A Winter German-Market-Inspired December Wedding

Nicole, an events manager for a local bookstore, and Brian, director of product at a tech startup, first connected on Hinge. She’s from McLean, and as a military kid, Brian says he had lots of homes but considers Heidelberg, Germany his “main hometown.” For their first date, the pair roamed the little shops at the DC holiday market. Two years later, Brian proposed on a trail run at their favorite local park after a morning of paddle boarding, and Nicole returned the proposal during a game of Dungeons & Dragons.

Fittingly, their December wedding was inspired by European Christmas markets including pre-ceremony Gluhwein (warm, spiced wine); a Bavarian pretzel station, and a holiday wonderland setting, decorated in shades of greens, deep red, gold, cream, and black. Nicole wore a silver wedding dress and her grandmother’s earrings, which her sisters also wore at their respective weddings, along with a tiara that she says made her feel like “an absolute princess.” Their escort display included a table of little holiday-village houses. Live music included a pianist and electric violinist who played during the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner, ahead of the reception DJ, and other details included a Charles Dickens quote on their cocktail napkins; matchbooks with d20 dice on them as a nod to their time playing Dungeons & Dragons; and a Belgian waffle station for dessert. 

See the photos of this German winter market-inspired wedding below.

The Details

Amy Moeller

Fashion & Weddings Editor

Amy leads Washingtonian Weddings and writes Style Setters for Washingtonian. Prior to joining Washingtonian in March 2016, she was the editor of Capitol File magazine in DC and before that, editor of What’s Up? Weddings in Annapolis.