Real Wedding: Sarah and Jonathan's Fall Wedding at the Cleveland Museum of Art

We probably say this all the time, but it doesn't really get more beautiful than this... one of Cleveland's most iconic locations, a perfect fall day, a gorgeous bride in a gorgeous gown, a couple who are so obviously in love, deep red florals, and a couple of the cutest flower girls you've ever seen... We just love this wedding at the Cleveland Museum of Art!

From the bride, Sarah:

The first step I took in planning our wedding was locking down the perfect venue. I am from DC originally but my husband, Jonathan, is from Cleveland and we've built our life here so there was no doubt that we would get married here. We also knew we needed a venue that could accommodate both our huge families, all our friends, and our parents' buddies. Jonathan and I met and fell in love while in law school at Case right in University Circle so the Cleveland Museum of Art was my dream wedding venue. We went to visit and met with Elizabeth Atchley, the event coordinator there (who is amazing), and there really wasn't any competition with any other location. We locked it down about a week later.

I also knew I wanted a fall wedding and, with the vast grey (pretty much my favorite color weirdly) stone and natural colors of the museum, I loved the feel of deep, dramatic reds offset by soft blush and dusty rose with creamy whites. My florist Pieter Bouterse captured the aesthetic I envisioned perfectly. I am NOT a fan of "matchy-matchy" and I didn't have the energy to micro manage too much so I had my bridesmaids choose their own dresses in grey or silver -- best decision ever. I was very nervous that everyone's dresses wouldn't go together but on the big day I think it turned out better than I could've imagined.

One of my besties from high school planned some amazing, dreamy, events with the most gorgeous florals you could imagine and I knew I couldn't handle working with anyone else. Sarah was with me every step of the way, even though she was living in another state. I couldn't imagine doing all the planning, contracting, coordinating without her.

As for my favorite memory of the day - I have a couple. First, my Uncle Dave is a professional photographer and a really popular guy -- he's not a wedding photographer but he attends lots of weddings. During the intro and before dinner I was making the rounds and Uncle Dave stops me, turns me towards the dance floor and tells me -- you can always tell a good wedding by how many people are dancing, we haven't even had dinner yet and the dance floor is full. And it was -- already everyone was having a good time. Seeing my two families and all my friends together dancing and happy made me feel so amazing -- we pulled it off and it was time to party. Second, my husband is in a band -- Window Dogs (they're amazing). He's been in this band since we met and I've gotten really close with his band members. They have one song that is so much fun, easy to dance to, and the hook is "this is the best night of my life." I begged Jonathan to play the song at the wedding and when they played my favorite song with its perfect hook for my friends and family who've never heard them play I was SO happy and SO proud and I danced SO hard people probably thought I was crazy.

Honestly our wedding was so special and unique because our families get along so well and love us both so much. After the wedding lots of people told us and/or our parents that our wedding was the most love-filled wedding they've ever been to...it really was.

All photos by Making the Moment.