It doesn’t get more classic and old world than a wedding in Williamsburg, and this one from Bit of Ivory Photography is not to be missed! I absolutely love that this couple chose a beautiful toile pattern to highlight their color palette and feel of the day. Patterns are a great way to add tons of character with only a few details. The resulting look is chic, elegant, and timeless!
My husband grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia and although we met and live in Chicago, we quickly decided that we wanted to host our wedding in Virginia. We both wanted a classic/timeless wedding and colonial Williamsburg provided the perfect backdrop for our vision. Once we were engaged, I started looking into color tones and I decided that our wedding had to be Blue & Blush. After that, we just wanted to keep the classic, traditional, feel to our wedding and tried to weave this throughout the event. For example, we went with a custom calligraphy invitation suite, escort cards with a monogrammed wax seal, blue toile linens, delft centerpieces, and calligraphy menu’s set in the colonial style “Bill of Fare.”
We decided to do a “First Look” since our reception directly followed the ceremony and we wanted to spend time doing pictures before the ceremony. We were so happy that we did this! We met in an arbor area and walking down the path to see my soon to be husband was so emotional – especially when he turned to see me and began to tear up! I don’t know how I got through that moment, other than remembering that I didn’t have waterproof mascara on. Being able to spend that moment together, knowing what was yet to come, was so special.
It was very important for me to have a traditional church wedding and we were married in the historic Bruton Parish Church – which dates back to 1674. To be married in a church that has such history, where George Washington & Thomas Jefferson have pew boxes, and countless other happy couples have started their lives together, was humbling to say the least.
The majority of our guests were from out of town and it was very important for us to make sure our guests had a wedding experience, not just a wedding reception. We selected a hotel close to the colonial area so that guests could do touristy activities in the non-wedding activity time. We created guest hotel bags that included a personalized “brochure” about our wedding events and things to do in the area, local snacks, and my favorite – waters labeled “Before Your Wine” and “After Your Wine” since our reception was held at the Williamsburg Winery. Just as important as having a church wedding to us, was having our reception at a place with “character.” The Williamsburg Winery was the perfect venue with its dark wood tones that offset our otherwise light color palette – and it had wine. As we were planning, it was really important for us to try to be detailed and personalized wherever we could be. We knew our guests were there for us, and we really wanted the “us” to shine through in our wedding.
We didn’t do formal introductions of our wedding party or parents and we had a live band, so I wanted to ensure people were out on the dance floor! To do this, and single out our parents, I thanked all of our guests for coming and asked both sets of our parents to go to the dance floor. I let the crowd know they had both been married for over 40 years – after they danced for a bit – I had the band begin calling up other couples, starting with those who had been married longer than our parents, and ending with those married less amount of time. This reverse anniversary style dance got the majority of our guests out of their seats and the dance floor was full the entire night! It was amazing to see all of the love in the room during that dance.
Photography | Bit of Ivory Photography | Ceremony Venue | Bruton Parish Church | Reception Venue | Williamsburg Winery | Florals | Events in Bloom | Cake | Carrot Tree Kitchens | Gown and Veil | Lillian’s Bridal | Stationery | William Arthur | Calligraphy | Calligraphy by Cristine | Hair and Makeup | The Spa of Colonial Williamsburg | Catering and Linens | The Catering Company | Band | In Full
