Jon Favreau’s Summer Wedding in Maine

Although Jon Favreau and Emily Black now call Los Angeles home, they have Washington, D.C., to thank for their major milestone moments. The couple—he’s the cofounder of Crooked Media and cohost of “Pod Save America” and she’s an account executive at Sunshine Sachs—met at a D.C. bar in June 2012, when he was writing speeches for President Obama and she was working on the hill for Senator Sherrod Brown. Their engagement took place in D.C., too. On July 5, 2016, after dinner at their favorite restaurant from their D.C. days, Jon proposed on the Georgetown waterfront, where they had their first date five years earlier. “We were lucky that a stranger was taking a panoramic video of the Potomac River sunset and happened to capture Jon’s proposal on camera,” Emily remembers.

For their wedding, the couple again headed to the East Coast. This time, on June 17, 2017, they invited 250 guests to Biddeford Pool, Maine, where the bride has always dreamed of marrying. Keep reading to see how Emily and Jon hosted a beautiful backyard bash, complete with plenty of personalized details.

The ceremony took place at the bride’s family vacation home. “My family has been going to Biddeford Pool every summer since my dad was a child, and it always felt like such an amazing place to relax and enjoy the incredible, classic Maine views,” she says.

The bride went dress shopping in her hometown of Cincinnati with her mom, sister, and best friend. “I live in L.A., so the idea of buying my dress in Cincinnati was confusing to a lot of people, but it felt right,” she says. Emily (and her crew!) fell hard for a strapless white gown by Justin Alexander. She says,”I figured this was the only time I was allowed to wear a white ball gown, so why not go all out!”

Emily’s bridesmaids wore blue dresses by Lula Kate, while her sister and best friend wore a striped variation. “I realized after I got my dress that since it had such a big skirt, I wanted my bridesmaids to also have bigger, more structured dresses, rather than the more flow-y dresses I had been initially considering,” she says.

The girls carried bouquets of coral charm peonies and pink ranunculus, with eucalyptus accents.

The bride walked down the aisle on the arm of both of her parents, but her dad stayed at the altar to officiate. “My dad is a federal judge in Ohio who ruled in the ‘Obergefell v. Kasich’ same-sex marriage case that ultimately went to the Supreme Court, which finally recognized the right to marry,” Emily explains. “My dad marries people a lot in Ohio, but we wanted him to officiate our wedding because it felt special and unique.”

The couple exchanged vows they’d written themselves. “And let me tell you, writing your own vows when your husband-to-be was Obama’s chief speechwriter is not an easy task,” Emily says. “I put a lot of thought and effort into my vows because I knew Jon’s would be perfect.”

Emily and Jon served a signature cocktail, “the Leo,” that featured Maine blueberry lemonade with vodka—and was, of course, named after their goldendoodle, Leo. They also had personalized napkins (for Leo) and koozies as a nod to Jon’s show, “Pod Save America.”

Guests found their way to their seats with the help of watercolored escort cards that matched the coral charm peonies on the tabletops.

Dinner was served in a tent at the Abenakee Club, where tables were topped with more peonies and monogrammed napkins.

Leo also made an appearance on top of the couple’s buttercream wedding cake.

To kick off the night of dancing, Emily organized a special father-daughter dance to “What a Wonderful World,” and then surprised everyone when it transitioned into “Viva La Vida,” her dad’s favorite song. “It was a blast and everyone joined us immediately,” she says.

The night ended with an after-party in a barn that Emily and Jon turned into a club! “We had no idea that turning our family’s barn into a nightclub, complete with cheesy couches, strobe lights, and vodka bottles on tables, would turn out to be one of the best memories of the whole weekend,” Emily says. “At some point, we had to send everyone home!”