Wedding | Jessie & Addison

1 hour ago
11 min read

Tell us a little about yourselves!

A week after my 30th birthday, a couple of college friends came to DC for a belated celebration. Fresh off a wonderfully over-the-top dinner at a restaurant far fancier than we deserved, we set out in search of the perfect place to continue the night. We made a pact: if we couldn’t agree on a bar by the bottom of Adams Morgan’s 18th Street, we’d simply walk into whatever was waiting for us there and make it the right place ourselves.

That bar was Dan’s Cafe. Dan’s is not a nice place. They serve rail liquor in recycled ketchup bottles, hand out fun-sized bags of chips to satisfy liquor laws, and boast some of the stickiest floors in Washington. One look through the boarded-up windows and we unanimously agreed we’d made a terrible mistake and should turn around. Just then, a smiling woman walked up with a friend and asked if we were in line. “Of course we are,” I replied, and followed them inside. And that’s how I met Jessie.

In the years since, we’ve built a life together full of curiosity, care, and wonder. I’ve chased her through forests, across deserts, and up mountains. I’ve cooked more potatoes and pastas than any non-professional should ever have to. I pretend to keep up with her in the gym, rub countless sore calves and feet, and indulge her ever-growing pottery collection.

For her part, Jessie has put on a masterclass in loving me. She holds my hand in the forest, makes sure I have water in the desert, and quite literally pulls me up mountains. She’s nursed me through four surgeries, cuts my hair, and allows me sticky barbeque once a year on my birthday. I’m allowed to take as much time as I want placing each bulb on our Christmas trees. She reminds me how wonderful stars are.

Mostly, though, we laugh. We dance in the kitchen. We seek out beautiful places, meaningful conversations, and new adventures, while finding just as much joy in quiet evenings at home.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

Spending time together in nature has always been one of the foundations of our relationship. We chose our home largely because it gives us direct access to the peace of Washington D.C’s sprawling Rock Creek Park, and weekends we escape whenever we can to camp and hike in the Appalachian Mountains. Nearly all of our biggest adventures together have centered on wild places, with just enough city life as bookends. The mountains are where we feel most alive, most connected, and most ourselves. From the very beginning of planning our wedding, we knew we wanted to celebrate there.

Finding the right mountains, however, proved more difficult. We explored venues across North America, but nothing quite matched what we envisioned. East Coast venues often felt like hunting lodges. Out west, cowboy. While we adore the Canadian Rockies, they felt a bit too rugged for some of our more indoor-oriented guests. We dreamed of a chalet with modern luxuries and old-world charm, tucked away in a quiet village beneath spectacular peaks. It was an ambitious wish list.

One day, just about simultaneously, we both admitted out loud what we had been quietly thinking all along: our dream wedding was in the Alps.

Ever since our first trip to the Swiss Alps, we had imagined returning with some of our favorite people. Our wedding felt like the perfect reason to make that dream a reality. More than choosing a beautiful backdrop, we wanted to share a place that had become deeply meaningful to us and to spend several days together immersed in nature, adventure, and connection. Our hope was that everyone would leave not only having celebrated our marriage, but also feeling renewed, inspired, and a little more in love with the mountains themselves.

The search for the perfect venue continued as we explored corners of the Swiss, French, and Italian Alps. Along the way, Jessie discovered the work of photographer Annabelle Zermatten, whose images first introduced us to the Val d’Anniviers – a breathtaking valley lined with historic Alpine villages and framed by some of Switzerland’s most iconic 4,000-metre peaks.

Within this valley, the village of Saint-Luc immediately captured our hearts. At its center sits Hotel Bella-Tola, a Belle Époque-era hotel that has been welcoming travelers since 1859. It perfectly balanced timeless elegance with warm hospitality and offered our guests a chance to slow down and recharge between the planned adventures. When we visited on a scouting trip, the people, the landscape, and the sounds of the valley immediately felt like home, and we couldn’t imagine a better place to begin our marriage.

How many guests did you have?

51 adults, 2 children, and 1 newborn baby.

What was your budget?

Worth every penny!

Tell us about your outfits.

Finding my wedding dress was a journey. I knew I wanted something that felt true to both me and our venue: romantic, vintage-inspired, and playful. Since we were getting married outside at a small mountain hut high above the valley, I knew I wanted a gown that felt at home in the landscape–something that I could frolic in the alpine meadows in that didn’t feel overly formal or heavy.

