Wedding at The Assembly Room in Baltimore Maryland | Sarah & Ryan

Sarah & Ryan’s wedding at The Assembly Room in Baltimore was EPIC!  Much like the rest of their love story, proposal, and engagement photos in Dewey Beach.  Their love is magnetic and you can feel their chemistry across the room.  Loved working with Brittany, Caroline and the Elizabeth Bailey Weddings & Events team.  Ann’s Garden decorated The Assembly Room SO elegantly along the graffiti wall.  The touches of elegance and industrial textures was one of my favorites from 2018!!

Sarah & Ryan’s proposal story is amazing, Ryan’s preparation, thoughtfulness, and excitement is palpable…

Well I would like to share my side of the proposal because I am 90% sure that Sarah blacked out. After all the tears, I had to recount the series of events in detail to her. So here we go once again….

I was a complete nervous nelly the entire week, let alone the day of, but it was ok because I had a plan and it was going to work. A little back story, I am originally from NJ, work and live in Maryland, and met Sarah in DE where she worked and lived. Graduate school pulled Sarah to NJ and I followed because I knew she was the love of my life. Almost since that moment I have been planning the day that this story will unfold to be. 

My first obstacle would be the ring. Simple right? If you know anything about Sarah, this is not so simple. After chasing her ideas and researching the options with her slight knowledge, the solution came to me. My Grandmother had approached me and requested that I keep her wedding ring in the family. It was so perfect and sentimental, I just knew she would love it.

The next task would be to find the perfect location. After watching a proposal at Fenway Park on youtube where the outcome was no so favorable, I teased her with the thought of being proposed to at any type of public event. She crushed that theory very quickly much like that poor guy’s heart. From this point on I knew it had to be private. Since moving to a new part of NJ that I was not used to, I spent many days driving around and taking different routes to visit family that I haven’t seen in years. Assisted by a conversation with my father, I came across a tiny park in beautiful historic Peapack/Gladstone. This was the exact location where my parents had their wedding photos done. Perfect! Location-Check.

As for how to propose, that took some major thinking and preparation. The move to NJ caused me to do a lot of driving for the commute back to Maryland for work. If I wasn’t visiting with family and friends, then I was resting with my dog Biggie Smalls. This time was my prep time for the big day. I bought a guitar off of facebook, researched where to take lessons and hid it all from Sarah. I took 6 weeks worth of lessons, which was probably the hardest part, keeping something that I was so excited about from the woman I loved. Plan-Check.

So here comes the big day. I leave my 24 hour shift from the fire department in the DC area. First stop is Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore to pick up 2 crab cake platters. I head back home where I had the truck all staged with my guitar, a picnic blanket and fitting picnic basket. Both my mom and nana assisted me in finding those items from a peach festival weeks earlier so they were obviously in on it. I got home, showered and changed and told Sarah that we were going for a ride to check something out. She knew it was a surprise but tried to hold back her questions and let the day happen. I drove her to the park and grabbed the basket, blanket and food, and we found a place to relax. We ate and laughed, watched some swans play and then it was my time. I told her I had to go back to the truck and for her to sit on this bench facing the water. I ran to the truck and got my guitar, with her back to me I sat behind her on the bench and began playing. I choose “In case you didn’t know” by Brett Young. She cried the whole time, I probably sounded terrible but it was still our moment. When I finished, I walked around and stood in front of her, got down on one knee and proposed. She cried some more, but more importantly she said yes! 

I even had a bottle of champagne with hot air balloons and hearts on it but we both decided to save it. Little did she know that I also had tickets for us to go right around the corner to this hot air balloon festival. The night was supposed to end on us flying on a hot air balloon ride at sunset but mother nature had different plans. The END.”

Wedding at The Assembly Room in Baltimore Vendors:
Wedding Venue: The Assembly Room
Wedding Planner: Elizabeth Bailey Weddings & Events
Table decorations: Ann’s Garden
Wedding Cake: Sugar Bakers Cakes
Wedding Photographer: Carly Fuller Photography
Invitations: Basic Invite
Bridal Dress: Essence of Australia
Bridal Shoes: Badgely Mischka
Rings: Anemoni Jewelers
Bridesmaid Dress: Bill Levkoff
Makeup Artist: Alison Harper & Company
Hair Stylist: Alison Harper & Company
Florist: Ann’s Garden
DJ/Band: Classic Collective DJs
Videographer: Bowen Films
Transportation: An Extraordinar Limousine Service, Inc.
First Dance Song: In Case You Didn’t Know – Brett Young