Nancy & Matt’s Fun, Urban-Chic, Modern Winery Wedding in Norfolk, Virginia

Images: The Girl Tyler via Two Bright Lights

Guys you are gonna LOVE this one. I’ve never seen someone do a modern/urban-chic take on a Winery (especially one in Virginia) – but there was no burlap, no mason jars, no burlap in sight! Instead this amazing couple (with the most infectious smiles) use lights, minimal decor & a stunning metallic wedding dress & bridesmaids dresses, to take a super fun twist on a winery wedding. And did I mention how contagious their smiles are in these pictures? Well fine, don’t just take my word for it – I guarantee you will be smiling too by the end of this post!

Our mantra for wedding planning was “nothing has to be anything.”

We wanted to throw a party with good food, good drinks and good music. Nothing had to match anything else or fit any certain theme. Nancy is a hardcore introvert and we wanted to have a celebration with just enough pomp and circumstance for it to feel like a special day without there being too much pressure. We got a friend who is a local sketch and improv comedian to officiate, and our friend who is a graphic designer gifted us the design for the invites.

To streamline planning process, we wanted to hold the quickie ceremony and the reception in the same venue, and we wanted that venue to also handle the food and drinks. Our original venue fell through unexpectedly five months before the big day, after we’d already booked our DJ, but thankfully Mermaid Winery was able to accommodate us on very short notice. It was their first wedding and their tasting room was still under construction when we signed all the paperwork, but they were incredibly organized and professional, and they made us feel comfortable immediately. We’re so happy it worked out the way it did — Jennifer and the Mermaid team were amazing. It turned out better than we ever imagined.

The wedding dress caught my eye when I was browsing online. I wanted something white but not stuffy or overly traditional. The bridesmaid dresses were a brilliant suggestion from a friend who was scoping Rent the Runway.

The bridesmaids helped me assemble bouquets and centerpieces the day before the wedding. The flowers were all from Norfolk Wholesale Floral, and we used vases from the dollar store and fairy lights from Amazon for the centerpieces.

Our priorities were food, drinks, music and photography, so we totally skipped a lot of peripheral details. We didn’t do favors or a seating chart, we went with Mermaid’s default flatware and tableware, we had homemade centerpieces but we didn’t otherwise do any extra decorating. This kept our costs and our stress levels way down. It also helped to have really awesome, on-the-ball vendors — once the big day finally arrived, Tyler (the photographer), Roger (the DJ) and Jennifer from Mermaid kept everything moving smoothly so we could just relax and have fun.