Google+ Southern Wedding of Week: Ronda + Brian, Part II - Southern Weddings

Southern Weddings

Ronda + Brian’s Southern soiree was held at the {Farmington Country Club} in Charlottesville, Virginia. The wedding was planned by {Easton Events}. How fabulous are these details!?   I love love love the Mason jars and monogrammed drink stirrers.  Beautiful!  For more, check out Patricia Lyons’ {Blog} to see the images and slide show. 

Weather on our wedding day: Was stressing me out! The morning was warm and sunny, but by the time we left to go to the church, there were dark storm clouds everywhere! It was raining at the chapel when we arrived before the ceremony, and a tornado was actually spotted a few miles away. But the skies parted and it was sunny and clear by the time we exited the chapel. We drove through a couple of rain showers on the way back to our reception, and when we arrived it was clear with big chunks of blue sky peeking out to greet us and our guests as everyone moved to the lawn for photos and cocktails.
Design inspiration for your wedding: I knew I wanted the large traditional four-day wedding weekend. We began with an informal welcome bar-be-que on Thursday night for the bridal party and younger couples. We had a beautiful bridesmaids’ luncheon at the home of a family friend on Friday, then we had our ceremony rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for about 90 guests on Friday evening. For an overall concept for the wedding, I knew I wanted the day to feel classy in a southern country club style but yet highly tasteful and sophisticated. We began by selecting our color scheme of dusty rose and wedgewood blue. We put together an abundance of lush flowers, beautiful glassware, and elegant calligraphy to set a traditional “bridal” tone to the event. Then we threw in some great Southern details in our food and beverage (e.g. cheddar and ham biscuits and a specialty bourbon cocktail served in mason jars.) Overall the unifying theme was definitely the use of our new married monogram. It was included on our ceremony programs, cocktail napkins, drink flags, a design on the dance floor, our cake, our favors…the list goes on!
Favorite design element of your wedding: The fabric draping and lighting that we brought into the Ballroom added so much elegant and uniqueness to our reception. We had spotlights on all of the table centerpieces and our cake, and the most dramatic ribbons and swags hanging from the ceiling and cascading to three huge crystal chandelier focal-points. It really dressed up the interior of the room. Thank you Blue Ridge Light forms!
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I had been to several different bridal salons and tried on about 20 dresses, and I was simply not excited about any of them (the stores or the dresses!) One of my bridesmaids was married the summer before, and she suggested that I visit Emma at the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Richmond. For the moment we walked into the bridal suite, I was thrilled with Emma’s kindness and knowledge. She brought several dress out after I told her what I had envisioned. There was one that I liked somewhat, but, again, I left without thinking that I had found ‘the one.’ On my second visit to Emma, she told me that at that time she happened to have a dress on loan from another store that she thought I might like. Ever since the engagement, people told me when you first try on the dress in which you will be married, you will know it deep down inside. I never paid much attention to the notion, but I can now tell you that it is true! The hair stood up on my arms, and I got tears in my eyes. I had finally found it. My dress was a strap less full ball gown duchess satin {Reem Acra} gown with hand-embroidered crystal and pearl details on the bodice and the on the cathedral-length train. It seriously weighed about twenty pounds! It featured a beautiful scalloped edge on the train and buttons down the entire back. At the reception, I wore it with three bustles on the back and sides. Throughout the planning and actual wedding day, there was always this wonderful essence and beauty of the dress that fit in so well with the design elements of the day. The dress is like a piece of art to me…I am so sad that it has to be stored in a box and that I will probably never wear it again.
Describe your wedding flowers: We wanted to have a lot of flowers! We met with Randy and Joey at Floral Images Design Studio and began describing what we had in mind…lots of large blown-out roses in off-whites and soft pinks. We wanted some texture to our displays, so we added gardenias, hydrangeas, and cascading English ivy.
Describe your wedding cake: Our cake was made by the pasty chef at {Farmington Country Club}, Ricky Lasher. We wanted something big that would be a focal point when our guests walked into the ballroom and saw it under the spot light. We went with a round cake make of 6 different tiers of varying heights. Several of the layers were carrot cake while several where lemon custard filled. The cake was decorated with wedgewood blue butter cream icing and hand-drawn white icing details showcasing our monogram on the front. It was truly a work of art!
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: I would have to go with the specialty drinks. Not only were they a delicious blend of muddles raspberries, mint, bourbon and white cranberry juice, but they were served in a mason jar. The vessel was then topped of with a straw, a lime wedge, and a drink flag showcasing our monogram.
Biggest challenge you had to overcome when planning your wedding: I am a very bad decision-maker, so I agonized over making so many decisions. Luckily I had the great minds at {Easton Events} helping me out and giving me excellent advice every step of the way!
Any special family traditions you included in your wedding: We were married at St. Andrew’s Chapel at the {Woodberry Forest School}, where Brian and his father both went to boarding school. Brian’s parents were also married in that same chapel years ago, which was wonderful. We also restored and used my great-grandfather’s 1951 Chevrolet as a bridal car, which was such a special treat.
Scariest Moment: The weather was worrisome, as it was the one thing that we were not able to plan out months in advance.
Funniest Moment: Apparently many guests found that my wedding toast in which I thanked my parents and Brian was quite funny.
Three adjectives to describe the day: Beautiful, fun, emotional.
What advice would you give to someone planning a wedding: FIRST: Use a wedding planner. It was not only such a fun process to work with such an accomplished team, but it made the entire planning process and actual day of the wedding stress-free. It was so organized and efficient. SECOND: Work with a great photographer. Your wedding day flies by, and over time those memories will fade. Hire a photographer who you are confident will capture all of those important moments for you to look back upon often in the years to come.
Best advice/most memorable comment made to you during wedding celebration: Take a moment to look around and see all of your friends and family from all the different times and parts of your life who have traveled so far to be there together in that one room just for you. It is humbling.
What’s next for you as a couple? We took a couple of days after the wedding weekend, and we went over to the {Greenbrier} in West Virginia. Now we are trying to figure out somewhere warm to go this winter for a longer honeymoon.
What are you looking forward to as a couple? Growing old together.

