Their Wedding Day: Pinstripes Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Ohhh my goodness, where to begin with this stunning Pinstripes Georgetown Washington, D.C. wedding?! It was an incredible experience getting to document this beautiful wedding day from morning to evening, and an even better experience getting to know Cate and AJ from the moment they reached out! These two are such a dynamic duo and are full of so many jokes, goofiness, and sweet moments! I was so honored they chose me to travel all the way to Washington, D.C. to capture their love in their favorite places for both their engagement session and wedding day!

We started the morning getting ready at Melrose Georgetown before heading over to Cate’s favorite memorial – The D.C. War Memorial – for their ceremony! This spot holds a very special place in their love story as you’ll see in their proposal, so seeing them tie the knot here was just so meaningful!

From peonies to the bowling pins, there wasn’t a moment about Cate & AJ’s wedding day that wasn’t true to them! Cate told me from day one that she envisioned their day to be “Laid back and casual with lots of peonies and laughter and so much fun with friends and family and just being able to enjoy our day and celebrate with all of our favorite people.” They did EXACTLY that.

The vibe of their day was relaxed and very go-with-the-flow. There wasn’t a crazy sense of urgency that caused stress, it just all unfolded so naturally. After gathering at their ceremony, guests made their way to Pinstripes whether they chose to walk on the beautiful spring day or drive over. The party got started with bowling during cocktail hour, which was such a freaking blast! Their guests had so much fun, and seeing Cate and AJ in bowling shoes all dressed up was SO cute. They opened the dance floor with their first dance, sweet parent dances, and then a whole lot of FUN before ending the evening with cream puffs (mostly smashed in AJ’s face) for dessert!

I truly adored how much they wanted to just be together. They embraced every second we could get for portraits and were up for ANYTHING! We found ourselves with extra portrait time before the ceremony started, and they were completely down to walk over to the different Memorials for more photos. When sunset rolled around, they hopped right out to the streets of Georgetown for photos that highlighted the quaint brick alleyways the area is known for!

Their Love Story

Cate being the energetic, bubbly, caring woman she is just adores AJ’s laidback, intelligent, thoughtful energy! He’s easy to be around and mainly chill “except when it comes to getting to the airport 8 days early,” she said! These DC lovers have the funniest banter with each other and aways know how to get the other one laughing! They met online and only went out because Cate was trying not to lose a bet before moving back to Cleveland (literally later that week) from DC and long story short, she still lives in DC!

AJ shared that he adores “Her tenaciousness and clarity in what she wants. She has always wanted what she wanted in her career and life and despite the tribulations, has always stuck with it. Besides that, her amazing capacity for love and empathy, and how she always feels for whoever is in pain.” Cate really admires, “His curiosity and thirst towards life, learning, everything; how well he loves his family/friends, his confidence/how sure he is in his sense of self/who he is/wants to be.” I love how in tune they are with one another, their needs, and their dreams!

Although wedding planning can get stressful at times, it was so nice to hear that Cate and AJ loved everything about being engaged, because, as she says, “I just love this weird kid…The excitement, the planning, the anticipation of the future, the feeling like he is everything I ever hoped/prayed for…like really, pinch me.” And AJ wrapped it up perfectly with this sweet remark, “It feels complete, like finally finishing a puzzle. Cliche metaphor I know, but it’s true. At the beginning, you can’t know what pieces you have and what ones you’re missing. I don’t know what it is about her exactly, but she and I just seem to fit together perfectly. I told everyone I knew within a week I was going to marry her.”

The Proposal

Remember I mentioned that their ceremony spot was super special to their love story?! Here’s how it plays into their proposal! One morning, AJ asked Cate to go out for brunch, which she thought was odd since they claim to not really be brunch people! While they were on their way, AJ suggested that they stop by her favorite memorial, DC War Memorial, where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom! They had to wait in a really long line before it was their turn to take a photo! AJ had hired a photographer to secretly catch the moment who was blending in with the others in line! Despite it being a 97-degree day, they waited about 15 minutes before it was their time for a picture! Once they were up, AJ dropped down to one knee to pretend to tie his shoe, and Cate was looking all around instead of down wondering why NOW to tie his shoe after waiting in a long line?! Once she realized why he was on one knee, it was an obvious YES!! The photographer caught the moment so perfectly!

Cate & AJ,

You two have literally lit up my life with your love, jokes, and sweet nature. I couldn’t be more grateful that you came into my life and shared your love story with me. It was SO much fun bouncing around the gardens and memorials in DC for your engagement session, and then getting to meet back up on wedding day for the ultimate celebration! I’m truly so honored that you chose me as your photographer, and I’ll forever be obsessed with your Pinstripes Georgetown wedding day! Wishing you a lifetime of love, happiness, and puppy snuggles, of course! Love you both so much!! xo Congratulations!!!