A Parisian Fête in Washington, D.C. With Korean Influence

Melissa Hammam
May 13, 2022
Categories: Real Weddings, Romantic, Seasonal Wedding Trend, Summer, The Blog

Paris comes to D.C. at this incredibly romantic wedding day! RSVP Events planned a day filled with carefully curated details like a pastel color palette, Rococo-inspired accents, and Ladurée macarons. Florals by Nava Floral have us feeling like we are walking through France in the springtime. Jacqueline Benét beautifully captured the magic of the day in her artful imagery, enjoy all the elegance in the full gallery.

From … Soyoung and Byung Kyu originally began planning an intimate wedding in France, the location of their first international trip together. When they decided to relocate their wedding to the United States due to COVID-19, they began a search for a European-inspired venue stateside and found the Larz Anderson House in Washington, D.C., historically known as one of the capital city’s most fashionable mansions. They decided to create a little Paris stateside in Washington, D.C. The bride and groom decided to maintain their original vision of an intimate wedding, hosting 47 of their closest family and friends. As a nod to their love of France and their travels together, elements of 18th-century Rococo design are woven throughout the wedding design, featuring gold gilding, scrolling curves, and a pastel color palette. Their color palette is inspired by Rococo design and reminiscent of Paris in the spring, with tones of cannoli cream, cream pink, pearl blush, oatmeal, orchid tint, anise flower, green lily, chambray blue, and French blue, accented by rich gold inspired by European gilded architecture.

For her bridal gown, Soyoung wore a column gown with a dramatic asymmetrical ribbon bow, sculpturally draped bodice, and voluminous sweep train by Parisian fashion house Viktor&Rolf Mariage. The bride paired her gown with an heirloom floral hair vine, a pearl-adorned veil, Tiffany & Co. jewelry, and embroidered botanical Stuart Weitzman heels. Byung Kyu wore a suit from a favorite designer, Thom Browne, accented with a bow tie and a colorful boutonnière. The bride and groom exchanged their vows in the Olmstead Gallery, where the Andersons displayed their larger works of art, including sixteenth-century Flemish tapestries. A harp, violin, and cello trio played as guests entered the Olmstead Gallery for the ceremony. The ceremony was haloed by a growing floral installation of Princess Charlene of Monaco roses, distant drum roses, lavender clematis, delphinium, gold combo roses, white jasmine vine, and the bride’s personal favorite, peonies. Guests were gifted traditional fans hand-painted by Soyoung’s cousin as a wedding gift. She painted the fans with oriental peonies, which represent the promise of love and a happy marriage. The trio played “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as Soyoung’s father walked her down the aisle. Rather than an officiant, Soyoung and Byung Kyu opted to have a dear friend and their parents guide the ceremony. To begin the ceremony, the mothers of the bride and groom each lit a candle, symbolizing lighting up the future of their children. Soyoung and Byung Kyu exchanged their vows and concluded the ceremony by giving thanks to their parents. They bowed to the parents of the bride and to the parents of the groom, thanking their parents for raising them to be who they are. After the ceremony, guests were invited to tour the historic drawing rooms of Larz Anderson House, with antiques around every corner.

After a cocktail hour of hors d’oeuvres and cocktails in the ballroom, guests were welcomed to the reception in the garden. Guests found their seats at a gold-framed display with calligraphed escort cards stamped with custom crest wax seals. For a beautiful personal touch, Soyoung and Byung Kyu hand-tied norigae, a traditional Korean accessory, to the escort cards for every guest. A bar cart held two Polaroid cameras, and guests were asked to replace their escort card on the board with a Polaroid of themselves. Shaded by two of D. C.’s oldest magnolia trees in the walled garden, the trio played “Married Life” as guests entered the garden for an intimate, al fresco luncheon. Estate tables framing the reflecting pool were flowered with vibrant garden-style centerpieces of garden roses, butterfly ranunculus, lavender clematis, and French tulips, dotted with flickering candles. For a taste of Paris, lily green Ladurée macaron boxes accompanied each place setting, with chocolate, framboise, and pistachio macarons inside. Place setting paper goods embodied Rococo-inspired design with scroll flourished menus, scrolled place cards, and sketched floral garlands on the table numbers. The place settings sat atop champagne gold linens accented with scrolling flourishes, framed by Louis chairs. For the reception, Soyoung changed into a second look: a fuchsia Kate Spade bow back dress with floral print flats. Mirroring the ceremony, garden-style floral installations grew around the bar and the signature drink menu. Refreshing notes of mandarin oranges, lemonade, chamomile tea, sparkling ginger beer, lavender, and grapefruit were perfect for a summer fête in the garden. The luncheon began with an entrée of burrata with elderflower melon mosaic and lemon vinaigrette with rosemary focaccia and Italian grissini. For the plat principal, guests had a choice of a citrus lobster tail and herb-crusted filet with black cherry demi sauce, or a vegetarian miso ginger butternut squash with black forbidden rice. For dessert, guests enjoyed Ladurée vanilla mille feuille with caramelized puff pastry and vanilla cream and carrot wedding cake. As a sweet parting gift to their guests, Soyoung and Byung Kyu worked with their florist to gift their centerpieces to their guests as they bid farewell.