[section title=”The Planning”]
[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Olive Green & Earth Tones with Bright Bold Colorful Summer Flowers[/field]
[field title=”Design / Vibe / Vision”]Our wedding was in June, so we centered our design around a cohesive combination of Luxe Garden Summer Soiree that slowly turned into Old Hollywood Glam by the end of the night. Upon entry, guests were greeted in the Baltimore Country Club garden with cold drinks as they found their seats for the ceremony. The ceremony was atop a hill overlooking a park and framed with a bold & bright statement illusion-arch of florals and matching ombre hand fans in lieu of programs. We leaned into the luxe garden summer soiree design throughout cocktail hour and dinner with unique touches of passed cold lavender hand towels, raw bar atop ice, summer specialty cocktails, and botanical day-of stationary. During this time we carefully melded the two design themes by also incorporating Old Hollywood Glam touches throughout. Our escort display was three large statement gold-framed mirrors with individual custom matchboxes attached noting guests’ names and table numbers with the header “You Light Up Our World”. As cocktail hour ended, we had three percussionists lead guests from the cocktail hour to the dinner room via a Louisiana Second-Line, an ode to Thomas’ alma mater LSU. The dinner was complete with vintage botanical napkins from Stradley Davidson and matching olive green drinkware from Select Event Group. The chairs were a mix of cane-back rounded king-chairs and whimsical wooden natural chairs, both from White Glove Rentals. Thanks to our amazing florist, Sophie Felts, we had massive floral statement pieces on the entryway arches of each room. To top it off, our table numbers were custom made by E Alex Designs and matched our botanical-themed invitations and menus. As dinner ended and dancing begun, we transitioned the design to old Hollywood and really leaned into the original BCC wood-clad club room from 1898. We had a custom champagne tower, espresso martini specialty station, and custom 25’ bar along the arched window line. Our world-class photographer, Audra Wrisley, captured the design, aesthetic, and vibe perfectly. She portrayed the night through a unique combination of soft colorful photography, candid moments where you can feel the movement, and bold black and white raw film. To top it off, she worked seamlessly with our videographer, Lee Russell Films, to create the perfect memory bank of the night that we will have for years to come. After many hours of epic dancing thanks to our amazing band, Night Song, we had our official send off where our percussionist line led us to a speakeasy bowling alley after-party that was themed Studio54 complete with a live DJ, shot-girls carrying Liquid IV shots, custom late-night snacks, duck-pin bowling, and disco-balls everywhere. Thanks to our amazing wedding planner, Jillian Jenkins at Elle Ellinghaus Designs, it truly was a night to remember and one that we will never forget.[/field]
[field title=”Proposal Story”]Our proposal story started in Easton, Maryland on the weekend of July 8th, 2022. Thomas works as a tenant rep at CBRE and often attends sales events with raffles and gifts. Earlier that summer he mentions to me that he won a night at Inn at Perry Cabin, a luxury resort in St. Michael’s Maryland. I was over the moon and ready for a weekend getaway out of the city. Thomas’ aunt lives on the water in Easton so we planned to make a weekend of it, visiting her and boating over to the hotel for a night away. We get on the boat and after about 5 minutes of smooth sailing our boat breaks down…thankfully there is a small sand beach close by that we are able to get to before calling the tow company…little did I know this was all a façade. We decided to kill time while we “waiting for the tow boat” and go for a walk on the beach and right then and there he dropped to a knee and asked me to marry him. He proposed with a beautiful elongated cushion cut ring with a hidden halo and pave diamond band, but the most unique part is the small blue sapphire located on the inside of the ring as “something blue”. The boat was never broken, there was never even a night at the Inn at Perry Cabin! We get back to our dock afterward and both my entire family and his entire family are there to celebrate us which was such an amazing surprise. It was truly one of the best weekends of my life.[/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Getting Ready”]
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[board_carousel title=”Bridal Portraits”]
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[board_carousel title=”Flat Lays”]
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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]I wore a custom gown by Eisen Stein that I got at Love Couture in Potomac Maryland after trying on many many many dresses. It was a stunning and unique strapless gown with beautiful boning that faded into soft ruffled tulle. It captured my theme and personality perfectly and even made Thomas tear up on the first look 😊. For the after party I changed into a vintage strapless satin minidress with a bow in the back that went down to the floor, I paired this with a three-layer pearl choker, pearl encrusted tulle opera gloves, and custom jewelled sneakers. [/field]
[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]For my bridesmaid dresses I had them wear the Mira Dress by Amsale in color Jade. They were these stunning olive green satin gowns that fit perfectly with our luxe garden theme. My mother, Suzy Riedel, wore a custom Kelly Chase Couture gown from a boutique in Naples, Florida.[/field]
[field title=”Groomsman Attire”]Groomsman wore classic black tuxes complete with custom silver monogrammed cufflinks provided by the Groom on the day of. Thomas wore a custom black classic tuxedo with suede tuxedo slippers.[/field]
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[board_carousel title=”Wedding Party”]
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[board_carousel title=”Ceremony”]
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[board_carousel title=”Cocktail Hour”]