I ultimately decided to go the custom route and worked with Caroline at Cesara Rêve to bring that vision to life. Together, we designed a gown with a structured dupioni silk corset and a flowing chiffon skirt that felt elegant yet effortless. Near the end of the process, we added the perfect finishing touch: an embroidered Juliette cap veil adorned with delicate edelweiss flowers. It was romantic, whimsical, and tied the whole look together.

For the reception, I wanted a shift in energy. We’d imagined a disco-inspired dance party from the beginning, so I changed into a sequined dress from Bardot made for grooving on the dance floor. It felt fun, carefree, and the perfect dress to dance the night away in.

The most meaningful accessories of the day were our wedding bands. Addison and I spent months working with Starling Jewelry to design custom rings that felt personal to us. We actually saw our finished rings for the very first time during the ceremony as we exchanged them, which made the moment even more special.

About ten months before the wedding, we traveled to Switzerland for our venue scouting trip. On the way home, we treated ourselves to a 48-hour stopover in London, where we met up with my (Addison’s) brother, who was living there at the time. Still riding the excitement of finding our venue, I convinced him and Jessie to spend an evening wandering Savile Row, soaking in the world of English tailoring.

The bespoke suits were well beyond my budget, but I left with a deeper appreciation for classic tailoring, an education in finer details of craftsmanship, and a small swatch of a favorite fabric – a rich chocolate-brown sueded French linen by Solbiati. Determined to use this fabric, I searched until I found The Anthology, who miraculously happened to offer a suit in the exact fabric and silhouette I had been imagining. Buzz Tang and Andy Chong’s team in Hong Kong were remarkably helpful in getting all of my measurements right from abroad to ship me the ideal sized coat and slacks. I was so obsessed with the suit that I also commissioned a custom shirt from The Anthology, pairing it with a sevenfold tie from Tie Your Tie in arguably my favorite shade of my favorite color that even had tiny hints of a red that we had planned to wind through the festivities. My black tassel loafers are by Poeve and my belt by Buck Mason. On my wrist, I wore a sparkle dial Omega Seamaster from 1968 or 69’.

My most important piece of all was a white pocket square with light blue trimming that Jessie surprised me with on the morning of our wedding. It completed the look, but I also needed it as soon as our officiants opened our ceremony. I’m told that just about everyone there cried during the ceremony, but no one more than me.

For the after party, I simply switched my shirt to Buck Mason’s Sunset Rayon Western Shirt in Light Blue. It looked phenomenal and felt like nothing at all. I would not have changed a single thing about my outfit. Even though Jessie easily stole the show.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

More than anything, we wanted to create an experience that celebrated not only our marriage, but also the incredible community that has shaped our lives and the values we hope will define our future together. We wanted our wedding to feel like a grand adventure—one that was intimate, welcoming, and filled with laughter, conversation, and unforgettable moments. We cared far more about creating an experience people would remember long after they returned home than about following every wedding tradition.

That experience began long before anyone boarded a plane. We created a detailed wedding website to help guests navigate the logistics while also introducing them to the spirit of the celebration and the valley they would call home for a few days. Because most of our guests had never been to Switzerland, we felt a responsibility to make the journey worth it and carefully designed each event to immerse them in the landscape, culture, and sense of wonder that first made us fall in love with the Alps.

Over three days, the celebration unfolded as a series of shared adventures. We welcomed everyone with a traditional Swiss dinner before taking the town’s funicular to an observatory for stargazing. The next day, many of our guests joined us on a hike to a turquoise alpine lake. Watching friends and family from every chapter of our lives tackle the trail together – and then laugh through a spectacular mountain downpour on the way back – was unforgettable. After drying off at the hotel, we changed into our finest and boarded a cable car that carried us high above the valley to Espace Weisshorn, a chic mountain restaurant with sweeping views. There, we shared plenty of pasta and wine as the sun set over the Alps, turning dinner into a memorable evening beneath the stars.

For the ceremony itself, we knew there was only one place we wanted to say “I do”: outside, surrounded by mountains. We exchanged our vows at Cabane Illhorn, a small mountain hut with breathtaking views stretching all the way to the Matterhorn. Standing there, surrounded by the mountains and the people we love most, making promises about the life we hope to build together, is a memory we’ll carry with us forever.

There were times during the planning process when we wondered whether a destination wedding was the right decision but seeing our loved ones arrive from around the world, embrace the adventure, make new friends, and fall in love with the valley alongside us was everything we’d hoped for, and we’re so incredibly grateful.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

We wanted the celebration to feel unmistakably like us while embracing the beautiful setting. That meant letting go of traditions we didn’t care about, making our own rules, and involving the people we love wherever we could. My (Jessie’s) sister designed every piece of stationery, I taught Addison to sew and he made every tablecloth and banner, our families gathered to tie ribbons onto the wands guests waved as we walked back down the aisle, both of our brothers served as ushers, my nephew was the ring bearer, and my friend Jennifer embroidered our guest book.

