A Peabody Library wedding: Katie + Joe

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After an exhaustive tour of Baltimore’s non-country club wedding venues in their search for a striking, unusual spot for their nuptials, Katie + Joe chose one of my favorites — the George Peabody Library. They planned an elegant lilac and navy-themed celebration with lots of sweet book details, including table letters cut from actual tomes and paper flowers sprinkled across the tablescape cut from book pages. In a nod to Joe’s Pennsylvania roots, the couple topped their cake with a miniature version — in the perfect shade of lilac, of course! — of Philadelphia’s famed LOVE statue. And recognizing Katie’s hometown of Charm City, they toasted each other with Natty Boh and Utz Girl champagne flutes. Concerned about the likelihood of hot, humid weather on their wedding date, Katie made arrangements to use all of the Peabody’s available indoor spaces, from the gorgeous spiral staircase to the first-floor stacks area, and scheduled a post-wedding portrait session so that she and Joe could get some outdoor photos at sunset around Baltimore without worrying about getting too sweaty on their actual wedding day. What’s not to love about getting to wear your gorgeous wedding gown twice in one weekend? Here are some of my favorites from Katie + Joe’s wonderful day:

We spent a few minutes with the groom as he got ready before heading upstairs to see Katie and her bridesmaids.

Katie chose an amazing Pnina Tornai gown. The excitement in the room as she prepared to step into the intricately beaded dress was palpable.

Katie’s youngest sister served as flower girl — and could not have been cuter in her petal-tossing role!

The bride, looking absolutely lovely.

Katie and Joe chose to see each other before their ceremony for photos.

We took just a couple of photos in Mount Vernon Place before Katie + Joe jumped in a limo — for the shortest ride of all time! — to take the rest of their pre-ceremony photos at the Peabody.

After some wedding party and family photos on the grand staircase, it was time to get married.

My wonderful assistant, Lindsay, shot this beautiful photo of Katie and her father from the back of the aisle during the processional.

Katie’s father accidentally stepped on her very long veil, yanking it from her hair. The facial expressions all around, from Katie’s stepmom’s barely concealed laughter to the bride’s father’s obvious chagrin, were wonderful to photograph.

Married!

Lynn Piette and her team from The Classic Catering People flipped the room from ceremony space to elegant and beautifully appointed dinner party in less than an hour. It was quite a feat (especially without the assistance of the big drape behind which many couples choose to hide fully set dinner tables during the ceremony)!

A few reception details.

A first dance.

A trio of toasts.

A pair of parent dances.

And lots and lots of fun and merriment.

Some 43 hours after I photographed them departing in a flurry of glow sticks, I met up with the newlyweds along the waterfront and in Federal Hill for some relaxed portraits and a beautiful Baltimore sunset.