An Elegant Spring Wedding at the Wharf InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC

Since Lucy Melcher and John Coady adore spring in DC, they set a wedding date during the bright, cheerful season. "We chose our wedding venue (the Wharf InterContinental Hotel) because it's in a fun new area of DC that most people hadn’t seen before—and for the amazing floor-to-ceiling windows in the ballroom," Lucy says. The seasonal theme started with bright green wedding invitations, which matched the rest of the wedding's paper goods. Lucy wore a show-stopping dress with three-dimensional flowers and an off-the-shoulder neckline, which she paired with a fun ponytail and her grandmother’s pearls as a bracelet. John went with a classic tuxedo and his late father’s wedding ring. The ceremony took place beneath a simple chuppah decorated with buckets of colorful flowers. "I didn’t want anything to feel overly formal, so we chose vases and flowers that felt more like a fun garden party. The weekend of our wedding was peak cherry blossom bloom, so we of course had to incorporate those as well," Lucy says. The focal point of the reception was the tall centerpieces that created a "canopy of greenery" above the tables, as well as a bright coral wall covered in candles behind the wedding band. The night ended with Shake Shack burgers served on the dance floor and fireworks from a nearby festival. 
Our favorite #MakeTradition moment: Lucy and John incorporated several Jewish touches into their wedding. "For the Seven Blessings tradition, we asked friends to read modern versions of blessings for our future together," Lucy says. "John’s cousin read an Irish blessing in honor of his late father. We also signed a ketubah before the wedding that was hand-drawn by one of my childhood friends."