio. This is your wedding day, not theirs. Stay true to your ideas and your vision — and you’ll be happier in the end.

The following Washington, DC area wedding vendors contributed to Kim + George’s wedding:

Ceremony: St. Matthew’s Cathedral
Reception: DAR
Caterer: Design Cuisine
Wedding Planner: Engaging Affairs
Photographer: k. thompson photography
Flowers: Petal’s Edge
Cake: Fluffy Thoughts
Band: Night and Day
Dress: Priscilla of Boston

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

Photo Credits: k. thompson photography

** k. thompson photography is one of our fabulous sponsors, but did not pay for this post. We feature local talent because we love it! If you are interested in learning more, you can read our editorial policies.