A Crimson & Marigold Wedding at Maketto, Washington DC

Melissa and Rob took the cafe and courtyard at Maketto for the last Saturday in November and kept it deliberately small: thirty-five people, one long evening, no part of it borrowed from anyone else's idea of a wedding. The palette went warm against the cold — crimson garden roses, marigold ranunculus, blush and ivory, all of it cut through with olive and eucalyptus.

Melissa had collected her ideas on a Pinterest board, and that board became the plan. A white arch went up against Maketto's black steel doors with an asymmetric spray weighted to one shoulder, greenery trailing down past the frame, and two low arrangements grounding it on either side. The same flowers carried into her bouquet: loose, a little wild, cut long enough to fall over her arm.

By the time vows were read the courtyard had gone dark and the string lights had taken over, which is the best thing that can happen to red flowers. Inside the cafe, the same crimson and marigold ran down the tables and the party stayed put until closing.