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Though I have lived all over the country, I have always felt that there is something magical about the South. Of course, I am sure I’m a bit partial having grown up below the Mason-Dixon, but if Veronica and Patrick are any indication, my love is justified! Veronica and Patrick visited Trump Winery while dating and were quite smitten, so post-engagement, they didn’t have to look around much before deciding to invite their friends and family there to celebrate their marriage with a destination wedding. These two might not have a drop of Southern blood in them, but with the help of Cinda Hoege of White Birch Events, they planned a sweetly Southern soirée, complete with a family-style dinner that’d make even a born-and-bred Southerner feel right at home!

Thanks to Ashley Cox for sharing this Charlottesville beauty!

Did you have something borrowed, blue, old, and new? If so, do tell! Yes! My something borrowed was a pair of beautiful earrings from my mother-in-law. My something old was my veil, which is about 180 years old and has been worn by every bride in Pat’s family! My something new was easy, my dress. We kind of forgot the something blue, so we took a piece of baby blue string from a pair of pajamas and tied it around my bouquet for a bit.

I had a pretty precise idea of what I wanted. I actually went to a few different shops with friends, but ended up finding my dress by myself during my lunch break. My mom didn’t even see it until my first fitting!

Did you decide to do a first look? Why or why not? We did not. For as long as I can remember, at every wedding I’ve gone to, when the bride comes down the aisle, I always watch the groom instead of the bride. The look on the groom’s face when he sees the bride for the first time is so telling, it’s so hard to hide your emotions at that point! That moment was really important to me, and I didn’t want to miss out on it.

I had a pretty specific vision for the flowers, and Amy at Blue Ridge Floral Design executed it perfectly. I didn’t want anything too put together or perfect. I wanted something that looked like it was just picked from a garden–very natural and beautiful with lots of greens and more muted tones. My bouquet was my favorite, full of peonies, garden roses, jasmine and Veronica flowers, which Amy included as a surprise.

What made you choose your ceremony and reception venues? Did they have any special significance to you? While Pat was in law school in D.C. and I was still living in Miami (long before we were engaged), we made an effort to try and take short trips on the weekends I came to visit. We visited Charlottesville during a long weekend and did a winery tour. Our driver snuck us up to the top of the Trump Winery, and we loved it. When we got engaged, we didn’t look around much.

This is a little embarrassing, but our cake was so good that I took a tupperware full of it on my flight to our honeymoon! Rachel from Cakes by Rachel is apparently some sort of magician. The cake was really beautiful, and simply decorated with fresh fruit and some of the flowers we used. I’ve been eyeing the top part in the freezer for a few weeks–not sure if it’ll make it to the one-year mark!

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. Patrick and I met when we were 15 years old. Two of our best friends were dating and they introduced us, but sparks didn’t fly just yet. A few years later, we became Words with Friends opponents. Funnily enough, I read an article about a couple that met and got married via Words with Friends, and I jokingly sent him a message letting him know I wouldn’t be able to play with him anymore because I needed to play others in order to find a husband. Fast forward a couple of years, I was moving into my new apartment with my best friend (who was really excited for us to have this awesome bachelorette pad together). Patrick’s friend lived in the building, and when we asked him for help bringing up a couple of things, Patrick was there. Within a few weeks, we were dating, and my best friend’s bachelorette pad dreams vanished.
Tell us all about the proposal! Oh, this is a good one! Pat is from Peru, and we took a family trip to Machu Picchu. The day before we hiked up the Huayna Picchu, Pat watched a three-hour video of a guy who recorded his entire hike up with a GoPro strapped to his head. I was pretty annoyed, but I didn’t realize he was trying to stake out a good spot to propose! The next morning, we woke up at 4 A.M. and took a bus up a very narrow, winding path to the mountain. His sister insisted on braiding my hair, but I was so tired, I didn’t protest. When we got to the top of the mountain, I peered over a rock to look down at the bottom. When I turned around, Pat had gotten down on one knee, and his brother and sister were behind him photographing and videotaping us!
When did y’all get married? April 23, 2016
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 180
Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. All of our songs were pretty special to us–music is an important part of our relationship. Pat and I decided on “Something” by The Beatles for our first dance. For months before the wedding, I searched for songs that would be fitting for my dad and I. We are both huge Pink Floyd fans, and a few days before the wedding, we decided that we didn’t really care to be traditional and chose “Wish You Were Here.” Pat surprised us and played the guitar during our dance! Pat and his mom danced to “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, which was so fitting for them.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? My family is from Nicaragua and Pat’s is from Peru, and for the most part, our friends are all Latin as well. We don’t have a drop of Southern blood in us, so it was a lot of fun to have our wedding in Charlottesville because it was such an adventure for everyone! I’d say the most Southern thing was the cuisine, especially because it was served family-style! Harvest Moon did an amazing job–we had chicken and waffle skewers, salted butter corn bread, beef short ribs, and mac and cheese.
What was one way you saved money or cut costs at your wedding? I think the biggest way I cut costs was actually by hiring a wedding planner. Cinda at White Birch Events is truly a wizard. She reviewed all of my estimates and told me where I could cut costs, figured out where to repurpose my flowers with my florist, and simply brought me back down to earth when I would mention something that was outside of my budget or unnecessary.
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? Travel! We have a huge list of places we want to visit, but limited PTO…

