Liz, a financial services management and strategy consultant from North Carolina, and Alex, a director of asset management and acquisitions from Silver Spring, met in a bar but say if it weren’t for social media, they may never have gotten together. Two dogs, a surprise proposal and three wedding dates later, Liz and Alex married in front of an intimate group of guests at the Line Hotel in DC. Read below for their full journey.
The Meeting
Liz was out with friends at El Ray on U Street, when a friend showed up with her boyfriend and his new roommate, Alex. They got to talking and discovered that Liz and Alex’s dad worked at the same company. As Liz was heading out, Alex asked for her number.
A week later, Liz was upset that she still hadn’t heard from Alex when she noticed she had a new message on Instagram. “I opened it up to a picture of Alex’s dad with a message that said, ‘I lost your number but that’s my pops,’” Liz says. “Apparently he had lost my number and his roommate’s girlfriend would only give him my full name, so he resorted to sending me a DM on Instagram.”
For their first date, Liz and Alex went to popular Le Diplomate.
The Proposal
In December of 2018, about four and a half years after their first date, the pair were getting ready to visit Liz’s parents in North Carolina when Alex suggested they go out to celebrate the bonus he’d just gotten at work. They set off for St. Anselm, but ended up at O-ku’s sushi bar. “Alex proceeds to order the most expensive things on the menu, which I think is just because of his bonus,” Liz recalls. When they were finished, Alex insisted they take an Uber home to avoid the rain even though their H Street apartment was so close by. Liz grew more confused after Alex said that the car would be picking them up from the other side of Union Market rather than in front of the restaurant.
“Suddenly out of nowhere, one of our dogs, Boone, comes running up to me and I can see our other dog, Mia, across the front of Union Market. Then he kneels down on one knee and proposes. I was so very confused and also concerned that Mia was going to run away. I couldn’t see my sister behind a bench holding her leash. I also didn’t see the ring tied to Boone’s collar as he ran up to us.” Liz says the proposal wasn’t planned, but that Alex had called her sister right before they went to dinner asking for help. “Apparently, he had had the ring for a day, but it was burning up a hole in his pocket. I had no clue he was even planning on proposing, so it was a total shock to me.”
Liz says she’d also unwittingly helped pick out the ring, not realizing it when her friend texted her a few options to choose between. “She told me she was trying on rings because she was going to ‘put a picture of one in her boyfriend’s stocking’ for Christmas. I fell for all of it!”
The Wedding Plan
Liz and Alex had to postpone their wedding twice after originally planning for May 30, 2020. First to July of 2020, and then finally to May 1, 2021. Initially aiming for 150-200 guests, they ultimately cut their list by more than half.
The ceremony took place on the roof of The Line Hotel with a city-imposed limit of only 50 guests, and followed with a reception in the hotel’s Banneker room with a slightly larger guest count (around 80-85). Color-coordinated face masks, reduced table numbers, spaced out seating, and masking reminders were among the safety considerations. “We made sure to notify everyone of our plans to have the reception indoors and encouraged testing beforehand,” says Liz.
The Wedding Day
The couple’s theme was a mixture of their two styles, a feat Liz attributes to their wedding planner. “Sarah did such an amazing job designing, planning, and managing our wedding. I could not imagine a more perfect day without her…. She combined my classic, feminine style with Alex’s love for edgier bold tones and tropicals, along with mid-century modern touches to make it feel at home at The Line.”
One of the highest priorities for Liz was to have a lot of flowers. “Some people like to scale back on flowers, but I love flowers so much and knew they’d bring me joy and look great in photographs,” she says. They ended up having a mixture of florals and foliage, from peonies and poppies to tropical foliage like palm monstera, which was Alex’s favorite detail as well.
To go along with the florals and tropical vibes, their color scheme was comprised of a mix of shades in the pink family–peaches, corals, rose and dusty roses.
As food lovers, the couple chose the menu carefully: hors d’oeuvres consisted of raw beef on potato chip, smoked trout on rye, crab cake on cheddar biscuit, liver crostini, and vegetable banh mis; and dinner was a focaccia and kale Caesar salad with either braised beef short ribs (with buttermilk mashed potatoes, braised greens, and beef jus) or roasted rockfish (with crab stock risotto, succotash and crab gravy).
“Alex and I love to eat and love to experience restaurants. We also love how meals bring people together,” Liz says. Their wedding cake was an almond cake with blubbery jam and buttercream frosting.
They opted for a DJ, and for the ceremony, they walked down to music from “Brooklyn Duo.”
The couple, who now live in Charlotte, went on an “adventure and activity packed” mini-moon to New Mexico and Arizona, visiting Santa Fe, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Scottsdale. “While it wasn’t the honeymoon we had always planned, we are looking forward to more trips in the future as things get back to normal,” Liz says.
The Details
Photographer: Lissa Ryan Photography | Venue: The Line DC | Event Planning & Designer: Sarah Kazemburg Events | Florist: Darling and Daughters| Invitations: Minted | Catering: The LINE DC | Cake: Buttercream Bakeshop | Hair: Brianna Vanderveer, Amie Decker Beauty | Makeup: Maria Decesaris, Amie Decker Beauty | Bride’s Attire: Rita Vinieris, Hayden Olivia Bridal (Charlotte, NC)| Groom’s Attire: Hockerty Suits | Bridesmaids’ Attire: Varied by bridesmaid| Groomsmen’s Attire: Hockerty Suits, Sunglasses by Johnny Fly (Charlotte NC) | Music: DJ Stylus, DJ D-Mac and Associates | Rentals: Something Vintage
