How to Host a Workplace Wedding

It helps when your employer is a major Eastern Shore venue. 😜

The couple: Katie Hall and Cody Thomas

Wedding date: November 20, 2020

Number of guests: 68

Recessional song: This Must Be The Place by Talking Heads → “It's one of Cody's favorite songs and is constantly being played in our kitchen, often followed by some terrible dancing on my part,” Katie says.

// How They Met

Katie and Cody “caught eyes” at one of the Eastern Shore’s “finest drinking establishments,” The Jetty, during a mutual friend’s bachelor party. They chatted for, maybe, 30 seconds before Katie left for the evening — although not without a parting hug to everyone, including her new acquaintance Cody. The next day, Katie asked the groom-to-be about his buddy and learned the intrigue was mutual.

// Three Tasks for the Groom

Katie tasked Cody with booking the DJ, finding their photographer, and “probably his most challenging task of all” — keeping Katie in line! “What mattered most to Cody was ensuring everything was laid out properly and that the number of guests was small enough that everyone felt safe,” Katie said.

// Say Yes to A Loose Dress

It was the “cute,” comfy fit and the lace sleeves that sealed the deal for Katie when she tried on her dress at Annapolis Bridal and Tuxedo. “I have never been one to wear tight clothing and I love sleeves!” she says. “The quarter-length sleeves gave my dress a timeless look, the baby doll style made it so comfortable, and the tulle was long enough to cover the blue sneakers I chose to wear the day of as my “something blue.”

// Venue No. 2

Originally, Katie and Cody planned a mid-sized wedding at Mountain Memories at Thorpewood in Thurmont. A month after covid hit, the couple decided to pull the plug on their venue altogether: “We had a gut feeling that [the impact of the virus] was going to last a lot longer, and if we were going to get married in 2020, we decided it should be more local and with less people,” Katie explains. They shifted their ceremony and reception to the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, where Cody has worked for the last ten years and where Katie sometimes moonlights as a bartender. “We would always joke and say, ‘We’d never get married here because we’re always here,’” Katie says, “but the friends we have made here over the years have turned into more than friends; they’re our CBBC family.”

// A Comforting Aesthetic

Katie sought a warm color palette to offer comfort after a cold, dark season of quarantine. “Comfort is what I think a lot of people needed this year,” she explains. She selected colors associated with Thanksgiving and Christmas - reds, dark pinks, rust orange, steel blue and burgundy with a touch of gold and greenery - to imbue her day with the cozy feeling so many were missing in 2020. For decor, Katie took inspiration from the hobbies Cody and she have enjoyed as a couple. “I wanted to showcase as much of ‘us’ as I could,” she says, from the deer skull on the head table (the first buck she ever shot, with Cody’s patient coaching) to the travel destination seating chart (each table was a spot they had visited together, from Jamaica to Maine). Katie started her own calligraphy business in 2017 and does a lot of signage and menu work for the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, so it was an easy project for her to take on. Cody made the frame and Katie supplied the lettering and colorful illustrations.

// Katie’s Advice

"Quite frankly, COVID sucks and it gives you a lot of reasons to just elope, or cut your number down to 10 or less, or to even postpone. Planning a wedding is stressful. It is not easy at all…especially if you are DIY people like we are. It is even more stressful when you are planning during a pandemic. Pay attention to the press conferences, avoid fake news as much as possible, be understanding when people say they do not feel comfortable attending, be even more understanding to the people that back out last minute, and take a day to be sad when you need to, then bounce right back with positivity!"

// Credits

Bride's gown: Annapolis Bridal & Tuxedo / Bride's hair: Kristi Crawford / Bride's makeup: Kate Face Beauty / Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie / Dessert: Blue Crab Cupcakes / DJ: Steve Moody's Entertainment Connection / Favors: Pretty Wicks Candle Co. / Flowers: Amber and Oak Floral Design / Groomsmen attire: The Black Tux / Signage: Open Air Design / Photographer: Jason Neubauer Photography / Venue: Chesapeake Bay Beach Club