I absolutely love this next wedding. Not only is it the epitome of rustic chic, but the bride’s entire extended family literally grew and made all of the food for the big day. All those delicious tomatoes you see? Yup. They were grown right in their very own gardens and picked just before the wedding. Her bouquet is stunning and the photos from the talents over at Kellan Studios are beyond beautiful! I could just eat them all up! Join me in the gallery for even more delicious details!
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From the Bride…I got married to my college sweetheart, Dan, on August 14th in a field on my family farm in Pounding Mill, Virginia (known to locals as Pounding Thrill). Dan and I are both from small towns (he from Vermont and me from Virginia), and it was important to us to create a wedding that was personal, intimate, and rooted in a notion of place. My family has farmed and lived on this land for many generations, and it was the only place in the world that I could imagine getting married. There, at the foot of a hill in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I married my best friend before our community of friends and family, many of whom had traveled across the country and world to be with us.
Our wedding was a handmade event, and I am so grateful for the talents and effort of all the loved ones who helped out. It took many months of planning and dreaming, but we managed to create an event that was truly perfect for me and for Dan. With our friends and family, we combed antique stores for old silverware, spent long evenings at the school letterpress, artfully arranged vintage stamps on the invitation envelopes, sifted through Ebay to find shoes and jewelry, sketched ideas and plans for the reception, and crafted an incredibly beautiful event.
My parents’ barbeque fusion restaurant, Cuz’s Uptown Barbeque, made all of the food, including filet mignon with pepper cream, lobster cocktail, and wine poached salmon. The restaurant raised dozens of varieties of heirloom tomatoes all summer long, and we had a tomato bar with fresh cut tomatoes, a country ham insalata caprese, and a cheese and tomato pie. We asked old family friends to bring their best pies, and I made pedestals to display them all. A chef from the restaurant built a towering white cake, and Dan’s brother made an amazing groom’s cake.
My classmates from Harvard architecture school helped build and make almost everything- they painted signs, designed lighting systems, set up the tables, and even did my hair! My friends and cousin put together incredible bouquets and table arrangements, picking flowers from highway medians and foraging the hills for branches and boughs. I put together all of the paper goods, including a decoder save-the-date and a laser cut and letterpress invitation. The ceremony and dinner music was provided by a great bluegrass band, and my brother DJ’ed the dance party well into the evening. It was the most fun day of my life, largely because it was a once-in-a-lifetime gathering together of all the people that Dan and I love most.
Catering and Wedding Cake: Cuz’s Uptown Barbeque / Groom’s Cake: Ben Mattingly / Tent: Skyline Tent Company / Florals: Emily Thompson Flowers / Wedding Photography: Kellan Studios / Paper Goods: Pounding Mill Press / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin / Groom and Attendants’ Attire: JCrew