Location: 1840s Ballroom. Occupations: Jessica is in digital media and Michael is in finance. Number of Attendees: 187. Number of Attendants: Eight. How They Met: The couple met through the Baltimore Sports and Social Club, where they played on the same softball team. They both had friends on the team, and after their first encounter, started a conversation on email. After a couple of weeks, Michael asked Jessica on a date. They went to Jesse Wong’s in Hunt Valley. And, says Jessica, “We’ve been pretty much together ever since.” The Engagement: The couple moved to New York so Michael could attend Columbia University business school. In preparation for moving back to Baltimore, they were visiting on mother’s day weekend to look for an apartment. Michael suggested they go to dinner, and surprised her with a date at Jesse Wong’s. Afterwards, strolling around the Hunt Valley shops, Michale dropped to one knee and proposed. Jessica says the only surprise was the timing. “We’d been together so long, I figured it would happen eventually,” she says. A Date They’ll Always Remember: Just before the couple moved to New York, Michael planned a trip to Spain. He had studied in Madrid during college, but Jessica had never been there. “The whole trip was so romantic,” Jessica says. After touring Madrid and Barcelona, she says, “We ended at a spa in Calafell, an hour and a half from Barcelona, with beautiful rooms overlooking the ocean.” Wedding Design Inspiration: Shabby chic. Jessica couldn’t settle on a color scheme, but loved the bright hues of summer flowers. “We had big, vintagey, romantic flowers,” she says, including cabbage roses, peonies, and hydrangeas. Inside, the walls of the 1840s Ballroom were draped with fabric and decorated with antique picture frames and silhouette pictures of the couple. Wedding Colors: Following the cue from the flowers, the bridesmaids wore a rich cerise, while Jessica’s maid of honor wore a grass green gown. Michael and the groomsmen wore navy suits with pale lavendar shirts. The colors were whimsical and summery, and mostly muted. “The bridesmaid dresses were the brightest thing,” Jessica says. What was unique and special about their wedding: Jessica’s mother made her jewelry and veil for the day, which the bride hopes to pass down to her own child one day. The wedding also paid tribute to the bride’s brother, who died five years ago. Jessica walked halfway down the aisle by herself, knowing that if her brother had been alive, he would have been by her side. The song she chose for the procession was one of her brother’s favorites, The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. “He wasn’t a gambler, but we all loved that song, and it made me think of him,” says Jessica. “We hired an acoustic guitar player for the ceremony, and it was beautiful.” Favorite Details: Every detail was hand-done, says Jessica. “My mother went to vintage stores and Goodwill to buy all the decorations for the tables. Each table had picture frames, vases, tiny ceramic shoes and teacups to hold flowers. Jessica’s favorite flower is runuculus, a bloom that is hard to come by in July. The floral designer surprised Jessica with the flowers, flown in from France. Most unexpected event on their wedding day: Says Jessica, “I didn’t think my grandma would make it past the ceremony. She wasn’t planning to come to the reception, but she stayed through the whole thing.” Three words to describe their wedding: Happy, whimsical, love. “Everyone—even the photographer on his blog—commented on how happy everyone seemed at the wedding, and how much love was there,” says Jessica. One thing they learned: Along with the classic lesson, “don’t sweat the small stuff,” Jessica learned to remind herself “that if something goes wrong or isn’t exactly as you planned it, nobody is going to know.” As for Michael, he learned to focus on what was important to him—in this case, the bar, the band, and his family’s dietary requirements (they keep kosher). “Once those things were taken care of, he was very happy,” says Jessica. Piece of Advice: A wedding, says Jessica, “is supposed to be a happy time. Don’t let any negativity or stress interfere with the fun.”