Good morning readers! Today I have my first ever submission via Two Bright Lights and I am very excited to share this real capitol wedding with you all! Noelle & Van got married in Warrenton, Virginia in a lovely, DIY butterfly-themed affair and Ever After Visuals was there to capture all the beautiful moments of the day.
Ever After Visuals is a mother-daughter lifestyle photography team based in Washington, DC.
First, a bit about Noelle & Van from Noelle herself:
Van & I met our Junior year in high school. I had just transferred from another school and Van and I had the same lunch period. Being the mature high school boys that they were, Van and his friends would throw food, especially grapes, at our table. They knew that by doing this we would get mad and go over to their table to “yell” at them.
Van and I didn’t truly start dating until our senior year when he asked me to senior prom. After graduation Van and I spent almost every day over the summer together … but before we knew it the summer was over. Van headed to Blacksburg to Va Tech for college and I headed to Norfolk to go to Old Dominion. We spent the next 4 years with lot of e mails, cards, and phone calls.
After we graduated our romance continued, but a few growing pains began to sneak in. Van and I ended up breaking up after 7 1/2 years together. However, during that time my mind and heart always thought of Van and I realized the saying is true, you don’t realize how much something means to you until you set it free. We ended up spending about 2 years apart and but we finally got back together, where we should have always been. After dating again for a few short months Van proposed at his office Christmas party and we were officially engaged 2 days before Christmas.
Love stories with happy endings.
Nice touch with the Virginia Tech garter, Noelle – I had a Penn State one! :)
Noelle on her dress:
My dress was a Jim Hjelm dress and I fell in love with it the moment I put it on. After looking at endless amounts of Bridal magazines I knew that was the only designer I wanted to try on. I loved how the dress wasn’t strapless and how the back was open. The lace was amazing, and it truly was my dream dress!
My shoes- flip flops! No one saw my feet, so why not be comfy?
More from Noelle:
We decided on the Airlie [for our venue] because it was stunningly beautiful! We loved the idea of getting married outside in the sunshine and fresh air. We loved how the whole event could be outside, the ceremony, the cocktail hour and the reception.
I adore this note from Noelle about her flowers … talk about a care-free bride:
The flowers are a funny story. My best friend’s mom works at Karin’s Florist, so obviously it was a no-brainer about the flowers. We met with Bryan Swann and I basically said these are my wedding colors, work your magic. I honestly had no clue what any of the flower arrangements/bouquets, etc. were going to look like, but everything truly was amazing!
On the butterfly theme:
Why butterflies? Butterflies have always been special to me, they remind me how delicate and beautiful life is. I have a butterfly tattooed on my foot and on my back, so I carry their beauty and delicateness with me everyday. I have always loved butterflies, so it was a no-brainer that it would be incorporated everywhere in the wedding. Van didn’t mind. :) He’s used to having butterflies everywhere! :)
When we saw the butterfly cookie cutters, we knew we had to have them. As the months went on and I did more Internet browsing I found more butterfly items I had to have. Butterfly lollipops, butterfly gummies, butterflies in the centerpieces, and hand-painted butterfly cut outs on the tables.
I love this simple, DIY candy display!!
Thanks again to Mindy from Ever After Visuals and Noelle & Van for sharing their day with us!
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