An Anderson House Wedding With Fruit-Filled Centerpieces and Traditional Chinese Details

Anita, an analyst from San Francisco, and Jacob, a consultant and former naval officer from North Carolina, met on a dating app while living in California. Their first date included a Star Wars symphony concert and dinner, then hours of conversation under the stars on a picnic blanket in a San Jose park, where the pair talked into the following morning. One year later, Jacob proposed on a hill overlooking Monterey Bay.

Now living in Takoma Park, the pair chose the Anderson house for their summer wedding. The venue—which offered docent tours to guests interested in its history—was among Anita’s favorite parts of the day. Jacob’s favorite elements were his accessories: a cologne he inherited from his grandfather, and a watch his dad gave him as a gift upon his Navy commissioning. Both Anita and Jacob loved the tablescape designs, with the fruit centerpieces and the dainty, whimsical florals. The details were meant to combine his North Carolina roots and a “lush Mediterranean” vibe in the color palette, with her Chinese heritage: the wedding program, for example, featured the Chinese “double happiness” characters and was wrapped in a sleeve buckled with a traditional Chinese knot. Other Chinese wedding decor, they say, included tangerines and chinoiserie vases. For a finishing touch, they skipped the cake in favor of a Champagne tower instead. See the details of their big day below.

Wedding 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.