Ryan and Qui

Josephine Butler Parks Center

5 pm – 11 pm

The Josephine Butler Parks Center is located across the street from Meridian Hill Park, at the top of the hill on the northeast end. It will take 2 minutes to walk there. We’ll be taking pictures after the ceremony, so while you’re more than welcome to stay for the photo shoot, you’re also free to mosey over to the JPBC. (You can also go there, and come back . . .and go there, and come back. It’s super close.)

We’ll be serving a buffet dinner w/ a [relatively] full bar, and plan to carry on well into the evening. Bring your dancing shoes and feather boa.

“Tell us about the manse!” If you insist.

The JBPC was an unexpected blessing. When our friends Gunnar and Sarah Larson – who live next door – pointed it out, we had to investigate. Turns out this place was built for one purpose: To be the Vice President’s mansion. It never did shelter the Veep, but it did serve as the embassy for both Hungary and Brazil. Today it’s home to 12 DC-area nonprofit organizations, all of which work on the upper levels to affect change in our city. Event rental fees go towards refurbishing the building, which is vital to the livelihood of those charities. (We really like that part.)

We also love the center’s namesake: Josephine Butler. This. Woman. Was. Amazing.

Josephine Butler helped shape every major social change movement in DC since the 193o’s. She was a champion for the environment (long before “green” was a movement), health care reform and park revitalization. She believed that parks are a place for community to come together and for children to learn about the world, and led the effort to restore Meridian Hill Park – the site of our wedding ceremony (see above).

Now named after the late heroine, the goal of the Josephine Butler Parks Center is to “become a lasting state-of-the-art ‘greenhouse’ for revitalizing and reconnecting diverse community green spaces across metropolitan Washington.” Doesn’t that feel good?

More info about the big day can be found on our blog.