Real Life Wedding: Hilary & Jeff

Hilary and Jeff were married on May 28th at Veritas Vineyard in Afton, Virginia – a beautiful little family-run vineyard and winery at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The entire day was practically flawless … except for the pesky rain that moved the ceremony indoors.  Check out these highlights, courtesy of the wonderful Jack Looney Photography.

The beautiful bride, her bridesmaids and the mothers prepared for the big day upstairs while the boys got ready below the winery in the barrel room.

The bride wore a beautiful gown by Lazaro.

The beautiful bouquets and citrus adorned centerpieces were expertly crafted by Pat’s Floral Designs.  Instead of escort cards, we wrote guests names on green paper and attached them to different fruits that were used in the centerpieces.  They were a big hit with guests 🙂

Due to the rain, the ceremony was moved inside to the ballroom, with the ballroom doors opened up to the beautiful lawn, with photos on the back porch.

The cocktail hour was held in the comfortable tasting room at Veritas.  We displayed wedding photos from both the bride’s and groom’s parents on the lovely fireplace mantle.  The guestbook – which was a yearbook-style compilation of the bride and groom growing up – was displayed at the other end of the room.  Wine, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres were served, along with a specialty cocktail – sweet-tea flavored vodka with lemonade – yum!

After cocktails everyone headed back to the ballroom for dinner and dancing.  Tables were designated by numbers and famous quotes about love.  The Veritas staff executed the dinner flawlessly and everything was very delicious.  The band, Amaretto, kicked things up into high gear after the first dance.  The horns were the best!

Desserts included yellow cake with raspberry preserves, lemon mousse and lemon buttercream frosting from Hot Cakes, as well as assorted fruit pies.  And for the chocolate lovers, we added locally crafted Gearharts Fine Chocolates: Almond Mocha, Maya, Mint Julep, Raspberry-Zin & Vanilla Bean Brulee.  Pure heaven!

Jeff’s birthday was two days after the wedding, so as a birthday surprise, we had Last Call Dogs come and serve hot dogs to guests after the band was finished.  Jeff is a huge Red Sox fan and the Last Call folks wore their Red Sox jerseys and served up the dogs on Red Sox napkins.  It was so much fun and the perfect midnight snack!  Then we fired up the sparklers for the final farewell.

All in all, the wedding was perfect! (Okay, so the bride happens to be my big sister, so I might be a little biased, but it was one of the best weddings I’ve ever been to or planned.)

Thanks Hilary and Jeff, for letting me be such a big part of your special day!