Carnegie Institution for Science Vow Renewal | District of Columbia Spring Carnegie Wedding

The story of Julie and Matt is a decade plus in the making. They met at a swanky DC political event and eventually ended up tying the knot just minutes from where they first met. In 2011, they got ready at the Jefferson and committed their lives to one another in a classic DC Carnegie wedding. January was the last weekend date available that year so they jumped on it even though it meant no natural light portraits!

Ten years and 5 kids later, Julie wanted to surprise Matt with an epic 10 year anniversary celebration. She got to work re-creating parts of their wedding (same venue, same hotel & even some of the same vendors!); but like many brides planning 2020 weddings, Julie was also met with heartbreak and a big decision on whether to postpone or downsize. It was of the utmost importance for her to celebrate the 10th year of marriage as a huge milestone so she really practiced what she preached to her clients and embraced the now with a pivot plan.

Her original plan was to tell Matt they were doing a portrait session with the kiddos for year 10 and then to walk into Carnegie to all of their friends and family members. Since DC had a 10 person limit on gathering, obviously this would no longer work. Portraits still happened as planned but in a stroke of kindness, Carnegie opened its doors to them for a private dance accompanied by a single violinist. They then read personal vows to one another before heading to “dinner.” When Matt arrived at Main Event, he was a little confused until he opened the door to find their closest support system waiting for them at cocktail hour. I can’t believe how beautiful the transformed space was for this small affair. All the stress, planning and replanning was all worth the joy of the night for both Julie and Matt. Here are my favorite snaps that tell the story of their beautiful day.