DC War Memorial Wedding | Imagery by Erin

Leigh and Carter took full advantage of their location in planning their DC wedding. Located on the National Mall, the District of Columbia War Memorial is a popular location for weddings. There’s good reason for htis: it’s beautiful, it’s relatively easy to access and near many beautiful locations. What else made this wedding special? The couple officiated it themselves!

Washington, D.C. is one of only a handful of places in the U.S. where marrying couples do not actually need an officiant. According to the district, “parties to the marriage” are authorized to perform a ceremony. Often called self-officiated ceremonies or self-uniting marriages, couples who plan to elope often take advantage of this option. But it isn’t only an option for elopements. More than 90 guests witnessed Leigh and Carter’s ceremony. We even managed to squeeze everyone in for one massive group picture!

Self-officiating a DC wedding

This was the first self-officiated ceremony I photographed (although I have met couples for photo sessions after they self-officiated during a completely private ceremony). To be honest, I was a little nervous about the logistics of a wedding involving so many guests and no officiant! In my experience, officiants play a key role in weddings starting on time (which is especially important when the location’s permit allows for one hour, tops!) and getting guests seated or otherwise situated prior to the ceremony. Leigh, Carter and I had a phone call to discuss logistics so we had a plan. Some wonderful friends of the bride and groom ensured everything ran smoothly.

Instead of a bride walking down the aisle, Leigh and Carter each approached the ceremony location from different directions, accompanied by their families.The unique thing about this location? This ceremony was essentially a “wedding in the round” sort of like a theatre in the round. From a photographer’s perspective, this enabled me to get a variety of different images quickly, which is always a bonus!