by Alicia Yamashita

Spring is finally arriving and you know what that means: wedding season! The perfect modern garden ceremony is on your mind but where will you have it? How will you decorate it? What will you serve?

D.C. has an abundance of ideal wedding locations for your outdoor wedding with the hip garden theme. You know what you want. Lush, green lawns, beautiful flowers, and a waterfront view would be a nice add-on. The Chesapeake Bay has all of these and Celebrations at the Bay is a beautiful venue for a wedding that can seat 300 beneath a tent on the waterfront or 150 in an indoor reception area. There are also plenty of hotels, even on the waterfront, that would gladly host your wedding.

For more of a wilderness feel, consider ThorpeWood, located right in D.C. The setting is very natural but also elegant for your ideal wedding location. There is also a place called Keswick Hall which is located outside of but near D.C in Keswick, Virginia. Keswick Hall at Monticello is a stunning place to hold your wedding outdoors (or indoors) that features incredible views and multiple sites to choose from.

But for your garden theme, there are careful considerations to be made when it comes to decorations. You want it to be stylish and modern, but not priced within a movie star’s budget.

Feathers are becoming increasingly popular among bridal décor, not to mention the represent good luck. Feathers can be extremely tasteful, but if you decide to use them, keep them as a small accent to your decorations. Overdoing it can look tacky and give your wedding a Mardi Gras feel. They look great as a soft touch to your bouquet or even your shoes but again, remember not to overdo it.

Centerpieces are also an important part of decoration. With centerpieces you want to make sure your guests will still be able to see each other across the table so you should either pick something that will stay low against the table or something that will be very high with something thin and almost invisible holding it up. Think giant martini glass. The stem is thin and see-through, but the containing part is nice and big and can hold a beautiful decoration.

For a garden theme, you will want to have some flowers. Candles are also elegant and go great as a centerpiece. To mix the two together, try using a simple candelabra with a flowery garland integrated in by wrapping the flowers around it. Or if you can make it work, a small bouquet of flowers at the top would look very classy.

If you liked the martini glass idea you could try having some candles sitting in the glass on top of some shiny glass pebbles with a wreath of flowers around the base of it. You want to give your decorations a very simple yet elegant look to keep the airy modern feel about them.

There are endless possibilities and such amazing decorating combinations that you can create the perfect wedding ceremony just for you. This is the day you will remember for the rest of your life, so don’t settle for anything less than elegant!