This wedding was large, elegant and I worked closely with some of the best wedding vendors in the Shenandoah Valley. Most of whom I have worked with many, many times- even have enlisted their services for my own wedding in 2012.
The setting for this wedding was at the gorgeous, historic George Washington Hotel in downtown Winchester, VA. The Ballroom doubled as the Ceremony location with its focal point mantle decorated with candles and flowers in blush and ivory. This mantle is one of the easiest (in my opinion) to decorate- it is large enough and wide enough to allow for a variety of design and decor options.
The Bride requested a cascade in soft blush and ivories, touches of burgundy, and a accents of silver foliage.
Dahlias were the focal point of the bouquet. Dahlias are extremely popular in the fall, especially for weddings. As a designer, I tend to handle dahlias with care. I was so worried I was going to receive bent petals, popped off heads, or other dahlia-dilemmas...they can be really tricky to work with when you want every petal to be perfect. Thankfully all shipments came in flawless and the 'Cafe Au Lait' dahlias were gorgeous-
The Bridal party wore navy dresses in various styles with coordinating bouquets of blush, burgundy, and silver foliage. Here is one of the bouquets in progress :
I design almost every hand tied bouquet in the European style- meaning once I am finished it can literally stand on it's own because of the rotation of the stems.
The Bridal party :
The Ceremony:
One of the personal touches this couple incorporated was their love of travel and all the places they have been. On the place card table in the Lobby, luggage tags were used to send guests to a location themed table in the ballroom.
The reception tables were decorated with similar elevated arrangements sitting on water filled pilsner shaped vases. Due to the scale of the arrangements and weight, transportation and placement on the reception tables took place after the guests had exited the ballroom.
The reception arrangements required a separate delivery trip and assembly in the staging area adjacent to the ballroom:
This is called a room"flip". By and far, the banquet staff and wedding coordinators made the transition seamless. The reception:
It was a wonderful wedding and a huge shout out to all the vendors for the phenomenal work:
The George Washington Hotel, Amy VanMeter Events, Julie Napear Photography,
The DJ Connection, An Affair To Remember Videography, The Lucky Cakery,
SAS Studio
