Addy and Alex met through mutual friends in New York City in the Summer of 2016. “We decided to meet up for brunch at Veselka,” Addy says. “I was in the city for an internship and he was there for a wedding.” Six years later, in September of 2022, the couple found themselves at Book Hill Park in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where they were taking in the sweeping views of the river. Alex proposed there, and before he could get off bended knee, his bride-to-be had already decided where she wanted to get married: Meridian House, which she fell in love with during her time working in the city. “It was, in the most cliched way, love at first sight, and since then, I’ve always wanted to get married there,” she remembers. “I loved the classic, 18th-century European and its lush outdoor space.”

The couple set the date for June 22, 2024, and invited 135 guests to join them for a wedding inspired by 18th century French gardens. They chose a cream and green color palette and incorporated key elements of Taiwanese culture throughout the day’s décor. “I was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, and my husband Alex has also spent extensive time in the country, so I knew I wanted to nod to my Asian roots,” the bride says. To help bring their vision to life, they tapped Leigh Heiserman of Lauryn Prattes Events as their planner, and she helped execute every stunning wedding-day detail, including two custom bar installations, embroidered napkins with the bride and groom's monogram, and linens inspired by a trip to the south of France. See how every lovely came together through the photos captured by Vicki Grafton.

Addy and Alex worked with Kelsey of Grey and Cake to create custom wedding invitations and paper goods, which were inspired by an unlikely source: the Dior dinner plates that guests would dine from during the reception, which featured a delicate lily of the valley design. The suite incorporated various shapes of ivory paper with embossed floral designs and green debossed text.

When guests arrived to celebrate the couple, they received welcome boxes filled with snacks, a weekend itinerary, and a cucumber gin and tonic recipe printed on stationery that matched the invitation suite (with all the fixings, of course!).

Addy went searching for her wedding dress with her mom and friends, but after trying on gowns at three different bridal salons, she was feeling discouraged. She tried on an embossed floral jacquard Anne Barge gown with buttons down the train that felt close to what she had in mind, so the staff at Love Couture Bridal in Potomac, Maryland, helped her customize the gown to fit her vision. “I knew I wanted a strapless top, and we did away with the slit in the original design,” Addy says. “I wanted a sleek, classic and timeless look.”

She completed her look with pear shaped diamond cluster earrings and Bella Belle white silk platforms. Addy doesn’t wear a lot of makeup regularly, so she asked for a natural glam look and a low bun. “My fantastic makeup artist Megan Monahan used a Charlotte Tilbury lip combination on me that was a 'my lips but better' color—a lipstick in Wedding Belles and the lip cheat liner in Iconic Nude,” the bride remembers. “It stayed on all day!”

The bride walked down the aisle holding a hand-tied garden style bouquet of lily of the valley, sweet peas, campanula, clematis blooms, and trailing clematis vine. She went with a short neutral almond-shaped manicure and wore Diptyque’s Geranium Odorata as her wedding day fragrance. “It felt fresh and green, which matched our venue perfectly,” Addy says. “I wanted a light scent that was floral but not too overpowering.”

Addy asked her best friend from high school, Berlin, to be her maid of honor. She wore a sage satin back crepe Jenny Yoo dress to stand out from the rest of the bridesmaids, who wore silk Jenny Yoo dresses in a deeper shade of green in their choice of style. “I wanted their personalities to shine through and for them to feel as comfortable as possible on the wedding day,” Addy says. “What resulted was a cohesive yet unique look.”

The bridesmaids all held smaller versions of Addy’s all-white bouquet.

Alex wore a custom three piece tuxedo from The Capital Tailor paired with Allen Edmonds shoes. He accessorized with a Cartier pasha watch and matching set of cufflinks that were gifts from Addy’s parents. Alex’s best man was his childhood best friend, Griffin. Griffin and the rest of the groomsmen wore classic tuxedos from The Black Tux.

The bride and groom shared a first look in the venue’s library, where they exchanged their vows privately. “I wanted the moment to be intimate amidst the rush of the wedding itself,” Addy says. “It became one of the most special and intimate moments of the day.”