Congratulations to Ronda + Brian. We wish you a blissful life together!

Written with love by Southern Weddings
13 Comments
  1. avatar Andria of Andria Lewis Events reply

    So romantic! The flowers really draw you into the wedding. Beautiful!

  2. avatar Lindsay reply

    I also visited Emma at Saks in Richmond, and she was amazing. While I didn’t end up buying my dress there, she was so helpful, knowledgeable and kind. This wedding is beautiful!

  3. avatar Henry reply

    Very nice pictures. The details really are amazing. I liked the charming church where they had the ceremony, the vintage car, the intricately decorated cake and the romantic lighting in the reception venue. The pictures taken of the entourage outdoors are beautiful. Congratulations to Ronda and Brian!

  4. avatar Heidi@TrulyEngaging reply

    Love the softness of the colors. A really pretty wedding indeed.

  5. avatar Emily @ Peach and Pearl reply

    Amazing! I am in love with the square wreaths on the church doors.

  6. avatar Jill reply

    I am bananas over this wedding! Where did you have those drink flags made? I am looking for something exactly like that! Thanks!

  7. avatar Ronda reply

    Hi Jill. This is Ronda, the bride. Email me at [email protected] and I’ll give you the story of the drink flags!

  8. avatar Liz reply

    Yay for a Charlottesville wedding featured!! I absolutely LOVE the vintage car – how special that it was her great grandfather’s.

  9. avatar Kelly reply

    I love those bridesmaid dresses!!! I’ve been searching everywhere for the perfect shade of dusty rose. What brand are they?

  10. avatar Jenn reply

    Beautiful! I love all of the little details! I am getting married in Charlottesville next year and am trying to hunt down a classic car to rent for the day. Any ideas? I’m not from the area, so my knowledge of classic rentals available is non-existant. Internet searching is also coming up bleak. Would greatly appreciate it!Many thanks!

  11. avatar Ashleigh reply

    Jenn – A great place near Charlottesville to rent a classic car is Sports Car Rentals in Batesville – http://www.sportscarrentals.com/They have more cars than are shown on their site, so it’s worth giving them a call or sending an e-mail if you’re looking for something different!

  12. avatar Heather reply

    I LOVE the monogram drink flags!!! I have to have these! Where are they from?!-Heather

  13. avatar Southern Bride of the Month: September 2011 « Southern Weddings Magazine reply

    […] jars with monogram flags photo by Patricia Lyons via Southern Weddings, burlap flower arrangements photo by Three Lights Photography via Elizabeth Anne Designs Who or […]

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