This River Farm Wedding may look familiar if you watch ABC news or read the DC-ist! Caitlin & Sean cleverly wove a “Washington DC Metro” theme throughout their wedding including metro tickets as seating cards, table numbers matched to metro stops significant to them, the *actual trolley * that is part of the metro system (customized with their names on the day of) and even streamers that coincidentally included red, yellow, and blue:
Why Rhinehart Photography?
Caitlin and Sean share, “This was our third time working with Lisa (after our engagement session and our Wedding 1.0 last fall – keep reading to see links to those), so we were already very comfortable with her, and knew that we’d get amazing, vibrant images of our day.”
They continue, “At Wedding 1.0, we focused on lots of romantic portraits of the two of us because our guest list was so tiny, and we avoided many group shots out of safety. We were so excited to finally take the creative wedding party photos that Lisa designs so well (without masks hiding all of our smiles!) and to have her eye on candid moments among our guests during the reception.”
They smile, “Lisa is so talented at capturing emotion, and we love her photos of the joy, fun, and laughter that we felt throughout the night among our loved ones.”
Alexandria Virginia Wedding Preparations
I met up with Caitlin and her bridal party at the Kimpton Lorien Hotel in downtown Alexandria, Virginia. They were wearing the cutest robes and enjoying takeout on the balcony of her suite.
The Handsome Groom with the Coolest Tuxedo
OMG I’m a fashion designer! Not really (though I’m obsessed with Project Runway), but my photo is lining a custom Tom James Tuxedo and that is pretty freaking cool.
Sean shares, “The company, Tom James, lets customers have a picture of their choosing printed on the inside lining of the custom tuxedo. It’s basically only visible if I purposely show it to people, but is a fun little touch. I thought Lisa’s photo from our engagement session worked so well!”
I absolutely love the personal touch this added to Sean’s wedding attire. It was a super special way to completely surprise Caitlin too. 🙂
First Look at the Kimpton Lorien Hotel in Alexandria
Although they shared a first look at their intimate wedding last year, this (second) first look was just as special!
“Clang, Clang, Clang went the trolley”
Caitlin and Sean share, “The trolley bus that we used is part of the city’s free bus service that services King Street in Old Town. As it turns out, you can also rent them for private events, and it was so much fun to incorporate a unique feature of Old Town into our wedding. Now whenever we see the trolley go by while we’re out on King Street, it brings back such special memories!”
I’m an old soul and couldn’t help the old “Meet Me in St Louis” reference ;).
Exploring Shipyard Park
Caitlin says, “Taking wedding party pictures at Shipyard Park and in the Wilkes Street tunnel was so much fun! During the pandemic, Sean and I have taken a LOT of long walks around Old Town Alexandria, and both the park and the tunnel are places we’ve strolled through frequently.”
She continues, “Incorporating them into our wedding day was a special way to connect with something from our everyday life.”
Thanks! It has pockets!
I love that Caitlin and her bridesmaids all had pockets in their dresses. 🙂 Such a fun feature.
Wilkes Street Tunnel Serenade
Here Caitlin & Sean and their wedding party ended up singing inside Wilkes Street Tunnel. They sounded amazing!
The bridesmaids view from the trolly window, look closely and you’ll see two deer:
Alexandria, VA River Farm Wedding Ceremony
They share, “When we adjusted our original Fall 2020 wedding plans dramatically downward due to covid, we believed things would be back to normal nearly a year later in time for our big Wedding 2.0 the following summer. That didn’t happen, so we started looking for a new venue that allowed us to keep our event outside, could accommodate our group size, allowed our vendors, was available on our existing date, etc.”
They continue, “Thankfully, River Farm fit the bill and then some! We loved the expansive gardens on the farm and the elegant tents that allowed us and our guests to feel safe being together. Our caterer and florist worked at River Farm for many previous events, so they were familiar with everything and had great ideas for how to transition our event to our new venue.”
Could the ceremony space be prettier or more festive? I’m obsessed with Petals Edge (Gerry and I have worked together a ton and her work is always top-notch! Girl if you are reading this, we still need to set up our Jeni’s Ice Cream date).
