A Traditional Military Wedding at Annapolis Waterfront Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland

“We were inspired by the city of Annapolis, the water and Naval Academy traditions,” Mary Ellen Toscani (28 and a firefighter and director of fire department relations for The First Twenty) says of her military wedding to Thomas (TJ) Cleary (26 and a lieutenant in the US Navy and a naval flight officer) at a waterfront hotel. TJ requested that if “he was going to be married in his uniform, it would be his ‘summer dress whites.’” After their nuptials at the United States Naval Academy Chapel, a church that is special to both of their families (TJ’s parents were married at the same chapel 29 years earlier), the newlyweds celebrated harborside with a seafood dinner, lawn games and a late-night popcorn bar. Using blue to transition throughout the day, the color accented their paper goods, bridesmaid dresses, chinoiserie vessels on the tables and even the cake topper. The reception included plenty of fun touches. The pair entered to Kenny Loggins’s “Danger Zone” from Top Gun and, instead of favors, made a donation to Mary Ellen’s colleagues at the Berwyn Fire Company. The firefighters even showed up in a ladder truck to greet the newlyweds. “It was incredibly special,” she says.