Julet & Mark’s Chic DC Wedding

Julet & Mark celebrated their heritage and their favorite city with this chic and elegant wedding day surrounded by thoughtful touches and the people they love!

How did you meet?

We met in high school in Alexandria, VA back in 2011. We met on the swim team early on in high school, and after a year of flirting and being silly little non-committal high school kids, we decided to make it official in 2012. We then became attached at the hip, and the rest was history!

What’s your proposal story?

Funny thing is… Mark almost ruined the whole proposal plan before it even happened! We had a trip planned to Turks & Caicos in the fall of 2019, and that’s when Mark had planned to pop the question. The night before the trip, Mark took Julet’s father out for drinks and to officially ask for his blessing. A few drinks led to a wild celebration that almost caused a missed flight… and a drunk Mark forgetting how to be secretive about a hidden ring.

All that being said, things turned out perfectly with a stunning romantic dinner on the sands of Grace Bay Beach in Turks & Caicos. The table was prepared with love letters that we wrote to each other in high school. After all the happy tears were cleared away, Julet said yes!

Tell us about your wedding vision.

Our wedding vision all along was to get married close to where we met and grew up together. Mark’s childhood church was located in Old Town, Alexandria, by the river, where we spent many hours together on the rowing team in high school. The location of the church in the heart of an old waterfront town, mixed with a “Charleston” vibe seemed to be perfect for our dream wedding.

We wanted to go with a classic theme for our wedding colors and styles. Julet’s favorite color, blue, was the primary color choice for a lot of our decorations/stationary/bridesmaid dresses/etc. The church had enough original beauty, so we didn’t add a whole lot. We decided to spice up the exterior a bit with an elaborate greenery display around the staircase, while keeping the inside delicate with white and blue floral arrangements.

What influenced your attire choices?

The groom and groomsmen sported a classic European look (tailcoats), to represent Julet’s roots from Spain – where she was born and raised.

Julet knew from an early age that she wanted her dress to be from Spain, which meant there was only one place to go – Pronovias (located in NYC). If you know anything about Julet, one dress wasn’t enough for the biggest day of her life. So she stunned the crowd with a surprise second-look dress for the reception.

What was most important to you when planning your day?

We knew we wanted this day to be the biggest celebration of our lives with all of our loved ones, even if it meant postponing our date twice (due to the pandemic) in order to have everyone there. We definitely chose to splurge on a venue with amazing views of the entire DC, because we wanted to have the most picture-perfect day. We also had to have an incredible menu for our guests, because Julet’s family is well known for providing the best meals in the world. This meant having a team of hand-picked chef’s and caterers to ensure that the family’s vision would come to life.

Favorite parts of the day?

Oof… where to begin?! There are so many favorite parts of that day to choose from. The getting ready moments at the Indigo Waterfront hotel followed by the magical first look on the cobblestone streets of Old Town were just the beginning to our dream-come-true wedding day. We also loved being able to unwind in-between the ceremony and the reception on the party bus with our bridesmaids and groomsmen. One of the most special moments of the whole day came during our first dance, when Mark’s older brother and his wife surprised the crowd by performing their version of the song that Mark dedicated to Julet back in high school.

Tell us about your flower and cake choices.

We knew right off the bat that the floral arrangements had to include Julet’s favorite flower, orchids, and her favorite color, blue. We were so lucky to find a florist who could make our vision come true with a mix of white roses, white orchids, baby’s breath, and blue delphinium. We had a wedding full of flowers, but the highlights were the bouquets inside the church, as well as a gorgeous floral arrangement that covered our sweetheart table.

Tres leches has always been a staple in the family, so naturally, we knew we had to have that at our wedding. Our cake was a beautiful three-tiered light blue and floral masterpiece. The cake was elevated on top of a glass podium full of our wedding themed flowers.

Did you do favors?

The original planned favor was a build-your-own box from our delicious dessert spread. We wanted our guests to be able to enjoy these treats long after the party was over.

The last minute additional favor was to compensate for an unplanned 100 degree day in May. We rush ordered customized fans for our guests to use throughout the day. All credit goes to the amazing Etsy artists who made all of our visions come to life.

Any special details that were a hit?

Two words… CHAMPAGNE WALL!!! We could never, in a million years, thank the Marvich family enough for being our number one fans since the beginning. They graciously offered to design, build, and provide us with an incredible champagne wall that was displayed at our reception venue entrance. The beautiful ivy wall held up to 100 Moët champagne-filled glasses, while also displaying our custom newlywed “The Comey’s” sign. This was definitely a highlight of our wedding, and a guest favorite! We were also able to use this as our table assignment directions, by placing customized medallions on each glass.

Another jaw-dropping handmade detail was Julet’s dad’s levitating dessert displays. He created magnetic boxes that were able to hold floating desserts.

Any family heirlooms or traditions?

Julet went for the “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” tradition. She wore her mom’s wedding earrings (cir. 1995), her new Jimmy Choo heels and both dresses + vail from Pronovias, a hair clip that has been passed down from a friend’s previous wedding, and… what wasn’t blue?

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now?

Take your time! As stressful as it seems at the moment, cherish every minute of the process, because on the day of, it all seems to fly by in the blink of an eye. We actually enjoyed our unanticipated extra year of wedding planning. It gave us more time to cherish our honeymoon phase of engagement. We highly recommend finding photographers that you can bond with and feel completely comfortable with, that way when you look back at your photos, the love and passion is palpable. Shout out to The Kents Photography for capturing our fairy tale wedding so that we can have those memories for an eternity.

Brent Deitrich

Publisher at The White Wren | + posts

Publisher at The White Wren and Bajan Wed, Award Winning Photography + Videographer at Live View Studios, Dad, 80s music lover, crunchy health advocate