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A wedding story
Abigail & Máté
Meridian House · Washington DC · The third of April

Abigail & Máté

Warm, candid, and a little cinematic.

Chapter I

The House

Meridian House · Washington DC

Meridian House hands you rooms before it hands you a party. Oak, green library walls, and a window at the end of every hall. The afternoon started quietly inside them.

The bride alone in a dark panelled room, her train spread across the floor in the window light
The bride standing at a console against a bright window, her train behind her
Two guests talking in the green library while a man sits reading the room
The bride walking through the panelled hall in a long train
The bride seated in the library with a guest, bookshelves and tall windows behind them
The bride and groom together in the green library, lamplight and dark wood on every side
Close on the bride's hand and ring against the lace of her gown
Hands holding a small glass and brass box of rings
Chapter II

The Garden

Outside, early April, the trees only just coming back. Everyone walked out into the last of the afternoon.

The bride and groom under bare spring trees beside the stone house
The bride holding her white bouquet, a black sash at her waist
Guests moving past the bride, blurred, as she waits
Black and white, the couple on the curved stone steps at the front of the house
Chapter III

The Ceremony

Two white urns, a short walk, and the two of them in front of everybody at once.

The bride and groom facing each other between two tall white floral urns beneath the arched windows
The ceremony on the lawn, guests seated in rows in front of the house
The bride and groom holding each other with the whole party standing around them under the trees
The couple walking through the ballroom beneath the chandeliers
The couple in a bright doorway, seen from the dark room beyond
The bride and groom walking away down the black and white marble hall toward the open doors
Chapter IV

The Ballet

They danced twice. In white during the ceremony, and again after dinner in blue, in a ballroom that was built for exactly this and almost never gets asked.

Ballerinas in white performing during the ceremony in front of the seated guests
Dancers in white tutus mid performance, the room watching from every side
Black and white, close on layered tulle skirts and the bride's train
The bride in the middle of the ballroom floor with the guests gathered around
A dancer in a blue tutu, caught in motion in the second performance after dinner
Two dancers in blue, arms raised, under the painting on the ballroom wall after dinner
Chapter V

The Table

Black tapers, low lamps, candles down the length of the hall. The house does most of the work once the light goes.

The ballroom set for dinner, round tables and tall curtained windows
The reception room filling with guests under the chandeliers
A place setting close up, black tapers and crystal on white linen
The seating chart standing between two banks of candles
Guests in a warm lamplit room among the flower arrangements
Candles running along the edge of the red carpet in the dark
A single lamp and a low arrangement of flowers on a side table
A round table lit by one lamp in a dark panelled room
Two plated courses coming out of the kitchen
Guests raising their glasses across the candlelit table
The couple at their table, seen from the next room through the doorway
Chapter VI

The Cake

Black bows all the way up, and both their names and the date painted across the front.

The tiered white cake tied with black bows, both their names and the date painted across the front
Hands cutting the first slice from the cake
The bride and groom kissing beside the cake, the bride now in a short dress
The groom feeding the bride a forkful of cake
A guest holding up the cake sign for the room
Slices of cake on plates beside an old black and white family photograph
Chapter VII

After Dark

The floor went green and blue and stayed loud, and the last of it happened out on the street.

The bride dancing with her arms above her head
The couple dancing in the dark ballroom beneath a portrait
The dance floor washed in green and blue light, the room full
A guest through the blur of a chandelier
A hand reaching across the dark toward the bride's dress
Black and white, the bride and groom walking down the street past parked cars at night
Black and white, the couple holding each other outside at night while the guests look on
Credits

The Team

Venue Meridian House, Washington DC
Photography Ethan W
Coordination Ilvina Mann, Meridian International Center
Film Oak & Pearl Films
Catering Relish Catering DC
Music Mike Blaufeld
Florals Gypsy Hill Florals
Ballet Seber Method
Gowns Elena Morar & Aston Bridal

There are a few hundred more where these came from.

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