Photos by Brad Barnwell Photography
The couple: Anna Fazio, 27, grew up in Germantown and graduated from Northwest High School. She runs her own mobile hairstyling business called Styled by Anna Fazio (many of her clients are brides). Robert Rosen, 35, grew up in Rockville and graduated from Rockville High School. He is a Mercedes-Benz mechanic at Mitch Carr’s Auto Service in Kensington. They recently renovated and moved into the Rockville house where Robert grew up.
How they met: Anna and Robert were set up on a blind date in 2010 by someone Anna knew from cosmetology school.
The first date: “He asked if I wanted to come over to his place and grill up some burgers,” Anna says. “It was very easy and relaxed. He felt so familiar even though I had never met him.”
Photos by Brad Barnwell Photography
The proposal: Robert had intended to propose while the two were on vacation in Colorado in late April of 2015, but he knew Anna was suspicious (a few months earlier, he had asked her what type of ring she wanted) so he decided to do it sooner. That Easter, Robert surprised Anna at her parents’ house, asked her father for permission, then got down on one knee in the kitchen. “It’s very us, because we can never wait on Christmas presents, we always give them a week early. We can never keep secrets,” Anna says.
The wedding: On May 7, 2016, Robert and Anna were married at chef Bryan Voltaggio’s VOLT restaurant in Frederick, Maryland. Anna had been to a party there and found it “magical.” The 11 a.m. ceremony took place outdoors in the restaurant’s courtyard, where a cocktail hour followed. Guests moved inside for the meal. The couple had considered eloping but instead opted for an intimate gathering in order to include close family and friends.
Number of guests: 60
Photos by Brad Barnwell Photography
The bright side: “It had been monsoon-ing like crazy for two weeks up until that day, and then that morning it cleared up for us, right before the ceremony,” Anna says. “The sun was peeking through and they played ‘Here Comes the Sun’ on the violin while I walked out, so that was really special.”
The décor: Anna drew inspiration from the courtyard’s wall of ivy, incorporating green in many of the design elements and adding gold accents.
By the bride: Anna took a calligraphy class at Meant to Be Calligraphy, then wrote out an invite and had a rubber stamp made of her writing. On cardstock, Anna stamped the invitations with green ink. For name cards, she wrote each name in calligraphy and used yarn to attach a plastic figure—she chose a “spirit animal” for each guest—that she spray-painted gold. She also created a guest book by painting the cover of a plain notebook from Plaza Art.
Photos by Brad Barnwell Photography
The gown: Anna wore an ivory lace dress from BHLDN, Anthropologie’s bridal line, purchased at the Georgetown store—along with cowboy boots. “My mom made me little handmade socks. One foot had an ‘A’ sewn into it, and one had a ‘B’ [for Bobby], and that was my ‘something blue,’ ” Anna says.
The food: Cocktail bites included oysters and crostini with egg and caviar. The meal featured scallops, duck Bolognese, pork shoulder and coconut mousse with white chocolate ganache. The couple didn’t know the exact menu ahead of time. “[VOLT] just said they would do it seasonally,” Anna says. “We’d been going there so much up until then—it was a fun date night all the time—we had so much trust and faith in them.”
The flowers: The couple hired a florist to make Robert’s boutonniere and Anna’s bouquet and ivy crown, but they handled the rest of the flowers on their own. They organized twigs, greenery and flowers—purchased from Potomac Floral Wholesale in Silver Spring—in 50 mason jars spray-painted gold to line the aisles and use as centerpieces.
Photos by Brad Barnwell Photography
