• Real Weddings

Lauren and William met, their romance blossomed, and once they got engaged the Woodend Sanctuary stole their hearts. It made for a beautiful backdrop on their big day, including wildlife visitors!
Navy blue paired with grey perfectly complimented the gorgeous, natural scenery. Pick up what we are putting down from this blue nature inspired wedding by viewing the full gallery here, captured by Sweet Tea Photography.

Words from The bride

I was really excited when we agreed that we wanted an outdoor wedding. It only made sense, because we met in a forest. It was fairly difficult to find a stellar wedding venue in the Bethesda area. We looked all over town and the view at Woodend was just so breathtaking. The grove won me over immediately and I just knew that we were supposed to get married at Woodend. The huge yard was perfect for lawn games and cocktail hour. We signed our contract a year and a half in advance.

Originally we were going to try and get married in a large field by his parent’s house, a horse farm field so some of the early-collected décor reflected that. After we found Woodend, I had to tone it down a bit. I went to antique shops in Maine and New Hampshire and collected an old violin case, (I used to play the violin), an old pickling barrel that we used for cards and other eclectic pieces. When it came time to choose colors, Navy was on my mind right away. I really wanted to incorporate the barrel we found at an antique store that Will cut a hole in for cards and I love the ‘E’ motif that I ended up finding at Anthropologie! I found so many E’s at Anthro that I really wanted to use the old books and E books as much as possible to decorate the mansion. It turned out great!

Our flowers were done by a friend who’s daughter had been in my class. Her work was incredible. My bouquet was just perfect. I also had my great-grandmothers broach that featured pictures of the family on the front of my bouquet. That meant a lot to me. The reception flowers in the wood crates were the perfect touch for the head table. I really loved the white flowers in the blue mason jars on the tables. It was light and clean along with the delicate table numbers that used an led tea light to shine through oval cameo luminaries made by Mason Rabbits Paperie. We had burlap pillows made by a friends Etsy store, Two Peaches Design and they were the perfect touch.

The one piece of advice from the Bride that you can't miss

My advice to give to future brides would be to hire a planner, even if it is just a day-of package. It really takes away so much stress. Make sure to delegate tasks to those willing to help so you’re not doing everything. Enjoy the process; you’re about to marry the love of your life!

• Burlap Pillows: Two Peaches Design
• Cake: Whole Foods
• Cakes & Catering: Main Event Caterers
• Dj: Above and Beyond Dj's
• Dress Shop: Bride Power
• Flowers: Philippa Tarrant
• Groom & His Men: J.Crew
• Hair: Behind the Veil
• Photo Assistant: Emily Clack
• Photography: Sweet Tea Photography
• Table Numbers: Mason Rabbits Paperie
• Venues: Woodend Sanctuary