Modern weddings are a mix of tradition and personal touches that allow couples to showcase who they are as individuals and who they are together. When one local lifelong Nationals fan wed her husband, she knew her special day would not be complete without incorporating her favorite baseball team — the Washington Nationals. From the bachelorette party to pre-wedding time with her bridesmaids, the Nats were front and center as she prepared to start her life with her husband.
Carlin Davinsizer née Teddelbach grew up in Fairfax County, Virginia, with her parents, two sisters, and brother. The athletic family members were raised as baseball fans.
“My brother [Keaton] was a very good high school player. We grew up watching him play his whole life,” Carlin told me. “He was recruited to play in college, but decided to go to West Point. My dad played baseball at the Naval Academy.”
When the Montreal Expos relocated to DC, the new Nationals were a perfect fit for Carlin and her family.
“I have been a huge Nats fan since day one when they came to Washington in 2005. My family got season tickets that first year when they played at RFK Stadium, and we were hooked on them,” Carlin said.
Her sister and bridesmaid Maddy added that they would go to games early and get autographs from players and we were so in tune with the roster. With a father and brother both who played baseball, it was just more than an interest to them. She said the family had season tickets through the first year at Nationals Park, but have since given them up as she and her siblings have grown up, gone off to college, and started to spread their wings. Maddy took her love for the team a step further and worked for them during the 2016 season. Maddy’s boyfriend works there, so they are often there to support not only our team but their people, too!
Carlin, who went to UVA, met her now husband, Marine Corps Captain Kyle Davinsizer, through friends in 2012 while he was in school at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.
“They planned for us to meet at a Navy football game. We went on a date a few weeks later, but nothing romantic grew of it,” she said.
Despite sparks not flying, they remained in contact and would see each other when spending time with their mutual friends. By the summer of 2016, however, Carlin had a change of heart and realized Kyle was the guy she should be with.
“It took me a while to figure it out, but I’m so glad I finally did!,” Carlin said.
They were engaged on December 28, 2017 after the UVA-Navy football game. Their alma maters played each other in the Military Bowl game at Navy. Most of her family are Navy and UVA alumni, so they had a huge tailgate and took up a large section of the stands, and Kyle’s parents came, too. After the game (and devastating UVA loss), Kyle and Carlin went for a walk while the family waited for dinner reservations.
“Kyle asked me to go for a little walk with him along the dock to see the ships all lit with Christmas lights. We were walking and talking, and then he pulled me off the path, took my hands and started saying sweet things to me. He reached into his coat pocket and drew out a box, then knelt down on one knee,” she said.
While yelling “ARE YOU SERIOUS, KYLE?” at him several times, she noticed Maddy and her mom hiding behind some trees taking pictures.
Maddy couldn’t contain herself, and ran over and hugged her sister, and other family members popped out of their hiding spots and came over to offer their congratulations to the couple. Kyle, meanwhile, was still down on one knee waiting for an actual answer.
“I finally said yes after being so distracted! It was the perfect setting, our two schools playing each other, in our favorite place where we first met, surrounded by our families.”
With wedding planning underway, it was time for the Nats to start making their presence known in the festivities. Maddy planned a bachelorette party that had the team as a focal point, and going to a ballgame was a no-brainer decision. “I wanted to share my favorite place and thing to do with [my bridesmaids]!” Carlin told me. “We stayed in a hotel right across from the park. We went kayaking in the morning on the Anacostia, then went early to the stadium to go down on the field before the game for some photos, thanks to Maddy! She got us really awesome tickets and we watched the game together!” To complete the night, after the game Carlin and her friends went out to a bar where one of her bridesmaid’s band was playing.
(Hey, Maddy – if I ever get off the single girl train, can you plan my bachelorette party? This sounds really fun.)
For the wedding day itself, Carlin and her bridesmaids were decked out in Natitude as they got ready for the November 3 event at the Naval Academy Chapel. As they were getting their hair and makeup done, they were all wearing #11 Nationals jerseys, the bridesmaids in the Navy patriotic ones frequently worn by the team on Friday home games, and Carlin in the white version often seen at Nats Park on Sundays.
“Nats jerseys were a fun, personal touch! I’m not the kind of girl to get ready in a pretty robe, and neither are my friends. It’s a special way to celebrate what makes me, me, and get to share that with my sisters and best friends,” Carlin said. “I’ve got the Natitude in me, and it always will be! People who know me would expect nothing less than for me to wear a Nats jersey on my wedding day!”
The #11 on all the jerseys had special meaning. “The number 11 was not only for her fave player Ryan, but also married in the month of November,” Maddy said. Carlin told me she has been a fan of franchise player Ryan Zimmerman since day 1.
“I fell in love with Ryan Zimmerman the moment they pulled him up in the fall of that first year,” she said. “I used to cut out pictures of Zim from the Washington Post and hang them up in my room. One of my bridesmaids and I have been friends since elementary school, and we had competitions for who loved Ryan more. We would make signs for him and bring them to the games. One time we even asked him to be our homecoming date. He signed it, so I took that as a yes!” I asked her if her husband Kyle ever gets jealous of her love for the Nats first baseman. “Sometimes yes he is! But I tell him that he is my Ryan Zimmerman.”
Carlin’s love of the Nats, which she has taken with her to her new home in San Diego, is slowly starting to rub off on her husband. While he’s not a baseball fan, she tells me he is now a Nats fan because of her and her family. Her love of the team is palpable and infectious, and I have no doubt that she’ll one day turn Kyle into a diehard for the team. Congratulations to the happy couple, and we at TalkNats wish you a lifetime of happiness (and Natitude) together.
