Lauren and Ryan

Occupations Lauren is a registered nurse; Ryan is a Naval Officer 

Wedding date October 19, 2019   

Number of Attendees 130

Number of Attendants Five bridesmaids and five groomsmen

How You Met We met online in 2013 while we both lived in Baltimore. Ryan was recruiting officers for the Navy and Lauren had gone back to school to pursue nursing. Our first date was at 7 West Bistro Grille in Towson.

The Engagement We got engaged on St. Patrick’s Day in 2018. We were living in Jacksonville, FL at the time and Ryan planned a weekend getaway to nearby Amelia Island. Ryan proposed on the beach of the Omni Resort at sunset. Three weeks later, we had a notary marry us. We wanted to make things official before our big cross-country move to California. We still wanted to celebrate with family and friends, though, so we started planning our big fete at the Belvedere. 

Wedding Design Inspiration We wanted our wedding to have an elegant and timeless feel. The ornate architecture at The Belvedere was the perfect backdrop for the affair. The groomsmen wore classic tuxedos and the bridesmaids all wore different champagne-colored dresses. Muted shades of ivory and mauve were chosen for the bouquets. The head table was strewn with a long green garland, mercury glass tea lights, and copper accents in the form of agate slice place cards and wax seals on the dinner menus. Our wedding invitations incorporated copper and forest green tones with an illustration of The Belvedere.

What Was Unique and Special About Your Wedding Day We incorporated a knot-tying ritual into our ceremony to highlight our commitment to each other and also Ryan’s naval service. We have moved around the country for Ryan’s Navy career and currently live in San Diego. Our wedding served as the perfect occasion for all of our family and friends to gather in one place and celebrate.

Favorite Details Our favorite detail was the wedding weekend “passports” that we put in our welcome bags for out-of-town guests. Candace Cage of From Pixels, To Quill created these unique booklets, and filled the pages with custom illustrations of our venues and wedding weekend information for guests.

Lauren wore the Just Married leather jacket on top of her lace and beaded gown to add a little edge to her look. Megan Landy of CopperStone Co. lends the jacket to Baltimore brides in exchange for just a bottle of red wine!

We had to honor our adorable terrier mix, Morris, in some way so we had an illustration of him printed on cocktail napkins.

Most Unexpected Event On Your Wedding Day A tipsy guest repeatedly hit on the lead singer of the band mid-song. This was not unexpected, but our wedding took place on the same day as the Baltimore Marathon. We had to plan our photo ops and timeline around the race so we wouldn’t miss our own wedding.

Piece of Advice Hire a wedding planner, especially if you are planning an out-of-town wedding. We planned our wedding from across the country and hired Rachel Kendall Events a month before the big day. Rachel helped us tie up a lot of loose ends and made our wedding day flawless. If anything went wrong, we didn’t even hear about it –we were busy spending time with guests and hitting the dance floor.

If you are thinking about having a first look, do it. We met up by the fireplace in the gorgeous John Eager Howard Ballroom of the Belvedere, which we also used for our cocktail hour. The first look gave us an opportunity to admire each other and take a deep breath before walking down the aisle.

Beauty Vintage Veils Bridesmaids BHLDN (and Jenny Yoo) Cake Buttercream Bakeshop Custom Dog Napkins Sip Hip Hooray Dance Lessons Cori-ography, San Diego Dinner Menus Paradise Invitations Flowers Steelcut Flower Co. Groom and Groomsmen Naval dinner dress blues (groom); Jos. A Bank (groomsmen) Invitations MLC Designs Just Married Leather Jacket CopperStone Co. Location The Belvedere Music Boaté & Ajluni Duo (ceremony); Spectrum (reception) Officiant Michael Lance Barrett Photobooth The Booth Bar Photographer Nessa K Photography Place Cards Dear Darling Design Studio Transportation ZBest Worldwide Videographer Just Hitched Films Wedding Dress Eve of Milady from The White Flower, San Diego Wedding Planner Rachel Kendall Events Wedding Weekend Passports From Pixels To Quill