I was so excited when Shelby and Alec reached out to me to capture their intimate winter elopement at the John F. Kennedy Center. The Kennedy Center/REACH is one of my favorite Washington D.C. wedding venues and portrait session locations, so I could’t wait to shoot here again.

Shelby wore a timeless backless wedding dress, while Alec rocked a black velvet tuxedo. After the ceremony, Shelby came out and surprised everyone with a beautiful winter cape – a fashionable option to all my brides out there who are looking for wedding day statement pieces or veil alternatives. Since the pair eloped during COVID, they also gifted their guests with personalized masks to stay safe.

THE PROPOSAL

“Last November, there was a Christmas lights and ice skating event inside of Nats stadium in the Navy yard called Enchant Christmas. I love ice skating and all things Christmas so we decided to go (even though Alec is Jewish). Before we left Alec kept changing his sweater and asked if I wanted to change my clothes because he wanted to take a photo with Santa. I thought this was super odd (what kind of 27 year old man wants to take a photo with Santa?!), but thought maybe it was because he was Jewish and never did any Christmas stuff before. We got there, ate dinner, and then took a walk through the Christmas lights. As soon as we got to the big Christmas tree, Alec dropped down to one knee and proposed. I was so surprised I didn’t even hear him ask the question and it took me a few minutes to comprehend that he had already asked the question before I said yes. He had also sent me a weird calendar invite two months prior for a company holiday brunch for the next morning. This was really a placeholder for a surprise brunch at the restaurant we had our first date where both of our families and closest friends were waiting.”

Shelby – “One of my favorite things about Alec is that he doesn’t care what people think – example he sings at the top of his lungs and is never embarrassed even though his singing voice is not great.”

Alec – “One of my favorite things about Shelby is that she has taught me that it is okay to have emotions and it’s okay to have the hard conversations rather than to bottle things up and move on – to say what you are thinking. She has also taught me to appreciate the little things, not everything has to be cheap or a deal, it’s okay to have nice things.”

Scroll through to get all the DC winter wedding inspo!