Rachel + Billy | Wedding at the Assembly Room | Baltimore, MD | Photography by Brea

Rachel and Billy’s wedding this past weekend was absolutely perfect and I am so happy I got to be the one by their side to capture it all! Everything below about their story is from the couple themselves!

Early Beginnings

We met in SIXTH GRADE <3 !!! Our family homes are one street away from each other, so it was absolutely fate. We quickly became best friends and stayed that way throughout middle school and high school. (Isn’t it great when you have embarrassing photos of your soon-to-be spouse from age 13 that you actually took on your first camera phone?! Lol.) We had each other’s backs through all of school, and Rachel’s mom will joke that Rachel was the only one on earth who was completely unaware that Billy wanted to be more than friends. We finally got on the same page about our feelings for each other summer after senior year of high school. Billy officially asked Rachel to be his girlfriend over winter break Freshman year of college, and we both knew immediately that this was IT for us, because we were completely in love and unwilling to ever lose the other person as a best friend. Here we are now, getting married almost 8 years after that chilly night.

The Relationship

We spent 4 years in a long distance relationship, Rachel at college in Delaware and then New York, Billy at college up in Massachusetts. As Billy likes to put it, “that sucked”. As Rachel likes to say, the special part about that long distance relationship is that when we started dating, it was never “I really hope we make it through this,” but instead “this is going to be a rough four years,” because there was NO doubt in our minds that we would of course make it.

After college, we saved up some cash and moved from our home town to Washington, DC and started the most wonderful sweet adventure. Rachel’s dad likes to say that “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys reminds him of us. We COULD NOT WAIT to live together after all that time apart, and we still don’t take any day together for granted. We live in our little 1 bedroom apartment on the water in Navy Yard with our sweet pup, and life could not be better.

The Proposal

Billy proposed in February of 2020, right before Covid started spreading around the US, and JUST early enough in 2020 that he was able to throw a surprise engagement party for Rachel without a second thought. He planned the perfect day, including a bottomless buffet brunch, a trip to the Spy Museum, a show at the Planetarium, ending with the most magical proposal on the rooftop of our favorite pizza place, Wise Guy in Navy Yard. We ended the night celebrating with our friends and family, dancing to throwback hits until the early hours of the morning, beaming thinking about how the joy of that night would be had once again at our wedding.

We absolutely can’t wait to officially tie the knot and be pronounced husband and wife in front of all the many people that we love. We are bursting at the seams with joy and gratitude. <3

The Wedding

I absolutely adore Billy and Rachel. Immediately when we first connected I knew they were my people and that I’d be keeping them as friends long past the wedding day. Lucky for me, they agree. So celebrating this day with them, felt already like family. When I showed up to the wedding, Rachel’s sister Nellie gave me a big hug – we’ve been friends on social media for a bit already and it was so lovely to meet her! Both Billy and Rachel have the most loving and wonderful families, and it was the best time being in their orbit for the day. I can’t say enough wonderful things about these people and how good it was for my heart and soul, so I’ll let the photos do the talking. They also had the most incredible vendor team so be sure to check out the credits at the end! Here are just a few of my favorites… of way, way too many photos that we took this Saturday.

Wedding Photos at The Assembly Room

Picture of bride and groom for a wedding portrait at the Assembly Room in Baltimore Bride walks down aisle at the assembly room in Baltimore Wedding Ceremony at the Assembly Room Rooftop at the Assembly Room First dance at the Assembly Room in Baltimore Speeches during wedding at the Assembly Room Packed dance floor at the Assembly Room Sunset photo outside of the Assembly Room in Baltimore Rainbow outside of the Assembly Room in Baltimore