Watch: Navis & James’ Wedding at Elizabeth’s On L

I recently attended the Wedding Wire World conference here in D.C. and while I did come away with some great business tips for the team, it was also an opportunity to reconnect with some of our favorite vendors. Kristiaan of The Madious (formerly EyeWonder Photography) and I worked together on Navis and James’ early spring wedding at Elizabeth’s on L last year. We recalled how the chilly, rainy weather conspired to make it a subdued evening but instead we got a warm, intimate gathering that turned up later on. We look forward to working with Kristiaan and Lionel again as they rebrand as The Madious, reflecting their business and life partnership. Kristiaan was kind enough to send over some shots from their blog for us to share in video form.

Navis and James had a vision for a refined (but not stuffy) small scale celebration and Elizabeth’s on L was a great fit. Their wedding was like heading to a friend’s tony historic townhouse for an upscale cocktail party. It was cozy but never felt tight, with a ceremony that allowed everyone to gather in close, then mingle throughout the space with standing stations for small plates instead of a seated dinner.

Programming the music for the evening was fun, as I started out with some general requests that included everything from Sharon Jones to Manu Chao to The Meters to TLC. Since it was more elegant house party than traditional wedding, I was able to create a full evening musical flow that shaped the energy in the space from start to finish, instead of in standard discrete blocks (pre-ceremony, dinner, dancing, etc.) I was even able to fit in some New Orleans brass tunes, per the great taste of Navis.

The end of the night was one of those moments when you high five yourself as a DJ. Ben E. King‘s “Stand By Me” is a sureshot way to close out a dancefloor, but I was chagrined that I hadn’t fit a guest’s request for bachata into my set, despite dropping a few latin tunes earlier. The solution was to blend Ben E. King’s original with a cover version by Prince Royce in real time, making the two singers trade lines across generations without anyone on the floor missing a beat to the final slow dance of the night. It was a great capstone on an evening where music helped solidify bonds among family and friends.