A Simple and Elegant Wedding at Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington, D.C.

Steve Coppinger, 32, an executive buyer, married Maggie Gillespie, 31, an anesthesiologist, in a beautiful and elegant wedding in Washington, D.C. After meeting through mutual friends, Steve and Maggie were friends for five years before they began dating. For the proposal, Steve planned a "DC tourist day", which included stops at the National Zoo and the Jefferson Memorial. "We were all alone on the side of the memorial and I was ready to head to the Smithsonian but Steve called me back — as I turned around he was down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him," Maggie says. The couple knew they wanted to get married in DC and ended up choosing St. John's Episcopal in Lafayette Square as the location for the ceremony and Old Ebbitt Grill as the location for the reception. "We knew that we wanted a spring wedding, and given the location of the church we envisioned our guests strolling past the White House as they walked from the ceremony to the reception," says the bride. A timeless and understated color palette of gray, navy and white helped the bride and groom achieve and simple and classic look at their nuptials. Following the church ceremony, guests attended a cocktail hour on the rooftop of the Old Ebbitt Grill with stunning views of the nation's capital. The reception followed downstairs in the restaurant's atrium. Instead of serving a sit-down dinner, guests had access to food stations and could eat whenever they pleased. Maggie and Steve decided to skip other traditional aspects of a reception, including toasts and a cake cutting, and focused on having a good time with their family and friends. "I'm sure every couple says this, but it was easily the most meaningful and most fun day of our lives — would not have changed a single thing," the bride says.