Photographer: Ashley Cox | Videographer: Carly Rae Productions | Planner: Cinda Hoege of White Birch Events | Venue: Trump Winery | Florist: Blue Ridge Florals | Wedding Cake: Cakes by Rachel | Caterer: Harvest Moon Catering | Band: The Finns | DJ: Slable | Bride’s Gown: “Calla” by Monique Lhuillier | Hair Stylist: Top Knot Studio | Makeup Artist: Rouge 9 Makeup Studio | Bride’s Shoes: Gucci | Groom’s Attire: Ermenegildo Zegna | Groomsmen Attire: Hugo Boss and Armani | Photo Booth: Mox Box | Get Away Car: Albemarle Limousine | Buses: Easy Riders

marissa Written with love by Marissa
1 Comment
  1. avatar VERONICA + PATRICK | Ashley Cox Photography reply

    […] So honored to have this gorgeous wedding featured on Southern Weddings! […]

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When it comes to weddings, and many other things for that matter, I’m a firm believer that simple is often best. A few carefully chosen, purposeful, beautiful details that can stand on their own without being cluttered by too much “stuff” can have such an impact, and more importantly, this approach leaves guests the mental space to focus on you and your new husband, rather than be distracted as they try to take in countless activities and displays. Lauren and Jeremiah are a perfect example of this lovely restraint–they selected a naturally beautiful venue, accented it with a few meaningful touches (the lily of the valley bouquet Jeremiah had sent to Lauren’s bridal suite, and the strawberry shortcake they cut into that nodded to Lauren’s childhood tradition, to name a few), and focused on enjoying their day with their many out-of-town guests. I can only imagine what beautiful memories they have of the time they got to spend with the ones they love on their wedding day!

Thank you so much to our Blue Ribbon Vendor Perry Vaile for sharing this day with us!

Tell us about finding your wedding dress. I was looking for a combination of delicate, classic, bohemian, and breezy. The designer Rosa Clara really unified these aspirations and included the subtlest hint of sexy. Miraculously, during a weekend off, there was a Rosa Clara trunk show in Raleigh! I was completely enamored with the second dress I tried on. My mother and sisters live in Michigan, so we had to resort to FaceTime for their approval–which was unanimous.

We chose to do a first look because we wanted to maximize our time spent with out-of-town guests. Many of our family and friends traveled from the Northeast and Midwest to North Carolina to celebrate our wedding. It was the perfect choice for us–I do not believe I could have waited until the evening to kiss him!

What made you choose your ceremony and reception venues? Did they have any special significance to you? We had both our ceremony and reception at the spectacular Merrimon-Wynne house. It was important to us to provide our guests with an easy experience, due to the fact that many had traveled to share the weekend with us. I looked at a number of places and none could compare with the elegance and glamour of Merrimon-Wynne. The clincher was the insanely gorgeous bridal suites (yes, there are two!), where we primped and preened all morning.

There was beautiful sunny and breezy weather throughout our wedding day, until the moment I walked down the aisle. When our reverend began speaking, the skies opened up and poured rain! The wedding party scurried inside and we completed the marriage ceremony in a cozy, ornate hallway, surrounded by our loved ones who were spilling into rooms and peering around staircases. The intimacy of the ceremony reinforced that marriage is ultimately about love and family.

Describe your wedding flowers. We chose a miscellany of shades of green and white. The flowers were free-flowing and loose, with ample herbs incorporated. My mother and I purchased a variety of mercury glass vessels and used them to make the centerpieces. Jeremiah has a green thumb and filled the vases with potted sage and lavender. He also gifted a lily of the valley (my childhood favorite flower) bouquet to the bridal suite, which perfectly matched our color scheme.

