This Black, White, and Champagne Wedding Blends Modern Flair With Traditional Design

For their first date after meeting on Bumble, John “made the trek” from DC to Old Town to take Nicole to PX, the now-defunct 1920s-style speakeasy. They lingered over a flight of French fries that came with six kinds of fries and sauces. “I don’t think I got home until 1 am!” says Nicole. Even before a second date, she told her mom she could see herself marrying John.

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Five years later, she did. The couple struck a balance between his traditional style and her more modern flair, with a classic DC venue and a custom monogram that topped each guest’s plate, paired with black tapered candles and anemones. They sealed personalized notes to every guest with a DIY wax monogram for the escort-card display, and also assembled welcome baskets, which included Filipino sweet bread as a nod to Nicole’s heritage and a mini bottle of the mezcal brand that John owns. Another DIY touch: signature cocktails they created over many boozy hours in the kitchen. Dinner was a braised-beef entrée inspired by the meal on the night they got engaged, and for dessert, an ice-cream-cookie truck parked alongside the outdoor dance floor. An unexpected fireworks show put a bow on the night.

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.