Jen and Ty work for the same company, but in separate offices. Despite working only a block apart for over a year, they only met once, briefly at a company happy hour in October 2013; fate was nearly thwarted as Ty had to leave early and Jen figured she’d been given a fake name, since there was no way anyone could be named “Ty Twigg.”

The following October they reconnected at a company training event in Houston. Ty charmingly said to Jen, “Oh, you’re here?”, when they saw each other again. Ty knew of a local establishment where, in true Texas fashion, the proprietors raced turtles. Ty invited Jen to those turtle races, and he proceeded to tell her that the losing turtles would be made into soup. Horrified, Jen started planning an elaborate rescue effort to save the turtles from their fate. As it turned out, Ty was joking and felt terrible he had caused Jen any distress. To make it up to her, he took her to dinner when they got back to DC.

Jen was instantly smitten with Ty, she thought he was very handsome, smart, and kind. She loved his big smile and sense of humor. Ty’s first impression of Jen was that she’s beautiful, laughs at his jokes jokes, and made a Ned Flanders reference, so 3 for 3.

Ty spent a month finding the perfect diamond for Jen, working with her sister, and using some hints Jen had dropped. Once Ty found the right stone, he took it to a jeweler Jen followed on Instagram. Jen quickly found out that Ty bought a diamond, got very excited about the fact that they’d be getting engaged in the next few days, and was already filled with expectation the next afternoon when Ty said, “Hey, I have to leave the country for two weeks for work, that cool?”. Little did Jen know, the ring wasn’t going to be ready for a couple of weeks anyway, and Jen was super supportive and told Ty to go on the trip.

When Ty came home from the trip on a Friday evening, Jen knew he didn’t have the ring yet, and she also knew he hadn’t asked her Dad’s blessing, something important to her, so it would still be a little while until the proposal. Ty landed at Dulles, hopped in a cab, and headed straight to the jeweler’s to pick up the ring. Jen had mentioned once that both of her brothers-in-law had asked her dad’s blessing when they proposed to her sisters, but that no one had ever asked her Mom, so being the great listener that he is, Ty had already asked for Jen’s mom’s blessing in advance. Before Jen came home from work, Ty ran out and picked up some groceries. Wanting to capitalize on the element of surprise, Ty made dinner for them. After the main course, Jen asked if there was anything else, really hinting for dessert. Then Ty proposed! It took Jen a minute to actually answer the question, though; she started crying really hard, presumably because there was no dessert.

Jen and Ty are most excited to have a wedding and be married because they love each other and they’re really looking forward to having a big celebration with our friends and family. Jen’s favorite wedding detail is the watercolor wedding location map sent with the invitations. Ty’s favorite wedding detal are the favors: homemade biscotti baked by a friend of the couple, and hand-wrapped by the bride and groom. Also cake. Jen and Ty were together for 3 years before they were engaged for 10 months.

Jen and Ty flew to Portugal a couple weeks after the wedding for their Honeymoon. They spent a few days taking in the sights of Lisbon on foot before renting a car to see the rest of the country. The two made their way south to a small town in the Algarve region to relax for a couple of days on the beach. From there they headed north through wine country to stay a night in the ancient Roman city of Evora, and then continued to Porto, where they would spend two days visiting museums, parks, and most importantly to Jen, the bookshop that JK Rowling says inspired Ollivanders. The two spent their last night in Sintra, visiting historic castles and palaces, before making their way to the airport for the flight home. To end the trip, they had a 12-hour layover in Paris, which was not nearly as pleasant as it seemed when they booked the flight; seriously they’re not sure what they were thinking on that one, let’s just exempt that from the rest of the trip. All told, the two racked up about 1400 km driving, spent about €200 Euro on gas, a roughly equivalent amount on wine, and while they can’t give an exact count due to Jen’s Fitbit having an unfortunate run-in with the Atlantic Ocean, the couple took approximately forty-two billion steps.

The newlyweds currently live in Washington, DC.

Jennifer is a Property Manager from Bethesda, MD and Ty is a Project Manager from Severna Park, MD.

Invitations – Riffle Paper Co., papersource.com
Hair Stylist – Kristin Manning, bangzontheweb.com
Makeup Artist – Joanne Owens
Bride’s Wedding Band + Engagement Ring – Pave Jewelers, pavejewelers.com
Bride’s Right Hand Ring – Tiffany & Co., tiffany.com
Bride’s Earrings – Effy, effyjewelry.com
Florist – Meg Owen Floral Designs, megowenfloraldesign.com
(Dahlias, Lisianthus, Queen Lime Zinnias, Freesia, Ranunculus, Alaskan Coral Charm Peonies, Straw Flowers, Gomphrena, Scabiosa, Garden Roses, Celosia + Sweet Peas, Nigella)
Dress – Charlie Brear, Torum dress with Augustin lace jacket, charliebrear.com
Veil – borrowed from bride’s sister
Suit – Suitsupply, suitsupply.com
Groom’s Shoes – Allen Edmonds, allenedmonds.com
Grooms Wedding Band – Vintage from Etsy
Ceremony Venue – Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, mvpumc.org
Venue Coordinator – Valerie Hames at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church
Officiant – The Rev. Dr. Donna Claycomb Sokol, mvpumc.org
Transportation – They walked!
Reception Venue – Momofuku CCDC, ccdc.momofuku.com
Venue Coordinator – Kira Neal at Momofuku
Catering – Momofuku CCDC, ccdc.momofuku.com
(Hamachi Tartare, Grilled Beef Skewers, Shrimp Toast, Pimento Cheese Crackers, Bo Ssam Pork with steamed Rice + Lettuce Wraps, Roasted Mushrooms with Snow Peas, Grilled Corn Salad, late-night Loaded Fingerlings)
Signature Cocktails – Tokyo (gin, salted plum, cherry blossom cordial, lime, soda) + Bonji Old Fashioned (bourbon, black sugar, bonji)
Cake – Milk Bar, milkbarstore.com
(Vanilla Rainbow Birthday Cake layered with Rainbow Cake Crumbs, topped with Vanilla Frosting, Cake Truffles in chocolate + birthday)
DJ – DJ Alkimist, Kimberly Venetz, djalkimist.com
Favors – homemade biscotti baked by a friend of the couple, and hand-wrapped by the bride and groom