Catherine & Kevin’s Intimate Fall Wedding at a Private Home in Fredericksburg, VA

Today we have a perfectly intimate Fall wedding from Wolfcrest Photography! Catherine & Kevin wanted to keep things smaller and intimate (around 70 guests total) and the Gari Meclhes Belmont House & Studio was the perfect space! This real Virginia wedding includes some pretty awesome vendors – so though they kept it intimate and a bit more casual, they did not hold back on the beautifully designed details! Anthomanic killed it on the bouquets and centerpieces and the whole thing was beautifully pulled together and executed by Miraculous Events! Check it all out below!

Catherine & Kevin’s Intimate, Fall Wedding at Belmont Studio in Fredericksburg, Virginia

Vendors:

Photographer: Wolfcrest Photography | Venue: Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont | Florist: Anthomanic | Wedding Planner + Coordinator: Miraculous Events | Catering: Caroline Street Catering | Makeup + Hair Stylist: BobbyPins & Blush | DJ: In Step Entertainment | Officiant: Weddings by Ginny | Cake: Happy Tiers by Lisa

How they met:

Kevin and I first met in middle school!  We were friends throughout high school (had some mutual friends as well).  We didn’t start dating, however, until our Freshman year of college. We’d be dating for ten years prior to getting married :)

On their venue selection:

After some debate and visits to other venues, we settled on having the ceremony and reception at Gari Melcher’s estate, Belmont in Fredericksburg.  I think we both felt the space to be a good fit for our smaller, intimate wedding (around 70 guests total).  I also went to Mary Washington and Belmont is affiliated with the school. It was important to Kevin and I both that the wedding have a more casual, less traditional feel so an outdoor space seemed to fit the bill.  I, in particular, was drawn to the vintage, southern feel of the place in addition to the great gardens.  Thought it was a good match partially because I knew it would fit in with my plans to use mason jars in the decor!

Click inside for SO MUCH MORE of Catherine & Kevin’s beautiful, intimate Fall Virginia wedding!

On their color palette:

Ultimately, we chose to do the wedding in fall because of the moderate temperatures (too bad it was 90 degrees on our wedding day). Rather than citing specific colors we worked from a color palate that I really liked because I thought it was rich, interesting, and a departure from the traditional maroon, brown, and orange associated with fall. The colors in the palate included navy, latte, a light cream orange color, ivory, and gold.

Kevin and I both had family members in the bridal party.  His two younger brothers were groomsmen and my older half sister was a bridesmaid.  Kevin’s sister also did a short reading during the ceremony.  Other roles were pretty standard, my dad accompanied me down the aisle and gave me away.  All our parents were present. My nephew was able to watch the wedding ceremony via FaceTime from the hospital since he couldn’t be present.

On keeping their wedding ceremony relaxed and personalized:

I think our ceremony in general was pretty casual.  We’re not complicated people, neither is our relationship, and we wanted the ceremony to reflect that.  Guests were not asked to sit on sides for bride or groom and, instead chose a seat wherever they liked.  I walked down the aisle to a piano version of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”- Kevin actually found the arrangement!  Instead of a guestbook one of my friends made a piece of artwork for everybody to sign (see more info in next bullet).

There were very little floral components to the decor (which I guess is non traditional in itself) so many of the pieces had to be made.  The centerpieces were completed by our wonderful wedding planner, Lacoya Heggie (Miraculous Events).  They featured two variations of painted mason jars, with wheat in one and baby’s breath in the other.  We also had smaller mason jars filled with popcorn kernels and tealights.  Lacoya also made tealights surrounded by cinnamon sticks.  Very cool.

We also included different seasonal pieces, such as gourds and white pumpkins. A friend of our family painted the horse shoes for us.  We also included different seasonal pieces, such as gourds and white pumpkins. A friend of mine from college (also an art teacher at a local school) created a guest book alternative for guests to sign on framed canvas.  The artwork featured a tree with paper leaves in the shapes of hearts for guests to sign or leave messages then adhere to branches on the tree.  The result is something we can display in our home.

We did not do a garter or bouquet toss during the reception.  My bouquet was given away to the couple that had been married the longest (32 years!) following an anniversary dance.  We used horse shoes collected from horses at the barn where I ride in Fredericksburg as escort cards/wedding favors.  We also had two dessert options – cake or cobbler!

Congratulations Kevin & Catherine! Thank you for sharing all the beautiful details of your love story and wedding with us! A special thanks again to Wolfcrest Photography & all the other vendors that made this intimate, Virginia wedding feature possible!

[icon size=”small” image=”icon-heart”]