A Winter Wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Stephanie Weers
April 26, 2017
Categories: Cultural Beauty, Real Weddings, The Blog
Tags: Fashion Trends, Real Wedding, real weddings

Take all the elegance of a winter wedding and pair that with mountainside scenery and you’ll have the essence of this day captured by Adam Barnes Photography. All white florals and greenery accents dressed up the indoor setting, and we kindly invite you to see every moment for yourself.

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From the Bride… When we began to plan our wedding day, we knew we wanted to honor our families’ American and Korean traditions, highlight our Ohio and Virginia roots, and keep the day intimate with our families and closest friends. Through all of the planning, it was important to us to focus on the real reason for the day: our love and lifetime commitment to one another.

We chose Charlotteville, Virginia because we spent many weekends meeting there during our two-and-a-half-year long-distance relationship. As our wedding weekend was a “destination” for 100% of our guests, we knew we wanted our guests to experience the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. King Family Vineyards, our favorite winery in the area with its spectacular views, was the perfect location. We had visited many times during our long-distance relationship and knew that it was beautiful in all seasons, including winter. We also knew that it would be a place that we could revisit for years to come. Every year on our anniversary, we plan to open a bottle of King Family’s Meritage wine that we served at our wedding.

Above all, we wanted to remember our wedding day as classic, timeless, and “us.” We first had a traditional Christian ceremony in the carriage house. We held firm in our decision to not do a first look before the ceremony, opting instead to follow tradition and wait until I walked down the aisle. We will never regret that decision. Seeing each other for the first time when those doors opened is something that we will both remember forever. A longer cocktail hour in the carriage house gallery accommodated wedding party photos and allowed our guests to experience sunset in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Before sitting for dinner, we had a second ceremony: a traditional Korean paebaek (bowing) ceremony to honor our families. My amazing mother ensured that every Korean custom was authentic, down to the silk tablecloths and wooden ducks that were brought over from South Korea, the Korean wine that we served our elders, and personally preparing the nine different snacks and Korean jujubes (dates) on the table. The traditional screen that served as the backdrop for the ceremony was hand-painted by my talented grandmother, a Korean folk artist, and shipped over from South Korea.

We approached the planning process as an introduction to marriage – a true partnership. We worked together to design and create the day-of paper goods, including the ceremony programs, menus, and cork place cards. All of the signs were designed and calligraphed by me, and ultimately inspired me to start my own lettering business on the side, The Write Decision, fully encouraged by Michael. We were also incredibly fortunate to work with the best team of vendors. The talented Alyssa Kristin (along with Lesley Bartosek at B.Loved Bridal Boutique) custom-designed my wedding dress, turning my hope for a timelessly elegant dress with sleeves into reality. Amy and her team at Blue Ridge Floral Design perfectly captured our vision of simple, beautiful greenery. And, of course, Adam Donovan-Groves of Donovan-Groves Events, as well as The Local catering led by Helen Osinga, brought our day to life and ensured that the day went seamlessly. Every moment was wonderfully captured by Adam Barnes Photography and eMotion Pictures Wedding Films. It was such a happy day – not counting every day thereafter.