Dad Does it All!
Caitlin’s dad was both Father-of-the-Bride and the wedding officiant!
Exchanging Wedding Vows
I love the lighting here! Sean’s parents watch as storm clouds roll in the distance and Caitlin and Sean exchange vows. I capture the couple as well as guests’ reactions whenever I can.
Rainbow Ribbons!
Caitlin smiles, “I love anything multi-colored so I opted for the rainbow of ribbons!”
I (lisa) love photographing all things celebratory following the ceremony, from rice to bubbles, and these rainbow ribbons were so sweet and really unique!
River Farm Wedding Cocktail Hour
Caitlin shares, “I hugged everyone I could get my arms around! It was almost overwhelming to see all of these people that we love so much and had missed so greatly, together in one place to celebrate us. I remember just trying to take it in during the cocktail hour, that this celebration we’d envisioned for so long was finally happening.”
A garden party straight from a Jane Austin novel…
River Farm Wedding Reception
They share, “The metro table theme started as just a creative way to label the tables instead of using traditional numbers. We created a list of metro stations that are closest to places around DC and the surrounding area that are significant to one or both of us (e.g. stations we’ve each lived near, the stations we’ve commuted to for work, the station near our first date, etc).”
They continue, “It was also a fun way to give our guests a little taste of something uniquely DC, plus a chance to maybe learn something new about each other. We wrote cards on each table explaining the significance of that metro station to us. A bonus was being able to sit a few of our guests at “stations” that held personal significance to them too!”
One of those stations:
Reception Dress Change!!
Caitlin shares, “The main reason I decided to add a second dress was because I was looking forward to dancing with our loved ones. I love my wedding gown so much, but it’s very heavy and hot and takes up a lot of space, so I wanted something more suited to our small dance floor at an outdoor event in July in Virginia.”
She continues, “My sequin dress was so fun and festive, and was definitely easier to dance the night away in!”
Isn’t she gorgeous? I love the sequin dress change!
I’m totally getting tropical honeymoon vibes here…
A Celebration Worth the Wait
Caitlin and Sean share, “Getting to finally have our big wedding celebration with so many of our friends and family from across the country was amazing, and made so much more special by what we’ve all been through over the pandemic and how long we’d waited to have this party (31 months after we got engaged, and 10 months after we were officially married!).”
They continue, “Our “Worth the Wait” cake topper captured that sentiment perfectly. The dance party that followed our cake-cutting was epic, and everything we’d hoped it would be!”
Keep scrolling to see how much fun they had on the dance floor!
Dancing the Night Away!
For couples that love candids of family and friends having fun, dancing photos are a must! Caitlin & Sean had us there until the very end of the night.
A Rainbow of Ribbons to End the Night
They share, “We had streamer wands for our recessional and end-of-the-night send-off, which were so fun and playful!”
Caitlin and Sean smile, “This Wedding 2.0 felt, in a lot of ways, like something of a victory lap after all the changes we had to make to our original plans. Being with so many of our favorite people again felt even more special than it would have had we been able to have our original wedding as planned a year ago. Knowing that it was finally safe to share unmasked smiles and hugs, to break bread together and dance together – it was so wonderful.”
Caitlin & Sean’s River Farm Wedding Slideshow
See even more photos from Caitlin & Sean’s River Farm Virginia Wedding set to music in the slideshow below!
Hungry for More?
- See Caitlin & Sean’s intimate wedding here
- Check out Caitlin & Sean’s DC engagement photos here (including the photo printed on the lining of his tuxedo)
- View other gorgeous DC weddings here
River Farm Wedding Vendors
- Venue: AHS River Farm
- Catering: Main Event Caterers
- Flowers: Petals Edge
- DJ & Videography: Complete Weddings & Events
- Harpist: James Dronenberg
- Transportation: Alexandria Transit Company (DASH Bus)
- Hair & Makeup: Salon Tres Chic
- Coordination: Sara Muchnick Events