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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]Baltimore Country Club is notoriously known for their crab cake and filet combo; however, we, like many of the other decisions we made for the wedding, wanted to be different than the classic country club wedding. You can’t have a Maryland wedding without crab, so instead of the classic crabcake, we had this amazing and unique starting course that was a crab and avocado personal tower with roasted summer corn, poblano peppers, and bacon tomato jam. We are both foodies and we wanted something unique and delicious to stand out. We then had a dual entrée course of filet mignon with herb encrusted sea bass with ginger carrot quinoa, purple whipped potatoes, and grilled asparagus. At the cocktail hour we had a custom raw bar as well as passed hors devours including tuna tartar wasabi crisps, mini pork carnitas tacos, cranberry brie mini pastries, jalapeno crab cornbread hush puppies, and more. We had specialty cocktails named after our dogs and brought to life with custom pet bar menu portraits by E Alex Designs. Mine was called The Arthur – a classic Baltimore Southside and Thomas’ was The Riley – a Tequila Soda with a Splash of Lemonade. Our after party late-night snacks were an ode to the McDonalds logo making the B in Brown (our new last name) a sideways “Golden Arches” with the caption “I’m Lovin It” wrapped around some delicious late night food options.[/field]
[field title=”Florals & Decor”]Our florist, Sophie Felts, brought our décor vision to life. I wanted over-the-top floral statement pieces and she executed it beautifully. We were in awe when we saw it in person – the colors, attention to detail, and wow factor that came from the florals was truly a vision. The accompanying décor was also to die for – we had stunning lounge seating, custom stage surrounds, a custom 25’ bar, and champagne towers courtesy of White Glove Rentals, and Jillian Jenkins’ logistical miracle powers to bring everything together on the day of. [/field]
[field title=”Wedding Cake”]I am a huge dessert person so while we had a stunning three-tier botanical cake to cut, we actually had three cake flavors being offered alongside an espresso martini bar and custom dessert station. My favorite was the carrot cake with cream cheese icing. We also had a Ferrero Roche cake with coffee frosting and a classic summer strawberry shortcake. Naturally, we ate all three because the pastry chef at BCC is incredibly talented![/field]
[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]Our ceremony readings were done by my Aunt Nancy Moffat and Thomas’ Aunt Christine Brown. Deacon Andrew Lacovara at St. Ignatius in Baltimore married us. Our ceremony music was performed by Black White and Steel and they created the perfect ambiance playing the classical string quartet version of current popular songs throughout the ceremony and cocktail hour. Thomas, the groomsmen, and the bridesmaids walked down the aisle to the string quartet version of Coldplay’s A Sky Full of Stars. I walked down the aisle to the string quartet version of Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years. Fast forwarding to our first dance, Thomas and I chose Cowboy Take Me Away by the Dixie Chicks. My dad and I danced to Rascal Flats’ My Wish, and Thomas and his mom danced to Don’t Blink by Kenny Chesney. My father, George Riedel, kicked off the dinner with a heartfelt speech about my ambitious and aspiring spirit melding perfectly with Thomas’ outgoing and thoughtful personality. My two sisters, Madison Riedel and Megan Litz, were my Maid and Matron of Honor and they gave an incredible speech together that made the crowd both laugh and cry. This was then followed by a lively speech by Thomas’ co-best men, Gillin Smith and Kent Knaus, his two best friends from childhood and college. The rest of the night was filled with amazing live music courtesy of Nightsong, our 10-person incredible band that went all night. Then to top it off, we had DJ Kenny Der “The Buddha” play a late night set at the after party until the wee hours of the morning.
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[field title=”Special Detail #1″]One of the most unique details that we did at the wedding was handwrite a custom note to every guest using it as their name card at their place setting. Having a wedding of 240 people, we wanted to ensure that everyone felt loved, cared for, and knew how much we loved having them there to help celebrate us on our big day. The day goes by so fast and there are so many people to talk to so while we may have carpel tunnel after writing all those cards, it was 10000% worth every second to see our guests’ reactions.
We wanted to kick off our wedding with a bang, our save the dates were custom cookies made by the BCC Pastry Chef and packaged in a box titled as “Savor the Date” and a small card with details to get them excited for what is to come. [/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #2″] The cold lavender hand towels at the ceremony and cocktail hour were such a hit because it was a hot Baltimore day and keeping guests cool was a priority.[/field]
[field title=”Special Detail #3″]We had an incredible live painter, J Lawrence Art Studio, that completed a 24×36” oil painting live throughout the entire reception. She caught the perfect moment of Thomas and I as we poured champagne into the coupe tower. She painted us so realistically I was completely blown away, and it was a huge hit among the crowd, not to mention the amazing custom oil painting we have now of hanging on our wall.
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[board_carousel title=”Couple Portraits”]
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[board_carousel title=”Reception”]
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Photography: Audra Wrisley Photography | Event Planning: Jillian with Elle Ellinghaus | Floral Design: Sophie Felts Floral Design | Wedding Dress: Eisen Stein Bridal | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Amsale | Venue: Baltimore Country Club | Live Painter: J Lawrence Art Studio | Mother of the Bride's Dress: Kelly Chase Couture | Mother of the Groom's Dress: Alexander by Daymor | Rentals: Select Event Group | Rentals: White Glove Rentals | Stationery & Paper: EAlexDesigns (myself) | Video: Lee Russell Films