Jeff and Elyse met in December 2019 on a dating app. “After that excellent first date, I was very eager to see Elyse again and could not stop telling my coworkers about her.”
“In May 2021, Jeff proposed at one of my favorite places in DC, the Bishops Garden at The National Cathedral. He included one of my closest friends, who hid in the bushes to get pictures of the proposal, and managed to surprise me even though we had already talked seriously about getting engaged.”
90 guests, including a sixteen-person wedding party, helped the couple celebrate their Ceresville Mansion September wedding. “We mixed our own elements with some from traditional reform Judaism for our ceremony. We had a few Jewish blessings, two secular readings from Jeff’s dad and my mom, and stomped on a glass after exchanging our rings. We also included some of our personalities in the precessional music, which borrowed from Jurassic Park and The Iron Giant, two of our favorite movies.”
Elyse and Jeff chose burgundy and dark blue for their wedding decor, opting for a formal vintage art-deco-style wedding. “We included life-sized cardboard cutouts of our beloved cat and dog, and named our signature drinks after them. I added an inscription to Jeff’s ring that includes a line from our first dance song. We also wrote our vows to each other using another of our shared hobbies, modern calligraphy.”
Elyse is a psychologist and federal government employee, and Jeff is a program management analyst. They reside in Arlington, Virginia.
First dance: “Aquaman” by Walk the Moon
Honeymoon: Galapagos Islands
Vendors
Venue: Ceresville Mansion**
Photography: Sarah Wockenfuss Photography**
Dessert: Sweet and Savory Bake Shop
Flowers: Blossom and Basket Boutique**
Hair & Makeup: Heather Rea Style Studio
Videographer: Compass Studios LLC
Entertainment & Lighting: Wizer Productions**
Officiant: Rabbi Jeremy Kridel
**FrederickWeddings.com member
