A Warm and Inviting British Countryside Inspired Wedding in Washington, D.C.

Katherine Tucci and Bret Giaimo were undergraduates when they first met at a small private party. It was the only party Bret had ever attended, and Katie was only there to try and catch a glimpse of another guy she had a crush on. A mutual friend introduced them offhandedly, and then quickly left the conversation, entrapping them together. Neither of them wanted to be rude, so they ended up talking.

What started as obligation soon turned into genuine enjoyment. Two hours later, Bret asked Katie for her number, and they haven’t stopped talking since.

The couple dated for eight years, seeing each other through college and Georgetown Law. Bret proposed one day, after his oral advocacy class ended, on the roof of his apartment in DC, overlooking the entire city. He had a decent “argument” for why Katie should marry him and kept remarkably cool while making it. A few tears on her side later, Katie grabbed the ring out of his hands and put it on before even blurting out, “Yes.” Bret replied with, “I was supposed to be the one to do that,” before the engagement turned into laughter and they went to dinner at Café Milano.

Roughly nine months later, the bride and groom were married in Washington, DC. The ceremony was held at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where a high Catholic Mass was observed with 165 people in attendance. For the reception, a warm and inviting celebration took place within the Ritz-Carlton’s ballroom. As wedding favors, the bride hand stitched and custom framed over 100 monograms, each unique. Her family are involved in the landscaping and garden business, so the floral décor was based around the idea of a British countryside cottage – bright, overgrown, and verdant.

The groom’s family are restauranteurs in the Washington Metropolitan region, so the food needed to be plentiful and perfectly cooked. Cocktail hour included sushi from Kaz bistro, the dinner was a full four courses, there was dessert, late-night snacks, and additional treats at the afterparty. The bride and groom also toasted with the groom’s great-great grandparent’s wedding goblets from “the old country.”

In the middle of the festivities, the bride snuck away for a moment’s peace and ended up taking a half-hour power nap in an inconspicuous back room, skipping dinner. When she returned to the reception, it was time to get the party started. Above the head table was the quote, “It was love at first sight, last sight, at ever and ever sight,” a sly tribute to the bride’s love of Russian literature. Guests danced until last call, and then moved upstairs to the afterparty. Katie and Bret attended briefly before departing quietly, slipping out unnoticed to pass out contentedly upstairs.

The newlyweds departed the following morning for a week in Vail filled with “skiing the back bowls,” eating out for every meal, and sleeping twelve hours a night. It was an extension of the wedding, all warm, cozy, and filled with food and good wine. They almost never came back and intend one day to stay out there for good, curling up by a fire and continuing to talk, just like they always have.