Black-Tie Meets Burgers and Fries: One Couple Embraced a High-Low Aesthetic for Their Sophisticated, Colorful Washington, D.C., Wedding

If high school sweethearts are rare in today's world, then Heather Lamb and Daniel O'Berry are something even more special: The duo met in November of 2007 when they were just two seventh graders flirting at swim practice. It took a few years for them to become official—they shared their first kiss in 2009 and went to homecoming together in 2010 before Daniel finally asked Heather to be his girlfriend on April 13, 2012—but it was clear to everyone around them that they were meant to be together.

Like most young loves, Heather notes, the couple dated on and off until they left for college, when they decided to give each other the time and space to grow on their own during this important season of life. But that didn't mean they weren't thinking of each other: "As one of my bridesmaids hilariously put it during the rehearsal dinner speech, I 'tracked that man like an Amazon package' over our 10 years apart," Heather laughs. And Daniel felt similarly. Just before they left for college, he wrote Heather a note that said, "I really do believe, no matter how corny it may sound, that you and I are meant to be together. I think that some way we will find ourselves back to each other after college and pick up again where we leave off. We joke around about getting married, but I hope that it will happen."

As it turns out, he was right. The pair reconnected in November of 2022 and were officially a couple again as of January 27, 2023—this time, it was for good. Less than a year later, on November 22, 2023, Daniel popped the question, surprising his new bride-to-be with an engagement than came a full five months sooner than she thought was even possible.

The couple knew exactly where they wanted their wedding to take place: The ceremony would be held at St. Aloysius Church at Gonzaga College High School, where Daniel attended school, and the reception would take place at Congressional Country Club, where Heather spent nearly every summer of her life. "I knew from a very young age that I wanted to get married at Congressional, and really hoped whoever I was going to marry would be okay with that," the bride says. "Funny enough, when Daniel proposed, our moms had already booked a few dates for us to pick from, so it made the venue selection process easy."

The venues might have been chosen, but the couple knew they needed help with design and organization, so they tapped Laura Ritchie of Grit & Grace to plan every element of the wedding ceremony and reception. From their very first phone call, the couple and their planner were aligned on everything, and a "black-tie burgers and fries" theme was born from their conversations.

On April 26, 2025, 240 guests gathered to watch Heather and Daniel exchange vows, then celebrate with a detail-heavy reception with a "sorbet chic" color palette, a dinner of chicken tenders and burgers, and Miller Lite dance floor takeover. Here, see every incredible photo from the couple's black-tie meets burgers and fries wedding, all documented by Liz Fogarty Photography.

Heather notes that hiring a planner—in her and Daniel's case, Laura, the founder of Grit & Grace—as being the best decision they made throughout the process. "This was by far the best decision we ever made, and the best gift my parents have ever given me," the bride explains. "No one can prepare you for the amount of work, time, and effort that goes into wedding planning, and having an expert helping you through the process is truly priceless."

The couple and their planner quickly aligned on a vision for the wedding: Black-tie meets burgers and fries, which was driven by Heather's request to serve her favorite meal—chicken fingers and fries—during the reception. With that idea nailed down, the trio knew it was going to be essential that the reception's design serve as a counterbalance to the more casual meal. "We really wanted to lean into a sophisticated yet fun and pattern-filled event design," Heather says.

With Laura's guidance, the couple hired Kelsey Malie Design to create their wedding invitation suite—and the big-day paper goods to follow—which gave guests the first look at the celebration's sorbet-chic color palette. Pink, green, and orange were the prevailing colors the bride wanted to see used throughout the ceremony and reception, so Kelsey was sure to highlight those hues in her design, which mixed classic style with playful details. "Kelsey's save-the-date really drove the rest of the vision for the weekend," Heather notes.

Heather spent the wedding morning with her maid and matron of honor, bridesmaids, and mom. The group got ready in matching pajama sets. After hair and makeup, the bride's mom helped her into her strapless Oscar de la Renta ball gown wedding dress. "I didn't have a true vision for the dress I wanted when I started the process, but I had it in my head that I did not want strapless because of the fear of having to pull it up all night," Heather explains. Despite her reservations about wearing something strapless, she knew this gown was "the one" when she her consultant brought it out. "The second I put it on it just felt like the right dress, even with it being strapless. It was a mix of elegant and fun, brought in the florals I was looking for but was not lace, and most importantly it was comfortable," Heather adds.

As her something old and something blue, Heather affixed a family Mary medal into her dress with blue ribbon. Heather's mom and her grandma, who wasn't able to attend the wedding, both wore the medals inside their bridal gowns, so it was an especially meaningful addition.

