“Gosh, I loved Elizabeth and John’s wedding day! It started off calling for 100% rain and with an outdoor reception planned this can be a little disappointing for a bride who has worked so hard on every single detail. As the weatherman predicted it started raining in the morning and pretty much rained all day. Elizabeth had the best attitude about the rain and was such good sport dealing with the changes we had to make. The wedding ceremony was planned to be inside so there were no worries about the rain for the ceremony, but the reception was planned for outdoors. After all of the pictures were taken, the coolest thing happened as the bride and groom arrived at the outdoor reception. The rain had stopped, the sky cleared up and there was the most beautiful double rainbow in the sky right over the reception tent! It was quite magical and for the rest of the evening the night sky was as lovely as could be and Elizabeth and John’s wedding day turned out to be just perfect!” – Gayle Driver Photography

“This is such a hard question because there were so many moments that really stood out to me. Aside from witnessing the love and support from our friends and family, one of my favorite memories would have to be our arrival to the reception. It had been raining all afternoon and our reception was outside in a tent at my parents’ farm. As we drove up the lane with our bridal party, we were greeted with a double rainbow, perfectly place over the tent. From that point on, the rain stopped and we had clear skies for the rest of the night! God provided us with the “good luck” rain during our ceremony and then gave us picture perfect weather for our outdoor reception…

..I would say that our wedding was a mix of DIY and lucky finds! During our year engagement, we made several trips to Virginia to plan our wedding (we were both living in Cincinnati at the time). It’s a beautiful town located in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.  We wanted our wedding to be a celebration for all of our friends and family. Most had to travel and had never been to this part of the country so it was important to us that everyone had the best time! Even though the reception was at a farm, we didn’t want it to feel overly rustic. Instead, we used subtle hints throughout the decor. My husband made all of the planter boxes that we used as centerpieces from old fence board in my Grandpa’s barn. We found tubs, crates, an old wooden wheelbarrow, and a butcher block in my other Grandparent’s home place that dates back to the Civil War! It was fun mixing in parts of my heritage into our wedding decor.  We made it a little more formal with a black and white dance floor, floor length linens, and we mixed in some tall floral arrangements with hanging votives to add some height to the space. I made the wedding programs, thank you cards (with some design help from Etsy), and placecards. My brother-in-law made all of the chalkboard signs and my sister-in-law drew them all. We used quilt squares for our guest book that I will piece together and turn into a quilt. My grandmother taught me how to sew at a very young age (and since I have made over a hundred quilts) and my parents own a quilt shop, so it was only natural that I wanted to save our memories in this way. Overall, our wedding was a great representation of who we are and I couldn’t have asked for anything more!

..Yes! My something new was my dress; my something borrowed was my veil that my Grandmother made for my cousin’s wedding; my something old was the bible that I carried down the aisle, carried by my grandmother, aunts and cousin at their weddings; and finally, my something blue was a handkerchief that was embroidered by my husband’s great grandmother.

..My advice to brides is to work ahead! Being that my husband and I were planning our wedding from out of town, this was crucial. I made countless lists, spreadsheets and made sure to meet with my vendors months ahead of time so that all I needed to do the weeks leading up to the wedding was finalize my order based on our final guest count. This made the week of the wedding so much better for me. I was able to enjoy the time with our family and friends and not have to worry about a thing! 

I would also strongly suggest hiring a day-of coordinator. I’m an event planner at a hotel and my husband also works in the hospitality industry. We knew we would have to hire someone to look after the details for us on the day of, or we were going to be the ones doing it because it’s our natural instinct! Definitely a great investment!” – Elizabeth, the bride

photography: Gayle Driver Photography // venue: Parents Farm // dress: Bridal Impressions // suits: Men’s Warehouse // bowties: Tie Bar // rentals: Central Virginia Rental // florist: Evergreen Florist // cakes: made by a family friend // caterer: Hanks BBQ // DJ: DJ Andres // day of coordinator: Ethel Seith // hair: Edith Robles // makeup: Laura Holsinger // transportation: Custom Transportation // linens: BBJ // invitations: Poeme // reception signs: The Back Porch Shoppe via Etsy // wood planter centerpieces, chalkboard signs, programs, table numbers, flip flop display: all DIY-ed by the bride and groom!