Intimate Restaurant Wedding at Blagden Alley and Calico in Washington, DC

Kyle has worked in restaurants for years and helped open Calico, a hip spot in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC. He and Raleigh became the first couple to marry there, with a ceremony outside in Blagden Alley and a reception on the large back patio. Raleigh and Kyle built the copper arch they exchanged vows beneath, jumped a broom made by Raleigh’s godmother and celebrated with peach mezcal and elderflower bourbon cocktails that Kyle mixed up.

Raleigh and Kyle got ready together at their apartment, then rode the metro to their wedding. “We wanted some alone time before the festivities began,” Raleigh says. The newlyweds commissioned a graphic novelist to draw their portrait, which they stuck on signature “juice pouch” cocktails.  Clear bottles held an assortment of dahlias, roses, snapdragons and more.  Raleigh and Kyle dined outside in a greenhouse shell covered in grapevines. Close friends prepared a gluten-free menu of roasted halibut with Meyer lemon chimichurri and crispy Brussels sprouts with cider reduction.