Southern Weddings

Hel-lo, wedding reception!  Erin + Jeff toasted their nuptials in style at the famed Keswick Hall, and what a reception it was.  It’s like candy for the eyes!  Sure, they had an incredible five-tier cake from The Desserterie and the décor (courtesy of Easton Events) is to die-for, but my very favorite detail of all is the escort card table, replete with lime-and-rose-covered silver pyramids.  Proof that simple elegance still goes a long way in the South. Want to see more?  Visit Patricia Lyons’ blog post for her take on the Virginia celebration!

Describe your wedding flowers: I used a combination of white orchids, white gardenias and pale yellow and white peonies for my bridal bouquet. The bridesmaids carried white peonies, purple picasso calla lilies and purple viburnum, and the groomsmen wore Picasso calla lilies for boutonnieres. There were flowers galore and most all were local to Virginia. That is a great benefit of an early June wedding. So much is in bloom!
Describe your wedding cake: We served a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. Our florist decorated the cake with white gardenias and white and yellow garden roses with rose petals around the base.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Managing our guest list because our historic country church had a capacity of 225 max and we invited almost 350. While we were very tight in the church during the ceremony, it was cozy and felt very intimate being surrounded by so many friends and family.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Jeff sent a bouquet of gorgeous flowers with the most sincere, sweet note to my suite where I was getting ready with the bridesmaids.
Did you write your own vows?  If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We followed the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer for our vows, but we did write the final prayer.
What’s next for you as a couple?  What are you looking forward to in the future?  Jeff will graduate from business school in May 2011, and will be starting a new job. We should know what city we’ll be in by this fall. While the future is a bit of an unknown for us right now, we both agree wherever life takes us, we trust it will bring us back to Virginia. It’s where we both grew up, went to college, fell in love and have lived for the first year as a married couple. Virginia really is for lovers!

Congratulations, Erin + Jeff!  Enjoy your new lives together – and the beautiful Commonwealth!

I get a wee bit excited whenever we feature a Virginia wedding, and for good reason!  Erin + Jeff’s wedding at the Grace Episcopal Church in our dear Commonwealth is an effortless throwback to classic Southern elegance.  (Not that I’m biased or anything, but the happy couple may or may not have met at the College of William in Mary in Williamsburg, my beloved hometown for those of you who somehow have missed my obsession with Virginia.)  The bride’s twelve attendants donned elegant champagne-colored gowns from the Jenny Yoo collection.   Easton Events planned the Southern soiree, and Shawn Cossette at Beehive Events brought the bride’s vision of bouquets bursting with local Virginia blooms to life.  Emily’s going to cut me off in short order, so I’ll save some of my other musings for the reception.  Special thanks to VA photographer Patricia Lyons for sharing this perfect June wedding!

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story.  Jeff and I met as undergrads at the College of William & Mary.   We took a modern European history class together, and were paired up by the professor for a presentation. The rest is history.
Describe the proposal. Jeff proposed a few days before Christmas in Washington, DC at the National Tree. He pulled me to the middle of the National Mall by the tree and got down on one knee. He surprised me with a beautiful cushion cut diamond he had designed himself. I was so surprised I started crying and people around us started clapped when Jeff and I hugged. A limo then picked us up with champagne, and took us on a tour of DC to see the holiday lights while we called family and friends. We ended the night at a candlelight dinner at Kincaid’s restaurant in the city.
Our favorite detail of the wedding was: One of our favorites was our signature drink during the cocktail reception. We served Lemoncello martinis. Not only were they delicious and yellow (one of our wedding colors), they were a nod to my Italian heritage.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: My sister was married two years before me, and she insisted I, too, would be a “Vera bride.” I didn’t think she was right, but after a few excursions in Richmond, D.C., and New York, I found my dream dress at the Vera Wang Madison Avenue boutique. My mom and sister were with me, and when I came out of the dressing room all three of us knew it was the one. The two sales clerks started clapping and opened champagne to toast.