For us, the ceremony was the heart of the celebration. We wanted it to feel deeply personal rather than overly scripted. Two close friends officiated, while family and friends shared poems and readings that reflected the values we hope will shape our marriage. The music was equally personal: Addison walked down the aisle to Led Zeppelin’s Over the Hills and Far Away and we closed the ceremony with The Cranberries’ Dreams.

The setting inspired every design decision. Rather than competing with the dramatic alpine landscape, we wanted the décor to feel like a natural extension of it. Wild, whimsical florals framed the ceremony and spilled throughout the reception, while vintage linens, candlelight, silver accents, and a palette of rich blues, plums, and soft ivory transformed Hotel Bella-Tola’s historic dining room into a space that felt both elegant and warmly inviting.

The food and drinks carried that same sense of place. We wanted the menu to celebrate the region, beginning with creative interpretations of Swiss favorites during cocktail hour before a French-inspired multi-course dinner featuring local ingredients. As the evening unfolded, the celebration flowed into the hotel’s gardens, where an abundant dessert display invited everyone to linger beneath the stars before we danced late into the night.

Any tips for couples getting married?

As a tip to whoever is planning the proposal: choose your timing wisely! Addison proposed a few days after our fifth anniversary in October 2024, at sunset on a cliff overlooking the coast of western Portugal. It was everything we could have hoped for, and having a few days to quietly enjoy being engaged before sharing the news with family and friends was incredibly special.

In hindsight, though, proposing that late in the year all but guaranteed a long engagement. There was simply no way we could have planned the wedding we envisioned in time for the following summer, so July 2026 became the earliest realistic option. If you’re hoping for a shorter engagement, an early spring proposal gives you much more flexibility for a wedding the following year. Of course, if you’ve always dreamed of a fall or winter wedding, or you’re happy taking your time, it may not matter at all.

We’ll be far from the only ones to recommend this, but do your best to be present in the moment. Prioritize sleep in the runup as much as you can. Try to soak in the moments together. Look every guest in the eye. Eat the damn food. Play the music you want. Don’t let go of your partner’s hand other than to use the bathroom, if that.

Get the Etsy witch.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Annabelle Zermatten from CouCouStudio Love has an incredible artistic eye, obviously, but her spirit and approach adds tremendously to the quality of your day, your guests’ experience, and your actual photographs.

Everything Annabelle is to photography, Rodrigo von Senger is to videography. He was an amazing friend throughout our day and we will cherish his documentary-inspired work forever.

Des Lys & Delices executed our florals vision perfectly. We wanted florals that felt untamed, organic, and romantic. Our hope was to evoke the feeling of freshly gathered wildflowers in an alpine meadow. It’s hard for someone else’s interpretation of your deeply personal vision to be perfect, but Des Lys & Delice somehow did it.

Perhaps nobody was more committed to the success of our wedding than Dj Troublebaker. We first saw him perform at a tiny Ramen shop in Porto about 24 hours after we got engaged. It was early in the evening, but he played with the energy of a sold-out show. More than a year later, we reached out with the admittedly unusual request of asking him to DJ an intimate wedding in the Swiss Alps. Without hesitation, he was all in. From that moment on, he poured an extraordinary amount of care into every detail, experimenting with our playlists, sending countless mixes for feedback, and thoughtfully crafting the soundtrack for the entire week. On the day itself, he was a consummate professional and went above and beyond.

The team at Hotel Bella-Tola made us feel at home from the moment we arrived. Christian Baudry and his team delivered a welcoming and luxurious experience to our guests. The reception dinner was exceptional, the wines were outstanding, and their attention to detail allowed us to relax and be present throughout the celebration.

Jessie’s sister, Natalie, brought our wedding to life through her incredible talent and generosity. From our invitations and website to the menus, stationery, and custom signage, every design detail reflected her thoughtful eye and meticulous craftsmanship. She spent countless late nights perfecting every element, while somehow remaining endlessly patient and reassuring through every last-minute idea, question and wedding-planning panic. Her creativity, care, and attention to detail shaped the look and feel of our celebration in ways we’ll always treasure. We’re especially excited that she’s now channeling that same passion into her new studio, Red Thread Designs, where she’ll undoubtedly help many other couples tell their own stories with the same thoughtfulness and artistry.