Allison & Ethan

This originally ran in the 2024 Local Love supplement in the July issue of Baltimore magazine. 

Wedding Date October 14, 2023

Allison Sledge and Ethan Franklin met as sophomores at Loyola University Maryland in September 2016. “We both had roommates that were friends with each other,” recalls Ethan. His roommate invited over a fellow student to hang out in their dorm in Lange Court and she brought along her friends, including Allison. “She was the quietest of all her friends, but I thought she was stunning and immediately started trying to talk to her,” says Ethan. They officially started dating that November and never stopped.

The couple had spoken for years about getting married and knew they wanted to spend their lives together but felt no need to rush an engagement. Ethan started looking at rings around Thanksgiving 2021 and ending up designing one that arrived the day before Christmas. “I couldn’t wait, so I proposed to Allison the next time I saw her, which was Christmas morning,” says Ethan, a commercial insurance underwriter. “We had always wanted a private engagement, so it was perfect.”

It was a no-brainer that they chose Evergreen Museum & Library for their wedding. “One of the most special things about our wedding day was that we met across the street at Loyola,” says Ethan. In their junior year, the two had also gone on a house tour of the magnificent 19th-century Gilded Age mansion and, as they walked the property, a wedding was being set up. “We saw how gorgeous the venue was and both knew at that moment we wanted to get married there.”

There were a few bumps that day—the marathon shut down the entire city for hours, making it difficult to navigate traffic, and there was a continuous steady rain. Nevertheless, they persisted with a vision that played into the rustic yet elegant nature of the venue and fall weather, and used the sprawling terrace for their first look. Allison, a legal assistant, arrived at the venue in a stretch limousine, under a big black umbrella, a smile never leaving her face.

“It’s easy to get swept up in the craziness of your wedding day, but remember to slow down, take it all in, and have fun,” says Ethan. Even the rain helped create a cozy atmosphere for the 100 guests in the carriage house—with raindrops tapping the window and clouds casting a soft light on the wood-paneled walls.

“We oddly feel the rain that day made it even more special,” says Ethan. “And it certainly made for some amazing pictures.”

BEAUTY Swept  BRIDESMAIDS Bec + Bridge CAKE SugarBakers Cakes CATERER Zeffert & Gold Catering FLOral design Steelcut Flower Co. GROOM AND GROOMSMEN Indochino custom-made tuxedo (groom); The Black Tux (groomsmen) INVITATIONS Etsy LOCATION Evergreen Museum & Library MUSIC District Remix OFFICIANT Jonathan Santos-Franklin, Ethan’s uncle TRANSPORTATION American Limousines WEDDING DRESS BHLDN by Anthropologie WEDDING PLANNER Chantilly Design & Events