Time to rise and shine SMP'ers and gear up for a lovely week of inspiration! Of course we have just the thing to help the cause - this Charelottesville celebration full of traditional elegance by Paul Morse Photographs is just the pretty you need to put some pep in your step this Monday morning. I am loving the shimmer of the warm metallics in the linens and invitations by copper willow paper studio (and the bride's amazing necklace!) mixed with the crisp white flowers - it's a little bit traditional, a little bit modern and a whole lot of fabulous. For even more fabulous, be sure to check out the full gallery.
click here for the full wedding gallery!
From the Bride...Jase and I met in graduate school at the University of Southern California in the fall of 2004 and still live in Los Angeles. I grew up in SoCal, one of the three girls; he grew up in western New York, one of three boys. Though we are opposite in many ways with regards to personality and interests, we’re both old souls nearly identical in our goals, values and feelings about what’s most important in life. After our engagement in September of 2009, we quickly decided that our wedding would occur on October 23, 2010 – six years to the day from our first date.
Having lived in nearly a dozen cities across the U.S. between the two of us, we had friends and family all over the country and decided that a destination wedding would be the perfect opportunity for our guests to get away and get to know each other. I went to college in Charlottesville, Virginia, and it remains one of my favorite places. The late October date would give our West Coast guests a chance to experience a true autumn, with all its brilliant foliage. Charlottesville is also one of those rare places that successfully blends a deep-rooted sense of tradition and history with a modern spirit of progressiveness and creativity--exactly the values we wanted in our marriage.
Since the church and reception venue were both historic properties with architecture and interiors to match, we decided to infuse the traditional feel of the reception space with a bit of a modern touch. I’m not much of a color person and didn’t want to compete with the vibrant colors of the fall foliage, so we chose a palette of warm metallics and kept the flowers all white, creating interest with texture and sparkle by using shimmery and sequined linens, mercury glass, mirrored surfaces and lots and lots of candles. A mix of long rectangular tables and square tables helped give a traditional ballroom a more modern vibe. The groom, groomsmen and our four ring bearers swapped for bow ties for neckties with their traditional black tuxes, and the bridesmaids each wore different cocktail dresses in varying shades of gold/champagne. Many of the little details were particularly special to us, even if no one noticed them: my late grandmother’s bee pin on my bouquet; Batman cufflinks for the groom, groomsmen and ring bearers; a favorite Rilke quote letterpressed on the front of the program.
With the help of our amazing vendors and planner, everything came together wonderfully, though ultimately our design and details simply served as beautiful backdrop for an amazing day and night in which our family and friends ate, drank and danced the night away in what was definitely the party of our lives.
We loved Paul’s work immediately upon seeing his website and blog but knew for sure he was the photographer for us when we met him in person. He captured the feeling and story of the day through amazing candid shots that are truly magazine-worthy, AND got gorgeous portraits, AND was a joy to work with throughout the entire process. Every time we go through our photos, we not only get to look back at our wedding day, but also live it again in a totally different way. We discover something new every time we look at the photos – they are not just the story of our wedding in images, they are all of the stories of our wedding in images, which is such a blessing given that a bride and groom simply can’t be there for every important moment in the whirlwind of emotion and fun that is a wedding.
The day would not have been possible without the expertise of our fabulous planners at Easton Events. The amazing Floral Images developed and executed our vision beyond our wildest dreams. DJ Ray Jarrell of Ray Jarrell Entertainment kept the dance floor full the entire night – literally, only four people left the wedding early! Copper Willow Paper Studio did a beautiful job with our invitation suite, day-of printed materials and calligraphy (I still pull out our invites just to admire them). We felt so lucky to work with such great vendors across the board – wonderful people who did a wonderful job.
Ceremony venue: Grace Church / Reception venue: Farmington Country Club / Planning: Easton Events / Floral: Floral Images / Rentals: Festive Fare / Lighting: Blue Ridge Light Forms / Cake: Maliha Creations / DJ: Jarrell Entertainment / Hair: Moxie Hair and Body Lounge / Printed Materials: Copper Willow Paper Studio / Photography: Paul Morse Photographs / Invitations: Copper Willow Paper Studio