A Spring Wedding at the National Portrait Gallery’s Kogod Courtyard

Libby and Peter were law students together at Yale. They planned a first dinner date at a fancy New Haven restaurant, but it shared a name with a casual pizza place, which is where Libby mistakenly arrived. Confusion averted, they dated for six years before Peter proposed on a hike in Shenandoah National Park.

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The pair hoped to host their nearly 300 guests—most of whom were from out of town—at a space that was memorable, unique to DC, and elegant but not stuffy. The National Portrait Gallery’s Kogod Courtyard fit the bill. Serendipitously, the museum’s springtime exhibit of hundreds of orchids, Libby says, complemented the cherry blossoms and white flowers brought in for the nuptials. The escort wall displayed vintage postcards relating to a favorite memory or location for each guest, with a handwritten note from the couple. As a special gesture for Peter—a big fan of Pitbull—Libby worked with their wedding planner to get cutouts of the rapper’s face for the reception. As the newlyweds cut the cake, guests put on the masks and the DJ blasted “Hotel Room Service.” “It was so epic, and a total surprise,” says the bride. Take-home favors were pop tarts from Ted’s Bulletin, with labels that read: “Thank you for poppin’ with the Posadas” and “From the bottom of our tarts, thank you.”

The Details

This wedding originally appeared in the January 2023 issue of Washingtonian.

Amy Moeller

Fashion & Weddings Editor

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.