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There are so many gorgeous Southern wedding ideas to be gleaned from Victoria + Michael’s celebration! Not the least of which, is how to still look graceful and elegant in the sweltering Southern summer heat. Step one, I gather? Choose a light-as-air Delphine Manivet gown. It also helps to have good-natured guests like those of V + M, who will still pull Christmas crackers and don crowns even in 95+ degree heat. Thanks to Amber Karson Events for planning, and Brian Tropiano for capturing, all of the gorgeous pink and gray details!

Our favorite detail of the wedding was: My family is British, and at Christmas, our table is set with Christmas crackers that contain a joke, a trinket and a paper crown that you pull apart with the person sitting next to or opposite you. We had our wonderful calligrapher write guests’ names on silver Christmas crackers and we used them as place settings. It was joyful to look around at dinner and see friends and family celebrating with paper crowns on their heads.
Describe your wedding cake: Michael and I really wanted pies at the wedding, so we decided to have a small cake, mainly for us to cut, and a number of our favorite pies (apple, blueberry and strawberry-rhubarb) for guests. At our tasting, we nearly changed our mind because the raspberry-cream cake that Windows Catering made us was amazing. We ended up sticking with the pies, though. However, shortly after the cake cutting we got pulled away to take photos and didn’t get to have more than a bite of cake. We’re planning to order some for our first anniversary to make up for it!
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? The late-breaking news that it wouldn’t just be hot, but that it would be the hottest day in the Washington area in over a decade. Having to adjust on the fly to make sure guests were as comfortable as possible at our outdoor wedding and that the ceremony could proceed as planned was a challenge. Thanks to our great wedding planners, who knew exactly how many industrial-sized fans we could plug into each outlet and who came up with the wonderful idea of handing out chilled towelettes, some late purchases of extra parasols and fans, and the great attitude of our guests, we managed.
What is the one thing you are most happy you splurged on? Brian Tropiano, our photographer, was amazing to work with and captured the particulars and the spirit of the wedding.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? It was so touching having our friends and family play such an important role in our ceremony. Good friends and family did readings and both Michael’s mother and one of the groomsmen and his girlfriend sang us songs.
What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future? We are looking forward to a honeymoon early next year that will take us from winter in Washington to a romantic getaway in Paris followed by an island vacation in the Seychelles.

Photographer: Brian Tropiano Photography // Event Design and Planning: Amber Karson Events // Venue: George Washington’s River Farm // Florist: Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, Ltd. // Catering: Windows Catering // Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy // Musicians: Sage String Trio // DJ: Bialek’s // Dress: Delphine Manivet from Lovely // Bridesmaid Dresses: Joanna August // Rentals: Perfect Settings // Transportation: Sunny’s Limo

emily Written with love by Emily
5 Comments
  1. avatar Jan – Green Tree Photography reply

    Oh my goodness gracious! Her dress is absolutely amazing!!! So elegant and pretty =)

  2. avatar Kelli Taylor/Daniel Taylor Photography reply

    What a great vintage-inspired wedding. Such a beautiful dress, and the ribbons on the back on the chairs are so cool.

  3. avatar Southern Weddings Monthly Round-Up :: September 2011 | Gift Registry News reply

    […] SWEET: The sweets we feature on the blog always have us licking our lips! Just looking at Victoria + Michael’s wedding pie made Sierra hungry. Emily was ready to dig into Lisa + Blake’s strawberry cake […]

  4. avatar Escort Cards VS. Place Cards & Seatings Charts Too | Heart Love Weddings reply

    […] Calligraphy by Meant to be Calligraphy photo by Brian Tropiano Photography via Southern Weddings […]

  5. avatar Josianne reply

    What a beautiful wedding!! I totally felt in love with one of the picture above and I was wondering who I should ask permission from to be able to use it on my website (which is under construction right now).
    Please if you could get back to me to let me know, that would be greatly appreciated!
    Thank you so much!

