On Love: Julie Hodgson and John Muir

Julie Hodgson & John Muir

Julie Hodgson, 31, works in lobbying and political compliance for a law firm. John Muir, 30, is an analyst for a defense contractor. They live in Northeast Washington.

(Kate Headley) - Julie Hodgson and John Muir embrace at the Washington Monument before their wedding reception at the Mayflower in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 18, 2012.

Wedding date: Feb. 18

Location: Mayflower Hotel

Guests: 160

How they met: In 2008, Hodgson and Muir were introduced by a mutual friend at Finn MacCool’s (the Capitol Hill bar now called Molly Malone’s). They hit it off, so he walked her home and asked for her number. Their first real date came a few weeks later with dinner and a movie at the Georgetown waterfront.

The proposal: Last July, on the second anniversary of their first “I love you,” Muir drove Hodgson to the FDR Memorial, where he led her to a seat on the rocks by the waterfall. After a while, he stood up; when he didn’t sit back down, she asked him why. Muir replied, “Because I’d rather do this.” He then got down on one knee and gave her a ring that had belonged to his grandmother, who had told him before her death in 1998 to give it to his bride someday.

The wedding: For their many out-of-town guests, the couple planned a Washington-focused wedding. They served D.C. Brau beer and decorated the cake with cherry blossoms. They also had their photos taken at the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. The flower girls dropped rose petals from bouquets Muir had given Hodgson over the course of their relationship.

The honeymoon: The couple traveled to Asia, stopping to tour Angkor Wat in Cambodia and to relax on a beach in Thailand.