Maria and Doug were married at
Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna. These two are silly and relaxed, so the stoic faces during the ceremony took me by surprise. These guys take their getting-married very seriously. But by the time we got to the reception at the
Grand Atrium at Tysons Corner, complete with some of the most adorable escort cards I've ever seen, cousins who can really sing, the "money dance" and a FLASH MOB, the laughs were back in full force. Maria and Doug:
We started the day at the
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. They must have a really great deal on block rooms, because I've been to this hotel a bunch of times for weddings. The A/C wasn't working in the morning, so they sent up a maintenance guy. This is the kind of random wedding thing I love to photograph.
Maria's niece stole plenty of the show.
I don't do a lot of "artistic" shoe shots, but sometimes there's a good opportunity.
Doug being Doug.
Maria and Doug were married at
Our Lady of Good Counsel in Vienna, Va. - a beautiful, enormous church. They incorporated a number of Filipino traditions into the ceremony.
Forget the first kiss. It's all about the first high-five.
We scooted in the million-degree heat to Old Town Vienna for some portraits by the red caboose and to play with their tandem bike.
A good friend of Maria's made her lovely veil.
We headed back to the hotel to get a break from the outdoors and played with some of the art in the Hilton's lobby. This hotel has some great scenes for portraits.
A shoe shot *and* a detail shot in one blog post? Have I lost it? No, it's just that Maria and Doug's escort cards were freakin' baller. They had to glue kickstands onto these tiny bikes and then taped names to them. Maria's sister painted a backdrop with important places to the couple. It. was. awesome.
Their held their racuous, non-stop-party reception at the
Grand Atrium at Tysons Corner.
Maria's cousin came all the way from the Philippines and serenaded the couple before toasts.
Before the real dancing got started, they did a "money dance" - where you had to pay to dance with the couple. So fun!
One of my favorite things about this wedding is that all the "aunties" (my name for this group of women - not sure how they're all related!) danced, the whole night. No sitting on the sidelines for these ladies - they were
in it.
And then, ladies and gentlemen, there was a flash mob.
When I say they got down, I mean they got down.
This would be the aunties doing Gangam Style.
Congratulations you guys!
Maria and Doug's vendor team:
Ceremony venue:
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Reception venue:
Grand Atrium at Tysons Corner
Getting-ready venue:
Hilton McLean Tysons Corner
DJ: Dennis Morely with the Grand Atrium
Caterer: Grand Atrium and Tita Evelyn (
Philippine Oriental Market)
Cakes: Tita Evelyn (
Philippine Oriental Market)
Florist: Wegmans
Hair:
Venus Hair Salon
Makeup: Val Stevenson
Maria's dress:
White Swan
Alterations:
Judith's Boutique and Alterations
Transportation:
Madison Limousine
Tandem bike:
Get Out and Go Tours LLC
Flowergirl dress and Maria's veil: Breanne Lippy
The ladies started the day at the Westin Arlington Gateway.
The boys were nearby at their apartment. Big thanks to Porter for coming out to help me with this one and hanging with the dudes.
We scooted to Clarendon Ballroom for the first look and all the events.
But not before a little trip to the metro.
Go time.
It was blazingly hot out, so we ran up to the rooftop for just a handful of formal portraits, before setting these two loose on a sea of hugs and congratulations.
The grandmothers. Thank you, Porter.
The wedding party, shunning formal announcements, rolled into the party rockin' to "Boogie Shoes".
Instead of a bouquet toss, Heidi presented her bouquet to her grandparents.
Congratulations, you guys!
Heidi & Jason's vendor team:
Ceremony & Reception venue: Clarendon Ballroom
Getting ready venue: Westin Arlington Gateway
Caterer: Clarendon Ballroom
DJ: DJ D-Mac & Associates
Officiant: Rev. Bill Cochran, Say I Do Your Way
Cake: Heidelberg Bakery
Florist: Petal's Edge
Makeup: Melissa Goss
Hair: Bridal Beauty Associates
Heidi's dress: Pronovias, from Love Couture Bridal
Jason's suit: J.Crew
Big thanks to Tim for coming out to help me with this wedding.
I'm such a sucker for a big Washington, DC backdrop.
The Crowne Plaza is right in the heart of Crystal City - so we were a bit short on pretty green spaces, but had plenty of rockin' urban stuff to work with. And, if you can believe it, there were actual bikers trying to use our wedding portrait bike path.
These poor people. I had already subjected them to my parking garage obsession at their courthouse wedding.
But really, who can resist a good orange stripe?
The Crowne Plaza gets to use the beautiful courtyard between office buildings for outdoor wedding ceremonies. The light bounced all over the place and reflected off the windows in the buildings opposite the sun. It was a lovely setting.
Erin's dad officiated and he did one of the best jobs of any officiant I've ever heard.
Instead of doing the candle thing or the sand thing, Erin and Patrick decided to paint together. I wonder if that canvas is dry yet.
Erin!!
Yeah he's definitely not waving to anyone in particular.
Patrick's aunt danced *all night*.
So I've eaten a lot of wedding cake. And I don't even like cake - girl just needs a few extra calories sometimes. But this was the. best. wedding. cake. ever. Seriously. 
Sometimes when editing, I know what song they were dancing to at the time and it gets stuck in my head. Thanks guys, for the Time Warp. Oy.
Patrick's not a big dancer, really. Here he is literally being carried to the dance floor, from which he ran away.
But he came back later.
Congratulations, you guys!
Erin & Patrick's vendor team:
Ceremony & reception venue: