This Eclectic Rooftop Wedding at The Line Hotel in Washington, DC, Had the Couple Jumping for Joy

To celebrate their love story, which began with a "New Girl"-worthy meet-cute, Julia and Randy welcomed guests to the rooftop of The Line Hotel in Washington, DC, for an eclectic tented wedding reception with a colorful palette and iconic downtown views. Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the couple to shift their plans, they still managed to celebrate their marriage with a festive wedding complete with a formal church ceremony and a special appearance from their beloved dog. 

"Our original wedding day was May 2nd, so we had planned an early spring garden party with a dusty blue, sage and cream color palette," recalls Julia. "Since we moved the wedding date a couple of times and landed on August 21st as the new date, I kept the original color palette for the daytime and incorporated a brighter and more rich, late-summer color palette for the evening reception," which took place on the rooftop of The Line Hotel in Washington, DC. "The reception colors were emerald green, ruby reds and bright magentas, marigold, teal blue, pops of lilac, and gold. We were feeling so exhausted by the time the day finally arrived and were grateful we didn't have to cancel again at the last minute. The setting in DC with the monuments plus the view from, and architecture of, The Line hotel gave a unique reverence and strength to our photos. We wanted them to be powerful, to show the strength of love overcoming the hardest year of our lives, and our photographer captured that perfectly."

Although the couple's postponement ended up changing some of the day's design, Julia and Randy wanted to ensure that a few key things stayed the same despite the changes. "We had to cancel our original wedding and adjust several elements, but we were adamant on keeping our original venue and didn't want it to feel like it was a backup plan," says Julia. "Our vision turned into a rooftop garden party with some Moroccan influence. I wanted to bring in wildflowers with deep colors, carpeted lounges rather than dining tables, candles and mismatched colored-glass vases, and corn hole and board games as optional entertainment during the cocktail hour. I wanted it to feel relaxing, cozy and comfortable, with refreshing garden vibes after months of being quarantined inside and not seeing anyone. I wanted it to be celebratory, but also healing for us and for our guests that made a lot of sacrifices to be there on that day."

Julia and Randy brought a dose of meaningful personalization into their wedding day by paying homage to their last name, Wilder. "We had a custom LED neon sign made that read Born to Be Wilder,' says Julia. "We chose this because of the amazing chain of events that resulted in both of us becoming 'Wilder.' My husband was adopted from Korea when he was three months old, so he was born to be a Wilder. I was also born to be a Wilder, by marriage. If kids come into the picture someday, we will hang the sign in the nursery. It is of course a play on the song title 'Born to be Wild' as well, but also an ode to Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run' because my husband grew up in New Jersey near Bruce's stomping grounds. Our first dance song was Bruce Springsteen's 'If I Should Fall Behind' which became more important than we even realized when we originally chose it. It became the anthem that got us through the pandemic wedding nightmare and brought us even closer. The lyrics are about how each partner walks their own path, and the world can throw obstacles at you, but love is about understanding the other person's perspective and helping each other overcome the obstacles. It's about supporting your partner through anything, and that's exactly what we did and will keep doing. Our favorite part of the wedding was that our dog got to be a part of the entire day, too. He walked down the aisle and gave us the rings, but also got to be off-leash on the rooftop the whole night (he was amazingly well-behaved around the low tables full of food). He nudged into our first dance, got twirled on the dance floor by our friends, and soaked up lots of pets and kisses. He really helped with the light-hearted, therapeutic spirit that we tried to bring to the event."