During the ceremony, the bride received a diamond infinity band and a gold band studded with diamonds to wear alongside her round-cut engagement ring. Daniel's classic gold wedding band was inscribed with his new wife's initials and their wedding date.

When Heather asked each of her bridesmaids to be part of the wedding, she did so with a purse in their assigned big-day color. Each woman was asked to wear a dress of their own choosing in either pink, green, or orange; the bride's maid and matron of honor each wore a floral gown to set them apart from the rest of the wedding party.

The couple and Laura decided to tap the team at Sweet Root Village for big-day flowers, a decision that Heather and Daniel couldn't have been more pleased with. "My bouquet was more on the classic side to complement my white dress," the bride notes. "While it incorporated subtle notes of pink, green, and orange from our color palette, it featured more white blooms for a timeless look. Sweet Root Village did an exceptional job of incorporating various flower varieties and textures to create a dynamic, dimensional arrangement that made a refined yet impactful statement."

For the bridesmaids, the team at Sweet Root Village created petite bouquets that coordinated with each woman's dress color. "I heard from so many bridesmaids that these were the most beautiful bouquets they'd ever held while being in a wedding, which was incredible to hear, but not surprising given Sweet Root's talent," Heather adds.

Daniel worked with the team at Enzo Custom to create his custom tuxedo; he added Heather's initials and their wedding date beneath the collar as a special touch. His accessories were especially meaningful: Daniel's mom had her late father's handkerchief embroidered with the couple's wedding date so that he could carry it down the aisle. The groom and "Gramps" were very close, Heather notes, so having him nearby on the wedding day was essential. Daniel also wore a pair of "H" cufflinks that his sister gave him as a Christmas gift after he and Heather first got back together.

His best man and groomsmen all wore classic tuxedos to be in keeping with the day's black-tie dress code.

Guests were handed elegant programs tied with green ribbons as they arrived for the ceremony at  St. Aloysius Catholic Church. The bride and groom love the church's beautiful architecture, so they added just a few floral arrangements to the space. "The church itself is so stunning that we didn't want to overdo it and take away from its natural beauty," Heather explains.

The bride and her dad walked down the aisle while the Sage String Quartet, Stephen Seigart, and Suzanne Karpov performed. Heather's entrance marked the first time she and Daniel saw each other on their wedding day. "We decided against having a first look. This was one of the things Daniel was particularly adamant about—he wanted the first time he saw me to be that traditional moment when I was walking down the aisle," Heather explains. "Although it created considerable anticipation mixed with a bit of nerves, it made the ceremony entrance truly memorable and emotionally powerful."

The bride's cousin Father Robert Renner officiated their wedding ceremony. "It was incredibly meaningful to have a family member not only officiate our marriage but also deliver a thoughtful Catholic mass complete with a touching homily. His message centered on the importance of family and how family serves as the first 'classroom' one ever experiences—a sentiment that resonated deeply with both of us and our guests," the bride says.

Since the couple exchanged traditional Catholic wedding vows, they wrote each other letters with their personalized promises, which they each read while getting ready that morning.

As guests arrived at Congressional Country Club for cocktail hour and the reception, they were greeted by a massive escort card installation. Social Supply and Sweet Root Village collaborated on an O-shaped display with multiple layers of flowers. "It remains one of the most impressive design elements of our wedding," the bride says. "This installation—a large "O" constructed from three layers of flowers in our color palette with escort cards designed as 'apostrophes' to reference our new shared last name—was not only visually stunning but also interactive and conversation-starting."

After attendees found their seating assignments, they enjoyed drinks, light appetizers, and the beautiful view of the grounds at Congressional Country Club. The bride's brother's band, Clay Street Unit, provided the cocktail hour music. "The vibe of their music is amazing and the band is so close and meaningful to our family so it was really important to be able to bring them in in someway," Heather says. "They played incredible music, including a Backstreet Boys and Bruce Springsteen matchup, which guests loved."

Since the couple chose not to have a first look, they posed for portraits around their venue before heading into cocktail hour.

Heather and Daniel served two signature drinks at their statement-making bar: The bride's was a grapefruit spritz and the groom's was a Miller Lite. "Specifically in a 16-ounce twist-off, which was a big sticking point for him," Heather explains. "That's his favorite way to drink a Miller Lite, so it was really special seeing those served on trays."

They also commissioned custom cocktail napkins in the day's color palette that featured illustrations of burgers, fries, martinis, and pickles, giving guests a nod to the evening's dinner surprise.

