I love weddings where all of the couple’s family and friends come together to help create a beautiful day for the couple. That is exactly true of today’s peach wedding from Karyn Johnson Photography that is filled with sweet handmade and heirloom details. How lovely is the bride’s veil that was created by her mother and aunt?
We were a long distance couple for years, and really wanted our wedding to be a midpoint for our families, but still someplace special. We chose Roanoke as our location for its historic, intimate feel and beautiful mountains. We were married at my late grandmother’s church, where my aunt was also married. Our theme was Vintage Southern Travel, and we chose a peach, mint, and gold color palette to tie all the details together.
My mother-in-law sewed her own wedding dress, and gave me the extra lace she’d saved for 35 years. My mother sewed it into my garter, the bag for our ring blessing ceremony, and I used another piece to decorate the bride’s skirt on our cake topper. My mother also took lace from her and my grandmother’s wedding dresses to make a special hanger for my wedding dress. Christian is a talented blacksmith, and created both of our wedding bands from a single piece of fine silver. My aunt handmade the lace trim for my veil.
Because our guests were traveling so far to celebrate with us, we wanted our wedding to be as family-friendly, unique and entertaining as possible. We were blessed to find a location that allowed us to bring in our own food, beverages, and caterer. One of the first planning decisions we made was to have a wood-fired pizza truck, and it was our favorite detail! We had giant Jenga at the reception, and the entire museum was open for our guests to explore.
Christian’s father is a wonderful public speaker, and was delighted when we asked him to speak at our ceremony. He wrote and delivered a touching wedding message just for us. We also wrote our own vows, which was incredibly special for us.
We discovered the Transportation Museum and fell in love the first time we toured the venue; the indoor car collection was perfect for cocktail hour, and the outdoor trainyard and pavilion was a fun setting for dinner and dancing. We are blessed with many talented family members who did everything including makeup, bridal party clothes, dress alterations, wedding cakes, centerpieces, decor, food, drinks, and DJ. Anything we could DIY, we did.
We scoured thrift shops and antique stores for months to find all the decor for the reception, which is how Christian discovered a collection of antique maps that we used to make all the paper decorations including: flowers and origami stars, 30 feet of heart garland sewed by my sister, and votive candles for the tables. We also sourced 15 vintage china plates and turned them into cake stands for all of the wedding cakes Christian’s grandmother made.
My favorite moments include cheering as three trains went by during dinner, dancing will our friends and family during the reception, and the impromptu cakewalk polka that occurred as the wedding cakes were paraded out to the tables.
Photography | Karyn Johnson Photography | Ceremony | Fort Lewis Baptist Church | Reception | The Virginia Museum of Transportation | Florals | George’s Flowers | Catering | Dogtown Roadhouse | Rentals | Grand Rental Station | Dress | Fancy Bridal from Church Street Bridal | Shoes | Modcloth | Invitations | Diana Tung
