Maria, manager at a tech company from Herndon, and Brock, director at an audit firm from Scranton, met at work. She noticed that he was tall, handsome, and approachable but not without a little “swag;” he thought she was beautiful. One day in the break room they got to chatting and realized that for the weekend ahead, Maria was heading to Vegas with some girlfriends, and Brock was heading there for a guys trip. Brock suggested they all meet up. They ended up briefly connecting at a club their first night, but didn’t see each other again until the airport, where they discovered they were on the same flight home. Maria boarded first, and to her surprise, Brock grabbed the seat next to her. They chatted the entire six-hour flight home—an afternoon they now call their “first date.”
Get more Washingtonian Weddings inspo:
Newsletter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest
The Couple
The pair dated for four years until Brock popped the question. The scene: Christmas Eve at Maria’s mom’s house in Maryland, their silver Labrador retriever, Valentina, wearing a note that read “Marry Daddy,” and loved ones from the Philippines watching on via Facebook portal.
Maria and Brock originally planned to marry on New Years Eve in the Philippines, then rescheduled for March in the Philippines, and ultimately rescheduled once more for July 31, 2021 at the Conrad hotel in DC.
The Wedding Day
Instead of a first look, the pair did a “first touch,” where they exchanged gifts and notes back-to-back in the hotel’s courtyard after getting ready. Back inside, the couple wanted a “glam, chic, minimalist” aesthetic, using a color palette of white, silver, and nude hues, with white roses all around.
For the menu, they worked with the hotel on an Asian-fusion menu, as a nod to their original plans to marry in the Philippines. Appetizers included crab-cakes with black ginger aioli, Laoban chicken ginger wontons with ponzu sauce, avocado fries, duck confit tacos, kimchi fried rice, then a grilled Appalachian salad, followed by a choice of ssamjang grilled beef tenderloin with jasmine rice and garlic broccolini, lemongrass-and-black-petter chicken with chili-stir-fry green beans, or cauliflower steak with vegetable fried rice. For dessert, the couple sliced into a coconut cake with passion curd and coconut milk buttercream.
Special Touches
Maria’s favorite details included the mirrored aisle and the “Valentina” signature cocktail that included a cocktail stirrer picturing their pup (the other signature drink included the Red Rose mocktail—another nod to Valentina’s signature red-rose-collar). Brock loved the clever hashtag: #BeautyandtheBrock, and the DJ. As favors for their guests, the couple handed out “Doggie Bags” that pictured a drawing of Valentina, and included dog biscuits for guests’ four-legged friends.
Following the big day, the pair honeymooned in Sicily.
Watch their wedding highlight video, here.
The Details
Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.