"My mom will probably get a laugh out of this, but the biggest challenge was convincing my parents of our vision for the wedding," Heather says. "My parents had always envisioned a traditional wedding with white flowers and matching tablescapes. Our colorful, pattern-filled design was completely different from their expectations. Laura's expertise proved invaluable here—she helped articulate our vision in a way that gave my parents confidence and served as our family therapist, calming my mom down during particularly stressful moments."

The couple wanted to prioritize color and texture during their reception, so they asked the team at Sweet Root Village to create a variety of different centerpieces in varying shapes and sizes with as many different flowers as possible. "I'm very passionate about flowers, so it was incredibly important for them to be a centerpiece of the entire event. Sweet Root did an amazing job incorporating flowers I didn't even know existed, creating texture and making the room truly dynamic—from low sprouting arrangements to tall dramatic displays, to runner arrangements on the head table," Heather notes.

Their head table—a long table that ran parallel to the dance floor, directly across from the band's stage—was topped with custom striped runners from Something Vintage Rentals, which matched Heather and Daniel's invitation envelope liner. A variety of different place settings, flatware, glassware, and candles, also from Something Vintage, completed each table.

The bride says another big challenge was persuading her parents to let the couple serve burgers, chicken tenders, and French fries at a black-tie wedding. "My mom lost sleep many nights worrying about this unconventional menu choice," Heather laughs now. "Though it ultimately became a huge success that everyone loved, winning them over as the oldest daughter and first in the family to get married was quite the hurdle."

Heather and Daniel had no doubts about their decisions, though. In fact, that bride says that she had dreamed of this exact wedding—menu, venue, and all—from childhood. "The easiest part, funny enough, was seeing my lifelong dream come true. Despite the initial resistance, watching these elements come together made the day incredibly special and truly solidified the vision I'd been talking about since I was 10 years old," she explains.

When guests took their seats, they found a striped dinner menu, courtesy of Kelsey Malie Design, that outlined the unconventional dinner offerings. Dinner began with a spinach salad, then guests had their choice of either a Wagyu steak burger and fries or chicken tenders and fries. To emphasize the high-low juxtaposition between the black-tie dress code and the laid-back dinner option, the catering team at Congressional Country Club brought each guest's meal to their table with a domed cover—then, the domes were all lifted in unison for a grand reveal.

Needless to say, dinner was a huge hit. "The menu became not just a meal but a talking point that perfectly captured our personalities and created a shared experience for everyone in attendance," Heather remembers.

Heather cites the custom dance floor, designed by Kelsey Malie, as her favorite design element of the night. "She did an incredible job incorporating geometric shapes from Congressional's architecture while integrating our bright color palette from the invitation suite," the bride says. "It created a stunning focal point that popped in the middle of the space—guests' jaws dropped when they saw it! It was also incredibly fun to dance on, and since my dress was relatively simple, it really made everything pop."

The bride and groom shared their first dance to Teddy Swims' "You’re Still the One," which was performed by Sam Walker of Clay Street Unit. Then, Heather and her dad danced to Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" before Daniel and his mother danced to "How Sweet It Is" by James Taylor.

The District, a band from Sam Hill Entertainment, kept guests dancing all night long.

The couple opted against a traditional wedding cake and decided to serve ice cream cookie sandwiches—which guests could grab at any point when they wanted a break from dancing—instead. "These bite-sized treats proved to be an excellent choice, allowing guests to grab a sweet treat without missing too many songs," Heather says.

Heather changed into a mini dress from By Watters for the dancing portion of the reception and a Miller Lite jean jacket. That accessory was in honor of the surprise she organized for her new husband: The bride worked with her dad and a few friends to organize a Miller Lite takeover during the band's second reception set. "We had a custom Miller Lite cooler that said 'O'Berry Lite' on it, Miller Lite cowboy hats for many of the guests, and custom 'O'Berry' koozies that tied back to Miller Lite and his signature cocktail," Heather explains. "It was so much fun!"

Of course, Daniel traded his tux jacket for the denim one Heather entered in, and guests all vied for the cowboy hats. "It infused the reception with a playful after-party energy that perfectly reflected our personalities without compromising the elegance of the event," Heather adds.

The couple says that their biggest piece of advice is to hire Laura as your wedding planner ("I cannot put into words how seamless she made this entire process," the bride notes). If that's not possible, they advise other couples to focus on the little moments that make the wedding yours—not a wedding that anyone else could have. "For us, that was the menu, the highlight of Miller Lite, having my brother's band play cocktail hour, and having an escort wall that was interactive and made a statement," Heather says. "These personal touches are what your guests will remember and what will make your day feel uniquely yours rather than just another wedding."