Gorgeous Unthemed Wedding in Airlie, Virginia

How do you create a wedding that has no definitive wedding colors or theme? Find out how this gorgeous bride created her unthemed, dream wedding in Northern Virginia during the most beautiful golden season, surrounded by breathtaking gardens, flowers and wildlife.

Q: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?

A: I paint as a hobby, and I love experimenting with complimentary and contrasting colors. I love bold, intense colors that catch your eye. It was important to me as I was planning every detail of our wedding that none of my guests would be able to pick out a color scheme or theme. I wanted everything to be beautiful with bold colors and flow, but not too much of any one color. I knew the one detail at a wedding that usually determines color scheme is the color of the bridesmaid dresses, so I chose black (a flattering color for everyone.) I asked my bridesmaids to find dresses that they loved and felt good in and fell somewhere between their knees and ankles. Our wedding was in the fall, so we already had the bold orange, yellow and red hues of the trees accenting the landscape and the ceremony was outlined in bright blue and purple hydrangea bushes. Our floral arrangements were a combination of white, eggplant, purple, and peach blooms. The groomsmen all wore charcoal grey suits that they picked with black velvet ties and our fathers wore charcoal grey with green velvet ties. Everything, as hoped, looked natural, yet planned with careful detail, bold and complimentary.

Q: Let’s talk about wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?

A: The pavilion our reception was in was beautiful as-is and honestly did not need much more decoration to be impressive. It had high ceilings with beautiful string lights across the ceiling. Windows bordered the entire pavilion. I added personal touches by carefully planning the floral centerpieces to match the bouquets during the ceremony. I printed name cards and menus with green accents to match the greenery of the bouquets. I hand painted each table number in a metallic gold and green paint. My mom bought a bird cage and decorated it with ribbons to hold cards.

Q: What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?

A: The bridesmaids carried all white bouquets and the groomsmen had a single white flower boutonnière to match. My bouquet was a mixture of eggplant, purple, and peach flowers which matched the arbor in the ceremony. My grooms’ boutonniere was a single eggplant bloom to match my bouquet. At the reception, half of the tables had the bold colorful centerpieces that matched my bouquet, while the other half had greenery and eucalyptus that ran down the center of the table with white floating candles placed throughout.

Q: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?

A: Live music was important to us, so we hired a band that would play for our ceremony (strings), cocktail hours (jazz) and reception. I would recommend this to everyone. Live music really takes the wedding to the next level. I had tried to plan how we could get our dog to the wedding, but ultimately decided that I didn’t want one more thing to stress about, so we ended up boarding him. Instead, we dedicated our signature drink to our dog, Hank, and I painted a sign with a painting of him and the drink (a whiskey-spiked peach sangria to sit on the bar.) This was a huge hit with our guests. I also knew that one way to ensure your guests have a good time is to provide lots of food! We still had the normal hors d’oeuvres, 3 course meal and cake, but after our guests had been dancing for a while, we had some late night french fries and dips brought out. We also had s’more kits ready for our after-party which had some outdoor bonfires so our guests could make them.

Q: Let’s talk about fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.

A: I honestly had no idea what type of dress I wanted for a while. I knew I wanted it to be unique and I hoped I could find a dress that I wouldn’t have to bustle for the reception, because I’ve always felt that takes away from the beauty of the dress. I decided I would love to have a dress, and have a skirt that goes over so I could remove the train, but also get two looks in one. During the ceremony I would have the large beautiful, royal-looking wedding dress, but once the overskirt came off for the reception, the dress would form fitting and lighter for dancing. I found my dress at the first boutique I went to. I described this idea and Miriam immediately brought the two pieces I needed to make my dream dress a reality. I loved everything about it, the champagne slip under with the floral white lace over top, the illusion and floral top. It was so unique and beautiful that I bought it right then and there.

Q: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.

A: Jason and I met on a blind date. At the time I was a teacher and had become good friends with the teacher in the classroom next door to me. We would each lunch together everyday and chat about life. One day she asked me if I was single and that she had a family friend my age that she just had a gut feeling we would like each other. I was hesitant at first, but my mom actually convinced me to go for it. Jason texted me shortly after and we planned a date for that Saturday. We actually ended up meeting each other at a bar the Friday before and we hit it off immediately. We still had our date on Saturday and it was history from there. Fast forward 3 years later and we celebrated Christmas a few nights early with just the 2 of us before we headed to our families houses. We went out to a nice dinner, and then went back to my apartment to exchange gifts. I put on Christmas music and the fireplace on Netflix. We finished exchanging gifts with one another when Jason told me he had one more gift for me. He then got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. Then, we got to share the news with everyone at Christmas the next day!

Q: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?

A: The best part of the day was our first look. We went back and forth about whether we wanted to do this, but we were convinced when others told us it was their favorite part! It was nice that as soon as I got ready and the makeup and hair were still fresh, that Jason would see me right then. It was also so nice to have a private moment with Jason to take it all in and talk to each other before we were surrounded by all the guests staring right at us. It definitely helped calm the nerves and made the whole day more special!

Q: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?

A: Don’t get too worked up about little details because chances are, your guests won’t even know! Try to just think big picture- what makes a wedding a good time? It’s not the table numbers. I spent way too much time online looking for different overpriced, gold-foiled table numbers. I ended up painting them, but even then, if they were normal, printed out numbers, I don’t think anyone would notice!What makes the party fun is good music, alcohol, and good food. Focus on those things and you’ll have a great time!I would also recommend a videographer! The day goes by so quickly so it’s great to be able to relive it!