The couple’s ceremony took place in the garden, where a large arch was covered in lush white flowers. The aisle was lined with even more white flowers, including garden roses, larkspur, dahlias, and more; the blooms were displayed in clusters of French-inspired pots, further driving the French garden theme home. “Our florist, Rachel from Floral and Bloom, went above and beyond,” Addy says.

Light cane-backed chairs complemented the garden aesthetic, and the couple had two baskets of paper parasols and fans on hands for guests. “Our wedding was on one of the hottest days of the year, during a heat wave,” Addy says. “I’ll never forget our dads finding a secret AC vent in the venue before we all walked down the aisle. I found them huddling on top of it and laughing—a funny scene.”

Addy and Alex hired a string quartet for the ceremony and cocktail hour. The musicians played a string version of Wilco’s “You and I” for the processional before seamlessly transitioning into Pachelbel’s Canon in D as the bride entered. Addy walked down the aisle with both of her parents by her side, then the couple exchanged vows and celebrated back down the aisle as husband and wife to a string version of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”.

Guests moved to the linden grove for the couple’s summer cocktail reception. Addy doesn’t drink alcohol, so she created a signature mocktail called the “Genie Bellini," which was named after their corgi. The drink included white cranberry juice, green tea, peach purée, and club soda.

Alex loves a summer spritz, so the couple created a custom offering aperol, amaro, and Lillet spritz drinks. The bar displayed custom signage that read “Alex’s Spritz Cart.”

Addy and Alex wanted the day’s decor to highlight the architecture at Meridian House. After all, it was dreamed up by John Russell Pope, who designed The Jefferson Memorial, the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, and the National Archives. “Social Supply Design custom built two of our bars, which we had flanked on two sides of the house’s central fountain,” Addy says. “The bars had a curve on top that matched the curve of that fountain.” The bar design incorporated floral designed wallpaper reminiscent of the couple’s invitation suite and the menus featured their custom monogram and lily of the valley motif.

As a nod to the wedding’s garden theme, an escort card display was created out of three pieces of arched garden lattice. Guest’s names and table numbers were calligraphed on cards that also featured the couple's joint monogram. The display itself was adorned with lush ground installations of white florals and greenery, making it appear as if it was naturally occurring in the space.

Guests entered the venue to find a pianist setting the ambiance. They dined in the library, where green walls and shelving brought the color palette to life. A mixture of round and long tables were topped with embroidered and patterned linens and paired with cane-back chairs. “On a trip to the south of France, I noticed the use of block print fabrics everywhere,” Addy says. “I knew I wanted to bring that into our décor, so we incorporated them into our linen choices.”

The place settings featured two different sets of Dior dinner plates with beautiful, delicate lily of the valley motifs. “We ended up using lily of the valley as a design thread through the entire wedding, inspired by these plates,” Addy says.

Custom menus, clear-handled cutlery, and napkins embroidered with the couple’s monogram were the perfect finishing touches. The centerpieces included an array of lush white florals—including peonies, roses, ranunculus, sweet pea, Queen Anne's lace, and more—and sage taper candles in glass hurricanes.

For dinner, Addy and Alex wanted to serve their favorite foods. “We had a bao bar,” Addy says. “We served Calpico, which was my favorite childhood drink growing up.” They also served a variety of Taiwanese snacks, which were passed to guests on the dance floor.

For dessert, the couple chose a four-tiered white wedding cake with handmade sugar flowers that mimicked the ranunculus and lilies of the valley seen throughout the day. Inside, guests found slices of almond cake with matcha buttercream and raspberry preserves.

Addy and Alex shared their first dance to “It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now” by Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose. Addy and her dad dance to an acoustic version of George Exra’s “Hold My Girl” and Alex and his mom twirled to Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life." At the end of the night, everyone danced together (“I have never seen my mom dance like that before,” Addy says) and it ended up being the highlight of the day.

Addy and Alex spent two weeks in Greece for their honeymoon. To couples planning a wedding, Addy suggests using Pinterest to come up with a specific vision. “It’s so much easier to design and execute an event as large as a wedding when you have a more precise idea of what you want,” she says. “It can even be down to the smallest details—linens, floral arrangements or even escort cards.”