Nearly three weeks ago, Kelly & Jason tied the knot!  Kelly booked Wish for our Partial Planning services so we spent a lot of time working on the wedding together over the past year.  It’s always so fun to see ideas turned into reality on the wedding day!

Hollin Hall was chosen for the wedding for a couple of reasons.  First, this place has character!  The house sits on the property of the Mt. Vernon Unitarian Church and has been well-maintained over the years.  It definitely has some historic charm.  Second, there are beautiful manicured boxwood gardens behind the church.  There’s one particular section of the gardens that’s perfect for outdoor wedding ceremonies and features a pretty white garden gate.  Third, it’s affordable!  The property can be rented for MUCH less than many of the other wedding venues in the area (Collingwood Library, River Farm, and Mt. Vernon’s restaurant).

Unfortunately we’ve had a rainy start to wedding season in DC.  The forecast has been “scattered thunderstorms” for about a month now.  Nearly every Saturday has included a passing storm and it’s been tricky for those weddings with outdoor ceremonies.  In Kelly & Jason’s case, the rain threw off a few things.  Luckily we were still able to use the tent for the reception but the ceremony had to be moved inside at the last minute.  The chairs, ribbons, and floral pieces were all set before the first few drops started falling.  Then the skies opened up and it poured.  Kelly was a little crushed when we made the decision but I thought it turned out beautifully anyway.  Rev. Wesley Peyton performed an intimate ceremony and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.  Pillar candles on the mantle made the Fireplace Room at Hollin Hall glow.  It was so romantic:

Just after the ceremony, the weather broke and we were able to use the outdoor Wisteria Porch for cocktails.  Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo but you’d love this spot!  Behind the house there is a brick porch with an arbor completely covered in Wisteria vines.  Twinkling Christmas lights were woven in between the beams.  The flowers were blooming and fragrant….guests loved the spot and kept coming back there through the night.

Meanwhile, the reception tent is looking good on the front lawn of Hollin Hall.  The tent itself is from Rent-All Center in Alexandria.  The chairs came from our friends at Party Rental, Ltd.  Splendid Fare Catering did a wonderful job setting things up:

Our bride Kelly made these pretty table numbers out of unique greeting cards!  The back side of each made a fun conversation piece for the guests.  The beautiful floral centerpieces are from Barbara at Growing Wild Floral Co.:

I also liked these escort cards.  Kelly and Jason cut slits in a ton of wine corks for this unique display:

Guests enjoying their dinner under the tent:

This is an awful photograph but it shows a pretty detail.    We used pillar candles in the grass to line the walkway from the house to the tent:

Instead of a traditional tiered wedding cake, this couple wanted multiple flavors of cake from the Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe in Arlington.  I don’t remember all the flavors but they were DELICIOUS!  Kelly’s mom found all the cake stands (some vintage from their family) and the table looked beautiful.  You can also see the altar flowers being recycled next to the table (this is where the ceremony took place) and the bridesmaids bouquets decorating the spots in between the cakes.  Kelly’s bridal bouquet is in the center:

I’ll share professional photos from Heather Z Photography when I have them!  Working with Heather is always a pleasure and she has such an artistic eye.  Special kudos also goes to Matt Grason for his fabulous jazz ensemble.

Congratulations, Kelly & Jason!  I hope you guys were thrilled with every second of your wedding day.  I look forward to keeping up with you as you continue on life’s journey.

Tags: blue, brown, growing wild, heather z photography, hollin hall, laura, matt grason, mvuc, Real Weddings, rev. wesley peyton, splendid fare catering, white

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 7:23 am and is filed under Real Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.