WASHINGTON 鈥� On Wednesday, March 14 at 12:50 p.m., the line at in Chinatown was flooded with suits, teens and tourists 鈥� all waiting to order their mozzarella-covered lunches.
But on the second floor of the fast-casual concept, Sonia Dovedy and Arya Shirazi were waiting to get married. At 1 p.m., the company鈥檚 senior human resources manager walked in and stood under a cluster of white balloons. She welcomed a group of 30 or so guests and started the ceremony.
鈥淲ell everyone, we are gathered here today to celebrate and unite Arya and Sonia…鈥�
Bakeries, bars and restaurants throughout D.C. run specials on March 14, otherwise known as Pi Day. Many offer $3.14 slices, drafts and discounts to celebrate the mathematical constant.
But &pizza honors the date a bit differently: It hosts weddings.
Sam Blum, guest experience manager at &pizza, says it all started in 2015 when a local couple expressed interest in getting married on Pi Day. 聽
鈥淲e said, 鈥榃e鈥檒l host your wedding.鈥� We thought it was such an incredible experience for us and for the couple, and we wanted to make it bigger and turn it into a larger, annual tradition,鈥� Blum explained.
On Wednesday, Dovedy and Shirazi were one of about 20 couples married at &pizza locations in D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.
Dovedy and her fianc茅, who have known each other for about nine years, were planning a more traditional wedding, but quickly abandoned the idea.
鈥淚t was very frustrating, very overwhelming, and nobody was responding to any of my emails,鈥� said Dovedy, of Bethesda, Maryland.
Shirazi forwarded her an email from &pizza 鈥� a call for applications for its Pi Day weddings. The subject read, 鈥淐an we just do this, instead?鈥�
鈥淲e were like, 鈥榊eah, let鈥檚 do this.鈥� It felt so right and natural,鈥� Dovedy said.
Blum said the company received more than 100 applications this year from couples who wanted to get married on Pi Day. Some had a history with &pizza 鈥� it was where they first met or had their first date. For others, the reasons ran the gamut.
鈥淔or some people, they thought about doing a courthouse wedding and wanted to be able to bring in more friends and family, enjoy some pizza, do something a little bit different,鈥� Blum said.
鈥淎nd then let鈥檚 be real, for other people weddings are just incredibly expensive and not everyone is willing to take that on.鈥�
For the Pi Day weddings, &pizza provides the space, the music, the photography, the officiant, the bouquets, the cake, and the post-ceremony food and drinks 聽鈥� all free of charge to the couple.
鈥淩eally, if they show up with a marriage license, we can take care of almost everything else,鈥� said Blum, who oversaw eight weddings at the Chinatown shop this year.
After a quick, but personal, ceremony, Dovedy and Shirazi had about an hour to mingle, eat and drink with their guests. They said the only thing they missed out on by having a more unconventional wedding was the presence of family, who live across the country.
鈥淏ut we鈥檒l celebrate with them at some point,鈥� Dovedy said.
Up next for the newly weds? Planning a honeymoon to the World Cup in Russia.
Up next for Blum? A few more weddings to close out the day.