Tell us about some of the songs you used throughout your wedding and why you chose them. Jeremiah’s siblings are incredibly talented musicians and vocalists, and they kindly performed a song by Kishi Bashi called “Q&A” during our ceremony. The song reads like poetry and lent itself well to an acoustic performance. Our first dance was to “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard, performed by the Vitamin String Quartet. The movie “Once” was the first movie for which I stayed awake for the entirety of the film, so it had some playful meaning, and Jeremiah thought the tempo lent itself well to a foxtrot.

How did y’all meet? Tell us your love story. We first crossed paths during my Tufts Medical School years while Jeremiah was completing his residency program in Otolaryngology. There was a definite attraction, but we were very work-oriented during those years! Our romance (inconveniently) began when I moved to North Carolina to start my own surgical training. After one whirlwind and surreal travel weekend, we both knew there was something special between us that was worth the effort and occasional pain of long distance.
Tell us all about the proposal! Jeremiah and I had a standing Friday night champagne date to treat ourselves after travel. The evening started like most others–he had to work late, so I fell asleep on his couch. We were casually enjoying our bubbles on the couch when he completely surprised me by bending down on one knee and promising to make my smile his lifelong goal. After I tearfully and happily agreed, he whisked me off to a romantic French dinner in Cambridge, followed by a romantic getaway weekend at a cabin in Maine. The weekend was complete with skis, lobsters, and rare sunny Maine snow!
When did y’all get married? May 9, 2015
How many friends, family members, and loved ones attended your wedding? 125
Did you write your own vows? If so, what was your favorite phrase, verse or line? We did not write our own vows, but we crafted our entire ceremony with Reverend Renteria. It was an enjoyable experience to pick and choose the different aspects of the ceremony together. Our mutual favorite phrase was a playful and all-encompassing quote from George Bernard Shaw: “You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day’s wage. You are my divinity, my madness, my selfishness, my transfiguration and purification. You are my rapscallion fellow vagabond, my tempter and star.”
Describe your wedding cake or dessert. My family has a long-standing tradition of enjoying strawberry shortcakes on summer evenings, and since strawberries are in season in May, we opted for strawberry shortcakes with lemon cream and thyme. To simplify our lives, Posh Nosh Catering created the dessert as well as our dinner.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding? Time! I did a lot of wedding planning in the early morning hours between consults and responded to emails between surgical cases. It was a nightmare to schedule my dress fittings during regular work hours!
If you are comfortable responding, what range did your wedding budget fall into? $25,000-$50,000
What advice do you have for folks currently planning a wedding? Try to make the experience as playful as possible, because it can easily become very stressful. I accomplished this by convincing my fiancé to walk in the woods or head to a brewery so we could discuss wedding details.
What’s next for you as a couple? What memories are you looking forward to making together? I need to finish my residency and Jeremiah is starting a new job, then we can finally embark on a more “normal” life together. We are running a marathon and share a mutual enjoyment of hiking and adventuring.

Photographer: Perry Vaile / Venue and Planning: The Merrimon-Wynne House / Florist: Watered Garden / Caterer and Dessert Baker: Posh Nosh Catering / Rentals: Party Reflections / Band: The Reckless Brothers / Bride’s Gown: “Ubeda” by Rosa Clara / Bridal Salon: Traditions by Anna / Hair Stylist: Parlor Dry Bar / Makeup Artist: Thuy Larker / Bride’s Shoes: “Landmark Metallic Strappy Heel” by Badgley Mischka / Groom’s Attire: Banana Republic / Officiant: Reverend Robin Renteria

Perry Vaile is a delightful member of our Blue Ribbon Vendor Directory!

lisa Written with love by Lisa
2 Comments
  1. avatar Julie reply

    Hi! Your wedding pictures are gorgeous! My daughter purchased the same dress and is getting married in June! I am a seamstress and trying to figure out how to bustle it. Can you send me a picture of the back bustled up.? I see it from the side and it looks beautiful! Thanks!!! Julie

  2. avatar scott reply

    What a lovely spot to get married, Under the tree out the back! Nice photography too.

Southern Weddings reserves the right to delete comments which contain profanity or personal attacks or seek to promote a business unrelated to the post.  And remember: a good attitude is like kudzu – it spreads.  We love hearing your kind thoughts!

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