Where to get married? A list of DC, MD, VA wedding venues

It’s that time of the year once again. Congratulations to all those who got engaged in the recent months! What an exciting time.  To help start your planning process, here is a listing of the venues in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia where we have either coordinated weddings or have visited since 2008. We hope you find this useful!

Photo: Mark Battinger of Rodney Bailey Photography

Northern Virginia

Trummers on Main, Clifton

The Lorien Hotel, Alexandria

Clarendon Ballroom, Arlington (and another wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding)

Whitehall Manor, Bluemont (and another wedding)

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna (and another wedding, wedding)

Washington Golf & Country Club, Arlington (and wedding)

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Old Town, Alexandria

River Farm, Alexandria (and another wedding)

2941 Restaurant, Falls Church

Fort Belvoir Officers Club, Ft. Belvoir

Hollin Hall, Alexandria

Thomas Birkby House, Leesburg

Fairview Park Marriott, Falls Church

Signature Theatre Arlington (Shirlington, VA)

West Belmont Place (Lansdowne, VA)

Top of the Town (Arlington, VA)

Middleburg Community Center (Middleburg, VA) – summer wedding and fall wedding

George Washington Masonic Memorial (Alexandria, VA)

International Country Club (Fairfax, VA)

Foxchase Manor (Manassas, VA)

Mount Vernon Inn (Alexandria, VA)

Maryland

Marriott Bethesda North, Rockville

Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort, Cumberland

Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo (and a wedding)

Newton White Mansion, Mitchellville

Oxon Hill Manor, Oxon Hill

Glenview Mansion, Rockville

Metropolitan Center for the Visual Arts “VisArts”, Rockville

Black Rock Center for the Arts, Germantown

Washington, DC

Long View Gallery

Omni Shoreham Hotel (and a wedding)

Westin City Center

The Fairfax at Embassy Row

Mexican Cultural Institute

Harman Center for the Arts

Sewall-Belmont House

Meridian House (and another wedding, wedding)

Newseum

Fairmont Hotel

Tregaron/Washington International School

Park Hyatt Hotel

Georgetown Marriott

Equality Center

American News Womens Club

Decatur House

— Vicky

Real Wedding: Megan & Dave (Part 2)

Did you miss Part 1 of Megan and Dave’s wedding recap? The photos I took barely do justice to how beautiful and stylish the day was. Megan had a great eye and knew her own style very well. Click here to see the slideshow by Laura Luis of Three Lights Photography.

Photo album guestbook @ Thomas Birkby House

Escort Card Table @ Thomas Birkby House. We also displayed a digital photo frame with photos of Megan and Dave. Note: a great tip on saving on linens is to use existing furniture in your venue, especially with pieces as beautiful as this table.

Courtyard at Bikby House ready for the ceremony

Megan had cards made for the assigned seats for the ceremony. Great idea! No more guessing or forgetting!

Centerpieces of calla lilies, hydrangea and pussy willow by Tierra Flora Design. Check out the avocado green tablecloth paired with black napkins.

Real Wedding: Megan & Dave (Part 1)

Thomas Birkby House wedding ceremony

One of the things I love about my job is meeting great people and seeing them on one of the happiest days of their lives. This was no exception with Megan and Dave. At our comprehensive planning session, we put the timeline together while drinking wine, eating cheese, and talking about restaurants, food, wine and beer. All the things that I love talking about too! At our final meeting, we met at Rustico for some yummy beers! On days like that, I love my job!

I really hope to remain friends with Megan and Dave. They are simply great people.

Back to the wedding day, I remember Dave tearing up upon seeing Megan walking down the aisle. I love how their officiant had them face their guests during the ceremony. You get to see their faces as opposed to their backs or sides. Dave’s dad brewed his own beer and put his own label on it with a picture of Megan and Dave. As favors, they had wine glasses engraved with names and wedding date. Megan had an incredible sense of style and went with avocado green and black for her colors – totally sleek and sophisticated and not your typical fall colors. She even designed her own dress that she changed into for late night dancing! And what’s a wedding without a little police activity? Just kidding … a Leesburg policeman was patroling in his car as the bridal party was taking pictures and he was quite gracious in letting the groom get in the patrol car for a few pictures!

Vendor Round Up

Venue: Thomas Birkby House. One of my favorite venues. You get a lot with this venue: a beautiful historic home with a brides and grooms room, lush gardens and courtyard, tent with liner, tables and chairs. Mary Louise, the coordinator there, is wonderful to work with. She used to be in catering so completely understands the vendor needs for an event. There is a convenient free parking lot close to the house also.

Photography: Laura Luis, Three Lights Photography. What a discovery! Laura was very responsive during the planning process. She was quick and had a great eye for doing portraits. Just see for yourself in Part 2 for her slideshow.

Caterer: Catering by Dana. Dana had done several parties for Megan’s mom in the past and so it was an easy choice when it came to finding a caterer for the wedding. Great food. Great staff.

Floral Designer: Tierra Floral Design. Based in Bethesda, they have a very modern sensibility to their design that I really liked and that I thought suited Megan really well. Their website is under construction currently but do check back soon to see their work. Meanwhile, check out Part 2 for some of the photos I took of their centerpieces.

Music: Chris Laich Music Services. Chris himself DJ’d both the ceremony and the reception. He is the ultimate professional and provides his brides and grooms with the best customer services. He and his associates are great at what they do.

Event Rentals: Select Event Rentals. We rented all the dinnerware and the linens from Select so that Megan was able to personalize the whole look of the event.

Makeup: Leah McKay. Great as usual.

Hair: Hair by Diane.

Cake: Victoria’s Cakery. Megan and Dave did not want the traditional wedding cake so they opted for a 6″ display cake that they cut at their table for photo ops and had a baker bake several sheet cakes for cutting in the kitchen. A great way to save if cake is not your favorite.