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Victoria + Michael’s wedding is dreamy, garden perfection. Their pink invitation suite goes on my list of favorite paper products with it’s watercolor treatment and white calligraphy. Even their stamps set the tone for their wedding at George Washington’s River Farm, where greenery and flowers were abundant. Victoria carried an impressive bouquet of textured blooms down the aisle to meet her beau, dressed in a handsome khaki suit and delicate boutonniere. The couple combated a scorching hot day with parasols, fans, chilled towels and drinks. We think it makes their ceremony even more festive! Big thanks to Brian Tropiano Photography for sharing this lovely wedding!

How did the two of you meet? Tell us your story. We met at a mutual friend’s birthday party. It was the height of March Madness and I was wearing a Kansas University basketball jersey. Michael was impressed and it sparked a conversation in which we discovered our mutual love for college basketball.
Describe the proposal. Michael booked me a stress-relieving massage at the Mandarin Oriental after a tough few weeks at work and then surprised me again with news that we were staying over and having a romantic dinner out that same night. After dinner, Michael took me to the balcony of the club floor on which we were staying and surprised me with a table setup with champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries. He then astounded me again by dropping to a knee and proposing in the shadow of the Washington Monument.
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Romantic, sweltering and fun.
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: I went shopping in New York with my mum, my future mother-in-law and my brother’s fiancée. The moment the dress went over my head and fluttered down to the floor, I knew it was perfect. The Delphine Manivet gown was unlike anything else I tried on. The lace was timeless but totally modern and the dress was comfortable and light – a fact that I was so thankful for when our wedding day turned out to be incredibly hot. After I found the dress, all the other wedding details seemed to fall into place.
Describe your wedding flowers: I collected a page or two of wedding blog posts that I admired and sent them to my planner early in the process. She quickly picked up on what I was going for and described what it was that I liked about the photos of flowers I sent: lots of texture! Our planner set us up with a wonderful florist and the bouquets and table flowers turned out perfectly.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? Our wedding was on a gracious farm on the banks of the Potomac that was once owned by George Washington. It’s now the home of the American Horticultural Society and has beautiful meadows mapping a path down to the river. In addition, I asked my Mum to bring to the wedding a few handkerchiefs given to her as a child by her grandfather. One, rimmed in pink roses, I gave to Michael and the other I used to wrap the stem of my bouquet. Incorporating elements and actual mementos from generations past and upholding family traditions is both very Southern and very timeless.

Photographer: Brian Tropiano Photography // Event Design and Planning: Amber Karson Events // Venue: George Washington’s River Farm // Florist: Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, Ltd. // Catering: Windows Catering // Calligraphy: Meant to Be Calligraphy // Musicians: Sage String Trio // DJ: Bialek’s // Dress: Delphine Manivet from Lovely // Bridesmaid Dresses: Joanna August // Rentals: Perfect Settings // Transportation: Sunny’s Limo

nicoleyang Written with love by Nicole
13 Comments
  1. avatar Ashley, Indie Atlantic Films reply

    Everything about this is STUNNING! The color palette, flowers, parasols, and invitations! Just beautiful!

  2. avatar Corinne reply

    Can you tell us who designed the invitations? They are lovely! All other vendors receive credit on each post, so it would be nice if graphic designers were included too. :)

    • avatar Emily reply

      Hi Corinne! Believe me, we absolutely do not leave out the stationery designers on purpose!! (Obviously, as I LOVE all things paper!) We include all of the vendors the bride or her planner sends us. In this case, the designer wasn’t sent and I’m not sure who it is, but it does remind me of designs from Minted and Wedding Paper Divas (http://tinyurl.com/5wg6qf3 + http://tinyurl.com/62l6t6y). Perhaps the bride will be able to help us. Thanks for asking!

    • avatar Amber reply

      Corinne: The invitations are the Aquarelle style from Minted. We worked with their designers to customize the water colors and loved the way they turned out!

    • avatar Amber Karson Events reply

      Thank you for the feature! So honored to be on your lovely blog!!

  3. avatar Kristine {In Love, Engaged} reply

    Those invitations, the scabiosa in the bouquets, and that DRESS. Beautiful!

  4. avatar The Friday Fresh Squeeze | Floridian Weddings reply

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